Bonjour!

Where do I even start? I'm in France, the place that I have always dreamed about. It's hard to put it all into words, but I'm going to try!


This is my first day in France, but I'm going to start at the beginning... the pretty awesome flight over here! I flew AirFrance overnight from Atlanta to Paris, and the flight was much better than any American airline I have ever been on. First, they served free alcohol, second, the food was delicious and third, I had t.v. on the seat in front of me and was able to watch Sex and the City, Friends and Grey's Anatomy. 


Margaret (the only person I knew coming on this trip) sat next to me, and our plan was to force each other to sleep on the plane since we were flying all night. Sadly, our plan did not work. I slept about 3 hours, and she slept 1 hour. There was a lot of turbulence on the flight, but one time it get extra scary. Seriously, it felt like I was on a roller coaster and my stomach jumped right into my throat. Instinctively (though not sure why this is my instinct), I grabbed and then clenched the arms of both people beside me while yelping. So I had one hand on Margaret, and one hand on... uh, the random lady next to me. I then proceeded to let go and mutter, "I should introduce myself now. I'm Jamie." 


Making our way through the Charles de Gaulle airport was insane. We had to find our connecting flight to Montpellier, but the gate was not listed on the ticket or the t.v. screen. We were forced to ask for help, and a man told us to go to Gate 21- he was wrong. Gate 21 was for Italy. Then, we started our search all over again. 


My "house father" Christian was there to meet us at the airport when we arrived in Montpellier, and he drove us into the centre-ville (main downtown area) called La Place de la Comedie. We walked around, admired, ate lunch and then he treated us to ice cream! It was Haagen Dazs! Apparently Americans make the best ice cream.

At home that night, I met my wonderful house mother Collette and my house brother Steven, a college student from Texas. Another American! Dinner here is nothing like in America. It's a 4 or 5 course meal, starting with appetizers, then bread, then vegetables, then a meat with something starchy, then cheese and finally dessert. It takes over 2 hours, and we just sit and talk and relax. We usually finish dinner around 9:45! I don't know how my dad would survive- he goes to bed at 8:30!


The next day, my study abroad group had our orientation/tour of the city. 

There are 18 of us, and I don't know how, but we all just clicked! We all hang out together in big groups all the time and it's just so cool how we all get along. I have so much more to write, but I've go to go now! 


I'll update later with how our trip to la plage (the beach) went and other fun stuff!