Mes Jours Finaux en Bordeaux

jeudi 23 juin

En fin, j'ai reçu les resultats de l'examen!

When I walked into class this morning, my teacher, to whom I had mentioned having difficulty on the oral comprehension section of the exam, told me that I got a perfect score on that section... can't complain!  I responded that it was because "elle m'enseigne tres bien!" 

So, I received my certificate for passing the exam and that was that.  I'm not sure that I'll ever use the certificate, but it's good to know that I learned something! 

The rest of the day was not very exciting.  I went shopping with Susan from Toronto in the main shopping district of Bordeaux.  I saw a poster of Sperry's and got really excited, so we went into the shop, called Manfield, and soon realized that their boat shoe prices were hugely inflated...!  I looked at one pair, and they were 129 euros; and so I looked at a pair of sandals, logically thinking they'd be cheaper because they required less material, but I was wrong.  249 euros for a pair of sandals... No thanks!  So we quickly left. 

There isn't much in the way of affordable shopping in Bordeaux, so we just looked.  But there was a street vendor selling caneles, a type of mini-cake thta is a specialty of Bordeaux.  I wasn't too impressed, so I didn't buy any; again the prices seemed to be inflated.  So much for the Law of One Price! 


vendredi le 24 juin

The last day of classes rolls around, and I'm really sad to be leaving!  I feel like I just made some great friends and now I have to leave.  C'est dommage.  Mais je pense que Nice aura aussi plusieurs d'occasions de faire nouveaux amis!

After class, I went to lunch with my Korean friends Hyunju and Jinjiu.  It was also Jinjiu's last day, and she was returning to Paris that weekend.  Hyunju plans to stay in Bordeaux for a few more months while continuing to learn French.  Both girls are in graduate programs in France and experience the limitations of knowing only English and Korean in a French-speaking country.  Jinjiu is in the fashion industry and actually worked in NYC, living in Brooklyn, for quite some time until she realized that she didn't like the bureacracy in which she worked.  That's when she moved to France.  Hyunju studies Middle Eastern studies and is learning French to hopefully take classes in French in the future. 

We went to an Indian restaurant and went "shopping" afterwards.  Shopping for us is just looking, since everything in Bordeaux seems outrageously over priced.  We said our goodbyes and Jinjiu and I hope to meet up in Paris in a month and a half.  It would be nice to have someone show Andrew and me around a little bit!

That evening, I went to dinner with Ramon, Fang and Junnan to celebrate my final day in Bordeaux.  Afterwards we went out to a bar to meet up with Linda, a girl we had met during the Fete de la Musique earlier in the week.  It was bittersweet, but I couldn't linger very long since I had to find my way to the train station early in the morning.  But we had a delicious (and "beau marché") meal complete with a delicious chocolate French dessert, and of course with French wine.  The bar was also nice, and we stayed for nearly two hours.  Fang had her first shot of tequila, which seemed to be a nice way to commemorate my departure!  I will truly miss these friends of mine once I go to Nice.


samedi le 25 juin

My train was to leave at 10am, and I had to walk 1.5 miles with all my luggage to get to the nearest tram station that would take me to the train station.  I was a little put off by the fact that my host family did not offer to drive me, considering how far I had to walk.  But alas, after I left the house I made it to the train station with an hour to spare.  Luckily, this train has assigned seats, so I was guaranteed a comfy place to sit! 

The total trip time will amount to 7 hours 53 minutes.... I have a connection in Marseilles where I will have to wait for 2 hours before boarding my second train.  I just can't wait to be in Nice with the nice beaches and warm weather!  I'll finally get to wear all the skirts and shorts I brought!
My host family has two sons, Noé, age 13, and Eliot, age 10, and a cat.  I'll have to fill you in all about it once I get there!

Tout à l'heure!