During my "24-hour layover" in the Paris Charles-de-Gaulle airport, I realized something: the French (at least the people in CDG) are quite "chill." Everyone kind of does their own thing. Even the Starbucks at the airport has a French café feel to it--it's decked out with couches and tables, and if you wanted to, you could stay there for hours and no one would bother you at all (which I totally took advantage of). I suppose American Starbucks are like that too, but the whole "stay as long as you want" thing is very typically French café culture. I've decided that this Starbucks is my favorite spot in the airport because the couches are comfy, and it's really close to the airport bathrooms (which thankfully are free. Turns out some bathrooms cost money in Europe! I have yet to discover if these bathrooms are better than the free ones, but that may be an adventure for another day).
My Starbucks home by Terminal 2BD
It may have just been the airport environment, but I can't tell if the average French person is just less friendly than the average American. Perhaps it's just a Paris thing. A lot of them cut in front of you in a queue, and no one blessed me after I sneezed! Haha, it's such common courtesy in the US that it's surprising when it doesn't happen. Everyone I've met in Aix so far has been really kind, so maybe it was just a single mediocre experience.
Also, check out this recharging bike station at the TGV in Paris CDG! If you pedal, you can charge your laptop, phone, and tablet!
After a grueling 24 hours in the airport and maybe about 2 hours of sleep, it was finally time to board the TGV. I should mention that I did a 3-day AP Physics project on maglev trains, so I've wanted to ride one ever since. America definitely needs these because I think they've become one of my favorite modes of transportation (much better than the Pitt buses home). And they are so fast! Even in second class, it was pretty comfortable. I was in an aisle seat, but I still got a great view of the countryside across France.
View of the TGV station from Terminal 2E of the airport
MAGLEV MAGLEV
Video of the countryside. I wanted to see if it would demonstrate the speed.
For the first part of the ride, I was unsure of whether I should talk to the lady in the seat next to me. My first impression of the French was that they were pretty introverted, so I didn't want to be rude and talk to her if she didn't want to be talked to. I was also tired so I ended up taking a pretty hefty nap while she read her Agatha Christie book. However, when I awoke, I knew I was going to regret not talking to her (since I'm all about meeting new people!) so I asked her where she was from.
Turns out, my TGV companion was from Belgium. She looked to be about in her late forties. Or maybe younger, or older. I'm really bad at telling ages. I originally asked her where she was from in French, but she smiled and looked at me like she didn't understand what I was saying, so I gave up and we chatted in English. I kind of feel like everyone in France, or maybe even Europe, speaks perfect British English. I told her I was a student from the United States, and we chatted briefly about how she's visited the US, but never stayed long. She's been to NYC, Boston, Florida, and Chicago! But only for a couple of days each. She got off on the station before mine, so we bid each other adieu.
The most stressful part of my day by far was changing trains to get to Aix. I was supposed to arrive at the Marseille train station at 12:17 to catch another train at 12:42, but the train didn't get to Marseille until 12:36! Thankfully, the trains were right next to each other, but I still ended up running into a first class compartment, where a kind train manager told me I could stay where I was since it was only 1 stop from Aix. It all worked out, and I am pleased to say that I am safe in Aix now!
At the Aix train station, I met Nancy from CEA, who was there to pick up me and another girl, Katie. Nancy was originally from England, but she moved to France twenty years ago to be with her husband and has lived in Aix for (if I remember correctly) the last 13 years. Have I mentioned that a lot of people here speak perfect British English? Since they do, people often use the word, "lovely," to describe things, especially each other, and Vivienne, the program director for us, told me that the English would say that the weather is "bloody hot" (currently 91 F ugh ugh ugh).
In Aix, I am doing a homestay with a woman called Marie-Claude. First of all, she's awesome. She's so kind, and she's very patient when I speak! She's a retired lady who lives by herself in a 3-bedroom apartment, and she hosts two students at a time. The other student, Lucie, is a French student who is home for the weekend, so I haven't met her yet. Here is my room! I get a whole queen-sized bed to myself for the first time ever!
My room
From what I understand, Marie-Claude worked in the medical field as well as national education. I'm not exactly sure I understood what she did, perhaps she's the equivalent of a very important school nurse? I'm pretty sure the medical system here is quite different from the US, so I'm not sure what she did, just that she worked with students of all ages and checked their body functions, amongst other things.
Marie-Claude and I told each other about our families. She has a son and two cute grandchildren, 14 and 2. She is so nice! She even set aside a shelf for me in her fridge. I think this is pretty rare because I've heard horror stories about people being very protective and not even letting their homestays enter the kitchen without permission. She said I should ask my parents for some recipes so that we can cook Chinese food. Haha! We just had a very nice dinner with a slice of pizza (they eat pizza with forks and knives here), shredded carrot salad thingy, bread and cheese, and this apple cake thing. I made a faux-pas when she asked if I wanted yogurt, and I said, No, I'm ok, je suis pleine, which actually means "I'm pregnant," so we laughed and she taught me to say, Je suis rassassié, which from what I understand is kind of an old-fashioned version of saying I'm full. We talked about education being super expensive in France and the United States, and the places we lived. I think the dinner lasted like an hour and a half at least!
Marie-Claude says that the French are very environmentally conscious, so they are pretty conservative when it comes to water and showering. I have to be considerate about noise in the apartment because we live in such close proximity to other people (no showering after 10 PM, for example).
At around 5:30, I met most of my other fellow CEA students at Happy Hour at a local café. I am the only one doing a homestay in my group, and the others all live in apartments in Aix. Since Marie-Claude and I mostly speak to each other in French aside from the occasional English word (she says I understand everything and I speak very well--yay!), when I got to Happy Hour, I was so disoriented from exhaustion that I started slipping French words to people I would normally speak English with! Haha. Anyway, my fellow CEA peeps unanimously agreed that we needed to travel on the weekends. We don't have classes on Fridays, so it was suggested that we go rock climbing by the sea sometime. So maybe we'll do that!
By now I'm so tired that I think whatever jetlag was remaining has been demolished, like the apple cake that Marie-Claude and I shared. This has been a long post, since it has been a long day! So much is happening in these first few days that I feel the need to share all of it. Good night, everyone!
-Cindy
