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| Left to right: View from the big wheel, Capitole square, lock on the boat tour, Picasso, Capitole on the inside |
After months of apprehension, planning and dreaming of la ville rose I’ve finally made it to Toulouse! I’ve been here now for just over two weeks – week one was spent avec maman, settling in, buying homeware, opening a bank account, sightseeing etc. During the second week I attended introductory lectures and have been getting to know my fellow ERASMUS law cohort who hail from all over the world! In the week to come, there will be presentations on a variety of topics including using the library, which law courses are available, and (perhaps most importantly!) how to register at the uni (I find it very strange that even though we’ve been attending UT1 for a week none of us can use the library/wifi/intranet yet…the French are so laid back and sometimes ça me frustre (see below)).
So far every day has bought a new experience, with some undoubtedly more enjoyable than others! So for my first blog post in Toulouse I thought I’d give you an idea of what I’ve been up to, grouped into good and bad experiences:
GOOD:
Touristing
Toulouse is such a beautiful, historic city! Everything is super photogenic – great for lovers of Instagram comme moi. (There’s even not one but two official Toulouse hashtags – #visiteztoulouse; #bytoulouse – so all the more Instaspam for you!) So far I’ve visited Capitole (the incredibly grand town hall, which even has its own Opera!), been on a boat trip on the Garonne, took in the amazing view from the big wheel (twice), visited the botanical gardens (Jardin des Plantes), seen my first Picasso and some other thought-provoking modern art in the Les Abattoirs, and generally mooched around the city.
Meeting new people
The brilliant thing about the introductory week is that I’ve already got to know fellow international law students before the (hard???) work commences. From those I’ve met so far, students from Ireland and Germany seem to be particularly abundant. And I’ve learned there is truly nothing like being around a group of international students to make you acutely aware of your Englishness (Fave quote: “your English is really good!” “that’s because I am English”. Though, before I open my mouth everyone assumes I’m Irish – do you think it’s the hair…? ;)).
My apartment
Before arriving in Toulouse I didn’t realise how fortunate I was to have already found an apartment. For many people this has not been the case, meaning they have to balance apartment hunting with lessons and socialising – can’t be fun. I also didn’t quite realise how well located I am – just a 15/20 minute walk from the main campus, and very near to both the metro station and bus stops. The best part of my apartment so far though is the amazing panoramic view – from one side you can see all across Toulouse city centre, and from the other on a clear day you can see all the way to the Pyrenees. Definitely beats my skylight-framed view of suburban Nottingham!
NOT SO GOOD:
The slowness of things!
Normally, I wouldn’t be too fussed about things taking a while (have you seen how slowly I eat?). But when that thing is sorting a bank account, which I need for doing basically anything involving money, it gets a little frustrating. A combination of oodles of paperwork, the fact that Toulouse is the third largest student city in France and the generally slower pace of life here means simple things like opening an account seem to drag on far longer than they should.
Basically every international student is fluent in English!
This is most certainly a cadeau empoisonné. On the one hand, it’s great because it means us international students can all get to know each other really easily. On the other hand, it means I’ve had relatively few chances to converse in French whilst I’ve been here. This is also doubly worse for native English speakers; at least for the others they get to practice a foreign language! Hopefully when I start to meet French people this will change!
So as you can see, I’ve been busy busy and I’ll probably be even more so once lectures properly start – but I’ll try my best to keep you updated. That’s it for now! À bientôt!
