Orientation and Meeting My Host Family

Today was quite a busy day.  In the morning, my hotel roommates and I awoke at 8:00 to five sepearte alarms sounding at the same time. It was pretty spectacular.  I had packed most of my things the night before and after a quick shower, I went downstairs and enjoyed a nice French breakfast prepared by the hotel (continental style).  I had pain (bread) with confiture (jam), a croissante, and cafe viennoise (coffee, mocha, and a bit of milk).  It was all very good.  After that I moved my luggage downstairs to the lobby, where it was stored while we had orientation on campus and at the student union.

We walked to the Place de la Comédie to the tram station there, near the statue of the Three Graces, which is very pretty (picture to come, promise).  We took the blue tram to the university.  Université Paul Valéry is very beautiful, with plenty of green, even this time of year.  We took a placement test to determine which level grammar class we would be enrolled in and afterwards we went by tram to the Minnesota Student Union, which is a neat hangout place connected to the offices of our support staff, who are all very nice.  They ordered us pizza, which was tasty (then again, we were all hungry.  Turns out I eat meat-lovers with onions and mushrooms when I’m hungry.  Who knew?).  After that we had more orientation.  Then we had a few hours to kill.  

I went with a group of students who were following one of our “social assistants” showed us where we can purchase our cards to ride the tram.  After waiting the long line, I got my tram card.  It was actually pretty easy.  Unlimited rides for thirty one days.

After that, I returned the hotel lobby and waited to meet my host family.  I was met by Thibault, the family’s 16 year old son and a group of his friends, who quickly subjected me to a petite interrogation.  Luckily, I was rescued by Pierre, my host father, and we drove out to the small village near Montpellier in which they live.  At home, I met my host mother and was moved in.  Soon after me arrived their oldest daughter and her husband and two small sons, one a toddler and the other an infant.  They were all very nice and made me feel welcome. 

Dinner was wonderful.  There were three dishes: a pasta noodle, a pork and vegetable dish, and a pumpkin-cheese dish, which was almost like a cheesy pumpkin pie.  It was all very tasty, especially the bread.  After that came yogurt and fruit.  It was tasty as well.  I then helped clear the table and put the dishes away.

After dinner, went with my host mother to walk their dog around their small neighborhood.  It was a pleasant evening, the stars were bright.  Thibault helped me get onto the family’s wifi network and so I am now able to type this blog entry.  Tomorrow continues academic orientation and I meet my host family's other two daughters.