Right now, all I can say is WOW! Since my arrival on Saturday around 2:00 pm local time, I’ve learned so much just walking around the city and meeting other students at IAU. The experience of living in Aix-en-Provence is truly unlike any other. To make a comparison, it’s like setting one’s iTunes, Google, and Amazon preferences to French: all the signs, advertisements, and conversations seem familiar, but slightly off. In most of the shop windows, for example, there are signs that say soldes instead of “sales,” and the banter in the streets is similar to overheard snippets of English conversation, but without the flat American accent.
In just three days, I’ve already learned so many words both from browsing in the markets and the store Monoprix (similar to Target in the US) and from listening to my host mother, who says she is very exigeante about using correct French grammar. On Sunday, my roommate and I decided to go to church in the morning, which turned out to be a wonderful way to start our séjour here in France. The messe was all in French, even the hymns and the homily, which was enjoyable to listen to. When we sang the Gloria, which lasted for a very long time, (the Mass itself lasted for an hour and a half!) I thought we were singing the Christmas carol “Angels We Have Heard on High” since the tune was the same; however, the paroles were “Gloire à Dieu, au plus haut des cieux, et paix sur la terre aux hommes qui l’aime,” which are the words to the traditional "Gloria" hymn sung at the beginning of almost every Mass. French-speakers surrounded us on all sides, and when we left the church St. Jean de Malte, we decided to go to the Cours Mirabeau for lunch. Upon finding a small café selling crêpes and ice cream, we sat down and ordered crêpes with la confiture, or Nutella and bananas for my roommate. The people at IAU warned us that the shops and restaurants on the Cours Mirabeau are more expensive, but the cost of our lunch wasn’t too bad since it was only a small café, only three or four euros for each crêpe.
Today was Orientation for the IAU students, and it was very helpful although I was extremely tired from le décalage horaire and it was hard to pay attention at times. We also had to find our own place to eat for lunch, which proved more difficult than I thought! A few students and I ended up buying some food in the Petit Casino, which is a small market with yogurt, milk, baguettes, treats, and other ready-to-eat items, along with uncooked meats and ingredients for les recettes. Overall, it proved to be a pretty successful day. Tomorrow I look forward to starting classes!
l'arrivée: the arrival
exigeante: strict, exacting
un séjour: stay, trip
la messe: Mass
les paroles: lyrics
la confiture: jam, jelly
le décalage horaire: jet lag
les recettes: recipes
Below: L'église St. Jean de Malte, and yours truly on the Cours Mirabeau
In just three days, I’ve already learned so many words both from browsing in the markets and the store Monoprix (similar to Target in the US) and from listening to my host mother, who says she is very exigeante about using correct French grammar. On Sunday, my roommate and I decided to go to church in the morning, which turned out to be a wonderful way to start our séjour here in France. The messe was all in French, even the hymns and the homily, which was enjoyable to listen to. When we sang the Gloria, which lasted for a very long time, (the Mass itself lasted for an hour and a half!) I thought we were singing the Christmas carol “Angels We Have Heard on High” since the tune was the same; however, the paroles were “Gloire à Dieu, au plus haut des cieux, et paix sur la terre aux hommes qui l’aime,” which are the words to the traditional "Gloria" hymn sung at the beginning of almost every Mass. French-speakers surrounded us on all sides, and when we left the church St. Jean de Malte, we decided to go to the Cours Mirabeau for lunch. Upon finding a small café selling crêpes and ice cream, we sat down and ordered crêpes with la confiture, or Nutella and bananas for my roommate. The people at IAU warned us that the shops and restaurants on the Cours Mirabeau are more expensive, but the cost of our lunch wasn’t too bad since it was only a small café, only three or four euros for each crêpe.
Today was Orientation for the IAU students, and it was very helpful although I was extremely tired from le décalage horaire and it was hard to pay attention at times. We also had to find our own place to eat for lunch, which proved more difficult than I thought! A few students and I ended up buying some food in the Petit Casino, which is a small market with yogurt, milk, baguettes, treats, and other ready-to-eat items, along with uncooked meats and ingredients for les recettes. Overall, it proved to be a pretty successful day. Tomorrow I look forward to starting classes!
l'arrivée: the arrival
exigeante: strict, exacting
un séjour: stay, trip
la messe: Mass
les paroles: lyrics
la confiture: jam, jelly
le décalage horaire: jet lag
les recettes: recipes
Below: L'église St. Jean de Malte, and yours truly on the Cours Mirabeau