Year Abroad #1

Bonjour à tous!

If you read my blog regularly, you will know that I have just started my year abroad in Tours, France. As of today, I've been here for almost two weeks. For the first week, I stayed in a holiday apartment with my parents, but I moved into my own flat this Saturday!

Bye bye England!

It's been a very busy two weeks so far. On the first couple of days I had flat viewings, so I had to try and navigate myself around using a map, and also figure out the bus timetable. You can imagine this not going very well at all. I was late to more than a few of my viewings because I got lost, and also because buses here seem to initiate a cloaking device when they approach their designated stop, and just disappear! I was also stood up by a couple of landlords on the second day of visiting flats, with one lady leaving me an incorrect telephone number, so when I rang it, the person on the other end had no idea what I was talking about. I'm not ashamed to say that after a full day of walking the length and breadth of the Loire Valley and being messed around, I burst into tears in the middle of the street. That aside, I did eventually have some luck, and managed to find an apartment right in the city centre and next to the university with another girl, who is also a student. She's been really helpful and kind so far, and even helped me set up my French bank account and invited me out with her friends, who are probably some of the nicest people I've ever encountered!

Snails!

Tours a really, really gorgeous town, with Tudor style buildings and narrow streets. There is also plenty to do here, in spite of the fact it is quite a small town, with a plethora of bars and restaurants in Place Plumereau and Rue Colbert, and a couple of shopping streets. The Loire Valley is also quite a popular tourist destination, because of the many Chateaux along the Loire river, so there is plenty to do throughout the whole region. I'm looking forward to exploring the region, because I've never really been to France, but I love it so far. I'm especially looking forward to going to the Zooparc Beauval and seeing the Giant Pandas!!!

They do things really differently over here, and French bureaucracy is just as bad as its reputation suggests. It took me three visits to the bank to set up my bank account, and you pretty much need two photocopies of your passport to do anything! The registration process at the university was pretty ridiculous, too, with a mountain of paper work to sign 'lu et approuvé, Kate Dyer'. I kind of expect it now, and it's become a bit of a running joke with me and my friends. It's a different culture, and I just have to accept it (although I think the way the British do things is definitely more efficient...not biased at all...).

The River Loire and Pont Wilson

I still haven't completely settled in or started uni yet, so it's hard to say anything particularly helpful, or interesting. One thing I can say, is from my first impression of my year abroad, is that it's actually been OK so far. Everyone has been really kind to me, and understanding of the fact my French isn't that great at the moment. So, to anyone who, like I was last year, is super nervous about their year abroad: don't be. You're going to make mistakes and probably sound a bit like Borat sometimes, but it's ok. It's how you learn, and then you never do it again, and then you get better. Say 'yes' to invites out, even if you know you'll spend most of the night feeling like a wally, and not understanding much of what's going on. If you show that you're interested, people won't assume that you're a 'weird international student who stays in his/her room all of the time', and will probably let you off for being a bit quiet/ butchering the native language.