The Arrival

After an months of preparation and stress (courtesy of NDSU Office of Financial Services), I have arrived in France. I flew from Chicago to Paris. The eight hour flight was relatively painless. After picking up my luggage, we took a train from Charles de Gaulle airport to the city of Lille, where I will be staying for the next three months. We are staying in an aparthotel (apartment/ hotel).

I must admit that while its nice to have a place to stay and keep my things. I find myself unable to be happy. I think its probably a combination of culture shock and lack of exposure to sunlight. I believe it will wear off with enough time (and sun). I also had a bit of a shock when getting to the aparthotel. While the facilities are pretty nice (perhaps my American standards are too high), when we first got off the elevator on our floor, the lights where off and there was graffiti on the walls. My first thought was, I'm paying for this? People don't realize how dirty things are in the non-tourist areas of Europe; the sidewalks are pretty much covered in old gum in most places and graffiti is a common site.

I after the initial shock, I'm starting to notice the value in the aparthotel. We have a good location, its right between two train stations and has a grocery underneath it. Its right near the city center so there is plenty of activity. And thanks to my grey overcoat, no one assumes I'm American, which seems to be a good thing (language barriers aside).

When classes finally start in a week I will have something to keep me busy.