First Impressions.

I am in love with this city. It has been a long two days, but I have loved every minute of it. The journey from Minneapolis was long and tiring, and extremely exciting. I am so glad I took the group flight, it gave us all a chance to bond a little before getting here, plus it was good to have a support network to count on when things got a little too complicated for me to handle on my own.
We arrived in Montpellier at 2:30 in the afternoon, roughly 17 hours after departing from the Minneapolis airport. Sadly, my baggage didn't. One of the onsite directors, Corinne, met us at the airport and helped me and two other students describe our luggage to the AirFrance staff, then we took a taxi to the Ibis hotel, in the center of Le Place de la Comedie, which Montpellier's central square. After showering, I was so tired that I just slept... for 6 hours. Then my roommate and I went out to le place and grabbed dinner. This morning Corinne met us at the hotel after breakfast and after a very very short walking tour we headed to the office. There, we got a short on-site orientation ate some pizza and were taken to our housing. Mine being in the other half of the building.
I love my apartment, no wait I ADORE my apartment. Since we share a building, we are able to connect to the office's wireless. Well, most of the time at least. Somehow, I got lucky enough to be given the biggest room, and the biggest bed! The furniture is all antique and gorgeous. Plus, my favorite part, I have a fireplace and a balcony! I swear, I think I may have the best housing situation out of anyone in the program.
My American roommate, Andrea, was home eating lunch with a friend. They were nice enough to invite me out with them to the bookstore and to walk around the city. Andrea took me to buy my tram pass, which was fairly simple, and to the Monoprix, to buy groceries. Not so simple. They list the price in Euros AND in Francs. I bought a very small amount of food, and the first thing I saw was the Francs price, 98,00. Well, needless to say I got a little worried. There was no way I was spending 98 euro on five grocery items. It wasn't. It was only 15 euro, and it's a good thing Andrea was there to help.
We came home and both of the French roommates were here. Franja (pronounced Fanza) is 22 and used to teach french to brazilian students so she is very patient when I don't understand what she is trying to say, or when I can't formulate an answer. My other French roommate is Leah. I think she is 19, she's preparing for her BAC which is an important test all french students must take to get into university, so she studies a lot. Fanja took Andrea and I out to a cafe with some of her friends last night and it was fun. Andrea and I spent a lot of the time just observing and once in awhile saying "quoi?" (which means, what?)
Today we went as a group to open our bank accounts and purchase rental insurance. Then a few of us went to this little sandwicherie (haha, I love that they call it that) and had really delicious sandwiches. In about an hour we will be taken to our school for the first time, to register as students and see the campus.
I think I may have blown my converter, so I'll have to buy a new one. When I do, I will post pictures of my place and the city.

until then, abientot mes amis!