Summer orientation in Arkansas and first week in Geneva, NY
- La Chocolatine Voyageuse
- 25 août 2018
- 3 min de lecture
Although I cried when I said goodbye to my family at the airport (for the very first time!), my first 10 days in the US couldn't start off better – after a 9 hour flight we got a very warm welcome from the students of University of Arkansas where we, all FLTAs from everywhere in the world, spent four days for a summer orientation.
Despite jetlag and exhaustion, sickness and food desillusion (I can't eat blueberry muffins anymore I swear), I spent four incredible days and met amazing people there. We ended up this experience with a Thanksgiving dinner to have an overview of the genuine American culture and we all said goodbye the morning after before going to our respective new homes... It was hard to leave everyone but we'll all meet up again in December in Washington DC!
I'm going to spend a year in Geneva, small quaint town in New-York state (but I'm actually closer to Canada than to NYC) boarded by beautiful Seneca Lake. There's approximatively 16000 inhabitants in Geneva, lots of students but also retired people and families as I've seen...
I'm sharing a roomy house in the town centre with four cool housemates, an Italian girl, a German girl, a Russian girl and a Tunisian guy. It's been going really well for us so far, we cook together everyday, share our anxiety about what's to come and get mad together every evening with all the paperwork we have to do... But that cultural mix works out perfectly and I feel like it's going to be a very interesting experience!
As you may know, I'm here to teach French, mainly, and I'm starting next week in wonderful Hobart and William Smith Colleges – it used to be divided into two colleges: Hobart, college for men and William Smith for women. It's a private and expensive college and there's only around 2000 students enrolled every year.
Along with my teaching duties I have the opportunity to attend at least two classes on an audit basis for free each semester (lucky me, free education in America, I mean!). I chose Italian for beginners (taught by Sara, my housemate) and Introduction to American Politics this semester.
Here, pick-up trucks are the norm ; people eat crisps and drink Dr. Pepper while driving ; no one uses the sidewalks because everyone drives (even for short distances obviously) ; two oranges and two burgers have the same price ; they don't use the word "toilets" but "restrooms", no one understands me when I say "water" with my British accent so I have to make an effort to put on an American accent ; everyone gets very enthusiastic when you say you're European ("ohhh!!") or French ("OHHH LALAAA!!"), they smile at you and say hi to you in the streets – if you did that in France in the middle of les Champs Elysées you'd hear "qu'est ce qu'elle me veut cette folle ?"... It's different but pleasant so far.
I've started drinking coffee although I've hated it all my life – what's going on with me? I have to go far away to become more French it seems... Also, I'm starting to like peanut butter a little too much... It's A LOT better than in France or anywhere else I've tasted it! And they even have peanut butter m&ms... I'm too weak for this – please send help or I'll get enormous.
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