Europe @ MindSay 
france
It's 8:00am on Monday morning here, which means its 11:00pm Sunday night back in California. the time change is 9hours. So far it hasn't been too bad, but I haven't slept well the last couple nights as part of the adjustment. I did sleep better last night than the night before, so its coming along. I still feel very tired.
Today begins our two week intensive Czech language course. I'm excited to actually learn something and better communicate with the people here. I feel like such an ass going in somewhere and just hoping the people there speak English. While its true that most people here do speak English, its not very good.
So far Prague seems to be more similar to the US than different. I remember when I went to Japan, I started noticing things immediately. Even the plants were different there, things i'd neer seen before! Here there are many similar trees to the ones in the US (particularly California). There are some differences I've noticed so far, though. For example, "the toilet" and "bathroom" are not the same thing here. Someone had told me that in the past many years ago that that's how it is here in Europe, but I forgot about it until one of the guys from the program and our landlord where showing us our apartment and the bathroom only has a tub and a sink. The toilet is in a completely separate room with just a toilet and a sink, and in our apartment a washing machine, too, but no dryer so everything has to be air dried.
There are two buildings that we've all been put into and most of the people here live in the other building. In my building there are seven of us right now and another person is coming Wednesday. There are four people to each apartment with two people in each room. So far its working. I was worried because I'm so used to living alone and being independent, but one of my roomies is like that, too, and so far they all seem cool. Hopefully this'll work.
That's it for now, its 8:09am and we're leaving with the girls downstairs at 8:15 to give us time to find the tram stop that will take us to school. I know that five of us have class at 9:00 but I don't know if we all do. Also, there are two rooms and the girls in the other room have class at 2pm next week. odd.
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Europe is a dream destination for travellers worldwide, we have always said that one day I will take that dream vacation to Europe. If you're like most travellers, you probably do a lot of things automatically without thinking much about it, you may look for the biggest or the cheapest hotel chain, or you may bring your own cell phone or use payphones to stay in touch and keep those ties back home warm.
Over the last few years payphone use in Europe has been steadily declining and operating at loss, as a traveller this means that first, functional payphones are hard to find and second, rates are increasing. It would certainly be more convenient to connect from your hotel, if the hotel has good phones, and reasonable charges for International calls. But that's rarely the case, especially the reasonable charges part. Many hotels charge 4 to 5 times the normal rate for phone calls.
By this time you might be wondering if carrying a cell phone is the only option you are left with, the option you feared the most because of the high International roaming cost and the limitation of your cell phone being non-compatible to work in Europe. Even though few carriers in North America share same GSM system as used in Europe, their cell phones run on different frequency. There a 4 frequencies used by cell phones, the frequencies are 850, 900, 1800 and 1900 Mhz. Depending on the country only some of the frequencies are used, for example in the Europe only 900 and 1800 are used, while in the United States 850 and 1900 are used.
Using Your Own Phone
Most cell phones manufactured today are either Tri-band or Quad-band, which means they can receive all 3 or 4 frequencies required to work across the Continent. If you have such a phone u may want to consider roaming with your current service provider only if you know you will use it seldom, as this can really have a big dent on your pocket. Call rates can run anywhere from $1 - $3 per minute for all Incoming & Outgoing calls, depending on which Country you travel.
Ironically, what was until recently, one of the most expensive ways to stay in touch in the Europe has now become one of the least expensive, if you're willing to switch gears and break some of these long-time travel habits, you may come out money ahead.
Use a local solution
As they say “when in Rome, do as the Romans do”.
The most economic way to use your own cell phone, if it has the correct bands (most phones today are), is to swap out the SIM card (the chip in the phone giving you service) and insert a local Europe SIM Card. Chances are you already have a cell phone with required bands but do not realize that you can use them with this SIM by simply asking your carrier for the unlock code.
These cards are not available everywhere in the Europe as they are designed for tourist but you can get them through RebelFone at www.RebelFone.com
Though there are several other SIM cards you can get online or at your arrival in Europe, this solution is offered keeping in mind that visitors to Europe often travel to more than one Country and need low fixed & flat call rates everywhere.
This service is available to any traveller worldwide and can be ordered online with a convenience of getting the SIM before you leave, which means you will have the number to give out to your contacts before your trip.
Don’t have an un-locked cell phone with required bands?
No problem, you can still enjoy the benefits of a Europe SIM card and stay connected at low rates. Gone are those days when un-locked multi band cell phones used to cost a fortune, in fact RebelFone offers low cost SIM & Cell Bundle for Europe. You will own the cell phone that comes with this bundle and since it is un-locked you can use it next time you travel in 200 other Countries worldwide and save even more by just ordering a SIM card then.
Now that you know how to stay in touch & still stay money ahead while in Europe, we say “auf seine Kosten kommen” (“to get one’s money worth” – German).
Hello again everyone!
It's been a long few weeks since I've written so I'll try to condense it as much as I can into this email. In case you don't make it to the end, please just know that I love hearing from all of you! Please keep me in the loop on all the happenings in the US! The easiest way is obviously just to send me an email, but you can send me a letter at 32 Av de l'Estérel; Studio n°50; Juan-les-Pins, France 06160, or you even can call me at 011 336 47 78 12 00. Also if you can only read a few sections, check out Sailing at least because that is by far the coolest thing I have done so far!
Okay, on to the good stuff!
Ski Trip (Jan 15-18)
I went on a ski trip with Interculture, a student organization of CERAM, for a long weekend. We went to Val d'Allos, about a 3 hour bus ride from Sophia Antipolis. It was a beautiful ride, a scenic route through snow-covered mountains of the French Alps.
This was basically my first time skiing (I went once before in Colorado with the family, but hardly remember it). The first day was pretty hard for me, especially since I skipped the debutant slope and went straight to the top of a mountain. It was a bad idea- I eventually had to take the lift down (I know, I'm pathetic!), but I did get to practice my French while learning to ski. I spent most of that day either falling or trying to get up, but it was still a lot of fun and beautiful to be up in the mountains. The next day I stuck to the beginner slopes, so hopefully next time I go skiing I'll be a lot better!
All of us CERAM students stayed in a hotel/apartment building with 6 people to a room (about 80 students total). I roomed with 5 girls from Colombia and Venezuela (they go to school in Miami). The first night there were a few parties which were a lot of fun (like living in a dorm again!), but after noise complaints, we went to a discotheque the next night. I stayed in the last night- my body had to recover!
Inauguration ( Jan 20)
From what I could tell, most French people were pretty excited about Obama's inauguration. Kind of a funny story, actually – On Tuesdays I have class from 4-7, and Obama's speech started at 6 here. About 8 of 12 of the students in this class are AU students (the rest of my classes are diverse, but this one is a requirement for us business majors), and we all ended up leaving the class during the break at 5:30 to run home and catch Obama on TV. We were all so jealous of our friends back in DC who were there! Our professor was very understanding though- she actually tried to let us watch the inauguration in class together, but the internet wasn't working. Nevertheless, I got home just in the nick of time, only to find that live coverage of Obama's speech was dubbed over in French! I caught most of it, and could still hear him in English a little bit in the background, but it just wasn't the same. Although it was pretty cool I have to admit.
Monaco (Sunday, Jan 25)
I had a very long weekend (Thursday morning through Wednesday morning) because a couple of my classes were cancelled last minute, but I couldn't find any last minute deals for trips. Also I was a little unprepared and unsure about what to do for booking flights (I'm so used to flying standby!), and it's hard to navigate the TGV website for trains. I actually really wanted to go to Milan but couldn't find a cheap train last minute. It turned out that I caught a cold toward the end of the week, so I had to rest a lot anyway.
On Sunday, I decided to take a daytrip to Monaco by myself, just to get out! I tried to go a few weeks ago, but couldn't because the trains were on strike. It was a beautiful sunny day, one of the warmest yet (still chilly though). It's less than an hour train ride (€10) east of me, and I got to see many beautiful places through the window that I hope to visit for an afternoon (Villefranche-sur-Mer, Cagnes-sur-Mer).
A little info about Monaco: Only 0.75 sq mi, it borders only France and the Mediterranean. 30,000 residents, of whom 20,000 are super rich and live here because there's no income tax. It's independent technically but its state minister is appointed by the French President, and all the utility companies are French. Prince Rainier, married to Grace Kelly, died in 2005, and their son Prince Albert took over. "Princess Grace" and Prince Rainier are both buried there, actually inside the cathedral (which I missed). There are 3 main areas: Monaco-Ville (or Le Rocher), Monte-Carlo, and La Condamine. Monaco-Ville is mostly on a rock and includes the old town and the palace. From here are absolutely beautiful views, and I'm sure I could see Italy. Monte-Carlo is the other side of Monaco, which is where the famous casino is and the nightlife. La Condamine is the area in between (it makes kind of a U shape), which is the port with all the yachts docked, and lots of surprisingly cheap cafes along the water.
I got there around 11:15am just in time to watch the changing of the guard in front of the palace. I walked all along the rock (more like a hill), where there are beautiful gardens and pathways looking out onto the sea and the city. I went to the Musée Océanographique (the Jacques Cousteau Aquarium), which is on a cliff and was built in 1910 by Prince Albert I. Jacques Cousteau himself directed the aquarium for 17 years. Beautiful views, again, of the sea from here too.
After walking along La Condamine and eating at a sidewalk café for lunch and hot cocoa, I made my way to the casino. Only my second time to go inside a casino ever! To get into the super fancy casino costs money but there's a small part of it that you can go into for free off to the side with slot machines, so I went there and spent €21. Mom would be so proud! Apparently it's a new thing that you only have to be 18 (not 21) to get in, because all the signs still said 21 with 18 written over. I didn't get even get IDed though. As far as I could tell there were no coins at this casino: you just stuck your euros right into the machine and when you were done, it spit out a paper ticket with the amount you had left on it, and you could either use that as your cash out voucher or use it on another machine. After having some gelato I caught a train ride home around 7:30, after seeing the city a little bit after sunset too. I hope to go back to Monaco for a fancy night out, to go to a nightclub and gamble a little more. Also going to the Grand Prix in May would be awesome if I could find a way to get cheap tickets!
Sailing
Today I went sailing for the first time! If I stayed here for 4 months and never the left the apartment except for one day to go sailing, I think I'd be happy. It was by far the greatest experience I have had here yet. There were 7 students there today (there might be more next week), so 3 of us went on 1 boat and 3 on the other. As soon as we got there the prof (Nathalie) had us change into our wetsuits, and we immediately started putting together the boats! (I got my wetsuit a couple days ago from the huge sports store Décathlon, which was actually a hike from the bus stop.) We learned how to tie the knots (lots of 8s) and put up the sails. She spoke in French for the terms and English for explanations (we were all English-speaking), but also French sometimes and looked to me to translate for her! It's pretty neat because I'm definitely learning how to sail in France in French. Our prof rode in a motorboat while the 2 sailboats full of students headed out to sea. It was amazing. In the US I don't think we would have even touched the boat on the first day of class, but here we learn by doing, which is a lot better. Our objective was to learn how to steer today, but we also ended up learning a bit about the sails too. Turn into the wind, tightening and loosening the sails (la grande-voile et le foc), pull and push to steer… It was so amazing. Today we sailed from the shore to the cap, there and back 3 or 4 times, for about an hour. It took longer to carry the boat to/from the shore and set up/take down than anything else, but eventually we'll get it down. The water was so blue, and it was gorgeous weather (not too windy, thank goodness!). I can't wait to go out again next week!
Misc
I now have a library card, student ID card, bank card, and Carrefour loyalty card in my wallet, all from France! Oh, the library in Antibes is called Médiathèque not Bibliothèque, so I guess the language is evolving! Carrefour is like a super-duper-Walmart, except without all the controversy. It's bigger than Costco or Sam's but nothing sold in bulk and a lot more variety. Four aisles dedicated to wine, and lots of cheese and fresh meat, but then on the other side there are computers, mattresses, dvds, clothes, pretty much everything.. In the same building but outside of the registers are regular chain stores. You can pretty much find anything at Carrefour, and everyone seems to go there. Oh, you have to pay extra for plastic bags in grocery stores (usually like 3-5 cents), and at Carrefour they only have reusable bags (10 or 60 cents) that you can buy if you didn't bring your own.
As far as studying French, I'm still speaking it to all the locals and some students. I think I may be improving but I'm still way too far from becoming fluent. Classes are going well, I admit I haven't really studied much yet but there hasn't been much to do. Profs are really understanding about us exchange students wanting to travel and explore on nights and weekends, but by the end of the semester I will have lots of group projects due and more work coming up soon with midterms only in a few weeks. Also my spring break is the last week of February and I'm thinking about doing a trip to Rome and Athens- let me know if you have any suggestions though! I should be getting internet in my apartment next week, so hopefully it will be easier to contact me!
Food is delicious here, have gotten a few rotisserie chickens, tried soupe de poisson when I was sick, made steak and potatoes one night, and of course lots of wine and cheese. I found one cheese that is really delicious, but tonight I had one that is really disgusting and I might just throw it away if my roommate doesn't want it. Today there was a big strike all over France, which was anticipated all week. I think things should be running normal again tomorrow but half of the buses and trains didn't work today, and lots of schools (not CERAM) and stores were closed too. I love how powerful the people are here. If there's something they don't like that's changing, you're sure going to hear about it. I think people are too passive in the US and we let our government run too much. The government should listen to the people, not the other way around!
Okay, enough for now, sorry it is so long but this is also my record so I didn't want to leave too much out! Tomorrow I head to Brussels for the weekend with 3 other students. I'll keep you updated but please if you have any advice or comments, please share with me too!
Love,
Emily
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