Nights on the Town

Couch surfing has really been my tool for getting out of my shell here. Thursday night I met up with two girls in Lille city center (downtown Lille) for some dinner. One girl is from Morocco but basically grew up in Lille. The other girl is studying here for the next 9 months and is from Sweden so she, like me, needed a lot of help while speaking French. Granted, she already speaks perfect English AND Swedish. The 3 of us grabbed dinner at a typical petite café and chatted all night about our cultural differences both in French and in English. It was really interesting and very eye opening! After a great night we all decided to meet up again next week. 

The next night, Friday, I met up with my guy friend that had shown me around the week prior. He and I grabbed a bite to eat at a Japanese restaurant for some sushi. It was ok. He was telling me how there are no Japanese people in Lille so it is impossible to find a decent sushi place. Most of the Asians here are from China, Cambodia, and Vietnam, yet they all insist on opening sushi and Japanese restaurants. Interesting...

Friday night commenced the setup for the HUUUUGE flea market that takes place annually in Lille. It's called La Braderie and everyone had told me "itz a place where zee people, they sell their crap....But it iz a lot of faan". Though during recent years it's also a place of a lot if pick pockets and thefts as I have been continuously warned. The streets are closed off and you basically stand elbow to elbow as you dig through everyone's junk that is for sale. Even watching people set up tents and guardrails on Friday night was overwhelming. Some friends and I may meet up Sunday afternoon to attend the event. Apparently people come from all over to attend this event! It's what Lille is known for. 

Another big thing about la Braderie is the typical Belgian dish of "Moules frites"! Or muscles and fries in English. I am not sure how the dish and la Braderie are correlated, but I just know I am a bit weary to try it...Restaurants will keep the muscles shells from dishes throughout the day, then at night, toss the shells in the streets to see who sold the most apparently. I'll have to see for myself if they really do that. 

Things are still going well. I feel that my French is improving, but not as fast as I thought it would. I guess the fact that I still have to speak English to Cléo slows me down on the full immersion bit. Hopefully when university starts in 2 weeks I will show much more progress. I know I have to be patient with myself too though. 

Lastly, I've been finding little notes in my coat pockets that my mom snuck in before I left. I have the best mama.

Xoxoxo

Claire