Well, I do feel a bit lucky right now. As university students across Canada are as you are all busily preparing for exams or cramming in those last minute all-nighters, we have been blessed over here in France to have two weeks of vacation! I have learned that France’s educational system is particularly different from Canada’s in just that respect: time off. In France there are many more lengthy breaks for students, making it seem as though less time is spent in class. But in fact, the academic load of the semester is much heavier and the days are longer for university and lycée (high school) students. One of my roommates for example attends a lycée and he is in class from 9am to 4 or 5pm all week and he even has classes on Saturday. International students in my program at the Sorbonne are a bit more fortunate in terms of our time off, allowing for more time to explore.This week, although starting off oddly, has been a very good week and God has surprised me with a lot. On Sunday morning, I woke up before the sun at 5:30am and headed out to the empty streets of Paris with a heavy pack strapped on my back. I hopped into a taxi and asked to be dropped off at the train station at the north end of the city. As I walked into the station I realized I was actually early for the time of my departure, so I parked myself down and munched on some breakfast for half an hour. As it neared the time when my train was supposed to leave, I started to get a little worried; I couldn’t find any indication of my train headed to Taizé! I rushed to the information desk and asked what was going on with my train. The lady at the desk uttered these words and my heart sank: “Désolé monsieur mais vous êtes à la mauvaise gare, il faut que vous alliez à Gare de Lyon pas Gare du Nord. ” Basically, I had missed the small print of the ticket and was waiting at the wrong train station! That was not the most encouraging of moments for me. Luckily I have two weeks off and was able to re-plan my trip for the next week (since Taizé’s only welcome day is Sunday).
So, admittedly, this week started off quite embarrassingly and unplanned, yet I have thoroughly enjoyed the extra leisure time in the city. So far, I have used it mostly to hang out with some of the good French friends that I have made in Paris (as well as one very funny Scot and an awesome Indonesian). I have also caught up on some reading, sent out some postcards back home, and visited some of those less known sites on my Paris bucket list (which is not small I assure you!). It’s been great so far and in retrospect I am actually glad it has happened this way. At least now I know for the next train I catch out of Paris to make it to the right train station! More updates will come next week, when I do end up making it to Taizé. But I’ve got to head out; tonight I’m hosting a dinner party in my residence! Ciao
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