Verdun in the Rain

Well, as lovely as Paris was in the rain, Verdun is not.  It's been raining since I got here.  However, it's still a very charming city, and the people are very nice.  Most of them realize that I can understand them if they speak slower than normal.

Let me travel around my apartment to give a sense of what it's like.

The stairs:
I call them the stairway of death, not because they are dangerous, but because I'm sure that there is a dead animal decaying under them.  How do I know? The smell gets better as you go up.  They also creak spookily in the night.

My Kitchen:
I was so happy to see that my kitchen is yellow, just like I wanted!  Now I totally know that this is what I want when I get my own home.

I had a choice between a very large room and a bedroom.  I chose the bedroom because it had a fabulous closet.  People keep asking me why.  I don't know; it's cozier and the light actually works. Plus, I can't hear the traffic from the street.

The day I got here, one of the English teachers picked me up from the train station.  He's a Brit who was an assistant several years ago, which is really nice because he speaks English AND knows about the program.  So far he's been really helpful, especially helping me open my bank account (ok, so I thought I was doing good with the speaking speed thing, but when I got to the bank, the guy I talked to went REALLY fast.  I was told that this was normal, but everyone else talks just a tad slower.  I think it's just a conversation thing.  Or a banker thing.)

After I unpacked, I got to meet everyone in the admin offices.  They're all super nice and helpful.  I have one of the French teachers as my flatmate, which is great because she is helping me with my French (although she says I speak well).  Every now and then I have to ask her to repeat something, but I understand her for the most part.

Well, it's raining again.  I was planning to visit my other school today, but I guess that can wait.  It takes four keys to get to where I am sitting now (I have a love-hate relationship with one of the keys.  It never seems to work on the first try.  Sadly, I was just introduced to another door that requires this key. *sigh*).

So you want to see Verdun in the rain? There you go:

A bientôt,
--Mary