So, got to Antibes on Tuesday and it is now Thursday evening. The first 2 days or so have been busy and full of mixed emotions. Therefore blogging has not been top on my list of priorities.
My dad came out with me for the first few days to help me which was good (especially as our hire car turned out the be the coolest Fiat 500 ever. Soft top and everything.) But thanks for coming Dad :-)
Me being me, a complete wimp, I've been tearful for most of the two days I've been here.My last post said I was excited and I kind of am but as soon as it hit me I was actually going to move to a country where I had to speak (pretty poor) French and where I know no one the excitement shimmied away. I majorly need a dose of man up right now.
So, what have I done? I have so far -
- Found the school i'm working in. It's not in Antibes but a town called Sophia Antipolis. It is the weirdest place ever. It's a relatively new town which was made especially to be a business district. The result of this seems to be a mix between Centre-Parcs (off of holidays when I was little) and RHUL campus. It freaked me out when we first got here, but i'm kind of used to it already.
- Met my 'responsable'. This is the person who is supposed to look after me a bit at the school. He seems nice and has given me my timetable and some very exciting books. I have a 'cahier de textes du professeur' where i'm supposed to write down things we do in class and to keep work i've collected from the students, a 'carnet d'appel par professeur' which is basically a register (exciting!). And a 'cahier de textes pour groupe' but i'm really not sure what i'm supposed to do with that one. Maybe I should find out.
- Temporarily move to Lycée accommodation. All I can say is my room is off of the 1970s and it's very orange. Feels like living in halls again, but more ... orange.
- Bought a French mobile. After much confusion I have a french number and the most amazing phone off of the early 2000s, which cost 24euro with 5euro credit on it. I thought that i'd be able to use my iPhone, mais non. I kind of feel like my arm has been chopped off without it, does France not understand that?!
- Organised viewing a flat. But this didn't go well because the flat didn't have a doorbell. How am I supposed to tell someone I'm here if there's no doorbell!? I decided not to go for that one...
- Got stopped in Carrefour on suspicion of shoplifting. This was whilst Dad was still with me, and he was carrying a back pack and the checkout woman wanted to see inside and then security came over. Unfortunately he had in there a pack of biscuits and a pack of croissants. The croissants were from a different shop, but the biscuits were from Carrefour - we just bought them the day before. Of course we didn't have the receipt so I learnt a valuable lesson not to wear a back pack and especially not in Carrefour. We got away with it and I don't think the police are tracking me...
- Opened a bank account. I think. Not entirely sure what i'll end up with or what I've signed up for but I guess we'll see. I don't understand banks in the UK, let alone in France!
- Took a bus. 1Euro a journey, bargain! Much cleaner/tidier/nicer than Wilts and Dorset buses (French bus drivers will answer your question about which stop you want!), even though every time the bus turns a corner you either fall over or fall out of your seat. The french are really bad drivers.
- Met people! I met two other assistants today in Antibes, and I was really glad to meet them and see that I hopefully won't be lonely for the whole time i'm here.
And finally I got over my not sleeping/not eating period caused by anxiety. So therefore, I must go finish my ridiculously massive apple (seriously it's like a melon) and then sleep. Night :-)
Thursday 29 September 2011
Monday 5 September 2011
First Post Nerves
So, I'm moving to France in 22 days. That's 528 hours. That's 'I can't even work out how many' minutes. Despite the past year being about sorting out finances and placements and filling out countless forms I'm excited about going. (I say that now. Come back to me in 500 hours time. Things may be a little different.)
I thought I would try to start a blog to describe my life when I move, thinking that people will ask 'Rose, how's life in France?' and I'll say 'Well, just take a look at my blog whydontcha?' Of course, this may not happen. And I could be writing (as I am now) to no one. Posting onto the Internet for no one to see... The hardest part of this setting up a blog business was thinking up a hilarious name which was both thought provoking and ironic. As you can see, this didn't happen. Instead I called this blog 'Je ne comprends pas,' which I imagine will be a phrase I will be using a lot over the coming year. Unfortunately. I imagine some hilarity could emerge from my wonderful use of Franglais and of course it'll be published onto this blog for everyone to laugh at me. That's another thing - I've never had a blog before and I have two reasons why not. Firstly, I've never had anything to write about before. (I wanted to start one about which clothes I want to buy but can't afford. I was told that was a stupid idea) and secondly, I really don't want to sound pretentious. So I can't promise how well this is going to go. I feel like I might give up on it after approximately 3 posts. Much like a New Years Resolution to start writing a diary every night when you were a kid (I never got past January.)
I imagine everyone reading this I know, and know me. But I have this romantic idea that one day someone from a far corner of the earth will stubble unwillingly along this blog and become so enthralled by the content that they'll want to read every single post. So I'll introduce myself. My name is Rose. I'm 20 years old and currently living in Fordingbridge, UK. It's a teeny place no one's ever heard of so I'll say I'm from Salisbury (which no ones ever heard of either) so maybe I'll then move onto Bournemouth (sometimes that's known.) I go to University in another teeny place called Egham at Royal Holloway. I seem to like living places where no one knows so I say London. Then they say 'oh, where abouts? I've got a friend in Tottenham/Lambeth/Edgware' (delete as appropriate) and then I have to go backwards again and say 'Well actually it's in Surrey...' Anyhoo, I study French and Drama.
Therefore I have to spend my third year abroad in France so I am. I am going to be working for a lycée in Valbonne/Sophia Antipolis teaching English. So, I'm going to be living in Antibes in the b-e-a-utiful Côte d'Azur.
This is probably why I'm excited. Whilst I'm sat at home on a Monday morning and it's half raining, I'm dreaming of warm and sunnier climates. I'm excited about experiencing the French way of life, (but again maybe come back to me in a few weeks when I'm all alone in a hostel in France with no friends...)
My main worry right now is accommodation. I've got no where to live, which is a bit scary. Searching for flatmates on the Internet is weird, I don't like the idea of randomly finding someone and asking them to live with you! Usually I would want to get to know someone before I make such a decision... But, I have faith that I'll find somewhere soon. And in the mean time will procrastinate on making any decisions, preparing in anyway and packing. Maybe I'll go make some lunch instead...
I thought I would try to start a blog to describe my life when I move, thinking that people will ask 'Rose, how's life in France?' and I'll say 'Well, just take a look at my blog whydontcha?' Of course, this may not happen. And I could be writing (as I am now) to no one. Posting onto the Internet for no one to see... The hardest part of this setting up a blog business was thinking up a hilarious name which was both thought provoking and ironic. As you can see, this didn't happen. Instead I called this blog 'Je ne comprends pas,' which I imagine will be a phrase I will be using a lot over the coming year. Unfortunately. I imagine some hilarity could emerge from my wonderful use of Franglais and of course it'll be published onto this blog for everyone to laugh at me. That's another thing - I've never had a blog before and I have two reasons why not. Firstly, I've never had anything to write about before. (I wanted to start one about which clothes I want to buy but can't afford. I was told that was a stupid idea) and secondly, I really don't want to sound pretentious. So I can't promise how well this is going to go. I feel like I might give up on it after approximately 3 posts. Much like a New Years Resolution to start writing a diary every night when you were a kid (I never got past January.)
I imagine everyone reading this I know, and know me. But I have this romantic idea that one day someone from a far corner of the earth will stubble unwillingly along this blog and become so enthralled by the content that they'll want to read every single post. So I'll introduce myself. My name is Rose. I'm 20 years old and currently living in Fordingbridge, UK. It's a teeny place no one's ever heard of so I'll say I'm from Salisbury (which no ones ever heard of either) so maybe I'll then move onto Bournemouth (sometimes that's known.) I go to University in another teeny place called Egham at Royal Holloway. I seem to like living places where no one knows so I say London. Then they say 'oh, where abouts? I've got a friend in Tottenham/Lambeth/Edgware' (delete as appropriate) and then I have to go backwards again and say 'Well actually it's in Surrey...' Anyhoo, I study French and Drama.
Therefore I have to spend my third year abroad in France so I am. I am going to be working for a lycée in Valbonne/Sophia Antipolis teaching English. So, I'm going to be living in Antibes in the b-e-a-utiful Côte d'Azur.
This is probably why I'm excited. Whilst I'm sat at home on a Monday morning and it's half raining, I'm dreaming of warm and sunnier climates. I'm excited about experiencing the French way of life, (but again maybe come back to me in a few weeks when I'm all alone in a hostel in France with no friends...)
My main worry right now is accommodation. I've got no where to live, which is a bit scary. Searching for flatmates on the Internet is weird, I don't like the idea of randomly finding someone and asking them to live with you! Usually I would want to get to know someone before I make such a decision... But, I have faith that I'll find somewhere soon. And in the mean time will procrastinate on making any decisions, preparing in anyway and packing. Maybe I'll go make some lunch instead...
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