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