Hi everyone! We miss you so much! Today is Thursday and we spent most of the day so far running errands. We went to the doctors for a physical for gym class and Em got medicine for her sinus infection. We also rode the bus up to school to hand in paper work and to sign up for an aerobics class. Right now we are in a McDonalds near school trying to Skype to Mom!
On Monday January 4, 2008, our first full day here all of the students in our program met with our CEA advisor, Kristen and her husband, Gerry for breakfast in a nearby café. Kristen explained the program in further detail to us and talked about what trips we would be taking and what school would be like and then we met up with a tour guide who took us on a two hour walking tour of the town we are living in, Antibes. She pointed out grocery stores, appliance stores, markets, etc. that would be helpful to us during our stay here and also showed us the nearby beaches. We can’t wait for it to get warmer out! Most of France including Antibes and Paris is experiencing record cold temperatures and snow fall right now. Monday was the only sunny day and every day since has been absolutely freezing and pouring rain. After the walking tour our two roommates and us went to get bus passes that we need to get to and from school. They cost 24 euro for two months. We also got a few things from the grocery store and bought flowers for “Grandma” our neighbor who was very anxious to meet us. We had to hurry back to our apartment to meet Kristen who was stopping by everyone’s apartments to answer questions and show us how to get our mail, turn the heat on, and use the washer and dishwasher (since everything was in French!). For dinner we went to a café in the older town of Antibes and then stopped by the internet café a few blocks away from our apartment.
On Tuesday morning we had to be up bright and early to meet at 8:00 to catch the bus to our school’s campus for orientation. The school is located in Sophia Antipolis and the bus ride is about a half an hour, sometimes more depending on traffic and the bus stop is about a ten minute walk. The school is split into two main buildings, one that has offices, computer labs, a cafeteria, and classes for the students in the masters program. The second building where we will spend most of our time has advisors offices and classrooms for the undergrad students. The school is located in the woods and unfortunately for us the bus drops us off at the other building. We have to walk up one side of a hill made of rocks and mud, then walk alongside a very busy road, and then up an even steeper hill and then through the woods to get to our building. During the tour of the campus one of the CEA students raised their hands and asked if we were going to school or for a hike at nature camp! With the rain we have had the past two days it makes for a very interesting climb! During the orientation we met with the president of the school who explained the programs it offered, went for a tour of the campus, had lunch in the cafeteria, met with our advisors to adjust our schedules and then had our pictures taken for our ID cards. We didn’t get back to our apartment until about 6:00 and then just made PB&J sandwiches for dinner and then hung out at the apartment for the rest of the night.
Wednesday was our first day of class and we had one class at 8:30 so we had to get the bus around 7:35. All of the classes are three hours long and are only once a week, usually earlier in the week since a lot of people, especially exchange students want to travel over the weekends. We have class on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays. We had sociology today and out of the thirty-five students only three were American. Two students were other students from our program and one was a student from Hawaii. He was really nice. Most of the French students sat in the back and talked and played games on their computers even though the teacher kept telling them to stop talking and to talk in English when they did talk. We were told that they are ashamed of their American accents so they are afraid to speak in English. The class was really different from what we are used to. After about an hour the French students wanted a break so they left the classroom and didn’t come back for 45 minutes! The teacher just started without them after waiting a half hour! We have a lot of work to do for the class and it seems like it is going to be pretty hard. After class we got lunch on campus and then went to the computer lab and then came back to Antibes to go food shopping and look for adapters and hair dryers. Em is sick; she thinks she has a sinus infection so we are planning on going to the doctors tomorrow. We are also hoping on signing up for a gym class so we need to get a physical from the doctors as well.
Hope everything is going well with all of you! We miss you so much! Have a good week! We love you!
-Em and Jen
On Monday January 4, 2008, our first full day here all of the students in our program met with our CEA advisor, Kristen and her husband, Gerry for breakfast in a nearby café. Kristen explained the program in further detail to us and talked about what trips we would be taking and what school would be like and then we met up with a tour guide who took us on a two hour walking tour of the town we are living in, Antibes. She pointed out grocery stores, appliance stores, markets, etc. that would be helpful to us during our stay here and also showed us the nearby beaches. We can’t wait for it to get warmer out! Most of France including Antibes and Paris is experiencing record cold temperatures and snow fall right now. Monday was the only sunny day and every day since has been absolutely freezing and pouring rain. After the walking tour our two roommates and us went to get bus passes that we need to get to and from school. They cost 24 euro for two months. We also got a few things from the grocery store and bought flowers for “Grandma” our neighbor who was very anxious to meet us. We had to hurry back to our apartment to meet Kristen who was stopping by everyone’s apartments to answer questions and show us how to get our mail, turn the heat on, and use the washer and dishwasher (since everything was in French!). For dinner we went to a café in the older town of Antibes and then stopped by the internet café a few blocks away from our apartment.
On Tuesday morning we had to be up bright and early to meet at 8:00 to catch the bus to our school’s campus for orientation. The school is located in Sophia Antipolis and the bus ride is about a half an hour, sometimes more depending on traffic and the bus stop is about a ten minute walk. The school is split into two main buildings, one that has offices, computer labs, a cafeteria, and classes for the students in the masters program. The second building where we will spend most of our time has advisors offices and classrooms for the undergrad students. The school is located in the woods and unfortunately for us the bus drops us off at the other building. We have to walk up one side of a hill made of rocks and mud, then walk alongside a very busy road, and then up an even steeper hill and then through the woods to get to our building. During the tour of the campus one of the CEA students raised their hands and asked if we were going to school or for a hike at nature camp! With the rain we have had the past two days it makes for a very interesting climb! During the orientation we met with the president of the school who explained the programs it offered, went for a tour of the campus, had lunch in the cafeteria, met with our advisors to adjust our schedules and then had our pictures taken for our ID cards. We didn’t get back to our apartment until about 6:00 and then just made PB&J sandwiches for dinner and then hung out at the apartment for the rest of the night.
Wednesday was our first day of class and we had one class at 8:30 so we had to get the bus around 7:35. All of the classes are three hours long and are only once a week, usually earlier in the week since a lot of people, especially exchange students want to travel over the weekends. We have class on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays. We had sociology today and out of the thirty-five students only three were American. Two students were other students from our program and one was a student from Hawaii. He was really nice. Most of the French students sat in the back and talked and played games on their computers even though the teacher kept telling them to stop talking and to talk in English when they did talk. We were told that they are ashamed of their American accents so they are afraid to speak in English. The class was really different from what we are used to. After about an hour the French students wanted a break so they left the classroom and didn’t come back for 45 minutes! The teacher just started without them after waiting a half hour! We have a lot of work to do for the class and it seems like it is going to be pretty hard. After class we got lunch on campus and then went to the computer lab and then came back to Antibes to go food shopping and look for adapters and hair dryers. Em is sick; she thinks she has a sinus infection so we are planning on going to the doctors tomorrow. We are also hoping on signing up for a gym class so we need to get a physical from the doctors as well.
Hope everything is going well with all of you! We miss you so much! Have a good week! We love you!
-Em and Jen
**The first picture is of part of our bedroom. We only have about four small drawers each so most of our clothes are still in our suitcases. We have a small balcony that connects to our rommates bedroom. The second picture is of our bathroom, we also have another half bathroom. The third picture is our kitchen, the fourth is our living room- there is also a balcony off of there and the fifth picture is of our roommates bedroom.
Your apartment is HUGE and looks really new- you're so lucky! haha, kristy has the same duvet....$4.99 from ikea.
ReplyDeleteDo you have a washer in your kitchen?
I think we got some of the same kind of weather in Belize. It was nice for the first 6 days, then we got rain most of the next 5. At least it was warm rain. Your apartment looks really nice. I'm looking forward to seeing pictures of your views from the balconies. I can see a little on 2 of the pictures. Have you met any of the French students in your classes? I didn't realize that you would have classes with both French and American students.How is your French coming along? Do you have a French class?
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