Mikhal's fun in France
Monday, January 26, 2004
I just had a wonderful first weekend in Nantes... Friday night I went with Mailys to her Catholic girls group thing since they were having an American dinner and met a bunch of great people there. There were two other Americans there (the ones that made the dinner), who are studying in Rennes, and the leaders of the group are probably a few years older than me, and they're both awesome. We had corn dogs, potato salad, brownies, and rice crispie bars (great representation of American food, I know). Afterwards the other two Americans talked a bit about holidays in the US and had brought pictures having to do with their lives in the US. Then I helped them teach a few line dances, then the French people taught us some dances, and it turned into a great little dance party!
Saturday I got my hair cut (!!) and... it's short. Shorter than it's been since I was... 1 1/2 maybe when it was growing out for the first time? Craziness. I'm getting used to it though, and I have to say I think it's kinda cute... I might even keep it this way... maybe 4 inches longer or so though so I can put it in a polytail, that'd be great =). Then Brian and I met up w/ some other IES kids by H&M (yes, like the one in NY), and we went shopping... I didn't get much, but it was fun to just walk around. Apres ca, I tried the bus out for the first time, trying to find that church and the times for Sunday. Well, turns out it doesn't exist but God had other plans... I looked up another Eglise Evangelique, and actually found one closer to my house that I can walk to.
So I woke up at a random time on Sunday not knowing when the service was, but planning to go around 10 and see if the service was at 10 or 11 or something... a lot of the services here are later like that. I was running late so I got there about 10:15, which was absolutely perfect b/c the service was at 10:30. So i was there a little early to meet people, and as I was walking in I asked in French what time the services were to a guy that was going up the steps... and he answers in English, "uh... 10:30 I think". I think he knew my question because he heard "heure", but he's actually English, and was there for the day. There were two visiting English pastors there from a church that's now actually in Whales, but it was great b/c the sermon was in English, and translated into French, so I got to understand the whole thing, and hear a lot of useful translations! The songs were in French, and the worship was wonderful. The reason the visiting pastors were there from Whales is because the pastor of the church used to work with them in England, and he left to start the church here. So the pastor speaks English as his first language! I am excited to speak French as much as possible, but it's good to know that if I need to ask a question or talk to him in English, he's available for that! The church is very small and kind of had the feel of a church I once went to in Brasil... not kept up the best I guess, but it's absolutely perfect for me as it's small and the people there are absolutely wonderful. I met a girl about my age there named Lucy who I'd like to get to know better, and had a great conversation before the service with one of the visiting pastors who's probably about 27 or so. He was as happy as I was to find someone else who speaks English, so we talked for quite a while.
That was the highlight of my weekend, although I also enjoyed meeting Alexia and Stanislas, who are just as nice as the rest of their family. My host family thought it was weird that I wanted to take a nap after church on Sunday, and I tried to explain that that's what people (or at least my family and my friends at school) do on Sunday afternoons! I also met Beatrice's father, or the grandfather of the kids. We had a special dinner of oysters since he was there! yes, I did try one, no I did not like it. Mailys was gracious enough to discretly take the rest of the one I tried. I made it up to her later by helping her w/ her math homework, which I actually understood right away and was able to explain to her by showing her my work and adding in the bits of French I know that have to do with math!
Today is our first day of real classes, and I didn't have one until 1:30, so I walked around this morning a bit, had lunch, and have had two classes so far today, going on one more.
To test if you actually read this whole thing, I'm putting my cell phone # at the bottom of it! So I'll know who my real friends are... the ones that get my cell phone #, and use it! The number you call from the states is 011-33-6-72-24-91-32. It looks tough, but just dial it, I promise it works. I'll have it on except when I'm in class, and you're free to wake me up at night if you need to, but remember that I sleep from about 5 pm to 2 am your time! People here, you dial 06-72-24-91-32.
Friday, January 23, 2004
Hey Dad don't hate me but I'm getting my hair cut off tomorrow!!! Tonight I'm going to an American dinner with my host sister. Tomorrow Alexia (21) and Stan (13) are coming home for the weekend, so I'll have met the whole family minus Gregoire. Today was our first visit to the actual University, and I'm definately excited about some of the sports options they have =). Each thing meets just one day a week for an hour or so (except ultimate which is longer!!!), so I'm hopefully going to do gymnastics, trampoline, hip-hop, ultimate, and yoga, plus swim and dive at a pool that's much closer to where I live than the university. All that actually should work out, as I'm at the University for classes a couple times a week, and have some free mornings that I can work with!!! That was my exciting find of the day... looking forward to my first weekend in Nantes... I think we're going to do some shopping tomorrow, after the big hair cut of course. Have a wonderful weekend friends!
Tuesday, January 20, 2004
Yesterday and today have been full of administrative type orientation, although today we start the grammar and conversation classes, which is exciting because being here I have so much more of a desire to learn the language. It's frustrating not being able to communicate as well as I want to, especially with my host family. I didn't say too much about them before, so I'll give some details... the parents are Xavier and Beatrice. They 7 -- yes, 7 kids! Four of them are at home right now. Raoul is the oldest at home, he's 16 1/2, and he and I share the upstairs. Maïlys is 15 1/2, and extremely nice... she's a great big sister, and gets along great w/ her parents... she loves telling stories at the dinner table, and is always kind enough to explain more slowly for me the parts I didn't understand. Bourduain is 8, and about the cutest little host brother I could ask for. He is great at teaching me new vocab... we like to play the "qu'est ce que c'est la mot pour ca?" game (what is the word for this) and I point. He loves to come up and play with the bears on my bed, he thinks they're just the best! Marguerite-Marie (Mimi) is 6 1/2 and about the cutest host sister I could ask for. She's tiny for a 6 1/2 year old, but very smart. She wanted to sit in my lap the very first night, and she loves for me to carry her around while Bourduain chases us! She loves to play Barbie, although all we do is change their clothes over and over =). They have a 13 1/2 year old named Stanislas (Stan), but he is only there some weekends... I haven't met him yet. He also lives on the top floor, but his room is empty now. The older two are Alexia (21)... I have her old room, and I know she's an artist... she has some great drawings up in her room, as well as a mural on one wall of a beach scene... which she didn't paint, but it's very artsy in and of itself, and fun to look at =). Grégoire is 22 1/2, and is off working... in Paris maybe? Not sure on that one. Anyway, they are very Catholic, and don't know much about Protestants, so it's fun to try to describe the differences to them, although I think we'll have to wait a couple months maybe for my French to improve before we can really have a complete discussion on the subject. I haven't been in Nantes for a Sunday yet, but it was recommended to me by Pastor Livingston... my former pastor at All Nations in Iowa City to find an Eglise Evangelique, which I did, and I believe I can even figure out how to take the bus there =)... so I'm excited to go there this weekend. the University of Nantes also has a Campus for Christ program, so I'll ahve to check that out! We haven't even made it over to the actual University yet (it's across the river, while we're very close to downtown), but I believe that's scheduled for Thursday. My conversation class is next and my friend Brian and I are going on a search for a good café before that so I better take off! Happy 8:00 in the morning to all of you on the other side of the world! Much love to all!
Sunday, January 18, 2004
Tours was great, and it was nice to have a few days w/ the other IES students, but I'm ready to dive back into the French! We spent the last three days visiting chateaux (castles)... we went to Blois, Angloise, Chenonceau, and Chambord. Chambord was the last and probably my favorite, but they all were unique and have some really cool history behind them. We got tours of all but Chenonceau and learned a lot of history, and Chenonceau was a story that kind of told itself... all the rooms have been restored w/ furniture and everything, so we got to see what the beds were like, there were still original tapestries hanging on the walls, and the kitchens had even been restocked with what they used then. I even got to crawn in the oven! Today was spent taking placement tests for this next week of our "Intensive French Orientation Class", and then driving back to Nantes. I'm finally realizing why my French professors have always made us do dictées... apparently they're important in learning French or something =). It was nice to have experience w/ that part of the test. The food here is wonderful, although I suppose that applies more to the bread, cheese, and pastries than anything else. I've had some great salads too... the fish and porc and chicken off the bone I have more trouble with, but it will be easier now that we're back to our host families and won't be eating out every meal! We had fun walking around downtown Tours this weekend... we ate at one créperie twice because it was wonderful... and the service was great. People here are all very nice. It's a little awkward still giving bisous (the kisses on the cheek when we say hello and goodbye), but I'm getting used to it... I felt like Baroness Schraeder when I gave my host family their gifts the first night b/c they all came up and gave me a kiss on the cheek... except hopefully I'm slightly better liked by them than Baroness Schraeder was by the VonTrap children. The cars here are all very small, but they are still amazing parallel parkers. The streets are just lined with cars during the day, and there is not more than a few inches between them. The buildings are still difficult for me to distinguish because I haven't done much exploring of Nantes, and the streets go in all different directions, but I will figure it out soon hopefully!
Thursday, January 15, 2004
Bonjour toute la monde! Wow... I made it. I was absolutely terrified all the way here, but took a big sigh of relief after meeting my host family, and seeing IES. It's totally overwhelming that everything is in French, but my host family has had American students before, and my French mom (Beatrice) is very good at speaking slowly and explaining what the kids are rattling off to me. They talk so fast! I definately feel a little dumb when the 6 1/2 year old (Marguerite-Marie, or Mimi) is just talking away and I only understand half of what she's saying. I also think being nervous has made me forget about half my French though, so hopefully it will come back soon! So I did make it here safely, although the flight was long. I got a nice 10 hours of sleep last night, and in a few minutes we leave for Tours for orientation, and we get back on Sunday. My family is wonderful, their house is great, people drive on the right side of the road like I'm used to (although most of the streets are one-way and they don't seem to be the most careful drivers), and today I'm leaving for Tours with a bunch of people who speak English! Yes I am eager to work on my French, but it's kind of overwhelming all at once. Anyone back in the states, I'm thinking about all of you, looking fondly at your pictures and remembering you in my prayers... I'll write more later, but now there is a line for the computer. A tout a l'heure!
Saturday, January 03, 2004
Hello friends! If you're reading this, that makes me happy because you found the site =). I'm excited to share my adventures in France with you, for those who are interested in what's going on in Nantes this semester! I hope to post here at least once a week if not more, so you can all stay as updated as you want! I leave from Minneapolis in 9 days and fly to France with a layover in Philadelphia. I've talked to a few of the 60 others on my trip and it sounds like I'll be able to meet some of them in Philadelphia. It'll be nice not to have to brave Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris by myself! This next week will be spent reading, spending time with family and friends in the area that I won't see for quite a while, and madly studying French! I just received the first information about my host family in Nantes yesterday... they are the family de l'Espinay... a couple with four children living at home, between the ages of 6 and 16! Quite the full house it sounds like, but I'm excited to have so many French brothers and sisters! And their house is 1/4 mile from the IES Center where most of my classes will be! If anyone wants to check out where exactly I'll be in Nantes, you can go to http://www.maporama.com/ and enter the address: 8 bis rue Desgrées du Lou 44100 Nantes, France. For those of you needing a reminder of my address and phone # there, my address is
Mikhal Hagstrom
c/o IES Nantes
7, rue des Cadeniers
44000 Nantes
FRANCE
phone # before 2 pm US central time: 001-33-2-40-69-26-67
