Fox en France Ep.2: Rennes, Forrest, Rennes!

Wednesday 28th Sept

During the day time when we’re exploring nearby towns and sorting out paperwork or when I’m with my colleagues and being shown round the school, I feel almost calm and like this year is going to be weird, different, but really cool and quite special.

Brittany cider ain't bad

But then I get home... And I still have no oven, the kitchen light doesn’t work and I potentially may never have housemates – and after Leeds, which had one of the former and eight of the latter, this is taking some serious adaptation already. My solution is to get a radio hooked up ASAP and find the French equivalent of Capital. Or something.

The paperwork continues to be on top of me and I may in fact purchase an avalanche alarm for when the ever-growing pile inevitably topples over and buries me for days.

Shockingly, the language barrier is actually the easiest part of the culture shock so far, and as of this moment I’ve only once needed to actively stop someone talking and tell them I don’t have a fucking clue what’s going on.

SO:

Clouds: Kitchen lighting iffy, public transport a mystery, am potentially only 20 year old in Brittany, will have “ADMIN OVERLOAD” on gravestone.

Silver linings: Saw a beaut medieval town, am breathing, I found out my official address and I literally live on a “boulevard”. How’s that for a classy French year abroad?

Thursday 29th Sept

Place de la République, Rennes

Good day: drove over to Rennes (making the most of my dad’s car…) to meet a Leeds friend who goes to university there. It’s a gorgeous town with lots of old buildings and pretty streets, great shops and three/four universities so loads of young people (nearly fell over at the sight of people my age). It was great meeting some of the uni students there and knowing that I have people to see if I ever manage to sort transport from this little place.

The wifi/SIM card debacle ceases to end and I have now more confusing options, a SIM I may or may not be able to use, and dying hope for the future. Just kidding, that’s a bit pessimistic. My hope is not dying but rather just pretty seriously ill. Comatose. Very, dormant, like a volcano you let tourists potter around on because it hasn’t surfaced for literal millennia. Anyway.

I am trying to listen to French radio to feel all French and like a properly dedicated language student immersing herself in the target language but I’m very certain the station I found this morning just made a horrific joke about Syrian child refugees using a remix of the “Bear Necessities” from the Jungle Book. So I think I need a different station.

....Aaaand the song that just played on the new station is one I’ve already heard twice yesterday. I feel like French pop is even more limited than I thought.

SO:

Clouds: iii-soooo-laaaaa-tion, noticing the echoes in my apartment, French radio is like being submitted to a 24/7 special of Eurovision.

Silver linings: Rennes is lovely, my colleagues are so kind, and my balcony gets loads of sun during the day.