Coucou!
Sorry is has been a while since I last wrote, this week really has been quite busy! A very good week though :)
Work has been fine as usual. It can be a bit boring at times when there isn't much to do. I try to make myself put books back just so that I am doing something! I have to activate all the journals and newspapers each day with magnetic strips, so I do that which is pretty boring too! But in the afternoons I get to be on the welcome desk, which can be quite challenging sometimes when I don't understand what people are asking me! And I have had a few translations of websites and documents to do which were also quite challenging! But the staff are great, I am on 'tu' terms with most of them which is nice. I like that lunchtime is a very sociable thing where we all go to the restaurant together, its just always so early when I am used to quite late lunches! One of my colleagues and I share flasks of various types of tea in the afternoon which is great! His name is Lionel, and he is adorable, he just loves chatting to me! We somehow got onto a conversation where I found myself describing what sambuca and jaeger bombs were to him!! But I also like that I am interacting with stduents every day too, and I often see them around campus and we recognise each other and have chats and stuff which is cool.
The 'Couloir des stagiaires' as we like to call ourself,is now complete plus two French masters students and one German. We have had a pretty great week of fun together! We have a had a few cosy film nights which were great, and we were lucky enough to experience the IS (International Students union) termly meal which is called CUSSON (This is a play on the French equivalent of the word 'chug/down it' apparently! And we soon realised why!). A big meal with about 300 people at Robin de Bois restaurant (how apt for me!) which involved a chicken paella, sadly only a salad for us veggies though! :(, plus unlimited wine!!!! Well, you can imagine what the atmosphere was like! They have a drinking song which involves starting with 'CUSSON' then adding 'génerale/ les anglaises/ les françaises/ les étrangères...' and then depending on which category you fall into you have to stand up and 'chug' your drink!! It was pretty insane, each time you went o put a fork of food in your mouth you ahd to stand up and drink something! It was so crazy, but I did sit with some french students so got to chat to them and learn some 'français familier' which was cool. Some of us went onto the party afterwards, but I decided to call it a night since I had work the next day (dull). I really enjoyed the night, and luckily didn't suffer from it as much as the others the next day!
My friend Sylvia and I went to Versailles on Wednesday evening to meet someone else from Southampton Uni we know, Sam, for dinner. It was lovely to get out and we had a delicious meal in the market area of Versailles. It took about 20 mins door to door including getting the train so it wasn't too much of a trek or anything. Unlike Paris, where you need to get two trains and then the metro. We went this weekend since the weather was lovely again and it is Journée de la Patrimoine across Paris which means that all public places are open for free, like the Louvre, Sarkozy's house, Notre Dame etc... I went with a few of the girls here and we went to Notre Dame which was just stunning, then wandered around Paris soaking up the atmosphere, had lunch, did some shopping (I stumbled my favourite French shop, Sephora, and spent a little too much money in there! :S . We reunited for an afternoon crèpe with Sylvia, and then all 10 of us managed to meet up for Dinner together. It was a bit of a mission trying to decide on where to eat and stuff, but eventually we settled on a nice pizzeria and had a wonderful evening sheltered from the storm outside! It was nice just being in Paris, I would have liked to have seen more, but I kept reminding myself that I am here almost a year so there is plenty of time. I may head in again this afternoon. And plus, it just actually felt like I was in France... Being on the campus, well, you could be anywhere in Europe, but now that I have actually walked around Paris I felt like I was living my French dream more.
I have managed to find myself a French running partner! We basically just got chatting one afternoon in the library (he though I was German and he was looking for someone to practise German with!) and it just went from there really, I told him that I had entered for the Half Marathon and after work I was going for a run, and he just asked if h could join! I have to seize opportunities like this,even if he did drag me up lots of hills!!! It was fun though, good to chat French with him whilst running (/dying lol). I have discovered some more routes around a farm nearby which I can run around too, trying to extend my runs as much as I can. Weather is still great so am trying to make the most of it as much as I can!
All my bank stuff is now good, used my card in Paris and it was so exciting! We get paid at the start of each month so I already had this months wages woop! They are almost gone though, keep doing that thing where I'm like 'Oh, i'm earning now, I can afford this..' hhmm. Phone sorted too. Its all good!
Well, its already half one and I am still in my dressing gown! ( I did get up early for a run and do laundry and shower though, I just haven't got dressed yet! ) Hoping for another eventful and French-filled week ahead!
Auditions for the Glee club here are soon, can't wait!!
If you ever want to ring/skype/text me then please do! Also, anyone want to see Britney in Paris with me?? Am struggling to find someone to come with me, for some reason...
Ruthy xxxx
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