and while my time here still seems like a vacation, the experiences our group has had and worked through together makes it seem like we have known each other for months.
This past week has been a roller coaster of ups and downs, being frustrated, excited, confused, nervous and hopeful that we will figure things out as time goes by. I'm glad that the group of American students get along so well and we have each other to help figure things out.
On Wednesday, I went to my first classes. All of the classes here are 2 hours long and consist of a simple lecture, no powerpoint, and rarely any discussion. My roommate and I checked out two French literature classes that happened to be taught by the same professor. They were okay - a little boring and somewhat difficult to understand what the professor was saying. We introduced ourselves as exchange students and he seemed very nice and willing to help out. I also plan on taking some French as a foreign language courses; however, they don't start until February.We met another American student in class who had been at the university since September. She showed us how to get around the cafeteria and we ate with her and other exchange students.
Aside from French courses, I also wanted to take some Communications courses that would count towards my major. Trying to figure that out has been very difficult though. We headed to the university campus at Le Lac de Bourget to check it out and see if we could find information about courses there. After much confusion with the secretaries and staff of the
department, they took me to meet with a professor of some of the Communications classes. He was by far the most helpful person I have met so far here. He showed me a schedule of all the classes and suggested some for me to take. He also introduced me to another professor and the head of the department. So I plan on starting a class there this week. The campus takes about a 20 minute bus ride to get to but gives me a good excuse to go out to France's largest natural lake every week!
We planned to go to Lyon on Friday, but we woke up to pouring rain outside and figured we
would postpone that trip for another weekend. After an uneventful day, we decided that we had to get out of Chambéry on Saturday and headed to the train station. We decided to go to Grenoble, which is about an hour away. The train ride was full of beautiful scenery and we were excited to explore a new city. It was a beautiful city with a medieval village, river, Victorian architecture, and lots of people! We found a historic cathedral that was open to the public. I was in awe of the vast ceilings, stained glass windows, and massive pipe organ. It was really neat! Then we walked through the Centre Ville and headed to the Musée de Grenoble. There were hundreds of amazing works of art ranging from sculptures to paintings and ancient Greece to modern pop art (including a few by Picasso and Monet). We finished our day trip with some awesome pizza and hopped on the train back to Chambéry. This coming week I'm nervous about going to more classes, so hopefully that goes well!
1 comments:
Hi Courtney! It's Amber - your "long lost cousin" from ages ago~ Mom (Aunt Amanda) just emailed me to let me know you were in FRANCE! What an experience! You have really grown into a beautiful 'young lady'...and now I feel very 'old'! Hah!
Anyway-I just wanted to tell you 'hello' and that I am so excited for you. Savor every moment and keep taking lots of pics! Good luck 'figuring it all out' and enjoy!
All our love,
~amber, greg & connor
a_nash37@yahoo.com
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