l'arrivee

Jeudi le 30 août, 2007
12h 08

Well, I made it!!
Because everything has been so crazy the last day or so, I’m just gonna start from the beginning…
Leaving was really hard for me. I am not very good at goodbyes at all (as my friend assured me, though, it’s really just a seeya later…that helps a little). I started the day off crying pretty much--saying goodbye to a friend. Then I had to deal with technicalities and phones and make sure everything was in order before saying goodbye to my best friend, another tearful one. Finally, my mom took me to the airport where I cried a little more. It’s not that I wasn’t extremely excited for this trip, but 10 months is a long time and I feel like there are a lot of things that I will miss out on by not being home…or at least in the states. The experiences I am about to have are totally worth it, but that doesn’t change the fact that it is hard to say goodbye.

Moving on from the sad stuff to the boring hours spent in airports and on planes. I slept through my first flight to Denver, but on the flight to Frankfurt there were a bunch of people my age coming to Europe for various exchanges, and one girl who was going to be an au pair in Austria, which seems pretty cool. The guy in the seat next to me would not stop talking. It was crazy. He was nice enough, but it made sleeping kind of difficult. At the Frankfurt airport, I ran into a bunch of the other UO people going to Lyon, which was pretty cool. The flight from Frankfurt was short and relatively uneventful, except that there was a lot of turbulence, which was really quite icky.

My host-mom and sister from the last time I was in Lyon were at the airport waiting to pick me up. It was really comforting to see familiar faces and not have to brave the airport and figure out how to get places while being exhausted and jet-lagged. They brought me to the apartment where I will be staying and dropped me off. I wish we had spent more time together, but they left me to settle in and we made plans to have lunch over the weekend.

Now, the fun part: my new place. I love it! It’s a quasi-homestay situation, which is a little confusing but I’m really happy with it. Basically, for the first month I will eat breakfast and dinner with the family, and they will help me out with the things that I need. After the first month, though, I am more or less on my own. It will be really nice to not have to worry too much about groceries and other things while I get settled

The apartment is downtown and just a few blocks from the university. It is basically two apartments that are attached. The family lives in one part and then I share the other part (including a bathroom, small kitchen, and small living room) with another student. Her name is Wei and she is from Taiwan, studying linguistics. She has already been living here a year, which is really nice because she knows her way around and is already quite settled in the apartment and with the family. My room is really cute can has a big window overlooking a little courtyard. It’s pretty sparse, but I have all the necessities, and I’ve pretty much unpacked everything I brought (which isn’t a whole lot now that it’s all put away).

I’ve met most of the family, except Lionel, the husband. There are three kids: Claudia, Paul, and Matthias. They are all really nice. I had dinner with them and Florence, their mother, last night and we chatted about music and books and movies. They are so welcoming! Even Chagall, their kitten, seems to have taken a liking to me and likes to hang out in my room. I will be the third student from U of O that they have hosted, so they seem to know the ropes pretty well, which is helpful. Florence is also probably one of the nicest people I have ever met. She assured me that if I ever need anything at all, I shouldn’t hesitate to ask, and that I should consider the apartment home. She was going to take me on a little tour of the neighborhood, but it was raining, so she showed me what direction to go in to find everything. This morning, Wei took me on a little tour, so I got to see most of the neighborhood. There is a lot of stuff around here, and there is a metro station right nearby so I can get places easily. It is also right near the river, which is apparently a nice place to take walks.

Basically, I am SO happy with the whole situation, and I really look forward to getting to know the family better and exploring the neighborhood more. Today, I am going to meet the other Centre Oregon people for a tour of the Vieux Lyon area, which should be nice provided it doesn’t rain too much (although the last time I visited Vieux Lyon I think it was raining, so I suppose it would be fitting).

I guess that’s a pretty good introduction to my life in France as of now. I think I am going to be very happy here over the next ten months.