Did you say America?

Oui, c'est vrai!

Last Thursday I left Compiègne at 830 in the morning to take a a bus to take a train to take the metro to take a plane to take another plane to get in a car to finally make it to Amelia Island, FL for my cousin Caroline's wedding. By far, one of the longest days of my life. And then, after travelling for 16+ hours, are my parents there to pick me up from the airport? No! I was expecting this huge welcome home committee and what did I get, nothing. Oh well, I got to spend a little more time in Jacksonville airport than I planned on. 

Part I

Let's start with the people I met on my travels.

Michelle: I first met her trying to get out of the metro terminal and into the airport. Apparently I had the wrong metro ticket (as did she) although this nice couple let us sneak in with them! I formally met her while we were waiting in line for our tickets at the United Airlines counter. I was very exciting to finally be talking to an American and where we could be loud and excited about everything. The French are not much for showing emotion. So we were telling each other our life stories of course and turns out she lived in China for a number of years because her dad was an ambassador there. Now, she lives in Salt Lake City, UT. Boring according to her. Last year she spent the semester in Paris studying. What exactly, I don't remember, but she came back to visit her friend for two weeks. Anyways the ticket guy thought we were together because we were talking like longtime friends. We discussed everything from the differences in France and the US to how I have friends studying in China right now to how somehow our lives connected. We were on the same flight to Dulles and she sat in the row behind me.

This brings me to the next person I met:

Hubert: He was sitting in the seat behind me and I overheard him talking about how he had studied civil engineering. I immediately was interested and decided to turn around and through the seat ask where he studied. An hour or so later (the flight was 8 hours so I had time), I found out that he was born in France and studied at the oldest engineering school in Paris, and then he went to Stanford and studied there. After that he did work in both countries and was also a professor. He is now retired and lives in California, but he still does some research at a local university. Every year he goes over to France to visit a former student of his and they collaborate on their research. It was so cool to hear all the stuff that this guy has done. He has also traveled everywhere. Like everywhere. His favorite place was the Canary Islands. Mom, he reminded me of Ed that we met on the cruise. As we were talking apparently everyone was listening to our conversation, but I didn't notice nor did I really care. I only know this because the next person I encountered was on the flight to Dulles with me.

Some lady from Jacksonville: As I was going through customs, a lady was saying how her flight was at 4:50 and she was hoping to make it. I thought to myself, hmm, my flight is at that time too. Let me ask her if she is going to Jacksonville. She was. After going through customs, I kind of lost her, but saw starbucks and immediately went to get a chai (it was delicious) and then get my dishy gossip fix from People magazine! When I made it to my terminal, she wasn't there, but I wasn't overly concerned. I was enjoying chai and gossip! Next thing I know I hear someone calling Nicole and I look over and its the lady. I looked a little confused because I had never told her my name and she must have sensed that because she then goes, well I know that's your name because I heard you on the plane haha. Anyways, she asked me to watch her bags while she ran to the bathroom and to starbucks. She was even going to get me something, but I already had one. She was really nice and we talked for a bit before we boarded the plane. She was in Paris for a few days and was antique shop hopping. I am not entirely sure what she was looking for, but she didn't find it. Once we boarded the plane, she wasn't sitting near me so I of course met someone new.

Nancy Lemoux (no idea how to spell it): For all of you out there who know Nancy Lemoux, a lifelong friend of my grandparents from NH (Oh yeah, now I know who she is talking about), this woman looked just like her. I even did a double take. Turns out she was visiting her daughter who was going over to Sweden to do cancer research. She was on her way back to St. Augustine. He other daughter just moved to Tampa and she just got back from visiting her before she went to DC. 

Crazy all the people you can meet in a matter of 16 hours. All you have to do is smile and then just start talking. For some this may surprise you, well for my mom it did, but I am not as sheltered as you all think I am. I can talk to total strangers! Angela - step one in going to Pawtucket without being scared - check

Part II

Sorry this one is so long. I just have so much to share.

The wedding was absolutely beautiful. My cousin Caroline looked gorgeous and he dress looked stunning on her. Her now husband, Gregg, is a super nice guy and a great addition to the Bonvouloir family. Caroline had asked me to do a reading at the wedding, and I am not going to brag or anything, but I nailed it! It was so nice that she included me in the wedding. I felt so honored. PS - I am the favorite cousin! Sorry to all you guys, you are tied for second.

We were brought to the reception on a trolley. It was pretty fantastic. My dad and I waved and said hi to everyone we passed. We were just having a good time. The reception was held at a place on the marsh. It was beautiful. It had a huge porch that overlooked the marsh and the sunset was amazing. I am pretty sure one of the most vibrant sunsets I have ever seen. Caroline did all the decorations herself and lets just say she should go into wedding planning. Alan too! You guys did a fantastic job getting everything ready. It was by far the smoothest wedding ever. 

So many fun memories from the wedding, I can't begin to share them all. It was a lovely wedding, with the best people, and the dancing and drinking were only pluses. Not to mention, I got to dance with my Pepere. Let's just say, I think I need some more ballroom dancing practice.

After four days of pure enjoyment, I had to say good bye to "home" and head back to France. It was only a car, plane, another plane, metro, train, and bus ride away until I was back in Compiègne.

Congratulations to Gregg and Caroline Willett!! Thanks for having such a great wedding for all of us to share with you. Love you guys (:

Mein Name ist Nicole!

I had my fourth first day of school since being here yesterday. This marked the official beginning of school though. All the others were just false alarms. France wants to make sure you are really ready before you have your first official day.

So I got up this morning (a good start to anyone’s day) and got some breakfast. While I was eating, I decided to check my email and got the best email ever, an email from China nonetheless. Elena wrote to me saying that she may be coming to visit – woohoo. Not gonna lie, almost cried! After that, I was pretty high on life so I finished getting ready, grabbed my ipod and headed for class. I ended up walking with Jiri, a guy from Czech who was also on his way to class.

My first class in a French University would of course be German haha. Jiri was also in my class as well as another friend, Jungho, from the US. It was really nice to have class with some kids I knew. Although Ale and I wanted to take German together, it didn't work out for us. Anyways, my teacher is super nice and so adorable. Ich lerne - mein name ist Nicole. Ich komme aus Amerika. Mein familie wohnt in Rhode Island. Ich studiere in Compiegne an der UTC. Learning another language in another language is a tad difficult. You have to know what they are talking about in French to know what they are teaching you in German. I think it is going to help both my French and my German and I am glad to be taking the class.

After German, I went to composite materials - fun, right? I met Stephan, a kid from URI, and we sat in the back together. I sat down, but wanted to change my position, so I went to go sit on my knees when I heard something tear; next thing I know, I have a nice giant whole in my knee. Yup, I ripped my pants. (Spongebob anyone?) I guess I am too old to sit on my knees in class! It was very hard to understand the professor nevermind try and comprehend the material. Luckily, Stephan is in my class and knows what is going on. We are also in the same lab.

Later in the afternoon, I had another class on composite materials, but this one was more of a practical class. For URI kids, it was like a recitation. There was a different teacher that taught this class and he was much easier to understand. It was also a smaller class and I enjoyed it much better. Less overwhelming. Once class ended at 6pm (way too late for me), I headed to Pic'asso, the student bar on campus, with Ale and Barbara, my roommate. We had a few beers before Ale and I went to our friend David's for dinner. All of my Spanish speaking friends were there and of course mate!

Overall, it was a great first day of school in France!

France - Tree Killers

France's structure of doing things is completely different than that of the US. First of all, they have no concept of time. I am currently in my second week of "orientation." It is just a cover up for saying, hey you aren't going to be doing anything for two weeks except waiting around not knowing what is going on, oh and paperwork. France also likes to waste paper. Erin, you would be very disappointed and need to show them how to use the double sided button on the copier. 


Signing up for classes:
You would think signing up for classes would be a generally easy concept. Nope, its not, its a long and tiring process. Let me fill you in on the steps I have taken thus far.
1. Find which classes you want to take in the course listing book
2. Look at the times in which the classes meet in a 10+ page packet (very confusing to read) to make sure there are no conflicts
3. Fill out a pink paper and have the mechanical engineering advisor sign off on it
4. Find a computer and request your classes
5. Wait for your name to be called and receive an orange paper which has the classes you got and the ones you didn't. (luckily, I got all of the classes that I wanted).
6. Stand/sit in line for 2 and a half hours to meet with another advisor to have them sign off on the orange paper that these are the right classes
7. Hand the orange paper to a lady who puts it into another pile
8.Wait until Friday to find out which sections you got into via email (this is the step I am currently in)


Are there any computers involved in this process, nope, but it would make it more convenient. Also, we started this process last Tuesday or Wednesday. It should not take nearly two weeks to get your classes approved. Who knows if we even get to pick what times we want the classes or if they do that for us. I have never missed e-campus so much before.


Social Security:
One would think that having social security in their home country was enough. Well for France, it is not. They want you to have their French social security on top of your social security from home. It's not like it costs 203 euros or anything. On top of that, you then need to apply for your social security number which is another 27 euros. So I have spent (possibly my parents) 230 euros on something that I already have, just awesome. When do you get this number and the card that says you have this social security and everything - oh not for two to three months.


In general:
1.Everyone wants a copy of this paper or a copy of that paper, and are they nice enough to make the copy for you, no. You have to go and make the copies yourself and spend even more money! 
2.On top of that, everything in France is a slow process. It takes forever for anything to get done. You would think that they are technically advanced, but they are not. No one uses a computer to get anything done. It is very strange. I have noticed that France does not have a lot of trees and I am beginning to see why.
3. People at the UTC do not talk to each other. I am pretty convinced of it. One lady did not know that La Mare Gaudry was a university residence. It has been a university residence for at least four years, I am certain. Mind you, UTC consists of two buildings connected by a skybridge. Another lady did not know what ALESC, where we pay rent to and is in charge of university housing, was. It is located down the hall from where her room was. People do not pay attention here. They are clueless. It would be like the IEP directors not knowing that Angela existed - crazy!


Before coming abroad, I would have said that URI was the most unorganized school, but I am certainly wrong. URI is milestones ahead of the UTC.

Sur le pont...

...d'Avignon Compiègne...

It's a new version of the song. Yesterday, Sept. 10, Compiègne had a huge festival for the opening of the new bridge. I kid you not, there was a full ceremony involving all of the important people of Compiègne followed with a very long set of speeches, music, just the right amount of campaigners, free food and drinks!, "jousting," fireworks, and a really weird play thing. All for a bridge. Oh and free glow sticks! 

not how I usually go water skiing, but hey it worked

Ale and I headed to the opening ceremony around 11 and met up with a few others after. Once the speeches started and never ended, we decided to go walk through the Saturday market instead. Let's face it, spending money is so much better than listening to some old guy talk about the history of the bridge. I only bought an ice cream though. I did find a super cute dress, that Ale really wanted me to buy, only so she could borrow it I think, and a pair of shoes. I resisted the temptations and decided not to get them. I figured spending 2.20 euros on ice cream was a good buy for the day. 

After our mini shopping spree and walking around the town, we headed back to the bridge to see what was going on. Interesting enough, I saw something that I have never seen before - jousting in the water with boats. 

After the "jousting" there was not too much going on, so a whole bunch of us went back to David's (a friend from Mexico) and hung out for awhile, until it got dark. We then headed back to the bridge for the fireworks and acrobatic presentation. Contrary to how the US does fireworks, all at one time, the French like to shoot of a few, do some sort of play/acrobatic presentation/tell a story, and then do a few more, go back to the play, more fireworks, and so on for about an hour and a half. Let me just say that the fireworks took up about 10 minutes of that. I was very disappointed and just wanted to see the fireworks. I did get a free glow stick out of it and the bridge looked really pretty all lit up.

I am just waiting for the festival for the new rond-point (rotary) that they just opened near school. Like France really needs another one. It is their favorite roadway structure. 

Home Away From Home

Orange!

That is the one word to describe my room. If you love the color orange, you will love my room because I have giant, bright orange walls! Stephan, another kid from URI, came last week and we made an IKEA run this week. He has a car here which is super convenient! Needless to say, the IKEA we went to was two floors and probably the biggest IKEA I will ever step foot in. It was awesome. Definitely could have gotten lost in it. Anyways, I bought a new comforter to dress my room up a bit. I also bought a few other useful things. Overall, the trip to IKEA was a success.

I have started to decorate my room although I did not bring many photos with me, so I am going to print some and decorate some more. For now, here is what my room looks like:

my bed of course accompanied by Little Blonde Puppy

my giant room

bathroom

just the daycare kids playing outside

the smallest kitchen ever

again

my desk with the only pictures I brought form home

a giant useless table

a huge yet semi useless closet

Dio Boia

headed out

Sorry it has been awhile since my last post - it is because I was on a road trip around northern Europe! I went to Brussels, Ghent, Brugge, Amsterdam, and Lille, and a few other unexpected towns. I left last Wednesday on my first real adventure with nine other students I met in the summer program. There were kids from Venezuela, Argentina, Mexico, Italy, and the US (me)! Let's just say that I am going to be learning Spanish very quickly. We rented two cars and headed out to explore. Everything went great and we saw so many different buildings, cathedrals, monuments, stores, people, and cultures.

just hanging out with a new friend

NCIS!! La Cantina

me and Ale

Phrase of the trip : Dio Boia

I dropped my camera - dio boia

We are on the wrong highway - dio doia

The hotel is not in Lille - dio boia

I spilled chocolate on me again - dio boia

(get the trend)

just BEing little

atomium in Brussels

converses in Europe

Highlights of the trip:

seeing hundreds of cathedrals - check

eating Belgium waffles - check

trying every free sample of Belgium chocolate - check

drinking a Hoegaarden in Belgium - check

eating lunch in the park - check

speaking in a British accent - check

paying to use the bathroom - check

seeing millions of tulips - check

going to the red district - check

visiting the Heineken factory - check

getting caught in the rain - check

walking through the largest flea market - check

taking a picture of a map and using it as a GPS - check

visiting Warterloo and a few other unexpected towns - check

200 km of getting lost - checkbuying too much - check

learning Spanish - check

laughing uncontrollably - check

talking lots of photos - check

surviving the hostels - check

memories of my trip from Brussels to Lille - priceless

finding Minnie Mouse - check

listening to an organ player - check

drinking beer with the guys - check

finding tons of mussels for Todd - check

real tulips - check

anyone looking to plant any flowers?

My favorite town was Ghent. It was absolutely breathtaking. Next was Brugge and then Amsterdam during the day. At night it is a totally different scene and the city is so dirty and filled with crowds - not my kind of fun. After that, Lille and then Brussels. Brussels was a pretty boring and gray city. Not too much to see. All in all, I had a fantastic time and cannot wait to go and explore more of Europe (:

sad to go home