I am here in France! After a long and quite tiring trip, I have arrived. Lots to tell!
I left NY in style; I saw Lauren Conrad on line at security and then proceeded to bawl my eyes out when leaving my parents at the scanners. This is definitely the hardest thing I have done thus far in my life. After my parents were out of sight, I knew that my journey had started and I was alone. I was sad, but a little bit excited for the trip. On board the plane, I met an extremely nice guy, Liman, who had left his life in the states to search for a photography career in either Paris or London. He had packed his bags without knowing if and when he would return home. That made me admire him and the journeys that he and I were both beginning. After reaching Paris and saying goodbye to my new friend, I was really by myself.
I purchased a bus ticket to the train station, Creil. From Creil, I would then take the train to Compiègne. Buying the ticket was no problem, although my two suitcases and huge backpack had trouble fitting through the door. That was the first moment that I used my French and it worked! YAY! After purchasing the ticket, I had to wait an hour for the bus. During that hour I saw many people doing their daily hustle and bustle to and from their work. I even saw the doppelgänger of Marshall Eriksen (Jason Segel) of How I Met Your Mother. Yes, my obsession of that show has made its way overseas. I then had my next hurdle: getting my luggage on the coach bus. Luckily, a very nice French man helped me and we were on our way.
I got off the bus in Creil and a very nice French lady that was on the same bus as me saw me looking around and decided to talk to me. She showed me where to go and asked me about where I was from, once again, very nice. We said our goodbyes and I bought my ticket to Compiègne. Only problem? It was three hours from the time I bought the ticket. I had two suitcases and nowhere to sit, so I stood. For three hours. After the train track was announced I had to lift my luggage up and down stairs where another French man helped me. I was almost there!! The train came and before I knew it I was in Compiègne, my long awaited destination. The lovely Caitlin Hurley retrieved me and helped me find my lodging. We rolled my suitcases all over town before we found a very well hidden Cap'affaire, the name of the hostel-type place.
I checked in, and left immediately with Cait. We went to UTC and then to a party for all of the exchange students to celebrate the end of their semester. I met a few very nice people and despite the jetlag and extreme hunger, was able to have conversations in French with them. It was nice to see how well they spoke. I'm excited to see what I will learn here. After that, I knew I had to go to bed, so Cait brought me home and I finally got some sleep!
The next day (Friday), Cait took me around Compiègne with one of my roommates, Zuzanna, who had arrived that day. I went to the bank to open an account, put minutes on the cell phone that Cait gave me, and walked around the town. So pretty! Later that night, I ate with Cait and some of her friends then stayed for a little soirée to celebrate their end of the semester.
Today I didn't do very much. Zuzanna and I walked around the city and bought some pasta and other groceries to make lunch and dinner. My other roommate, Luisa, is in Paris with her mom and sister, so she hasn't been around much. Tomorrow should be the first day that we are all together in this pretty tight space. We shall see. Anyway, I'm going to go to sleep!
-AM
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