Keeping Myself Occupied

Bonjour a tous!

      So living here has certainly been a wonderful experience, but now that I'm fully settled into classes, and now that I finally feel completely at home with my host family, it dawned on me the other day that I absolutely need to do something to keep me occupied, as well as interact with French people of all ages.  As much as I do love my American friends here, I need to speak the language and develop the reflex to speak randomly without really needing to think about anything (I think I'm almost there!)  So below are some of the things I am going to do to immerse myself even further into the French language and culture:

1.  Volunteering at the American Corner      Okay, so I know that I came here to get away from the busy life I lived in the United States, but I guess I'm just a sucker for punishment!  I miss my job at the YMCA dearly, but obviously I can't work there while I'm here (sorry guys!).  So I decided to volunteer at the American Corner, which is the first building of its kind to be built in Grenoble.  The grand opening is this Thursday, and they are expecting nearly 500 guests!  The mayor of Grenoble, along with French officials and Consulate representatives, will be there in order to introduce the building which will be located in La Maison de l'International.  
      So what exactly will I be doing there?  Well that my friends is a good question, seeing as I really don't know.  I know that my work will include giving French students resources in order to help them study abroad in America.  Aside from that, I really don't know what else I'll be doing.  but you know what, not only will this be a great experience, but volunteering at the FIRST EVER AMERICAN CORNER and being amongst the first volunteers might actually boost my resume.

2.  Volunteering at Nursing Homes and Hospitals

      Many people who are friends with me might potentially see this as bizarre.  Once again, I am a sucker for punishment, and I apparently am addicted to working.  I will be performing music for the elderly on Wednesdays, probably singing and playing the guitar for 45 minutes.  Now how did this opportunity come about?  Well that's an entirely different story, seeing as I had a conversation with a French woman on the phone for 20 minutes.  Understanding French is difficult enough face to face, but nearly impossible on the phone.
      
3.  Le Feu

      So I may have mentioned this a few times before, but I'm going to reiterate it once more.  The Feu is an Evangelical organization located in various cities throughout France.  In Grenoble, every Sunday, there is a gathering at the Feu where students from all over Grenoble pay a couple of euros, eat crepes, and just have fun.  For me, it was a bit difficult at first, because conversation was very difficult to follow.  Now, on Tuesdays, I'm going to be regularly running to the Bastille on Tuesdays with some guys that I met there.  Pretty neat, huh? 

4.  Shopping

     I'm not talking about walking into the nearest shopping super-center to actually go shopping, although that can be useful.  I'm talking about walking around stores without having any goal in particular.  The other day, I knew I needed a pair of shoes, so I found a cheap sports store and started walking around.  In the end, I walked out with a nice pair of shoes, along with a membership card to get discounts!  I'm pretty excited, to say the least.

5.  Teaching Others

      So I have actually been blessed with the presence of living with another international student during my stay, also from the United States.  He and his friend are both here in order to prepare for their stay in Niger, where they will be participating in an International Mission.  Both of them have significantly less French experience, but have both come a long way in the short time I have known them.  They are extremely dedicated and well motivated, and I must say, I keep them both in the highest regards.  I've been speaking with them in French, and helping them whenever they need it.  It is bizarre, really.  You never realize how much you actually know about a language until you need to help someone else out!
     The other bizarre thing is that the student living with me studied math!  I never thought I would be having a conversation about Dynamics, LaTeX, Difference Equations, Stochastics, or Real and Complex Analysis during my stay!  Seeing as this student has also received his Master's Degree in Applied Mathematics, I look up to him a great deal.  It truly is amazing, the friends one can meet while far away from home...

6.  Speaking With Other International Students      So making French friends can be particularly difficult, seeing as the majority of the population speaks very quickly.  A good way to start is by speaking with other international students who are there to learn the language as well.  Many international students do speak English, but sometimes, it is easier to mediate in the French language.  You are both there for the same reason, so you both will understand the effort required to speak the language.  In particular, I have met one German man who seems to be just as motivated to learn the French language as I am, and we try our hardest not to speak as much English when we're around each other. 

      So to say the least, I've had some pretty amazing experiences here.  I'm happy to finally be settling in here, and I think I might be falling in love with this country.

Not the most attractive picture of me ever, seeing as I was practically crying as the sun scorched my corneas.  But hey, it wouldn't be a proper blog post without a picture, huh? 

A bientot, and LEAVE ME SOME COMMENTS!Michael
 

The Placement Test

Bonjour tout le monde!

So today is probably the least active Sunday I have had during my stay in France.  Typically, Sundays are devoted to family life.  For example, with my host family, we typically go on hikes or small day trips.  However, this weekend, I was left at home and had to cook for myself (Yikes!).  

I’ve been here for three weeks now, and I really can’t believe that it’s been that long.  Some days, time seems to pass very slowly, while others are gone within the blink of an eye.  This week has been rather uneventful, so I guess I’ll describe the situation regarding the courses I am taking.  

The Placement Test

Upon my arrival in Grenoble, I had to take a placement test which is given to all international exchange students at the university which I am intending, the Université Stendhal—Grenoble 3. 

Now one thing I have found out in my life is that I am absolutely awful at any form of standardized testing.  If the test is for a grade in my courses, I typically pass with flying colors.  But as soon as someone hands me a piece of paper which has a greater impact on my future, of course I choose this time of all times to perform poorly.  

So about that test… it was AWFUL.  And by awful, I mean pretty ridiculously terrible, and I had no idea what was going on for most of it.  

The first part of the test was an interview with a professor at the university to assess my oral production skills.  Prior to leaving for France, I would have assumed that this would have been my weakness, but it turns out that I’m not half bad at speaking the language.  I got my point across, and still remain confident that I performed well during the interview.    

And then, the written test began, with 35 minutes worth of oral comprehension.  An audio tape of “episodes” was played, and each episode was played twice.  After each episode, the questions became a bit more difficult, and by the end of the audio tape, we were listening to a full-blown French interview, during which the only word I could actually understand was l’eau.  At this point during the test, I remember distinctly thinking to myself, fantastic job Mike, fantastic.  Out of the hundreds of words spit out during this interview, you understood one?  

Then, FINALLY, the writing section was given.  This section I felt fairly confident in, although it was a bit tricky.  I can write fairly well if I am given the topic to start with, but I am absolutely awful at finishing other people’s sentences.  And sure enough, that’s what I had to do.

My Placement Ordeal

After the test was over, we received our results the next day.  I was placed in Niveau B1.3, which was much lower than I had expected.  Here is a brief explanation of how the Nieveaus work:

A1- Low Beginner

A2- High Beginner

B1- Low Advanced

B2- High Advanced

C1- To be honest, I’m not exactly sure what this level is actually called, because barely anyone ever tests into it.  At this point, students start taking classes with actual French students, instead of being isolated with the other exchange students.

C2- For all intents and purposes, you are essentially fluent at this level.

Now I knew that I had not performed as well as I would have liked at this point, but I was expecting a little bit higher.  After two days-worth of sitting through the most BORING classes of my life, during which our teacher repeatedly drilled les adjectifs, le passé compose, et l’imparfait  into our heads, I spoke with her and asked if I could change levels.  Sure enough, they moved me up into B1.5, which is a much better fit, although still not as challenging as I would like.

Well, I guess I’ll describe the classes at some other point, seeing as this entry has become much longer than I had intended.  Jusqu’à demain, mes amis!

My Typical Daily Routine

Bonjour tout le monde! 

So how is everyone doing?  For the first time during my visit, I think I can safely say that I am, in fact, doing perfectly fine.  The past couple weeks have indeed been rough, but now that I'm starting to settle into a normal schedule and I'm starting to find my way around the city, things are starting to look up (not that I was doing horribly before.  After all, I am in France...duh)!

So I guess by now all are you are probably wondering, gee, it looks like Mike is having a great time and going to see all of these fantastic places.  What does he actually do every day?  Well, to put your mind at rest, let me describe to you my typical day and how it works.

My Typical Daily Routine

I wake up fairly early, but some days are earlier than others.  After waking up, one must open les volets, which must be opened every morning and closed each night.  More or less, they are like blinds, except are located on the outside of the windows.  Now look at what I see just about every time I open my windows:

Clouds rolling over the snow covered mountains... I know you're jealous.

At the earliest, I wake up at 06:55, and begin to take a shower.  The showers here are strange!!!!!!!! One does not simply stand under the spout, nor does one have the option of doing so, at least in my house! I actually have to use the shower head to clean myself off... Life is rough.

After I shower, I usually grab a quick breakfast, whether it is a bowl of cereal or a piece of bread.  If you are the last person to eat breakfast, it is polite to put away all of the breakfast foods which are normally already set out for you.  After I'm done eating, I lock up the house and head off to the bus stop.  I hop the on the bus, and then push the

THE BUS is probably the only form of public transportation which I dislike here, but even so, it's better than the United States.  One looks up the bus schedule which is usually posted at the bus stop, and simply wait.  Then, I scan my TAG card on this cool looking device, and when "Bon Voyage" pops up on the screen, you're good to go!  If you don't have a TAG card, you simply have to pay... 

*Note: You MUST push the BIG GREEN BUTTON to request a stop, the MOMENT AFTER the stop before yours.  If not, the bus driver will become very angry and then begin to swear at you in French.  This actually happened to me, and trust me, I will never make that mistake again!

Then after I get off of the bus, I hop on the tram.  The tram is probably my favorite aspect of public transportation.  It's clean, fast, and just outright efficient, more-so than anything I have ever seen in the United States.  The tram can get you from one end of the city to the other in about 30 minutes, and there are four different tram lines, which are pretty self explanatory.


Look at it this way.  I couldn't figure out the T in Boston, but I could do this.  It's foolproof.

And then, my day becomes BORING.  Really, classes are classes.  Whether you are in the United States, Canada, New Zealand, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Portugal, or Australia, classes are classes.  I will explain to those of you who read French the courses which I am following later on.  That is too difficult to explain.

Eventually, I return home, go for a run, and then eat dinner with the host family.  I will post another entry later on to describe the meal structure, because it's much more than I could sufficiently explain in one blog entry.  I roll the volets down, and then, I go to bed.

So on a more adventurous note...

So, I'm thinking about going paragliding or hang gliding in October (For all of my friends and family, don't worry, I will obviously be doing this with a trained instructor strapped to my back)!  Essentially, with a fully opened parachute, I run off of the top of a cliff and glide over the mountains for 20 minutes.  It's within my budget, so what do you guys think?  Please post comments and let me know!

Taking off!!!

It's really popular in the Alps.  That's part of the reason I want to do it!  I may as well do something I know I'm not going to be able to do while I live in Rhode Island.

After take off. 

 PLEASE COMMENT AND LET ME KNOW WHAT YOU THINK!

Until next time, mes amis!

COMMENTS!!!!!!!

Bonjour tout le monde.

Okay, so I promise that this is the last post I will be writing for today.  But I really just want to tell all of you...COMMENTS!  PLEASE GIVE ME COMMENTS!  

Let me know what you like, dislike, want to see more of, whether its in English, French, or whatever other languages!!!  I'll translate them!  JUST LEAVE COMMENTS!

Welcome to Grenoble!

So the first few days I've spent here have been rather hectic and highly stressful, and I've had an onslaught of new information driven into my brain to the point where I don't know how much more of it I can hold.  I guess I really need to get some of it out, so here we go.

Remember those things a few posts ago that I said I would miss from home?  Well it turns out that I need to revise that list:

      ~ My family.  No, guys, I'm not putting this up here just because I know I'll get yelled at.  I do miss all of you, and it's been a big adjustment living with someone else, especially in another language.

      ~ Artificial sugar.  No, really, I'm serious!  Here life is bread, bread, bread and fruit all around!  Breakfast?  Cereal, or bread with Nutella.  A lot of croissants, actually.  Lunch consists of a sandwich with a drink and occasionally a desert, or pastry.  And then bread is served with dinner, which is usually extremely savory and almost too rich for my stomach to handle.  Christ, just give me a bag of gummy bears already!  Don't get me wrong, the food is delicious, but au mon dieu...

      ~ Boneless buffalo wings.  Yeah, so I guess one would say that I'm absolutely a typical American.  They don't exist here, and I think I'm going through withdrawals and it's only been a week.

      ~ Hearing English.  Yes, I am here to learn French, but even while I'm with the other American exchange students, I hear more French than I can sometimes comprehend.  It's really awkward when a 12 year old French boy walks up to you and asks you what time it is, and you barely understand a word that he mumbles.  Which brings me to an interesting cultural insight.

*If the young people don't want foreigners or the older people to understand what they're saying, they'll take the end of a word and tack it on the front instead.  I guess the American equivalent would be "Pig Latin."*

And now, I think it's time for some pictures because you all must definitely be sick of my ranting.  

This is the typical picture you would see if you looked up Grenoble on Google right now.  Go ahead, I dare you.

La Bastille-  A fortress that is a popular tourist attraction.  Saturday, I walked to the Bastille, and then CLIMBED to the Bastille.  It was actually pretty incredible.

These tiny circles actually mark the limits of the old city.  We had to look for them during a scavenger hunt, and were really embarrassed when the local simply pointed at the ground...

Pizza au quatre fromages: 4 cheese pizza with goat cheese, and three other cheeses which I can't spell in English...

L'embleme de Dauphine:  A pretty sick fountain if you ask me.  I kind of want it in my back yard!

C'est moi!  At the top of a mountain, overlooking La Grand Chartreuse. 

So as you can see, I have been having some fun while I've been here.  It's been exhausting, both mentally and physically, but it has absolutely been worth it so far.  A bientot, mes amis.

Where I'll Truly Be Spending the Next Four Months

Bonjour tout le monde (encore)!

Okay, so I have already written one entry in French today, and I think it would only be fair that I write another one in English for all of you who don't speak it.  However, I'm not going to translate any of my French entries, so as far as reading the other ones...good luck!  You're on your own (I recommend using Google translate).

So last Thursday, after spending an exhausting four days in Paris, we took the train into Grenoble.  It was indeed a long, nerve-racking train ride for multiple reasons.  First of all, I barely slept the night before.  Secondly, the sun was beating down through the windows the entire time.  And last, but most certainly not the least, I was going to be meeting my host family in less that three hours.

For those of you who have studied abroad before, you absolutely understand the stress of living with a host family, and never having met them before.  Questions begin to race through your head, and you begin to create fictional scenarios which would never happen to anyone but you.  Here were some of the thoughts that crossed my mind just before I got off the train:

      ~ What if they don't like me?  How silly I was to have thought this.  In all reality, they have chosen to take on a host student because they want you to be there. 

      ~ What if I do something wrong?  This isn't actually a "what if" situation.  The fact is, you WILL do something wrong, and that's perfectly okay.  You are living in an entirely new country, with customs that you are not familiar with. 

      ~ What if I say something wrong?  Once again, this is not a "what if" situation.  You will say something wrong.  After all, that is the reason why I came here.  I am here to learn a language, and one can only learn a language if they are willing to make mistakes.  And by mistakes, I mean a lot of mistakes.

      ~ What if I don't know what they're saying?  Just go with the flow!  I don't consider myself nearly proficient enough in French to understand what my host family has been saying half the time while I'm here.  Eventually, you'll just catch on.  And little by little, you'll start to understand more and more.  It will start with one or two words, and then eventually you'll even understand their jokes!

      ~ What if I don't like the food?  Well this one is something that I just had to get over.  I came into this with a completely open mind, and I have tried foods that look like things I would typically never, have eaten during the rest of my life.  Just go with the flow, and try everything!

Many other thoughts had crossed my mind, but I forgot most of them now.  Actually, as soon as I stepped off the train and met my host father, any and all thoughts went out the window, and I could barely remember how to say hello in French.  But I pulled it together and so far I've had an amazing experience.  I've gone hiking with my host family, and even tried rock climbing with my host brother (definitely something I want to do again)!

Well, until the next blog of another topic, which will be coming very soon... au revoir!
 

Le francais commence...

Bonjour tout le monde!

      Avant que je commence, je voudrais dire deux choses.  En premier, je suis désolé que la grammaire dans ce blog soit si terrible.  Je n’écris pas souvent en français, et c’est la première que fois que je l’essayerai.  Deuxièmement, je veux dire merci à tous qui me suivent!  Je comprends que ma grammaire soit horrible, mais je souhaite qu’aux moins vous me compreniez.

            Je m’appelle Mike, et je suis un étudiant qui étudie à l’Université Stendhal- Grenoble 3 ce semestre.  Je suis les études de la langue et culture française.  J’étudie à l’Université de Rhode Island normalement, mais ce semestre, j’ai choisi d’étudier à l’étranger en France !  Pour l’instant je n’ai assisté à qu’un seul cours, donc je vous décrirai les autres plus tard.  Pour aujourd’hui, je décrirai mon bref séjour à Paris.

            Je suis arrivé en France le 2 septembre à 6h du matin.  Pendant tout le vol, je n’ai pas pu dormir, et donc, quand j’y suis arrivé, j’étais vraiment fatigué.  Quand je suis arrivé à l’aéroport de Charles de Gaulle, j’ai été accueilli par un représentant de API (Academic Programs International), l’organisation qui m’a aidé avec la préparation pour mon séjour.  Et après ça, nous sommes allés à l’hôtel, et puis, nous avons explorés la grande ville de Paris.

            Paris, la ville de l’amour, était vraiment incroyable.  Il n’est pas possible que je puisse vous expliquer toutes les activités que j’ai faites, donc j’ai choisi deux bâtiments spécifiques.  Le premier était la Cathédrale de Notre Dame.

En 1163, la construction de Notre Dame a commencé.  La construction du bâtiment a durée pendant 200 ans.  Pensons que  NOTRE pays, les États-Unis, a seulement 236 ans !  Ce bâtiment est plus vielle que les États-Unis, et la construction de Notre Dame est presque aussi vieux que les États-Unis.   Les 2^eme et 3^eme étages de Notre Dame ont été redésignés de 1220 à 1230, et il y a eu aussi des rénovations plus récentes en 1845. 

Les Tours de Notre Dame

Les vitraux

Le deuxième bâtiment que j’ai choisi de décrire est La Sainte Chapelle, dans le Palais de la Cité.  Le Palais de la Cité était la résidence des rois pendant du 10i^eme  au 14i^eme siècles.  La Sainte Chapelle a été construite entre 1242 et 1248, et était un symbole du pouvoir du roi.  Au 1^er étage de la chapelle, il y a des vitraux qui décrivent les scènes de la Genèse, l’Exode, et d’autres scènes religieuses.  Le sol qu’on voit dans ces photos n’est pas le sol original qu’on voyait au 10^eme siècle.  Le vrai sol était composer de marbre, et quand la lumière brillait dans les vitraux, la salle était « comme les cieux. »

Les vitraux- La Sainte-Chapelle

Le sol- pas le marbre!

 Je pense que c'est tout pour maintenant.  A la fois proachain!
Mike