I actually have
something substantial to write about today! YAY!
Today was the first
time we visited the uni campus (pretty old, but hey, it’s what I expected). The
three of us going straight into uni classes had a meeting with a woman who
would advise us on which subject to take this first semester to get us going. I
think we’re all going to take mainly the same subjects for the first semester
and then, once we’re all comfortable with how it all works, branch out into
more creative subjects next semester. So far, I think I’m doing translation
(literally just translating passages from French to English and vice versa),
which is 4 hours a week, French modern literature (post 1940’s) at 2 hours, and
maybs philosophy (not any of our first choices lol but the professor who
teaches it worked on exchange at Macquarie uni for a year and apparently is
really fond of international students, particularly Australians, and is really
lax on us because he wants to encourage us to take his subjects) also 2 hours a
week. All us, that’s 8 hours, which is a part time load.
Enrolling is the
strangest thing ever. At UTS, you have to enrol to get good class times like 3
months before you start classes blah blah blah. Here, to enrol, you just go to
class for the first week (any class you want to that is) and if you like it,
you have a piece of paper and you get the professor to sign it to say you’re in
his class and that’s how you enrol. No electronic stuff or anything. You have 2
weeks to finalise what you want to do. I have to email some different faculties
now to get class times so we know where we’re going and when. So easy, but so
confusing in its simplicity at the same time. Classes are never full over here,
because according to Suzanne (the woman we had our meeting with), French
students never go to class. You cannot enforce students to go to class here, so
you cannot take a roll. BUT, for international students, profs are usually more
lenient, so usually to pass, you only have to go to class and hand things in
and they will pass you. So, I’ll be at every class haha.
On my way home from
uni, I had my most embarrassing encounter yet. I stopped into the local
Carrefour to get some groceries and meat and I grabbed some oranges at the last
minute. When I get to the front of the counter, the check-out woman started
babbling something at me about what the weight of my oranges were. I had no
idea what was going on so said I would go weigh them? So I did. 900 grams. She
then asked for my sticker. SO CONFUSED. The woman behind me in the line (who
spoke English) ended up doing it for me haha I think when you buy individual
pieces of fruit, you must weigh them yourself and print out a sticker from the
scales and stick it on the bag so the cash lady doesn’t have to work anything
out… Not sure, but next time, I’ll be sure to purchase pre-packaged fruit lol.
I’m feeling like such
a grandma! Haha I go to bed at about 8pm and wake up always at 5am. I start to
get reallllllyyyy tired at about 7:30. So, I’ve taken to cooking dinner at
5:30pm. Always 5:30pm on the dot. That way I’m eating by 6-6:15pm and can go to
bed pretty much straight after.
I’ve discovered French
people eat very differently to me. Léa explained it a bit to me. Lunch time in
France is between 12 and 1, and always cooked. No earlier, no later. Last week, when we went to
Meriadeck, we didn’t get home until about 2:30-3pm and it was like she didn’t know
what to do with herself, it put he right out. Dinner time is between 7-8pm.
Because there’s 3 of us all cooking in the one small kitchen, I try to steer
clear of French eating times. Hence why I choose to cook at 5:30pm and I lunch
about 1:30-2pm.
Warm bed
I’ve felt pretty
lethargic today, so I made sure I ate red meat. Red meat for lunch and red meat
for dinner. Lunch was just takeaway thai with the group after our meeting at
uni, but for dinner I cooked Spaghetti Bolognese with HEAPS of vegies. It was
pretty yummy! Last night, in true Aussie style, I cooked my first meal of sausages and salad!
Dinner
