This spring, we'll be bringing you posts from a few Pioneers that are studying abroad this semester. Center Quinn Rosenthal '14 is currently in Nantes, France and this is his first installation:
It’s kind of hard to believe I've only been here two weeks. I've seen and done so much, tried struggled with, and adjusted to so many new things, that it seems like I've been a Nantais forever now. I had kind of a rough trip out, 8 hour overnight flight, plus the realization that 7 years of French was getting me nothing at the airport. But as soon as I made it out to Nantes, a two-hour train ride from Paris, and got situated with my host family, things got better. My 12 year old host brother came home from rugby practice and wanted to show me videos of his team on youtube, then asked to see some videos of my team, also my host mom made some phenomenal crepes that night, so yeah, them’s good people.
The IES (Institute of European Studies) program forced us to hit the ground running with an offsite orientation the first weekend which consisted of marathon tours of historic French chateaus by day, and bar hopping in downtown Tours by night. This led to, among other things, the formation of a nice little clique consisting of myself and a few other random people who were the only ones down to go out to the bar after the very first day of onsite orientation, and the late-night discovery of the sketchiest, most delicious sandwich you will ever hear of, the kebab (not what it sounds like).
The next week consisted mostly of grueling French vernacular crash courses, bringing us to this week, which has included a narrow third-place finish at trivia night at Fleming’s Irish Pub, the super scary start of classes at the University of Nantes, and most importantly, my first workouts at SUAPS (service universitaire des activités physiques et sportives). I was a little confused until I figured out that 20 kilos was equal to 44 pounds, but after that, all’s been going well. I would characterize the weight room as rrl rrl ghetto, but usable. Next week promises more scary classes and another attempt at 60 euros and bragging rights in pub trivia, followed by a weekend down in Bordeaux.
A bientot!
