France for dummies

Today marks beginning of my semester in Aix-en-Provence. Yesterday I managed to survive a 10 hour flight from Portland to Amsterdam, despite 5 hours of a crying baby, and then made the short hop from the Netherlands to Marseille. I fell asleep before 10 after being exhausted by a day of travel.

I woke up this morning around 8:30 and took account of my room. I've got a pretty good setup right now - a night twin bed with a bookshelf built into the headboard, a large desk with built-in shelving, a huge closet with four rows of shelving to store clothes and shoes in, a stand up closet to hang shirts and jackets in, a private bathroom with toilet, shower and sink. I spent a bit of the morning organizing my things before heading out into Aix.

I managed to navigate the winding, and sometimes confusing, streets to make it to the international relations office so that I could meet my advisor. Rosalind filled me in on some of the things I need to try and accomplish before the week is out - open a bank account, get a phone, register for classes etc. After going over some paperwork with her I headed back out into the drizzly morning and made my way to downtown.

The city is a lot bigger than I expected. The meandering streets intertwine tightly and each corner presents another row of cafes, shops and bakeries. The architecture is pretty awesome - everything looks old without appearing dilapidated. Many of the buildings are composed of layers of huge stone blocks with intricate etchings above doors, along windows and along the walls. Others are the classic provencal pale yellow stucco. One thing all of the buildings have in common is the eye catching red tile roofs which create a coastal and relaxed atmosphere. There are some impressive fountains all over the city - stoneworked lions, dolphins and bearded faces give each a distinct look and name.

Downtown I opened a checking account and managed to pick up a decent phone. I did a lot of walking and by the time I made it home I was way more tired than I expected. I had a light dinner of brie, ham and good bread and now I'm going to sit down and watch a movie before I fall asleep writing.

Tomorrow I'm going to head downtown again and try to find someplace to get good ground coffee for so I can make some java in the mornings. I'm also going to head over to campus and see where I'll be taking classes and try to figure out the best walking route to the Political Science department. 

Today was a good day - got to practice my french (which turned out to be pretty damn good), begin to explore my new home and ease into life abroad.