First Week Over

So my first week of school is finally over! The homework is starting to roll in, and the vacation feeling is starting to wear off. I don't have internet in my room quite yet and I had some homework to do today so I went to a little café beside the canal and had a chocolat chaud and a baguette-beurre-confiture. I felt very Française! I will post some pictures of my friends soon...they are a blast!

First Day of Class

Yesterday was the first day of class! I have a couple 8:30am classes--Monday and Tuesday--but that is fine with me becuase I don't have class Fridays! That makes me so happy because then I can go traveling a bit and not feel bad about missing school :) They give us our timetable for the classes that are mandatory, but I get to choose 2 electives; however, I think I'm going to ask if I can take more than 2 electives becuase I really want to make sure I get credits back to UVic. It's hard becuase I have to choose electives that are similar to courses that I would have had to take in Victoria in order to get credits for it! So it's kind of a guessing game as to whether I actually will get credits, but in any case I'll have learned something new.

One weird thing over here is they don't have regular lined loose leaf paper! All their paper is like graph paper. I have NO idea how they write on it! I've looked in so many stationary stores and I have only found one that sells paper that is like ours. All the notebooks have weird square graph paper! It really is bizarre.

Results of Placement Test!

So apparently I'm in the avancé level for French! I just got my placement test results back and I'm in the DAEF program (Le Diplôme Avancé d'Études Française). There are 5 levels all together and I'm 2nd from the top! So happy! I hope that I get some credits that are transferable back to UVic. Classes start on Monday and I'm so excited! (I know I sound like a geek...but oh well!).

Tonight I also watched the world cup game of Rugby between France and Ireland. It was a win or die situation for France. If they lost to Ireland today they were out of the world cup. I went with some friends I met here (2 Australians and a Norwegian girl) to an Irish pub! It was a blast. Jam packed with people (mostly French surprisingly). I think they were there mainly to taunt the few Irish people in Strasbourg. The Irish lost 3-25. I was rooting for Ireland just to be against the French...plus my name is Irish, so why not? Apparently I was cheering for the wrong side!

La Ville de Strasbourg

Today I will find out how well I did on the placement test which determines what class I will be in for the school year...we'll see how that goes! As I've told some people, I can't wait for classes to start! I love wandering around the city and looking at everything...but I need a schedule to follow and a purpose to my day. I know it sounds weird, but it's true for me!

So far I've been able to comprehend enough French to get by. I've surprised myself with how well I'm doing language wise. The funniest thing that happens when French people find out I'm from Canada is they give me a weird look and ask "why are you here to learn French? Don't you already speak French in Canada?" I laugh and tell them that no, Canada is NOT a bilingual country even though our parliament seems to think so!!!

The paperwork that I have to do and the bureaucracy that I have to deal with is intense over here! And they don't seem to standardize any of their processes. Everyone that you talk to or every department says a different thing.

In Strasbourg there are 3 Universities but they are all on the same campus (l'Université Marc Bloch, l'Université Louis Pasteur, l'Université Robert Schumann). There isn't really any unified student life like there is in Canadian Universities. There are also no Student Residences that are a part of the University, they are all run privately. The university that I'm attending is called l'Université Marc Bloch. It is the social sciences, humanities, theology and literature University. I believe that Robert Schumann is the law University and Louis Pasteur is the science University. So it's a bit different than Canada!

Strasbourg is roughly double the population of Greater Victoria. The population of Strasbourg is about 702,412 compared to the greater Victoria area which is approximately 345,000. But, enough with statistics...here are some pictures!








View of Canal and St. Paul's church (protestant).




















Our Lady of Strasbourg Cathedral






















Typical architecture in Strasbourg! Look at the middle building...it's crooked!

















La Maison des Tanneurs. One of the most photographed monuments in Strasbourg.

















La Grande Rue in "Le Petite France"

à Strasbourg

So this is my first post! I've been here for one week and I had a bit of a scare when I first arrived. I had a bit of miscommunication with the residence I was suppose to stay in. I phoned just before I left and they said there was no problem and there was tons of space...but when I arrived I was told they were full! So I stayed in a hotel until I finally found accommodation. I live on the 7th floor in a little attic studio! I thankfully have an elevator that goes to the 6th floor then I go up one more floor to the attic.

Here are some pictures of my place!







This is the view from the door.













The view from the Kitchen













My Kitchen Table




















My Desk


















My Couch/Bed (Futon)













My Bathtub








So there you have it! My place :) Tomorrow I'll upload pictures of Strasbourg to give you a feel for the city!

I took my placement test this past Monday and I will know the results of what level French I am tomorrow. So this week has been a week of orientation. I went on a boat trip around Strasbourg yesterday and tomorrow is a tour of the University. So classes officially start on the 24th!