The first few days.

First off, I arrived safely and in one piece.

I am currently sitting in my no-star hotel in the center of Montpellier, France. The city is gorgeous, busy and HOT. I spent my first day wandering around la Place de la Comedie and the surrounding areas. I found the markets and beautiful cafes everywhere I went. After five hours of wanderings and two cafe-cremes in different cafes, I headed back to my hotel, where I had apparently booked a triple. That night I realized how dumb it was to spend my days in Montpellier alone, so I sent a message to one of the other assistants in Montpellier to meet up. The second day, I met a bunch of the other assistants who are placed all over the region, though most of them are living in the city itself. We went to a juice bar run by two crazy Frenchmen who are obsessed with Australia and walked around the streets looking for cooler clothes to wear in the 80 degree heat! I adopted another assistant into my hotel room and we went out that night to meet up with other assistants as well as some other international students from Dubai, Thailand, Malta and Mexico... we were quite the eclectic group. Everyone has been really friendly and welcoming!



Today, I did not do much but get my train pass and ticket to Marvejols. It seems like I am one of the only assistants who is not living in Montpellier, but I have been offered couches to sleep on and promised that others will visit me, especially once I have snow! We'll see how it all goes.

Tomorrow we are all heading to the beach as we are promised another 80 degree, sunny day! After that, I need to gather my things and prepare myself for the transition from a bustling urban life to the rural life. The headmaster at my school is picking me up from the train station on Monday and taking me to my housing, a room located in the middle school with a bathroom and no kitchen. If nothing else, this year is definately going to be an adventure.