Toulouse - Here I am!

It was a strange feeling leaving Germany to go on a trip where you didn’t really know what to expect. Some people might say that this was the same case when I left for Vietnam, but this time it was different.

Going over to France where you know that most of the people cannot speak English at all and that you need to learn French as soon as possible to find some work.

However I was stopping over in Dublin for two nights and I am so glad I did it.

Warm welcome at the airport where Marion picked me up. I felt like home almost straight away, which was not so obvious beforehand. When I learned something in Vietnam than I can say that I know that I cannot live in Germany for the time being. It just didn’t feel right somehow. However, listening to the Irish accent and hearing “for f…. sake…” felt like home again for sure ;)

And it also felt good to know that there is still a country where I feel home!

We had a lovely night on Wednesday in the 12^th lock – Thanks everybody for coming along! Really appreciated :)

On Thursday I was chatting with Marion in the morning and visited Clontarf in the afternoon for a nice walk down to Dollymount beach. It looked still all the same and it felt good :) Even sitting in the Sandbar (my favourite Italian place) having a Cappuccino and a Scone felt great!

In the evening we were heading for a girls night out – lovely food in Milano and then some drinks in Café O’Seinne!

My plane left early on Friday to start my new adventure in Toulouse! I really didn’t know what to expect I have to say.

Now I can already say that I couldn’t have gotten a better host family. They are very lovely, kind and helpful. It is even better that there is another student staying here, a Mexican girl who is studying Philosophy! She showed me around the first day in the city and we even ended up at an open air electric music festival by at least 25 degrees!

Saturday I got my public transport pass for Toulouse organized for one month and explored the neighbourhood for supermarkets & shops.

Sunday we had 33 degrees and I decided to go for a run in the morning, went to a local food market with Sylvie (my host family) and in the afternoon I went back into town to explore it further. The city is beautiful with all these historical buildings and typical French balconies.

It reminds me about a mixture of Rome, La Rochelle and Bordeaux.

The house is a typical French house which I really like :) all a bit older but very original and it has a lot of charm!

We have access to two metro lines from the house – one is 20min walk the other one 30min walk, however the metro trip only takes 8 min from one station to my school ;) So all good and a walk in the morning is also not too bad with that lovely weather indeed!

Finally I can talk about my Language School after three days of Intensive French Course. The school is located right in the heart of town in a lovely old building with a wide wooden staircase going up to the 1^st level. Have a look at the two pictures!

It was more than intense studying for 3 days, four hours per day but it is definitely working. I need to get used to the different teaching style for sure. Unfortunately it is not as active as I was used to teach in Vietnam with a lot of activities and a course book. But well, let’s give it a try! Our teacher knows her grammar indeed and that’s what is needed of course as well. Time will tell ;)

We are six students only in our class, which is a big advantage as we have more time to practise and get more attention from our teacher too! So good news.

At the weekend we go on our first excursion to Carcassonne, an old castle not so far away apparently.

I also will meet a French girl on Friday to practise French and she can practise English with me ;) So let’s see how that goes. This is organized by the school, which is a nice service for sure :)

Salut!