In France, On Island America

Je suis ici, but in spite of the overwhelming number of signs in French, people wearing tight jeans and smoking cigarettes like they were candy, I have not had a whole lot of interactions with les Francaises yet. I - and the other participants on the program - are living in dorms at the University of Montpellier for two weeks before moving in with our host families. This means, though, that we have to live like average college students and buy everything that we didn't bring with. This includes things like food and toilet paper (the big two), but we were graciously provided with a pot, a plate, a bowl, and a set of silverware by our program office.

The Americans are all very nice. That is all I'll say for the sake of diplomacy. I have met a few people who I've been spending time with more than others, although the dorms where we are staying are about 20 minutes walk and tram ride from the city center, so I haven't been down there as often as I like. Montpellier itself is rather small (250,000 people) but it, like the Twin Cities, has limited mass transit, and like any city, takes a while to get used to. I also figure that since I'll be here for the next four months, I don't necessarily have to rush to discover everything.

I think also the lack of people I know especially well and who know the area especially well has contributed to my slow pace of discovery. Were my friends from home here, no doubt we'd be bounding up and down the rues at such a pace that the gendarmes would hardly have time to extinguish their cigarettes before chasing after us. In case you can't tell, I've been slightly homesick. Some parts of me have been reluctant to make yet another set of friends - especially since the bar is so high thanks to my various cohorts. Other parts realize that I'll be miserable sans amis. But, it's early in the semester yet, and I haven't even met all the French people! Who knows, they might not even laugh when I speak.