C'est la vie

 Why is it always the case that the weather is beautiful when you are stuck in side all day?

I was sitting outside yesterday in the sunshine having lunch (it was too nice not too) when I noticed the song stuck in my head was 'Can't speak French' - Not a clue why, its not like i've head it on the radio recently - but the irony certainy wasn't lost on me! I think my subconscious is trying to tell me something...
Girls Aloud - Can't Speak French

 Talking of music, I was listening to Elton John the other day (long story, don't just me - I'm sure he puts on one hell of a show in Vegas) when the next morning I got a email about joining his fan club - I genuinely considered checking my computer for bugs! - the email was promptly deleted and I haven't listened to Elton John since!

 I had my second French lesson last night (Monday) - it was all about counting, remind me never to try and play Bingo in French, it will just lead to me having a total meltdown within the first 10 numbers and getting covered in dabber ink trying to keep up - not pretty.

Anyway during a much needed break during this class I was speaking to some of my Chinese classmates with the use of my French dictionary, google translating French to Chinese and i'm pretty a lot of miscommunication. But whilst trying to find all the relevant words to describe what i'm doing in Clermont Ferrand (its really hard to explain when nobody speaks the language you are trying to talk in) I learnt one major thing about my little dictionary - its very old! I hadn't quite realised how old until I went to look up the French word for internet (because I was trying to work out how to ask for the internet password) and I wasn't there. This is because the dictionary is older than me - oops! Now it might have been useful in 1991 but I think now the use of the words texting and internet have surpassed the use of the words lackadaisical and optical character recognition reader (whatever that is) - especially in my generation. I think its time for an update, but it is borrowed so I can't complain and as long as I don't try to be too 21st century I'll survive. But saying that I quite like the word lackadaisical - might try and use it - except it translates in French to non-chalant, which isn't nearly as exciting.

I've also been uncharacteristically patriotic since I arrived here, i've been telling everyone i'm Scottish rather than British (like usual)  purely because I haven't properly worked out how to say i'm British. If I did start trying to explain Britain, that's just going to open another can of  linguistic worms.... I'm just going to stick to being patriot for the time being.

Bon journee x


Strictly speaking this is yesterday's post but I couldn't get connected to the internet so that put a spanner in the works....

Pretty as a picture

Well I haven't posted anything in the last few days, i've been feeling slightly drained (I think my little old brain is in overload) so i've put up a few pictures from last weekend instead. I don't have WiFi in my room (and I haven't worked out how to do it yet) so I can't put my photos directly online from my shiny new camera but that doesn't mean i'm not taking lots. I think some guy driving past in his car earlier was offering to get out and take some for my in the street...either that or he was posing; i'm still not sure. So photo posting might be sporadic but they will appear, probably on a weekly basis. These are all just from my city stroll last weekend.

A view over the west of the city with Puy-de-dome (the highest volcano in the region) in the background.

Some pretty doors in the street. I realised today I think I have a bit of a doorway obsession....I can see doors having a post of their own sometime soon.

More views....i'm waiting for us to have more of this brilliant blue sky.

Not really sure whats going on here...

Tromp L'oeil

And I kind of fell in love with this cute little French-esk scooter in its little french alleyway.

Bon Weekend x

Small victories

Well this morning I feel the learning is beginning to show. I finally managed to understand that the nice guy at shop checkout
(And it every other shop I've been in) was wishing me bon journee (have a nice day) after I did my shopping. This is nothing ground-breaking but its nice knowing what someone is saying in entirety, even if the whole exchange was just a few words.
However since making google translate my new best friend I've discovered there are a lot of ways to go about saying the same few words so that knocked me off my happy cloud. I can't for the life of me think if its the same in English, but I supposed you take being fluent in a language for granted, or at least up until now I have.

I've realise I haven't attached any pictures yet of my amazing surroundings, so I'll start with a picture of the volcanic backdrop taken from my lab window. Sadly the picture doesn't do it justice - I wish I could do panoramic shots!

I think my mission this weekend is going to be to try and go up one, or at least get to higher ground and see what the view provides. Fingers crossed the beautiful blue sky and sunshine stays.

X

Learning curve...

Well this is officially my 3rd day here in Clermont-Ferrand (central France) and the language barrier is proving to be a major shock to the system. Naively, I thought I would be able to arrive knowing no French (and I mean absolutely nothing, bonjour was the extent of my French vocab) and manage along fine with everyone dying to practice the English they all learnt and know so well - how wrong I was. So take note the stories of the nice people of France being unwilling to speak anything but French in their home country are not unfounded. To be fair why should they be any other way - it is their national language after all.

However, thankfully I have my first French class at 6pm tonight and it can't come quickly enough saying that I have more than mastered oui, s'il vous plait, merci, bonjour and au revoir but sadly that only gets me so far. But saying that everyone is very friendly and so far every student i've passed has said bonjour in the passing, so I am at least in a friendly city.

I'm here at the University of Auvernge on an ERASMUS exchange to carry out my 4th year research project for my Applied Biomedical Science degree through the Robert Gordon University in Aberdeen, Scotland. It's certainly much more colourful than Aberdeen but at the moment if I come across a native English speaker i'll probably grab hold and never let go.

However despite being a total foreigner I have so far sampled the annual Clermont Ferrand international short film festival and explored the city. I went to the park yesterday (Sunday) and it was really nice to see lots of families out playing football, rollerskating and generally spending some nice old fashioned family time - something you don't see very often (or I don't anyway) at home.

The student accommodation is nice if not verging slightly on the European (in my opinion). The toilet room houses purely toilet cubicles  - so you have to run back to your room to wash your hands. Thankfully I haven't met anyone new yet during this dash to the sink because that could make for an interesting first greeting. The accommodation has no fridge or cold room of any sort so I think i'm going to have a go at cooking with purely ingredients that don't require a fridge or cold room for storage - good job I like vegetables and eggs. Along with this and the fact that most shops are shut on Sundays my diet has been mainly bread for the last few days which won't change until I invest in some pans, crockery and cutlery.

I'll confess so far I have spent the last few days trying to speak to as few people as possible due to being the foreigner who doesn't speak the language but today I feel much more positive and I am ready to embrace my new French life.

Right time to head of to my first French class, wish me luck.

Au revoir x

Starting out...

I never thought of writing a blog before. To be honest I kind of always wondered why people started one - but my simple reason is I want to keep track of  what I do over the next few months and a blog seems the simplest way to do it. Plus I think i'm at my 23kg limit for my suitcase so a paperless form of diary seems the most pocket friendly way to go about it...