Devenir Un Étranger Complètement

That's just the title, no I’m not going to write this post in French, so don't worry :)

I would like to share my first month experience being a foreigner student in France. The main difficulty, the obstacle, or should I say the challenge, hehe...

Just so you know, I moved in France in September, to continue my master degree in urbanisme. I live in a very nice city named Nantes, about 3-4 hours from Paris, and will stay here for about one year. If you plan to continue your study in French, maybe this post will help prepare your mental a ‘lil bit :p

1. Language is truly a habit

That was my english teacher in high school said. So, in order to master a language, we need to listen, read, write, talk using that language frequently. And here I am, joining the class in which all the lectures were delivered in French >.<

Before my departure, I managed to pass the French language test and certificated for B2 level. For those who don’t know, B2 is for the level “upper intermediate”. Those B2s are supposed to be able to understand complex text, join a discussion, interact with native speaker fluently and spontaneously, produce clear and detail text on a wide range of subjects.

Howeveeeer..., real life is not as easy as that piece of paper called certificate. My teacher was right, the best way to master a language is use it every time, not just by taking a course and test.

Right here, I struggle and have to do lots of effort to understand the lectures, the group discussion with my classmates, or even simply to listen to and share a story or jokes. As native, they talk way too fast for me and sometimes use an “un-standard” language just like we do. For example, we frequently use “ntar aja” instead of “nanti saja”, strangers definitely can’t hope much to understand this only by joining a language course, I believe.

HOW TO COPE?
I record and re-listen to all the lectures, borrow, take photos, and re-write my friend’s notes (I have to get used to with the French writing and font since it is different with its pronunciation, so I choose to re-write instead of photocopy the notes), keep the online TV streaming in France channel even when the channel plays trash, and of course...Google Translate are with those who need a simple help in language! Hahah...

this is very helpful

Thank God, I’m staying in a very friendly city, the Nantais are very kind. My classmates, my lecturers, my apartment owner are friendly and very kind, so I get lots of help and understanding in terms of language difficulty.
Yeah but, believe me my friend, I won’t stop trying! :)

2. Administrative thingy

If you frequently whine about the complexity and uncertainty of the bureaucracy in Indonesia, try living in France. You will be surprised :)

As a foreigner, there are lots of administrative procedures and forms to be completed and submitted. Some of those are commonly known as complicated, no fixed standard, take too long, even for French people.

• The residence permit. You have to send (or bring by yourself) a form you got from the embassy to the respective office, wait for at least 2-3 weeks to receive an application receipt, then wait again for...I don’t know how long for an invitation of medical check up... I heard some different versions of my friends, one of them even got it after 6 months waiting!
• Housing allowance (CAF). The officer told me that he would contact me the next 3 weeks after I submit the form. In fact, I got the confirmation of my application in the 5th week. My french friend told me that it’s common for CAF and sometimes it's even longer! 
• Bank account application. I had a quite bad experience on this. In France, almost all the transaction can be done by using bank card, and some others even can ONLY be done by it. To give you a bigger picture, here you do many things in machine: buying bus and tram ticket, laundry, rent a bicycle, pay your purchase, etc. Those machines accept bank card or coin, so if you don’t have bank card, you have to prepare some coin. See how hassle your life without having it in your wallet... And up until now, I haven’t got my bank card yet. First, the bank officer told me that I still need to complete a document related with my residence, but my friend who submitted exactly the same document already obtained the card at the day I sent my complain. Afterward, the officer told me that the bank missed another document and had to redo several steps backward. Again, some French people said that it’s common treatment, especially for foreigners. Oh lalala....

3. Climate change

I won’t talk about the global warming here, hehehe... What I mean is the difference of climate with your origin country. In my case, it’s really a big gap to stay in 4 season country after spent more than a quarter of century living nearby the equator. In addition, I came here during the autumn season, the wind is so damn cold. I already wore 3 layers of clothes while the others still wore 2, I eat a lot to compensate the energy lost to warm my body temperature, I use 2 layers of blanket, and never forget to put the eucalyptus oil on my chest, back, and stomach.
Yet, the autumn is look very sweet by the way, in spite of the strong wind, the color change of the leaves turn to yellow or red and then fall off, combine with the clear blue sky are romantic, in my opinion. There’s no such thing as it in tropical country, right? So, for this, I’m gladly enjoy :)
And well, this is a great time to wear your stylish boot, coat, scarf, gloves, skullcaps, etc. Do that in Indonesia and people will think you're insane. :p

beautiful, isn't it?

how about this? more than beautiful? kapan lagi bisa dress-up like this? :p

4. Culture shock

• This is the first time I do feel as a part of minority, in related with religion. I grown up in a biggest moslem country, although I’m not a religious person, but it’s rather weird not to hear adzan at all. Thank God, for the latest Idul Adha, I had no class so I could go to one (out of two) mosque in Nantes to do Sholat Id while some of my friends had to attend a mandatory class. At that time I met lots of moslem family, they asked for my number and invited me to have a dinner in their house someday. Awesome!

Idul Adha in a mosque at Renne Cassin :)

• The next thing is, BE ON TIME! If you’re included in those who prefer to cook your meal or dry your hair and come late rather than come on time, CHANGE! My class usually start at 8am until 12am then 2pm until 6pm. And all of those classes were started and ended right on time. The bus and tram have fix and on time schedule up to minute units and you can find the schedule easily and informatively in brochures, all the shelters, or website. So, there is no reason to be late if you can manage your time to prepare yourself. Furthermore, almost all of the meeting, formal or informal, were done by an appointment in advance. Respect your own time, respect other’s.
• Food!!! There is no cheapy "tukang nasi goreng tek-tek" or "mang buryam". Your choice is to cook or to eat at a restaurant, which is expensive. Rice is less common if you eat in resto but you can find it easily in supermarket then cook it by yourself. Chilly is also uncommon, but you can substitute it with paprika or pepper for your cooking. The famous Indomie are available at some chinese stores, the import version for Netherland. The one that barely found are tempe and kecap manis...sometimes those are usually available at the chinese store, but most of the times not. KBRI in Paris sell some Indonesian spice and food, sambal pecel, sambal terasi, balado, kemiri, Indomie, Sukro, etc. If you’re far from Paris, the alternative way is to have all of your need directly from home! Just like I got this afternoon :)

believe me, this is priceless, thank you, you :)

• Last but not least, Public Display of Affection (PDA) is soooo common, you will see a couple hugging or kissing on the street, at the bus shelter, inside a tram, in your way to campus, everywhere! Not only a male-female couple, yeah but also those gay or lesbians. You can enjoy it if you want, hehe...but just don’t too obviously stare at them >.<

photo taken from a significant distance :p

5. Homesick – boyfriendsick – friendsick

Godbless the inventor of electricity, internet, blackberry, and all the application such skype, internetcalls, gtalk, etc. Use it as much as you need!
Before my departure, I installed and taught my mother and sisters to use Skype and assured my notebook and my boyfriend’s are able to connect each other properly by using those various application. Sometimes, I still really miss them even if we just had a very long video call. Well, that’s the challenge!
Realize and take into your consideration about the awful quality of internet in Indonesia, be patieeeentttt...let alone a clear video, sometimes you hear robotic voice, or suddenly the connection is disconnected, hahah, again...just be patient, don't be tired of trying  :) 

Aaaaand, not to forget, the different time zone... I’m so lucky to have a boyfriend who usually stay awake over midnight, so we can “have a date” at my normal time, around 7 or 8 pm although we have 6 hours of different time, heheh... Otherwise, I get up early so I can meet my family and him at their lunch time :)

Voila, those are the things that really matter... I’ll surely update if I find another.

Au revoir!