Day 5: 5/22/2013

Already knowing my skills with managing my luggage and myself, I was a lot more prepared today. I went at a slow pace and the transition on and off the tram went quite smooth and easy. We got to the train station about an hour early and just waited and relaxed. We finally boarded at 9:19 and took off for Paris. I spoke with a very nice Asian American couple who were traveling to Brussels. As expected when I arrived in Paris at the Gare Du Nord (North Train station) it was mass chaos with people walking in every which way. Surprisingly I was able to get my luggage off the train easily but ran into trouble when I realized there were no elevators, only stairs. We went to an “information” help desk to find the Jasmin line or line 9 as instructed by our host families. Fortunately, Magdalena and I live very close and we took the same metro line to get to our homestays. We had to go on to two different lines to get our destination. All in all it lasted about 45 minutes, and 15 minutes probably consisted of me lugging my luggage around. Usually with my klutzy luggage problems I just smile and laugh it off, like in Amsterdam. However, the people are not as smiley as other Europeans. On the metro I studied the French people. They are very different than other Europeans, as in they don’t seem the most happy. They don’t smile at one another or even at cute little children. Another interesting part of the metro was when a lady came on and announced in French that she was “pauvre” (poor) and needed money. She then went up and asked everyone for some money. I decided to give her 50 euro… just kidding! We got off shortly after that and I soon became very sad when I realized I had to go up 3 flights of stairs with my luggage. I made it up the first set of stairs in two trips, and then a young man kindly offered to carry my heavy 50 pounder up the other two flights of stairs. This gave me that the French are actually nice people. Once we reached ground level, Magdalena and I had to part ways. I’m not sure if Magdalena made it to her house, but I was able to find my house/apartment quite easily; although I got one hell of a workout lugging my bags there. I easily entered the apartment building and buzzed for her parents as instructed. They let me in and the father came down to greet me. He had to take a separate elevator with my 50 pounder suitcase because my two bags and I would not fit in the elevator. I was quite embarrassed. When I reached the actual apartment, I was very happy. It was a medium size apartment with big open windows. The parents gave me a quick tour, chatted a bit and then left. They informed me that their daughter Patricia (who I had been in contact with) was not able to be here today because of work and would be home around 7:30. It was about 2 when I arrived so I had time to myself to rest and get settled in.

                I was pleasantly surprised when I learned that I have my own bedroom. Patricia informed me that her daughter used to live here, which is very obvious based on the design of the room. I was under the impression that her kids still lived here but I don’t believe they do anymore. Their son’s room is occupied by another foreign exchange student. His name is Slava. He is Russian and about my age and is studying French and chemistry at the university. I don’t know him too well yet, but he is very nice and well mannered. When Patricia arrived home she introduced me to Slava and then started dinner. The three of us ate a beef patty, salad, and a puree thing. It was very good! After, we had a chocolate cake for dessert. It too was very good! Slava and I helped clean up a bit and then we all went into our bedrooms. I don’t know if it’s normal for a French family to separate after dinner like that, but it gave me a chance to continue to unpack and rest.