First Days

As I stepped off of the Eurostar train from London to Lille, the reality of my immersion hit me like a ton of bricks. From this point on, I realized that I actually was going to have to speak French if I wanted to eat, sleep, or enroll in school. I took it one step at a time, beginning in the train station. I started with asking someone the time, then I proceeded to order some breakfast; ask directions and then for the big finale, hail a taxi to my hotel. I managed these small tasks in French on my own, but I had no idea how the next day was going to work itself out. After I woke up the next morning, I realized that I had not heard a word of English for two days except for the seven or eight minutes that I talked on the phone with my mom. This was a very strange feeling. That morning, I felt completely incapable of even taking a step outside my door. I thought, “well, Natalie, you can just go back home now, you’ve had fun, but this is not going to work.” Well, going home was not a real option, I tried crying; not a tear, so I set out to meet up with a Canadian friend I met on facebook who was coming to Nantes through my study abroad program. I waited at the train station looking for a blonde Canadian for two hours and still no sign. Of course I knew there had to be a glitch in this little brilliant plan I cooked up because no American can really function without a cell phone. I have already grown accustomed to being “disconnected” from cell phones, internet, etc., so this mishap was just a result of poor planning. It turned out that I was inside while she was outside, and she went inside to page me en francais while I went outside to look for her. As I was about to take a taxi and leave, I saw a seemingly lost blonde girl with way too much luggage. We were both ecstatic to see each other for fear that we might have both just jumped back on a plane across the Atlantic if the other had not shown up.

This first day was a catastrophe in that we were handed a million different documents with instructions from the fastest speaking French women in the country. Okay, that might be an exaggeration, but when you are exhausted from dragging loads of luggage with weak arms like I have and at this point a pretty weak brain, you don’t want to have to do all of this. I felt like possibly what a baby would feel like if he or she could comprehend and remember what it was like not to be able to walk, but to have this driving force pushing and forcing you to survive. The city was brand new and Miranda and I had to make our way to bureaus, poste offices, and banks just so we could sleep somewhere that night; and yes, every single bit of it was in French.

The next day, I woke up feeling ten times better. Miranda and I had to go out to take care of more forms and such and then go take our placement test. Of course I am thinking, why in the world do we have to take a test the day after arriving; it’s a bit much. So we walk into this giant room filled with students and faculty at the front speaking French and handing out tests. I didn’t panic though. I started to feel this overwhelming sense of peace and ease about communicating in French. I was excited to take the test for some odd reason. Well, necessity is indeed the mother of invention, and I began to feel this idea play out in my own situation. I knew I had to understand directions, so I listened as closely as possible and I started to understand tons more than I thought I would. It’s strange; it’s as if you somehow understand words and their meanings even though you know for certain that you have never learned them in your life. I feel this ungovernable force compelling me to understand better, speak more, and take chances with the language. I knew logically that I didn’t possess the necessary skills for moving through all of these administration hoola-hoops in French. And I mean EVERYTHING was in French. Somehow though, I was able to understand and communicate, far surpassing my expectation. This is why I think that when people say they are no good at languages, they just don’t know that it’s ten times more difficult to be in a classroom than immersed and taught by force. If I want to survive here, I have to speak and listen in French. I opened a bank account already in complete French; this was interesting! I described a coat design to a sales person in French; and I got into level four, big surprise, in my French program!

I meet so many people here who speak three and four languages without any problem, so this puts my challenge in a new light. I am not being stretched that much. Right now, I am not stressed, which is completely shocking seeing that there are times when I fail miserably at getting my point across and there is just awkward silence that ensues. However, I am so excited to see myself improve. I also am just enjoying the pastries, cheese, bread, wine, coffee(all very inexpensive compared to everything else) and even the typical smelly French streets. No, it’s not all out of a dream, but for the most part everything is super! It is very rainy and chilly in Nantes. Nantes is right near the coast in a region called the Loire-Atlantic. They make incredible white wines, Muscadet, here in the valley. It is also a grand chateau/castle region. I have been pretty wet and cold here, but it is nice. There is always a break in the clouds and you can go out with a wool coat on or just a scarf, long sleeves and pants…whatever you wish! I think I understand why everyone here is so fashionable. It’s because they get to wear clothes without sweating all the way through until November. Autumn starts in September for sure, and it is going to be absolutely gorgeous, I just know. So, I adore the weather in Nantes.