First Trip To Albi

I had such an amazing and exciting day today.  We all left for our first trip to Albi this morning at 8:00 am.  We had our French class at the University of Albi.  Our class was three hours long, but it was the fastest class ever.  I'll show you all what we learned today.  "Bonjour!!  Je'mappelle Francie.  J'ai dix-neuf ans.  Je suis etudiante Americanne.  J'habite a Ambialet en France mais j'habite a Johnstown en aux Etats-Unis.  Au Revoir!"  For all of you that do not speak French, I said " Hello!  My name is Francie.  I am nineteen years old.  I am an American student.  I live in Ambialet in France but I live in Johnstown in the United States.Good Bye!"  Marie, the French professor, taught the entire class in French.  I actually understood mostly everything.  It is easier to understand the language in a classroom setting than when you are in the cities and towns.  Marie makes French class interactive.  We have conversations with one another and we play games in order to make learning more fun.  After French class, we had lunch at the university cafeteria.  I now have an appreciation for students who come to study in the USA from other countries.  You feel out of place, especially since you are speaking English and everyone around you is speaking French.  During lunch, a student named Julien came up to Alicia and told her that he would be studying at SFU next fall semester.  He spoke English so we were able to tell him about life in the USA and life as a student at SFU.

After lunch, we were invited to Gerry's house for dessert.  His wife make us Gateau.  It was a marzipan flavored cake.  This is only served during the season of Epiphany.  Within the cake, there are three figures baked into the cake (to represent the three wise men).  If you receive the piece with the figurine, you are "crowned".  To my surprise, I had a figure in my piece, so I got a paper crown!!  Katie also had a figurine and she also got a crown.  John got the third crown.  It was very nice of Gerry and his wife to invite us to his home.  Also, their little boy Daniel is so cute!!  He only speaks Russian (since his mother is Russian) and French (since his dad knows French and they are living in France).

Gerry and John then took us on a tour of the city of Albi.  We went to the Cathedral of Saint Cecilia.  I was especially excited to see this church because I took the name Cecilia as my confirmation name (so my "full" name is Frances Louise Cecilia Morello).  This was the most beautiful and spectacular church I have ever seen in my life.  I lit two candles by the statue of Saint Cecilia.  I lit one for my family back in USA and I lit one for success in this semester abroad.  After seeing the church, we were allowed to explore and shop around Albi.  At 5:00 pm we were invited to city hall and the mayor of the city officially welcomed us.  After his welcome, he also had Gateau and other pastries for us to eat.  After the reception, the bus brought us back to Ambialet to have dinner.

I want to say that being with Jen, Alicia, and Katie, there is never a boring moment.  They are always joking around (especially when it comes to me accidentally breaking Katie's computer.).  Speaking of the computer incident, Katie now made a verb.  She used it in a sentence today.  She bought a coffee travel mug for 25 Euro and she said "I'm going to Francie this coffee mug and see if it breaks."  I've admitted to myself that I'm never ever going to live that down  However, I am so happy that these three girls are on this trip.

I must admit, I am having the "time of my life" on this trip so far.  I've officially been here a full week, and I have experienced more in this week than I ever would have imagined.  I cannot even imagine what is to come within the next three months here.  Anyone who is reading this blog, especially any SFU student, I strongly encourage you to study abroad.  This is a "once in a lifetime" opportunity.  Well, that's all for today.  Au Revoir!!!