La Lenteur du Jour

Hello all again,

Just thought i would give an update - its been a while. All is much the same here. I am talking french, writing down new words and going to classes. It's all très très exciting! Maybe not exciting, but i am still really enjoying my time here. The fam is fantastic and i actually feel like i am learning something. Bordeaux is also beautiful!

Some fountain that i saw while going for a jog (not the best idea when it's 3° and you're only wearing shorts and a Tshirt)

Bordo.

The kitchen - for some reason this is the only photo of the house i have...i'll take more bientot!

As mentioned, it has been pretty quiet here, but last night i ventured out of the house to a bar in in the centre of Bordeaux - a few metres from the Place Tourny. I was expecting a Bordeaux-like bar - ie. sleepy but pretty - but Chez PomPon (at Pompon) was packed with with people of all ages. I was meeting some friends from Alliance, so i waited outside for them for a few moments before we ventured into the unknown - the unknown because the entrance was obscured by a dense cloud of cigarette smoke.
As i said, there was people of every age there which provided a different and interesting atmosphere. A DJ played the usual American pop broken up everynow and again by the French equivalent. The biggest difference, however (apart from the language obviously) was the drinks. Instead of beer, the wine bottle and glass was ubiquitous - containing the fruits of Bordeaux of course!

Chez Pompon during the day

And at night - the lights come out!

A bit packed in here.

Despite the prominance of wine, i and Ross (the newzealander i was with) decided to stick with de la bière (the other guy we were with, Balthazar kept on the wine). When Ross went to the bar to order however, a random guy overheard and interupted: "Vous êtes à Bordeaux, vous devriez boire du vin!" (You are in Bordeaux, you should be drinking wine!).
Now at this point i should add that i had a genuine intention to not drink much. Afterall, my French is terrible sober, let alone after a few drinks AND i had to go to French class the next day at 9am... so i went out that night telling the fam that it wouldn't be a big night (they looked a bit sceptical however).

But after telling this guy that we weren't from Bordeaux but from Australia, NZ and Germany he decided that it was his duty to educate us on the local wine. He bought a few bottles and made sure our glasses were never empty. It just so happens that he married into a wealthy wine making family from a place near Bordeaux (at this point i definately couldn't retain too much information) and so was constantly surrounded by good wine.

I wasn't complaining - it meant that i had to spend less money, and got an interesting insight into some different red wine. It was a fun night but speaking french in a packed bar with loud music to a local that you had never met before was challenging. He was accomadating though, and so spoke nice and slowly (there was still lots of 'pardon's and smiling and nodding but for the most part, we could communicate).

We stayed at chez pompon for a few hours but decided to have a relatively early night because of french the next day - which meant i was in bed asleep by 12.30.

I had an interesting walk home however because after getting a little lost i had to try and find out exactly where i was (luckily, learning from past mistakes, i brought a map!) - this wasn't helped by my light headedness or the intense cold. But i was content to take my time and enjoy the strangely empty, belles petites rues (I also had trouble unlocking the front door, but that was just because it's a hard door to open!).

Alone except for my shadow.

This morning at French i was a little worse for wear (as were the others) and so we took it pretty slow. The class has about 12 people and it is actually really entertaining. Hearing and talking in another language is interesting and results in some funny moments. It also helps that everyone in the class is there because they want to learn -we all have that common ground which is good because the class is so diverse. There are people from Argentina, Greece, Italy, US, NZ, Taiwan and interestingly, the most spoken language in breaks (among everyone) is Spanish. My first week is just about over and i have learnt a lot, but i'm not expecting any miracles. I will finish this better at French, but annoyingly, with a lot of work to still do!

Anyway, the kids are telling me that NCIS is on buuuut it's in French which makes just a little difficult to understand... I'll watch it anyway.Hope everyone is enjoying the summer!
Au Revoir!