Thus Far

Oh French. I knew the French love their language, but I didn't know they loved it that much. So far, all the students I've spoken to, upon realising that I am barely competent in French, have given me either pitying smiles or vaguely awed looks. Awed because they probably never thought they'll meet someone brave (or stupid) enough to go to France for half a year with zero French knowledge.

It's taking a fair bit of getting used to - the temperature, the food, the (barely furnished) room, the (crazy, crazy) wind that blows right through you, the general way of life - alot slower than what I'm used to, the differences in logic. A Finnish student was rather amused at my general argh-ness at the weather. "In my country, the snow is usually up to this high (gestures at above-knee level), so this weather is like summer over there." "In Singapore, I'm used to wearing shorts and tee-shirts during summer, which is everyday." Shivers.

So far, we've traipsed to a nearby supermarket by conveniently passing through a cemetery. It's a lovely place, I have to say. Very peaceful. No idea when we will actually attempt to cook, however. The pantry/kitchen is in a state I'd only describe as beyond dubious although I have heard that the kitchens get better as the floors get higher. Food scarcity isn't a concern at the moment considering how I've got enough to last me at least two weeks. Also, my room-mate and I started a yoghurt collection - one from the cafeteria every time we eat there. We now have five boxes of yoghurt and two bottles of milks sitting on the window sill in the chilly air. It's absolutely awesome.

While mingling today, I found some of my goals for this exchange, one of which being learning how to say hello in all the languages of all the nationalities present. Occasionally turns up with some anticlimax results:

"Is the 'hello' in Swedish the same as the 'hello' in English?"

"Nope." 

"So how dya say it?" 

"Hey (Hej)." 

Another one is to teach the entire group how to play one of those mass orientation games. Just because. And also to break the awkward hanging around conversations tensions.