Bonjour � tous! I had a quiet moment this weekend, so I decided to write again. Things have been going really well, and I’ve been keeping up with taking pictures. Some of the major moments of this week:  starting classes at the Universit� Paul-Val�ry, touring more parts of the city and shopping, and finally figuring out my bus-tram-tram commute to campus. Some of the minor moments: a strange French boy asking me to be his girlfriend at the tram stop, going ice skating at the coolest rink ever, and learning the French words for “cuttlefish” and “octopus” (see below…).

                The Universit� Paul-Val�ry is a lot different from Penn State. I’m used to a huge, gorgeous campus with up-to-date technology. The campus here is pretty small, and like most of the city, there’s graffiti all over the place. There’s no air conditioning in most of the buildings, which can be rough on hot days. It is pretty outdated, but college is free in France and I think there’s a different attitude here on both the part of the students and the professors. Instead of having class several times a week like we do at Penn State, they have each class once per week, for around three hours. The semester is only 13 weeks long, including finals week.

This is good ol’ Pr�fa 8, where we have our grammar and writing classes on campus. It’s one of those temporary classroom buildings and gets so hot!

                The French students hang out around the buildings and sit on the grass between classes, so campus is always pretty busy. From sitting next to them in class, I’ve noticed that they all have beautiful, carefully done handwriting and have been trained to use rulers and different colored pens when taking notes. Also, the paper here is different too- lined paper practically doesn’t exist! They use graph paper or special note paper with both horizontal and vertical lines, which I’m still getting used to.

                Last Sunday, my host mom and I drove to the nearby village of Mauguio for the weekly market. I absolutely loved it- there were so many different things for sale: local olives, clothing, scarves, vegetables, fruits, wines, meats, cheeses, breads, fresh seafood, p�tisseries, and spices. We bought some vin ros� (my favorite!) and des figues, and wandered around chatting with sellers. Everyone I’ve talked to has been really friendly- I think it has something to do with the warm Mediterranean climate here and a certain French outlook on life. It almost seems contradictory to say it, but to me they have a seemingly slower pace of life in spite of their busy-ness. They’ve mastered the art of lingering on little pleasures, and making time for them. They have jobs and responsibilities and time pressures (judging by the way they drive!), but they come home for lunch, savor little mugs of caf�, always have dessert, and rejoice in the flavors of food and wine.

Fruit for sale at the market (figs in the foreground)

Clothing for sale 

Olive stand

Oysters at the market

            As for the seafood, I’ve been eating things I’d never thought I would. We bought des hu�tres (oysters) at the market for me to try- I hadn’t realized you eat them raw and while they’re alive! My host dad showed me how to eat them with butter and bread, and I was brave enough to eat one. Another night, we had a specialty from the nearby village of S�te. It’s called a tielle, and it’s essentially a pie stuffed with chopped poulpe (octopus) and various fish. I was a little concerned about the octopus part, but it was actually pretty good because it was blended with a spicy tomato sauce. The next night, we had chunks of seiche with pasta. I had to look the word up because I had no idea what my host mom was talking about- turns out it was cuttlefish. It was really mild and tasted like chicken. I’m trying to be open to new experiences and am willing to try almost anything once haha.

The tielle (if you’re curious, it just looked like ground meat inside)

I’m going to Spain next weekend with my host family, because my host dad is on a diving team and they’re having an annual get-together. I’ll make sure to take lots of photos!

Stay tuned and � bient�t!

Some other pretty photos from this week:

Stained glass windows in the Eglise Sainte-Anne

Flower stall on the Esplanade

Flag with a cross that is the symbol of this part of France, the Languedoc Roussillon region

Une tarte au citron                

Location: Montpellier, France

Bonjour!

My first post from France! Sorry for the delay, I had to figure out the adapter/converter situation for my laptop charger. Now that a whole week has gone by since we left, it’s hard to even begin describing everything. We’ve squeezed so much into every day, and there are so many new sights and sounds.

The city of Montpellier is so gorgeous, and it’s the perfect mix of medieval and modern. In the older parts of the city, winding cobble-stoned streets curve uphill and downhill and every which way, fronted by warmly-painted buildings. There are intricate wrought iron railings beneath rustic peeling-paint volets (shutters), and dangling flowerboxes that bring color to the streets. Little caf�s extend out into the narrow streets, and occasionally a car or motorbike will squeeze through. Historical buildings and monuments are everywhere, such as the College of Medicine, which has been open since 1220. 

In contrast, the modern part of the city is more crowded and lively. The main central part of Montpellier is the Place de la Com�die, a large plaza named after the adjacent Op�ra Com�die. There are fountains, the most famous of which is called Les Trois Gr�ces, and a big carousel. There are frequently street performers in the middle of the plaza, and so far I’ve seen some pretty cool dancers and a creepy gymnast clown haha. 

As for transportation, there’s a tram system here with four main lines that extend from the city out into the suburbs. I love the trams because each line is color-coordinated with brightly decorated trains- the train I take to get to my host family’s house is covered in neon flowers. There are also 30-some different bus routes, and to get into the city I have to take a combination of bus and tram rides.

We met our host families the night after we arrived, and mine turned out to be incredibly nice. I live in a village called Le Cr�s, in a neighborhood of confusingly curving streets and pretty terracotta-roofed houses behind tan walls and decorative gates. Nearly every house here has a pool, which makes sense because it is SO hot for most of the day. I have my own room, with a window that looks out onto the pool and all of the flowers in the backyard.

My host mom is a kindergarten teacher, and my host dad is a commercial director for car repair companies. They have two black cats that laze around on the garden walls and only interact with us when we’re eating, and a cute little terrier mutt named Nono. The thing I was most worried about coming to France was meeting my host family and getting through the awkward getting-to-know each other phase, but everything went a lot smoother than I expected. I really feel like we’re bonding and will become very close.

School-wise, we’re signing up for classes today and starting them on Monday. I’m taking required courses like French grammar and writing, and will also take some integrated classes- as in, actual French classes with actual French students! Kind of nervous but excited to see what they’ll be like.

I guess I’ll finish up by summarizing some of the things I’ve done so far: swam in the Mediterranean Sea (and taken a catamaran cruise), made so many great new American friends through the program, legally gone to my first bar, seen the city from the top of Montpellier’s Arc de Triomphe, eaten baguettes and Camembert with my host family, tried a different kind of wine every day, seen Signac paintings at the Mus�e Fabre, sampled figs from the region, driven through vast vineyards, sipped a Cosmo at a caf� (just because), wandered through little boutiques, and overall have just had so much fun.

Some things I’ve learned:

-Sadly, Crocs have made their way to France. Really, the fashion capital of the world?!

-une barre croustillante= granola bar

-There are a lot of homeless people here (les “SDF”- sans domicile fixe), and they keep dogs because that way they avoid getting arrested. Police don’t want to deal with finding homes for the dogs.

                I’ll post again soon! � bient�t!

                ~Julia

Location: Montpellier, France

Hi everyone! My name is Julia Kelsey, and I’m going to be studying in Montpellier, France for this upcoming year (I know, such a long time!). It’s been hard coming to terms with the fact that I’ll be away for so long, let alone trying to figure out what to pack. It doesn’t even seem real yet, and I don’t think it will hit me until I get to the airport next Friday. I’ve been dreaming of a long-term study abroad ever since high school and it’s finally coming true! 

Location: State College