Exchange in France 09-10

So I am only starting my third week of classes but I already have tons of reading to do. Today was so sunny and gorgeous, I was trying to read in my room but was mostly just looking out the window and not getting much done. So I packed up my books and walked down a wooded path to the park, where there were tons of students and some families all sitting in the grass, reading, playing soccer and some just basking in the sun. I read for an hour and a half before going back home to make dinner. I loved being out in the sun and getting homework done but still being able to watch everything going on around me, what a better way to study than sitting in my room all alone.

Man, I can't believe Tuesday marks three weeks that I have been here. The first week flew by in a series of meetings and city tours. We had to finalize our course schedules and choose a 5th course to take, settle into residence, learn how to use the tram and bus systems, and learn our way around town. Professor Robert Ryan from the University of Waterloo was with us for the first week, he had lived in Nantes for a couple of years, so he showed us around to some of the must see things in Nantes so that we could go back and visit them at a more leisurely pace another time.

On top of this we also met our host families the first weekend. My family is a retired couple, they have a son who is married with two children, I haven't met him yet. The first weekend they took me to the beach in a town called St. Brevin, where they have a small one bedroom apartment just across the road from the beach. They are very nice people.

The second week was the beginning of classes, a little stressful but not too bad. Most of our profs are really nice and have awesome teaching styles that make even grammar a pretty interesting class. I have four mandatory classes: philosophy, grammar, history and 20th century literature. The class that I chose as a 5th course is 17th and 18th century literature, the prof is again very interesting and seems to know his stuff really well, so I am looking forward to it.

There is a church just down the street that I go to on Saturday nights, it is such a wonderful community, the priests are very nice, and they have a student group that I joined. There is also another Christian student group called Agape (a.ga.pay) who meet on Thursday nights for "bibou" (bible et bouffe), or bible study and a potluck meal, I have been twice and love the atmosphere, I have met many other students and they're all such lovely people. They also play basketball together on Saturdays and soccer on Sundays, I haven't gone yet, but I plan to sometime.

I am starting to find my belonging place in this new country.

I am...
. a third year university student
. studying at University of Nantes, France for 2 semestres

My goals while here...
. to improve my written and oral skills in French
. not to forget all the Spanish I learned during the summer
. to experience the culture as much as I can

The purpose of this blog...
. to stay in touch with friends and family back home
. to share my experiences and photos
. to keep a sort of journal about my time here

I hope you enjoy reading my stories and leave comments :)

thanks for following along