Life has been pretty quiet since I got back from Germany just over a week ago. I've been here 3 weeks now and time is suddenly hurtling along at an alarming rate! As such, an entire week seems to have gone by without me really doing an awful lot to tell you all about!
On Thursday there was a student party at Le Carré, a club which, like the other 2 in Dijon, is quite a way out of town. There was a free bus though, and the drinks were cheap (or as cheap as they seem to come here, although the prices would have had most Edinburgh students bolting for the door) so we decided to head along. There seems to be a completely different timescale for nights out in France than in the UK. At home, even on an especially hectic night out, I'll usually leave home around 9pm and be snuggled cosily in bed again by 4am - and that's including a long, rambling, drunken walk back to my flat, and, let's face it, a lengthy stop at the nearest kebab shop. In France though, the first bus to the club was at 11, meaning we didn't get through the doors until after midnight, and the first bus back was at 5am. As it turned out, I was eager to get that first bus home, because my first efforts at clubbing in France proved disappointing. The club was small, with strange, glowing pictures of aliens on the walls, and it was absolutely packed with people. The dancefloor, and the rest of the place as well, was so crowded that you literally couldn't move and it was also extremely sweaty and smelly. The tight-packed crowd also allowed a lot of opportunity for drunken hands to wander wherever they pleased, and I was very glad to finally step outside for some fresh air and grab the nearest bus back to campus! It wasn't all bad though - I did get to meet and chat to a few French students in the queue for the bus and I got a good listen to some French rap! I also discovered quite a few stereotypes that the French have of the British, or more specifically, of female British exchange students. I heard the sentence "But you are English! So why aren't you drunk? / why are you pushing my hand away? / why aren't you wearing furry boots? / why is your hair all the same colour? / but... you speak French!" more times than I can count that night. I have to admit, I was unaware that the British are considered drunken, easy, badly-dressed idiots by the majority of French students! My attempts to convince them that I am Scottish fell a bit flat too. I also have to say that it was all just lighthearted banter and all the French people we spoke to were lovely to us and eager to chat and try out their English swear words!
Most of the British Erasmus students went to Paris on Saturday, taking advantage of the 15 euro return train that delivers you to the capital by 9am and brings you back at around midnight. I decided not to follow the crowd, and instead caught a train to Besançon with my coursemate from Edinburgh, Sophie, to visit our mutual friend Heather. I should note at this point that, no matter how trusting the public transport systems in Europe seem to be - if you get caught stealing your 1 euro bus fare the contollers are merciless and there is no escape! After that little drama, my bank account and my pride rather leaner than they once were, Sophie and I headed to Besançon, about an hour away from Dijon by train. It's about the same size as Dijon but seems much more lively - there were people in the streets! At the weekend! Shops were open! We didn't take too much advantage of this though, instead going on a walk up to the old part of the town to see the cathedral, which is beautiful, although I have to say I prefer the slightly worn charms of the one in Dijon, and an astrological clock, which we peeked at from around the door to save ourselves the 3 euro entry fee! It was a gorgeous, sunny day and we eventually went and sat in the park eating waffles and people-watching. It doesn't sound like much, but I have to say it was one of the best days I've had since coming to France; it was so peaceful and relaxed and for once I wasn't worrying about bank accounts or classes or...anything at all, and it was an amazing feeling.
In terms of day-to-day life, things are starting to settle down a bit now. I'm in to the second week of classes, taking a ridiculous amount of translation as well as Civilisation Français, Français pour les Etrangers and English literature. I know my way to all of these classes and what I'm expected to do for each, which, seeing as I am usually the least organised person in the world (and have the worst sense of direction), I am rather proud of! I'm still finding everyday life in another country quite tiring though - at the end of every day I collapse into bed absolutely knackered and with lots of new vocab spinning around in my head. As I said, though, I do feel my language skills improving, something I proved to myself with a second attempt at French cinema the other night. Granted, though, the plot of Mamma Mia isn't too hard to follow!
