Je ne pensais pas que ce soit possible de trouver un chocolat chaud meilleur que celui de Serendipity à New York, mais j’en ai trouvé un meilleur à Toulouse. Ici, le chocolat chaud n’est pas fait avec de la poudre comme aux États-Unis. C’est vraiment du chocolat que l’on fait fondre. Il y a beaucoup des parfums comme la vanille, la chantilly, la cannelle, et le café. Dans un petit café, j’ai pris un chocolat chaud au café et il était magnifique. Il était nécessaire de boire le chocolat chaud à la cuillère parce qu’il était trop épais. Ce sont de petites différences comme celles-ci qui changent complètement une expérience simple. J’attends le printemps, mais en attendant, je bois des chocolats chauds jusqu’à ce qu’il fasse beau.
Author: dickinson_france Page 10 of 15
Dear readers,
January is the month of change. The second-semester students are settling into Toulouse and have begun discovering « la ville rose », the first-semester students are leaving, the year-long students are finishing their exams and are starting new courses. As a result, the articles in this edition include accounts of the students’ adaptation to French culture at different moments of their study abroad experience. A fresh perspective and a seasoned perspective.
Enjoy!
Anna Ciriani Dean
Here are some first impressions of Toulouse by second semester students.
Photo: Sam Hoagland
Molly: “On the one hand, it’s like a whole new world, different from what I’m used to, but on the other hand, I feel like I’ve lived here for a long time. Toulouse is a rich city, full of things to explore and see. Every day, I discover a different place or street I didn’t know before. With its animated culture scene, the city emanates a vibrant energy. I’m happy to be here for the next five months or so…enough time to explore the city in all of its glory!”
Amy: “This first week in Toulouse has been very interesting. Because I live far from the center, I need to get used to walking a lot and using public transportation, but I’m finding out how easy it is. It’s a big city, but the center is fairly small. Everyone is nice and in the evening there are lots of young people because it’s such a student city. It’s been a tiring week, but I’m looking forward to the upcoming months.”
Sarah: “I’ve only spent two weeks in Toulouse and I’ve already seen a lot. Yes, I’ve seen a lot of buildings and outdoor markets that happen on weekends, a performance by Pina Bausch’s dance company…but what I like most are tea rooms. There are tea rooms all over Toulouse and each one is special in its own way. It’s true that you can find chocolate cake in many different tea rooms, but desserts like Nutella scones and pear cakes are what give each tea room its own charm. They’re all chic, like cupcake shops in the United States. My goal is to try them all!”
Photos: Sam Hoagland
Alex: “My first week abroad in Toulouse is over, and I’ve learned a lot in very little time. Slowly but surely, I’m learning how to navigate the public transportation system, as well as other French customs. French habits are very different from American ones, and sometimes adapting to them can be difficult. For instance, I always have to remember to close the door and to turn off the lights each time I leave a room. I’m not used to doing these things at home. I think that, for the moment, the most difficult adjustment has been being far away from my family, my friends, my girlfriend and all of the materials comforts of the United States. Nevertheless, living in France has given me the opportunity to make new friends and to learn about a new culture. My classes are difficult (because they’re in French!) and my adjustment is slow. Still, I’m happy to be here and I’m looking forward to the next four months!”
Lindsey: “Last summer I was in Toulouse for five weeks. I already find the two experiences different because of my host family and the program. During the summer, I had to participate in a lot of Dickinson activities and I didn’t have much free time. This semester, there’s a lot of free time to explore the city and to take classes at my university (Political Science). I also have been able to talk to a lot of Erasmus (study abroad) students. I can already feel that I’m in for full immersion this semester. The difference between my hosts is also interesting. My current family is a nuclear family whereas this summer I lived with a woman and her boyfriend. Now I have more than one perspective on family life in France.”
A Christmas market in Berlin
Being away from home for Christmas might seem like a depressing idea. But when one is lucky enough to have some family members on the same continent, it’s not depressing, but downright exciting. This year for Christmas, I was extremely lucky: instead of going home to America, I visited my brother and sister-in-law, who are living in Berlin this year. I was able to explore Germanic Europe, which, up until my trip, had been a complete mystery to me.
The Bavarian Alps
Christmas itself, and the week leading up to it, was spent in Berlin – more specifically, my family’s fabulous apartment in East Berlin. I truly could not have found a better city in which to spend the holiday season. With the 60 Christmas markets, French horns playing “Ave Maria” outside the National Art Museum, and the entire city covered in a sleepy blanket of snow, I kept having the feeling that I would see Santa Claus himself every time I got off the U-bahn. I tasted plenty of mulled wine, caramel apples, delicious giant pretzels, bratwursts, and other innumerable delights. As I strolled through the Christmas markets, I’d people-watch as people twirled on ice skates and others drank beer convivially around cozy fire pits. Of course, the best aspect was that I could share this experience with my family. It’s quite impressive that a city like Berlin, with such a dark and grungy image, could be so cheery and bright in the midst of such terrible weather! But with so many good things to eat and so much company to enjoy, it’s not as surprising as it seems.
Delicious “Bretzeln”
Next, we drove seven hours south to Tirol – the northern, Bavarian region of Austria – where we would spend the next week. We stayed in a little yoga retreat/bed-and-breakfast , snuggled in the small Alpine town of Fernpass. After having spent so much time in cities in the fall semester, it was so relaxing to finally get some quality time in nature. The Alps were so beautiful, snowy, pristine, breathtaking – truly an ideal spot to welcome in 2013. What’s more, it must have been the healthiest vacation of my life. Even though we ate loads of wienerschnitzel and drank lots of Austrian and German beers, the hours of hiking and snowshoeing each day left us feeling quite fit. We also got to visit the famous Neuschwanstein castle, which served as the inspiration for the famous castle of Walt Disney. We even snowshoed halfway up an Alpine mountain, alongside a fresh glacial stream. We tired ourselves out, we once almost fell off the trail and died (literally – as in off a cliff), but overall we had a blast. It seemed to me like the exact definition of a vacation in “Winter Wonderland.”
Neauschwanstein castle
We even had a couple hours on the way back from Austria to visit Munich. We ate lunch at Hofbrauhaus, a 400-year-old classic Bavarian brewery. We had a delicious lunch of weisswurst, bretzel, schnitzel, and other Bavarian delights – not to mention the best beer I’ve ever tasted. With the lederhosen-wearing musicians blasting away on their horns, our new rowdy drunken friends at the table next to us, and smiles on our faces, we had a great New Year’s Day. It was the perfect meal to end a perfect Christmas vacation.
Since her arrival in September, Nina has been taking dance classes every evening at a dance studio called Centre James Carlès. Here, she tells us about her experience:
“My first reaction in the new school was to go to the dance studio, warm up, stretch – I left, I didn’t talk to anyone, I already knew what to do, I got right back into my old habits, without the stress of the professional dance world.” In the beginning, she barely notices her classes were in French because she was on auto-pilot thanks tot he “international language” of dance. She adds: “The arts, ballet, jazz dance, African dance all allow you to communicate internationally.” In spite of her habits and her initial independence, this non-verbal language allowed her to come acrodd people with lots of different backgrounds, with interests in common with her. Now she’s part of a community: “I often go to open studio, coffee and music events organized by the center. Dance has thus become for her a meeting place.
Salad buffet at La Faim des Haricots
“I protect my restaurants!” That’s the sentence Darcy used when I asked her to tell me about her favorite restaurants in Toulouse. When I asked her to explain what she meant, she said she didn’t want everyone to discover them. They’re small restaurants, little jewels so to speak, whose owners she now knows and who offer reasonable prices. So now we understand why she doesn’t want everyone to invade them. At least she told me about the sandwich she was eating: it’s the new sandwich at the boulangerie in the neighborhood around the Dickinson Center, and you have to try it…as well as the pistachio cake sold at the same boulangerie.
Sipping tea at Dip’s Tea
Not everyone can be a papillary specialist like Darcy, but at least you can know what you like. David isn’t afraid to state: “I really like kebabs…it’s inexpensive, delicious and filling.” Where to find the best kebabs in Toulouse? Between Carmes and Place de la Trinité. Try their “Algerian sauce,” says the expert.
Let’s move on to the opposite of kebabs: vegetarian cuisine. Many students have discovered the well-known restaurant La Faim des Haricots, which Rosy told us about way at the beginning of first semester. Monica now tells us that it’s the best place to get a balances meal at a reasonable price. Ever since she discovered the “take-away” option, she’s become a faithful client. It’s only 1,20€ for 100g, whereas for a sit-down meal, you can choose meals for 10-14€. A good deal. But beyond price and practicality, why eat a vegetarian meal in France, where the cuisine heavily relies on meat? Exactly – it’s an alternative. Monica says, “we eat too much bread here! La Faim des Haricots gives other options. In the United States, we eat a lot of vegetables, which is more difficult to do here. Living with a host family, I have less control over what I eat. If I eat alone, I have to buy food and prepare it in advance. La Faim des Haricots allows her to find a good balance between typical French cuisine and a less well-known culinary tendency in France.
Summing up a semester in Toulouse wouldn’t be complete without a briefing on tea rooms. They’re everywhere, they’re delicious, like for instance Flower’s, L’autre salon de thé, Bapz, Le Bol Bu, Le Sherpa… But they’re also packed. Monica discovered one, however, with a fairly calm ambiance: Dip’s Tea. A bit hidden on rue du Pharaon, near Carmes, this tea room is never too full. Monica tells us that the last time she went there, she was the only person there and she stayed for two hours. The nice owner brought her freshly made madeleines. An intimate place, with delicious teas and cakes.
A group outing at Dip’s Tea
Having spent a semester in Cameroon before coming to Toulouse for the year, Nina knows well what “culture shock” is. She thinks that “it isn’t really culture shock here” and she hasn’t observed “anything as extreme as in Cameroon.” She finds Toulouse fairly “similar to the United States,” whereas in Cameroon, “everything is very different : the buildings, the language…it’s very hot, there are people all over the streets.” She remembers her precarious situation as a non-African woman, with men who cat-called her: “white girl, white girl!” She thus was able to “understand in a visceral sense that we’re lucky to escape this fate.”
Instead of culture shock, her arrival in France brought on a feeling of nostalgia. She explains: “Here, I see things that happen in my hosts’ home and I start to miss my American family,” whereas the cultural differences in Cameroon were “so extreme that I didn’t miss American culture at all, I didn’t recognize anything.”
Monica in Conques
During her first semester, Monica took advantage of her time in France to – of course –discover France! Nizas, Conques, Carcassonne, Paris, Strasburg, Albi, Cannes, Nice…not bad for a first taste of the country. A few reflections on her travels? She « loved Côte d’Azur », where she visited a friend from high school, but she couldn’t help but make a comparison. Her friend’s study abroad program is “much more protected: she reads books in English for her classes, she lives in a dorm with other Americans, she doesn’t have to leave the building to go to class.” Another girl on the program talked to her about a weekend during which she only spoke French, an endeavour which she found difficult for such a long period of time. Monica thought “ah, that’s my everyday life!”, but she also said : “I would feel frustrated…I’m happy to live with a French family and to study in a Toulouse university.”
Also in Nice, Monica realized how drastic regional differences are in France. The “niçois” accent and “provençal” language seemed much more “italian” than the Toulouse accent and occitan, which themselves are more “Spanish-sounding,” and the Strasburg accent was definitely more “German.” She reflected: “I imagine that Brittany is also more celtic.” Such diversity within one single country.
Chers lecteurs,
Janvier est le mois du changement. Les étudiants du deuxième semestre s’installent à Toulouse et découvrent la ville rose, les étudiants du premier semestre partent, les étudiants de l’année terminent leurs partiels et commencent de nouveaux cours. Par conséquent, vous trouverez dans cette édition des témoignages sur l’adaptation des étudiants à la culture française correspondant à différents moment de leur séjour en France. Un regard neuf et un regard expérimenté.
Bonne lecture,
Anna Ciriani Dean
Photo : Sam Hoagland
Quelques étudiants du deuxième semestre partagent leurs premières impressions de Toulouse.
Molly : « D’un côté, c’est comme un monde complètement différent de ce qui m’est familier, mais de l’autre, c’est comme si j’habitais à Toulouse depuis longtemps. C’est une ville riche avec plein de choses à explorer et à voir. Chaque jour je trouve un autre petit endroit ou une rue que je ne connaissais pas avant. La culture est en mouvement et la ville en générale a une énergie vivante. Je suis heureuse d’être ici pour plus ou moins 5 mois… et d’avoir plein de temps pour explorer la ville dans toute sa gloire! »
Amy : « Cette première semaine à Toulouse a été très intéressante. Puisque j’habite loin du centre-ville, il faut m’habituer à marcher beaucoup ou à utiliser les transports publics, mais je découvre que c’est assez facile. C’est une grande ville, mais je trouve qu’en fait le centre est assez petit. Tout le monde est sympa et le soir il y a énormément de jeunes puisque c’est vraiment une ville universitaire. C’était une semaine fatigante mais j’attends avec impatience les mois à venir. »
Sarah : « J’ai déjà passé deux semaines à Toulouse et j’ai déjà vu beaucoup. Oui, j’ai vu des anciens bâtiments et les marchés extérieurs qui ont lieu les week-ends, un spectacle de Pina Bausch au TNT… mais ce sont les salons de thé que je préfère. Les salons de thé existent partout à Toulouse et chaque salon a sa propre spécialité. Il est vrai qu’on peut trouver un fondant au chocolat dans plusieurs salons, mais ce sont les scones au Nutella et les gâteaux aux poires qui donnent à un salon son charme. Ils sont tous très chics comme les magasins de cupcakes aux Etats-Unis. Mon objectif est de les essayer tous ! »
Photo : Sam Hoagland
Alex : « La première semaine de mon semestre à Toulouse est terminée, et en très peu de temps j’ai appris beaucoup. Je suis en train d’apprendre (bien que lentement) le fonctionnement des transports publics de Toulouse, ainsi que les coutumes des Français. Beaucoup des habitudes françaises sont très différentes du mode de vie aux Etats-Unis, et parfois l’adaptation est difficile. Par exemple, il faut que je me souvienne toujours de fermer les portes derrière moi, et d’éteindre les lumières à chaque fois que je quitte une pièce. Je n’ai pas l’habitude de faire cela chez moi. Je pense que, pour l’instant, l’ajustement le plus difficile est l’absence de mes amis, ma famille, ma petite amie, et tous les conforts matériels de ma vie aux Etats-Unis. Néanmoins, être en France me donne l’occasion de me faire de nouveaux amis et d’apprendre une nouvelle culture. Les cours sont difficiles (parce qu’ils sont en français !), et les ajustements se passent lentement. Cependant, je suis heureux d’être ici et je suis enthousiaste pour les quatre prochains mois ! »
Lindsey : « J’ai été à Toulouse pendant cinq semaines l’été dernier. Je trouve déjà que les deux expériences sont très différentes à cause de mes hôtes et du programme. Pendant l’été, j’ai dû participer à beaucoup d’activités avec Dickinson et je n’avais pas beaucoup de temps libre. Ce semestre, il y a beaucoup de temps libre pour aller dans la ville et suivre les cours à Sciences Po. J’ai ainsi l’opportunité de parler avec les autres étudiants Erasmus. Je sens que ce semestre m’apportera plus d’immersion. La différence entre mes hôtes est intéressante aussi. Ma famille actuelle est une famille nucléaire alors que ma famille de l’été était une femme seule avec son copain. Maintenant j’ai deux points de vue sur la famille en France. »