Greetings from Nice! I have completed my first week of orientation and needless to say have already learned a lot about living life in France. I arrived in Nice with Miri on the 29^th and met my mère Française at the train station. Our apartment is centrally located in the gorgeous Quartier des Musiciens. I live on the 2^nd floor (really the 3^rd, the French call the ground floor the Rez de Chaussée) and have my own room, fireplace, and balcony.

I am a five minute walk away from the tram – Nice’s above-ground metro line – which takes me directly to the University of Nice Saint d’Angely campus. For the past week the Sweet Briar group (11 women in total) has been meeting for intensive immersion classes with French professors. The orientation period has been incredibly helpful...I am increasingly comfortable with speaking and have learned my way around Nice a bit. On Tuesday the group took a boat ride along the coastline...I will be living in paradise for the next few months.

Villefranche from the water

On Wednesday we took a group trip to Villefranche-sur-Mer. We spent the early afternoon at the beach and then took a tour of the Rothschild Villa on Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat. The villa was gorgeous (amazing mosaic floors) but the gardens were stunning. Béatrice Ephrussi – the woman who revived the villa and gardens – made 9 individual gardens out of her 7 hectares of land, each with their own theme.

mosaic work on the floor of Rothschild Villa

         Nice is a very easy city to navigate. As I mentioned, there is a tramline that makes a big V through the city. There are also extensive bus lines (which I will have to use once my other classes start) and a bike rental service throughout the city. I have started to get a good sense of the city’s layout: a 7km boardwalk stretches east to west from Vieux Nice (the old part of the city) all the way to the airport. Vieux Nice is made up of winding streets, gelato stores, and old churches. Avenue Jean Medicin is the main street in Nice and is lined with the all important FNAC and MonoPrix stores where I can buy everything from a TV to a toothbrush.

        I have chosen my courses for this semester and will be heading back to Wheaton with 6 (!) units of credit. Classes here in France only meet once per week and therefore independent study is the name of the game. Amazingly enough I worked my schedule out so that I will have a 4-day weekend! I will be taking 2 Sweet Briar courses (Art History and Atélier d’Ecriture) and 3 courses at UNice (Musicology of Romanticism, Literature of the XXIII century, and Esthetics & Spirituality). I am confident that with a notebook and a very quick hand I will be able to take good, detailed notes – I’ll need to considering none of my classes have any textbooks!

         Before arriving in Nice I never considered how exhausting all of this would be. I find myself needing 9,10, or 12 hours of sleep every night. My brain is working overtime right now because I am constantly translating in my head. Fortunately I brought some English books with me and just as I start to feel my head exploding from all the of the French I can pick one up and start to feel sane again. I haven’t quite reached the point of simply comprehending and am still translating most sentences. However, my overall comprehension has greatly improved in the last week. I understand 98% of what my French mère says, and when I don’t understand something she graciously explains it to me.

        Tonight during dinner we had a big laugh over “la politesse à table” and talked about the vast differences between American and French eating habits. For dinner we always have a salad, a main course, a cheese course, and a dessert – but eating all of these things the “French way” is not simple. In the past week I have learned to eat my salad without cutting it, eat 6 different cheeses the “correct” way, and peel my fruit with a knife before slicing it piece by piece. I hope no one thinks I’ve turned totally snobby when I come home with all of these sophisticated eating habits!

        I spent this past weekend with my French mère and her son’s family in Tarascon, a three hour drive west of Nice. Saturday was her granddaughters 4^th birthday party – most of Cloélia’s gifts were Disney Princess themed…exactly what I wanted at that age. I spent most of my time this weekend holding her 3 week-old grandson, Evan. Apart from the birthday festivities we also spent time in Aigues-Mortes, Nîmes, and visited the Pont du Gard. Driving back to Nice on Sunday night I was happy to have experienced life with a young French family but was completely exhausted from speaking French non-stop.

Today is the first (of many) strikes that I will witness this semester. “La Grève” is a very common occurrence in France – today’s is being held to protest the government’s recent decision to change the retirement age in France from 60 to 62. How does the grève affect me? No school! The strike is a country-wide event and all public transportation besides taxis are refusing to work today. All of the buses, trains, trams, and even some airports are taking the day off. My normally calm street is filled with angry, honking traffic and if I want to go anywhere today I will have to walk.  Luckily today coincides with the first weather prediction of rain for the season – maybe I’ll just stay in and watch some American movies J

       In one of my orientation classes last week we discussed professions. In French, to tell someone about your profession you say, “je suis professeur” (I am professor). Comparatively, in English we would say, “I am a professor” The interesting and fundamental difference between English and French is that a profession in French is an adjective, a describing word, and not a definition. I have found that this simple difference in language affects daily life. The French are not defined by their careers. Of course careers are a part of life but not necessarily the first thing that a French person would tell you about himself. Maybe a better answer to the typically American question, “what do you want to be when you grow up” is just “happy” instead of listing potential careers.

         I feel very happy here in Nice. I am confident that my goal of becoming totally fluent is within reach. I know that the next 3 months will fly by so I’m really trying to soak everything up, immerse myself, and take every opportunity offered.