Oh, and one more thing...

One of the many things that absolutely frustrates but at the same time, fascinates me is dubbing. Obviously I'd come across it before coming here but given the option I'd always opt for subtitling rather than dubbing, I just don't like how the voices don't match up with their mouths! 

Yesterday I came across Columbo, Merlin and How I Met Your Mother all of which were dubbed and, this is the thing that really gets me, to me the voices do not match the people! I know to most of the French public watching these programs these are the only voices they'll hear but the other day I watched Transporter 3 and Jason Statham sounded more like a businessman than Jason Statham. 

Turns out I am absolutely rubbish at blogging!

I should have guessed from when I used to try and keep diaries as a kid and I'd get three days in and then lose it in a pile of paper only to find it again a year later. OH WELL.

Quick life update, I booked my flights home today! HURRAY. Although there's not much to "hurray" about as I actually only get 10 days in jolly old Angleterre before I fly back. I'm determined to make the most of every second of those 10 days though and I've already started organising myself.

I feel like I should sum up everything that I've been doing but that can be summed up in two words - becoming obese - so instead I'll tell you more things I've come to love and hate about France. 

Firstly, "on-time" and "organisation" don't seem to mean a whole lot to the French so when they say your lesson starts at 4, it'll probably start more towards quarter past, or at 5 if you have teachers like mine and if you want to ever get anything sorted in France in terms of timetables, exams, registering or pretty much anything, you'll have a lot of trouble doing it!

Linked to that, it's not just Cécile's timetable that is completely mad, mine is too! 

Here's a visual representation of my timetable that I made for my Mum. It is infact trying to show that, apart from on Fridays, I don't start til 4 on any other day, and I pretty much only have one class a day because the pink one is my optional language class (which I don't want to go to because I don't like the sligtly racist Anna Wintour- wannabe who teaches it). Not only are my classes ridiculously late but they're also, for the most part THREE HOURS LONG. Who can talk for three hours straight?! The French, that's who. 

It's not all bad though! As you've already read I am spending my time here turning myself into Michelle McManus without the voice because food here is good. Who would have guessed? Already eaten enough crepes avec Nutella to last the average person a lifetime and I am slowly replacing Greggs with Pizza Capri.


TIL NEXT TIME.

Right so I arrived in Aix two days ago and I'm already feeling a little bit homesick partly because I feel actually sick, think I might have sunstroke but that's a whole other story. 


I'm staying with Francoise and Cécile in a flat just north west of the town centre and it is such a lovely place and they've made me feel so welcome! I love it. 


Francoise took me yesterday to open a bank account which was an experience I'd rather not relive as it involved sitting around for a while and then signing A LOT of paperwork. We also went to an amazing fruit and veg market where the woman who ran the stall kept staring at me oddly when Francoise told her I was English ahahaha. 


In the afternoon Cécile showed me around town properly and it is soooo amazing. Very very French. I'm going in later to meet Bea (hopefully I won't get lost on the way there) so I'll take a load of photos. 


Things of interest that have happened so far

• I've become a bit obsessed with Money Drop i.e the French version of Million Pound Drop. When I watched it the other day there was a question like "What is the correct subjunctive conjugation of 'brouillir?'" French grammar lessons coming in useful there. 
• French radio only seems to have access to 6 songs which they will play on repeat all day. Oddly only two of them have are French songs. 
• You can't get plastic bags at a supermarket because it's better for the environment, however when you sign up for a bank account they will print ten thousand sheets of paper for you to sign and when you get home and read through them, you realise that its actually the same information repeated in different ways.
• Cécile goes to school at 8am and doesn't finish til 6pm !!! She still gets a ton of homework to do but she does get three hours for dinner. It's crazy, I don't know where she finds the time to do everything! 
• There is a shocking number of people with small dogs here. I know I love dogs and tend to notice them anyway but they are EVERYWHERE. 

I think that's it for now! Tomorrow I need to go to uni and register, I would go today but that would mean on my own and I would rather not attempt that solo ahahaha. 

Packing

Well I have spent the entirety of this weekend packing for my Year Abroad. Probably should have spent more time doing it, but I feel that if I had then I would have taken a lot more stuff and I'm already taking about 10 pairs of shoes anyway. Oops. 


Packing hasn't been as difficult as I imagined, I'm assuming its because my Mum is SUPER organised and has basically done a lot of it for me. Also because I'm flying with British Airways (ooooooh) and it means I have a lot more baggage allowance than I would have done otherwise. 


I will update this post when I get around to unpacking in Aix and make a list of everything I brought with me, not that it will be useful to anyone coming to Aix in the future because I stopped counting at 10 dresses and I assume not everyone is as mad as me...


Edit: You know you bought too many clothes with you when you've been here over a month and have only worn the same thing about 4 times and still have many things that go unworn. Oops.

3 weeks to go!

Well just less than three weeks actually, but I thought I'd get this up and running in advance, otherwise I'm fairly certain I'll never start it, and then I'll regret it!


Quick intro, I'm Alex and I am a student at the University of Liverpool; however for the next academic year I'll be in the beautiful town of Aix-en-Provence in the south of France on my third year abroad! CAN. NOT. WAIT. 


I fly out to Marseille on the 6th where I'll meet my host family and from there on in, the adventures begin!!


That's all for now :)