I thought you guys might like to see/hear what my days look like, so here is a day in the life. If you like this kind of post let me know and I can try to do a few more! This was my day on Tuesday, June 3rd.
First up was breakfast-croissant, yogurt and cappuccino. I can’t find coffee creamer here (which I knew would happen), so instant cappuccino it is because I can’t do black coffee.
Then it was time to walk to the university-it takes me about 15 minutes to walk. This is the last stretch before I got there (I forgot to take a picture sooner), just after the black building (that says Vauban) I turn left and the building most of the classes are in is there. We each have a badge and we have to badge in and out of every building (and sometimes rooms within buildings), which seemed strange at first, but now it just feels normal.
First observation today was a French Language class. This was a just above beginner class, so the teacher asked me to jump in and do some activities with them, which was fun! I’m really loving sitting in on the French classes even when they’re lower level.
Class goes from 9-12 and then the next class starts at 1:15, so when I have 2 observations I’ve been getting lunch at this boulangerie, which is the best one I’ve found in Lille, so far. Lunch today was un sandwich au thon (tuna sandwich-my go to here) and un chausson aux pommes (a very flaky pastry with an apple filling-the closest thing we have would be an apple turnover). It was a sunny day again, so I decided to sit in the courtyard of the main university building on a bench to have lunch.
After lunch I went to observe an Environmental Science class, which is my first observation of a class in English. I was able to follow most of the lecture without knowing much about science (beyond high school) and then we moved to the lab. In the lab she had them (and me) looking through water samples for microplastics, which were challenging to find because they were so tiny, but it was incredible how “plain” water could be filled with them!
After the lab, I walked back home to drop off my big bag and rest for a bit (I also did some dishes) and then I headed back to the university for International Night, which was fantastic! They had wine and cheese and appetizers for us to snack on and then several groups of students performed something from their culture. One of the students from India did a really impressive martial arts presentation.
Then it was the walk back to my apartment and time to make dinner (at 9pm no less-very French!). My apartment has an oven, but no baking sheets, so I’ve taken to cooking everything on pieces of foil, which limits what I can cook, but at least cleanup is easy!
After dinner it’s off to read and then bed because I have an early morning tomorrow to catch the bus to our next field trip to Bruges!
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