Thursday, September 8, 2011

Finally in Nantes!

Hey, and welcome to the place where I'll be writing about my adventures in Nantes, France for the next school year!
So... we FINALLY arrived in Nantes, and specifically our residences, late last night around 9pm France time. Needless to say, we were exhausted from our travels.

We took a plane from Toronto to London, England, which besides being 2 hours late also had a ton of turbulence. Not much sleep had there! At the Toronto security, I had to go through the body scanner because I beeped, but they couldn't find anything. First fun time with security (more to follow). So after a long plane ride, we arrived in London where we had a connecting flight to Paris, and not much time to make it. Of course, we had to go through security again.
This is where is got really fun. As I went through security, my carry-on (giant backpack) set off the alarm. So they checked the screen and then pulled me to the side. The attendant kept asking me if I had a small multi-tool in my backpack, and I could not figure out what on earth he was talking about. He said that if I didn't know, he would have to search everything in my bag. But I had no idea... so off he went. Out came the purse, the camera, the pillow, the sleeping bag, the computer, some books, my Kobo, etc, etc. Finally, in the front pouch of my bag, he found a pocket knife!! Well, I was surprised. It must have been in my bag since Canoe Camp at my summer job, and I forgot it was in there. Now first off, Toronto security did NOT catch this, which in itself is weird. And once he found it, he said I could take it with me for now but would have to not take it in a carry on again. I threw it out, because I was running late, sweating, and didn't want a reminder about the time I was held up by security. It was quite interesting.
After our London flight, on which many of us felt nauseous, we had to take a train to Le Mans, transfer, and take another train out of Le Mans. Of course, we held up the train because of all our luggage and the lack of room for it. When we arrived at Le Mans, we were late because of the luggage hold-up and had to race to the next train (which we held up again). The ray of sunshine admist the craziness was that my former exchange student, Camille, and her mother were waiting for us and helped us find our train! It has been about 3 years since I have seen them, so I was really thrilled that they were there!
After arriving in Nantes, we met our professor from Trent who helped us get to Rez, which took FOREVER because we had to take the tramway and we had so much stuff.
The university is very different over here, and I don't have my head wrapped around much yet. The residence buildings are much quieter than in Canada (yay!) but farther from the class buildings, which are spread out... like U of T, I think. More to come on the school once I know more about it!
I will also post pictures of my rez room. It's very tiny, with the tiniest bathroom, but it is better than some residences, and I quite like it. My window looks out over a construction site, but that just means that I get to watch something change over a long period of time! Maybe I'll even see it finished.
I am so thankful to be here finally: to my friends who helped me get here, my family for trusting me and financing me and supporting me, and God, for keeping me safe and calm!
I hope everyone is doing well! :)

2 comments:

  1. Found your blog because I have recently arrive in Nantes for exchange program. thanks for sharing!

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  2. Hi Ai! I'm glad you found it. I've been here since September so I have been around. Nantes is a wonderful city. Enjoy your exchange!

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