Ready, Set, Jump!

On tuesday, when I arrived at Charles De Gaulle airport in Paris, I went through a breezy customs line and then began my quest to find the train station (la gare, en français). Unfortunately for me, the train station was on the other side of the airport from the customs station, so I had to lug my 90lbs of baggage and all my carry-ons across the airport. Thankfully, there were moving sidewalks which helped me move along a lot better.

When I finally arrived at the train station, I had NO idea what I was supposed to do. Did I check my bags? Did I have to check in with a person like you do at the airport? Where was the platform that I had to go to? Because of my great confusion, I went to the only place that I could find that I thought someone could maybe tell me what I was supposed to do: the ticket purchasing counter. When I finally was able to talk to a person, he evidently saw that I was flustered and extremely confused so, even though I spoke in french to him, he still answered me in english. He answered all of my questions and was very friendly to me. Since my train didn't depart for another three hours, he told me to wait in the lobby and check the reader board 15 minutes before my train was to depart to see what platform it was coming to. "That's not that bad," I thought, "I can be bored for a little while." Boy was I wrong. The train station was FREEZING! It was like I was outside (where it was -15 degrees C) only I was indoors! So, I sat there shivering for a long time until I finally decided that I should get up and move around (not such a good idea with lots of luggage). I slowly wandered around the train station until it was time to check the reader board for my train platform. When I got to the platform (outside in the -15 degree C), I was having trouble loading my GIANT suitcase onto the train. Fortunately, a nice german girl helped me lug it into the luggage section of the car.

Upon arriving in Angers, I began searching for my host family, hoping that since I had sent them a picture of myself they would be able to find me. My host mother was waiting at the top of the ramp at the exit of the train station. I was so relieved when she pulled me out of the crowd and warmly introduced herself. She then introduced me to her friend, who had kindly offered to drive us from the station to my host family's apartment, and my host-dad.

When we arrived at the apartment, my host mom showed me my room and then made us all tea. We sat there and talked for a little while, getting to know each other. Here, I was introduced to le chat (my host family's cat) who seemed to be thinking: "who is this person and why is she not petting me more??"

After tea, we walked to the school where I had my placement test the next morning.

Overall it was a very eventful and interesting first day in France!