Montpellier!

Okay, I finally have a chance to update again!

So I'm in Montpellier now. This is really such an ideal city. First of all, the weather is wonderful. It's the middle of January and its in the 60s. I walked around without a jacket yesterday. And it's just sunny and perfect. Also, it combines all the aspects of what I consider to be a perfect place to live: it is a city with lots of cultural stuff to do, lots of restaurants, bars, etc., and it's really good for walking. Yet everything outside of the centre-ville is beautiful and picturesque. In general I find that NYC is a great city but it's overcrowded, claustrophobic, and ugly. However other cities like Boulder and Madison and LA I find are just too small and don't really feel like real cities, they're pretty spread out, and the area considered the "city" or downtown area is pretty small -- i consider cities like those to be more like glorified suburbs (esp. cuz they're not always so great for walking). Montpellier seems to find a nice balance between the urban and the rural.

The center of the city, called the Place de la Comedie is amazing. There are no cars allowed, so its great for walking, and all the buildings are very regal and old, 19th century mostly, I think. Lots of little side streets and places to explore. Lots of stone. And then there is this big area lined with these huge trees -- it's kind of like College Walk at Columbia only much bigger. In fact the trees have white christmas lights so it really looks a lot like College Walk.

Also, there are all these grassy knolls where students sit around and chill out, playing guitars, etc. It's kind of like your token university city in that way, which I like because it's something that I never experienced going to a city school. Now I have the bona fide college environment. The campus is about a 25 minute walk from the city, and my dorm is right next to the campus. The campus itself is also pretty spread out, and more of a typical University campus, unlike Columbia. I'm really glad I get to experience the flip side, typical college lifestyle that I don't have at Columbia.

Everyone that lives in my dorm is French; I haven't met anyone yet because I just moved in yesterday but everyone says hello to me in the hallway and seems pretty nice. Last night right after I moved in there was a really intense screaming fight between the couple directly next door to me. It was pretty scary, I just kept wondering what I would do if the guy hit the girl or something, I mean that's how bad it was getting.

My room itself is pretty simple; it has a nice window with shutters which let in a lot of sunlight. The one problem is the bathroom -- the toilets have no seats and there is no toilet paper. You would think that means they're only for guys (they're pretty much urinals), but no they're coed bathrooms. I'm still tryign to figure out what to do about that. Also, the showers automatically turn off approximately every 2.5 minutes. So you're going along showering and then the water stops. Youjust have to be on your toes and keep turning it on again, but it's slightly stressful. But the dorms in general seem really social -- people were out talking and listening to music to really late last night; it's good, I definitely chose to live in the dorms because I wanted that kind of an atmosphere. I'm also glad that I get to live in a coed dorm, something I never had at Barnard, obviously. Just gotta remember the cardinal rule of not hooking up with anyone who lives in your building. This might be a struggle. The average attractiveness level here is about 40% higher than that of New York / Columbia. Plus the guys are a lot more forward. I got followed down the street last night when I was walking home, which was actually kind of scary since the suburban streets (which I have to take to walk to the dorms from the city) are a little more desolate so after I told the guy "Je ne suis pas interesse. J'ai un petit ami," I just kept praying he wouldn't turn around and slap me and steal my money, screaming "petite americaine degeulase" or something like that. Haha.

It's funny because I'm so used to feeling so in control of everything and so tough -- I mean I live in NY, and you kind of feel like after living in NY you can handle anything, I mean it is one of the most intense American/Western cities. But once you're in a foreign country, with a language that you speak, but not fluently, it's a lot scarier. Like I would walk around an unsafe neighborhood in NYC late at night and only feel slightly uncomfortable. I take the subway at 4 am and its fine. If a guy comes up to me I generally know exactly what to say or where to go or how to deal with the situation. Here you just feel a little less in control -- you don't understand exactly what is being said to you, exactly how you should respond, what you should do in a bad situation...plus as an American you're much more vulnerable. Hopefully this situation will improve as time goes on and as my French gets better though.

Yesterday I went into a French grocery store and the guy started talking to me and when I told him he was American, he was actually surprised -- he had thought I was French! Pretty much the number one compliment I could get right now. He told me I spoke French very well and that I had a strong accent. I was in h-e-a-v-e-n.

Okay once again this post is way too long, but what can I say, that's what happens when you only update once a week. Love and miss everyone, and will try to post again soon.