Sal�t tout le monde!

So I’ve been in Montpellier for about 5 days now and I love it! We arrived here on Monday after a long flight to Paris and finally to Montpellier after a 6 hour layover. There are 15 students in my program. A lot are from University of Minnesota.There are also some from Penn State and other universities such as Boston College and Purdue.

The first night we stayed in a lovely hotel near Place de la Com�die. As soon as we arrived in Montpellier we explored the city!. We went to a small caf�, Brioche Dor�e where I got a sandwich with salmon and vegetables. Then we went to a restaurant to meet up with the rest of our group who hadn’t eaten yet. Of course we got a bottle of wine.

The second day we went to our housing assignments. Mine got changed and now I will be living in an apartment. I’m a little upset I won’t have a close relationship with a French family, but I love my apartment. It is right on Place de la Com�die! It is so close to everything it’s perfect. 

This is the inside of my apartment. It’s on the ground floor so it’s easy to get to, but not much sunlight get’s in which is a little upsetting. There is a little balcony outside where I have a view of a small garden and other apartments. It’s very french I think! I have one other roommate, Courtney. She goes to Penn State as well. It doesn’t feel quite like I’m living here yet. I’m sure it will take awhile to get used to it. Especially our bathroom which is very french, it even has a bidet. I highly doubt I will be using it for it’s intended purpose

Tuesday night we went to the “country side” of Montpellier. My friend here has a close friend who lives in Montpellier. We were able to tour the winery where we works and have a typical French dinner with his family. His family only spoke French so it was a great opportunity for us to practice. There were a lot of courses! First some ap�ritifs when we were chatting, then we sat and the table for our main course. First was a salad then the main dish followed by a cheese plate and of course desert! Top it off with a small espresso. Yum, I could get used to French food.

On Wednesday we had our placement tests. It was so difficult! There was a writing and oral part of the exam. I’m sure I will placed pretty low considering I have only been studying French for two semesters, but I know I will get better. The instructor of the oral exam said I definitely need to practice my french, but I have a good accent and it’s only a little American. I’m trying to have a positive outlook on the language barrier. People talk so fast here it’s hard to understand exactly what they are saying. I am proud of myself for my french so far. I have been able to order my food at restaurants, visit shops, purchase my tram pass and have very small simple conversations all in French.  It’s bit scary using a new language in normal situations, but I’m feeling more accustomed to it already.

Fun fact, there are a lot of dogs here. They are everywhere! If homeless people have dogs they can’t get arrested. It’s kind of weird to get used to.

� bient�t!

Emily