(macarons, my second favorite form of procrastination...after blogging :) the two are, however, far from mutually exclusive)
***Disclaimer : sleepiness is a very real emotion at the time of writing, so this might end up in a but of a different....style (?)....than other posts***
I really should be either sleeping or writing an English paper but seeing as I have too little motivation to do either of those I wanted to share a few mundane facts about daily life here in Rennes. Feel free to ignore this if you have no interest but I'm hoping to procrastinate + get some creative ideas flowing for my upcoming editing sesh...
Upon arriving in Rennes I realized how far my house was from school...about forty minutes by public transport (more about that later) an a seemingly ungodly seven o'clock am. When I get off at the last metro stop, only one cafe is open...its quickly become a favorite place.
Fortunately for me, I managed to get one of the best possible schedules at school. Unlike some of my classmates, I am not required to be at school from 8 am to 6pm a single day all week...well until our schedules change. Even so, 8-5 or 9-6 is quite a long work day... But I have at least one free period each day.
This is where the French way of doing things gets magical. Yes, the days are insanely long (dont forget sports and homework after) but only three times a week... On Wednesday no one has classes after lunch, and I only have one in the morning. Fridays, there are only two classes after lunch so student begin their weekend mid-afternoon.
Lunch is another beautiful thing... Lunch here only exists after 12 but it's a little more than an hour long. For all of you highschoolers back home, this is wher you should start to feel extremely jealous. My weekly schedule is awesome.
I don't write all of this just to give people at home a sense of my life, although it's perhaps an entertaining side effect. Instead I hope to highlight one simple, over used but very true point. When I arrived, I hated the idea of a school that was open from eight in the morning until six at night. I almost demanded a return flight to the USA when the director told us that in the winter it's dark both when we arrive and leave school. But then came the part where we have school for six weeks then two weeks vacation, all year long. As I settled into life (who am I kidding, it's only been three weeks...but then again saying that doesn't feel real) I began to realize how a different way of life could be superior. I think I realized I'd changed my mind when I found myself explaining why my schedule really wasn't that bad over Skype to friends back home. Whatever the reason, I've already grown fond of my new "emploi du temps" and I think I'll miss it when I return home in eight months. I knew I'd have to adapt to all sorts of things when I arrived in France but a whole new type of school schedule didn't even cross my mind. Not that I had another choice, but I adapted and found I quite liked the new way. What a surprise :) Mostly unrelated, but I beleive worth sharing, my experience with Sunday night dinners. When I first realized that dinner on Sundays consists of toast and cereal I was horrified and began planning a personal pantry. By the time the next Sunday arrived I found myself looking forward to a meal of just bread, butter and <confiture de framboise> and even chose if over the pasta they offered. Today, it's what I ate as my lunch by choice.
Not so surprising, but I'm already finding myself forming new habits and loving them. Not the most original of observations, but perhaps sharing nonetheless. Point being, France has definitely shocked me more than once but each time I'm reminded of the power of flexibility. That's all for tonight, good night.
xoxo lu
P.S. Get excited, my English assignments will be appearing on the blog now because they're part of a super interesting course with super cool writing prompts..."the geography of identity" is part of the course title, I mean how much better could it get.
P.P.S. Fun fact, "Leaving Home" (http://www.chroniclesofasmalllife.com/2015/09/silent-mostly-ignored.html) was actually rewritten for my first English assignment. The next one will be up sometime tomorrow!!
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