So I've been in France 3 days, and learned that Europe is not as different as I thought it would be in most ways, and totally different in ways i didn't expect.
I spent the first day in Paris, and the next two in Pau. I didn't enjoy Paris, after our flight leaving the USA at 3 pm and landing in Paris at 8 am, i was really tired from jet lag, and my french was really rusty from 3 months off of school. In the Charles de Gaulle Airport everybody was bilingual, i didn't even try to speak French. But as soon as we tried to take the shuttle to our hotel we found out the driver did not speak English. All the sudden all responsibility was on me to communicate and it was HARD! But we finally made it to our hotel. We toured the Luxembourg Gardens and saw the Pantheon in Paris, I was very disappointed that we could not see the Eiffel Tower from that area. It was rainy and freezing cold, and we were so tired. I ordered our food in French and asked for directions to the places in Paris and it was a stretching experience for me. The places we saw were beautiful but we were a little to miserable to enjoy it fully, but we will be back :)
I was in bed by 8:00 and up at 5:30 to be at the airport and catch a plane to Pau. We got off the plane and met my host mom, in France you greet people by kissing on each cheek, and its def something to get used to, but i kinda like it. I met the family, Cecile (the mom), Phillip (the dad) Helene (the daughter, 22) Paul (the son, 19) and Clement (the other son, 14) I found out how bad my French really was that day. I barely understand anything and can barely communicate, but God knows i'm trying. I listen really hard and think and speak, and the whole process makes me dizzy. My family is very funny, they have a wonderful sense of humor which is great bc i know i'm gonna have to be able to laugh a lot to stay sane.
Today we visited Berritz which is a beautiful town on the coast of the atlantic ocean. I'm getting used to everything and my french has gotten better all ready, i'll be sorry to leave, but we are off to Nice tomorrow.
I've tried to think about the weirdest thing about Europe to write about. I wanted to share what was most difficult for me, and that for sure, is the bathrooms. For starters, the light switch is always very difficult to find so sometimes i don't even bother. And if it is a public bathroom, sometimes it isn't even free. I had to pay .40 Euros to use the bathroom in the Luxembourg Gardens. Then there is the problem of finding the device that flushes the thing, buttons, handles, everything imaginable. And so far nothing has thrown me as much as the bathroom style, but i'll get used to it.
So that was the bad thing, and I wanted to mention something good. The French are awesome :) We have not run into a single rude French person. They have been so helpful, and gone out of their way to help us. They have smiled and put up with my french and corrected me. I have ABSOLUTELY no idea where the rude french person stereotype comes from. I really have never met more friendly people with better customer service (of course, i really haven't been to the inner parts of Paris yet). But over all, they are amazing and i'm very happy to be living here among them. Well it is getting late, and mom needs the computer, i'll write more later.
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