Ma Première Semaine!

Hey everyone!! I hope this finds you all well! I'm writing to you after finishing my first full week in France! I have to say, I Love it here!! There's so much to do, so many people to meet, so many awesome things to learn! This post is going to have two different subjects -- thoughts on culture & (of course) adventures! I may have been wrong in my last post... all of my posts may end up being about that long haha sorry!
We went out last night with a pretty big group of us internationals and went to a couple of different bars.  At the first one, we began discussing all of the little cultural differences that you find - even just within the US! We had a girl named Iris with us from Norway and Mira is from Finland so we had lots of notes to compare! We talked about things that would be rude to do in our countries vs. here in France, we talked about talking habits (at the supper table, for instance), which, of course, lead to a discussion of swear words and their levels of obscenity.  It was a lot of fun to hear all the different stories from around the world.
When I arrived in Paris, I remember feeling like there should be a way to tell, just by looking at the people, that I was in a different country. They should walk differently, or act differently, or look different.  When I got to the train station and looked around me, I realized that none of that is true.  All the people there were hurrying to their next destinations with their heads down, staying out of everyone else's way -- it could have easily been a train station in the US.  The only way the people here walk differently is that they don't really leave any gaps between themselves and the person in front of them.  They do this everywhere, too.  In the US, when standing in line, it's polite to keep about an arms-length distance from the next person.  I've found, from experience, that if you don't stand less than a foot away from the person in front of you here, someone else will think you aren't in line and cut in front of you.  The only way the people here look different is the plethora of scarves in every color, length, and wrap! (I really do need to buy a couple new scarves...haha!) Sadly, I've yet to meet any French students (It's ironic how hard they are to find around here....) so I can't really dive into the little differences between our cultures... Hopefully that will change soon!!
Now that I've rambled about my thoughts for a little while, on to the adventures!! The beginning of this week started off fairly slow. We had orientation classes where they tested us to make sure we were in the right level (I am, by the way, in the correct level at B2) and we did some activities closer to the end of the week.  My favorite was with Mme Ozouf, our writing prof.  She gave us a sheet of a ton of the idioms in French and had us illustrate a couple of them on the board, then have the rest of the class guess which one we meant.  After, she told us what all of the ones we had drawn meant.  Some of them I would have guessed meant the complete opposite!! For example -- He has a heart made of artichoke actually means he's tender-hearted! Who'd a thunk?
On Wednesday, Mira and I (Mira is the girl I've been spending most of my time with. She's Finnish and very sweet =]) went downtown and shopping! Downtown Caen is so gorgeous! It's all old stone buildings with amazing carvings and wrought-iron over the windows.  The streets are all cobbled and very nice to walk on. Right next to Saint-Pierre, we found a working carrousel!! It's so colorful and cute!  I wish I hadn't forgotten my camera that day, but I will be here a while so I can still get pictures =] We went to a few clothing stores and and a shoe store (where I got an awesome pair of boots for only 10€!) and just checked out the town in general.  It was a really nice afternoon.  When we got back to campus, we could see the sun setting over Saint-Pierre...It was breath-taking. 
The next day, after our last class, Mira and I went to Carrefour -- the French Walmart -- to do some grocery shopping.  French stores are quite different than American... None of the stores here are organized in a pattern that I understand... you can find pots and pans in one aisle and cooking utensils halfway across the store!! I eventually found everything I needed, though, and I filled my mini-fridge up to bursting! I also bought my first bottle of wine! I haven't opened it yet but it's a 2010 Bordeaux and I'm really hoping it's good haha. On Friday, I didn't do a whole lot.  Take this however you want, but I've finished 3 and a half books since I got here haha. Sometimes I have too much time to myself... But, thankfully, after being frustrated all week and almost buying my own internet, we got Skype back up and working!!! So Friday night I Skyped with my family for a while and that was amazing! I'd been pretty homesick for that week... It's a lot better now though =]
Last night was my first, big outing! Mira, who has had a lot more success with meeting her neighbors than I have (mine are very reclusive..) heard a plan to go out with a group and asked if she and I could join.  Around 8, we had a group of seven people on our way downtown.  Most of these people I hadn't met, but it was so much fun to talk to them! I'd forgotten how much I love being in a big group of friends! The first bar we went to was called Ross and Co. and it was tiny and Packed!! We ended up sitting outside in the garden.  It was funny to listen to the Texans complain about the mild weather ;P This was where we had our cultural discussion and the girls split a couple pitchers of Embuscade, which means Ambush in English. It lives up to it's name, let me tell you! It was really yummy though haha.  Just as we were about to head to the next bar, about four more internationals showed up and joined us - three of them were from UND! It was nice to see them and catch up on how their trips went and what they've been up to.  On our way to the next bar, we all realized that it was very icey (after I fell on my butt....*sigh* I thought I was leaving all that behind me in ND!!) and we started walking in chains, which was fun.  When we got to Mozzies, it was practically empty but I think I liked that bar the best of the three.  We all sat around a huge table and drank and laughed, took a few pictures and had a good time. We stayed there for about an hour, then made our way to the ever-popular O'Donnell's! I'd heard quite a bit about this bar and was excited to see it.  When we got there, we found about 10 more internationals, so now we had a really huge group! The pub was pretty packed but we had fun talking with everyone and about half an hour after we got there, a live DJ came on, so, of course, we all danced for a while! Finally, a group of us left at about 1:30am and started the trek back to campus through the snow.  The Texans were funny again - they were so excited about seeing snow! When we were pretty much back at campus, I realized that I had left my purse back at O'Donnell's..... Thankfully I had taken out everything important and only had about 20€ in it.  Also, thankfully, I had just gotten the number of one of the guys who had stayed a little later.  I was able to text him and beg him to bring it back for me, which he was kind enough to do =] Also, also, thankfully -- despite how much I drank last night, I didn't wake up with even an ounce of a hangover (*knockonwood*).
Well, that concludes this weeks adventures! I hope it was as entertaining to read as it was to live =] Pictures will be making their way onto facebook today, so keep a look out!

À bientôt, mes amis!!
Bisous!!
Morgan