Number 1 - The CampusFrance application and visa process are absolute headaches. In order to study abroad in France you must be accepted by the CampusFrance group before even applying for your visa. Had it not been for the extremely in depth instructions Danielle (our study abroad advisor at Northeastern) had given us, I'm sure I would have completely messed it up. And they are not at all kidding when they say it will take about two weeks to process. I received my acceptance email two weeks to the day after I sent it in! So moral of the story...if you are going to study abroad, get started early!
The second part of this process to make you legitimate is to receive your student visa. Basically have three copies of absolutely everything that could possibly justify that you are a US citizen and that you live precisely where you say you do. I must say I had an easier time that a lot of my friends had with this. I live in Pennsylvania, so instead of making an appointment at the NYC or Boston consulates, I got mine in Washington, DC. I went down early in the morning, got my visa on the spot, and was back home by early afternoon. Stressful, but really quite simple. A lot of people who went to the other consulates ended have to go back two or three times before receiving visas...yuck. So if you can make it to DC, I would absolutely recommend it!
The website is: http://www.consulfrance-washington.org
Number 2 - Packing was an emotional event. I am a girl...a girl with lots of shoes and clothes. And I am also a girl that was forced to part with the majority of those, basically not a pretty sight. I did eventually manage to squeeze as much as possible into two bags, but it took a while.
Number 3 - When they say pack only what you can carry, don't take it lightly. I'm pretty sure I am going to have permanent back damage from lugging my beloved clothing around.
Now that that is out of the way. Our flight over was about as smooth as could be. There were five of us flying over together and we immediately got along very well. The first flight was a seven hour flight from Boston to Amsterdam. We all got to sit together which definitely made the long flight bearable. About the only issue we had the whole time was involving a mysterious stain on Meg's seat.
We arrived in Amsterdam at around 8 AM. We didn't get to walk around or explore too much because everyone was exhausted. Once we were settled at our gate we decided to grab some food before our flight. I'm not sure if all European airports are like the Amsterdam one or not, but the eating situation was so cozy! There were couches, fresh food, and real silverware. You didn't feel like you were sitting in a carbon copy airport where everything is exactly the same. Much different from any U.S. airport I have ever seen.
When we finally arrived in Lyon it was such a relief. That is until we realized that we weren't being picked up by any sort of service...we were going to be taking public transportation to our apartment. After carrying two 50 pound bags, a backpack, and a large tote bag all the way through the Lyon airport, onto a bus, through a metro station, onto a metro, two blocks to our apartment, and then up four flights of stairs...I was definitely rethinking my packing decisions.
Once we were unpacked and had met all the students from other schools, it didn't take long for us to want to explore. We went to dinner at a place called "Ninkasi" right around the corner from us. We later learned that there are three of these in the city. The main one is in the center of Lyon and is a huge microbrewery. We will definitely have to try that out at some point. Our first attempt at ordering in a restaurant did not go as smoothly as we expected. We realized that dinner here isn't served til 8 o'clock! A rude shock to a bunch of hungry travelers.
In the days since, we have just been spending time getting to know one another and our new surroundings. Grocery shopping, checking out the Carrefour (known to some as the "French WalMart"), clothes shopping for the girls (January is the month of sales!), and just walking around the city have taken up our days. We've all been having such a good time that it slipped our minds that we are inevitably here to go to school....but classes start tomorrow so that will change!
Some interesting things that we have learned:
- The French have very strict eating schedules. Breakfast, at least a 2 hour lunch, a 4 o'clock snack, and an excruciatingly long three course dinner with drinks beginning around 8.
-Baguettes are delicious. But 100 grams = around 240 calories...I don't even want to know about the croissants.
-Don't stand too close to the Metro door....it opens before the train comes to a stop.
-Never go out wearing sweatpants.
-Its 812 steps to the most incredible view of the city.
-In grocery stores, you have to weigh fruit and veggies yourself and print out a little sticker before taking it to a register.
-You can't get Cosmopolitans.
I'm sure there is much more to come...but for now, here is a photo of the lovely rooms:
A bientot!
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