Culture Shock

So Sunday morning I woke up and I packed and I ate breakfast and said good bye to Pilar, and I headed to the train station with all my stuff, including a separate bag of stuff I was going to send away. It was a long walk. But, I did eventually get to the right train station, and buy a ticket, and get on the train. It was a nice ride, but I was freaking out the whole time, because the French name for the station is Hendaye, and that's what the websites all say, but the Spanish name was Hendaia, and I was like, "I HOPE THAT'S THE SAME PLACE!!!" but it was. Whew. So, after a short train ride across the border, I was in France. Which was crazy, because it was so French. 

I know that sounds dumb, but it's kind of what happened. Like, the train I was on was in Spain for 90% of the train ride, we stopped at a station in Spain, and then 2 minutes later we got to our terminus in France. And everything was different. I'd spent all but 3 days of the last 4 months in Spain, and begin somewhere else was WEIRD. I'm not sure if I'm embarrassed by this or grateful for the excuse, but my first day in France I had culture shock. And I had it bad. 

But basically, I arrived in France, and I went and got my train tickets, and I managed to reserve all the train tickets I would need in France, even with my rusty French. So that went well, then I chilled in the station for a couple hours waiting for the train that would take me to Bordeaux. And the train ride was nice. I like Spanish trains better than French trains, because French trains seem to make me much dizzier than Spanish trains do, and I can't really write on the French trains. Not that I don't try, it's just harder. Sorry. But other than that the journey was nice and uneventful. 

I got off and stowed the stuff that I was planning on sending home in a locker in the train station, and then walked over to my airbnb. The woman I stayed with was very nice, but she didn't speak much English, and I was mid-culture shock. So I was really not at my best. But we chatted for a bit, and she gave me some suggestions for what to do in Bordeaux, and then all but pushed me out the door to go downtown for dinner. I had kind of been hoping to just stay in the area for dinner and go to bed early, but my host only told me about restaurants downtown, and so I hopped on a tram and got off at the "Grande Theatre" 

Which was very impressive.

Actually, downtown was nice. The tourist information office was closed, but they had a map in the window that proved invaluable in navigating the town. So I walked around for a little bit 

watched the city light up. 

And then I realized that I hadn't eaten an actual meal since breakfast, and that I was dang hungry. 

So I went off in search of food. 

Interestingly, I settled on an Indian restaurant because 1) I like Indian food 2) I wanted Indian food and 3) I recognize the names of the dishes in an Indian Restaurant. 

I know that seems kind of counter-intuitive, but Masala and Biryani are the same in France as they are in the US, and I didn't have to try to decode a French menu while avoiding cheese and eggs and weird sauces. I actually ate a lot of Asian food in France, mostly for that reason. And, let's be honest, French isn't really my kind of cuisine. But Asian is, and they had a lot of that in France, so it worked out. 

France actually seemed to be much more diverse than Spain. I mean, in Spain, you kind of had to hunt for food options that were not Spanish or American chains, but in France there were all kinds of restaurants, from Indian to Middle-Eastern to Greek to Japanese. It was crazy, and the people seem more diverse too. I know there's a decent immigrant population in Spain, but even that seemed more diverse in France. It was really interesting to sort of look at French culture after months in Spain, and to look back on Spanish culture after I'd gotten used to it. 

So I had dinner, and I walked back past the grand theatre to the tram station, and headed back to my airbnb. 

And we passed the cathedral, and that was cool. 

But I basically got back home and went to bed. I was REALLY tired, and culture shock is stressful. BUT the next morning I woke up and realized that I needed to work on my attitude from the night before, and so I took a walk. 

It was actually really funny, because I kept asking my host if I could walk places, like downtown or the train station, and she kept going, "NO! That's too far!" and I would look it up on google maps and it would be shorter than my walk to school every day this semester. And that's another thing I realized is how much I've gotten used to that. 30 minutes is a short walk, and an hour to get somewhere isn't unreasonable. That's just how it is. And my host was so shocked when I told her that I was walking to the train station, despite the fact that I walked to her house from the train station only the day before. Spain has shifted my perspective a lot on how long is a long walk. 

So, in light of that, I decided to walk downtown, and I'm so glad I did. 

Because it was a beautiful day, and I saw all sorts of lovely sights 

and there is nothing quite like a walk past beautiful historic buildings to relax you and snap you out of your funk. 

fortunately, there was a cathedral to selfie with as well. 

I didn't go in this one, though. 

That is the Hotel de Ville, which I think is a government building. 

Dem Flying Buttresses. 

But yeah, I like cathedrals. It feels homey. 

And I find these models fascinating. 

So Bordeaux is on a river, which made for an even lovelier walk. 

And it was a good thing for me to get out and experience things, 

because that's really the only cure for culture shock. 

It worked. 

Oh! Wow! They had all these pictures of this building with a reflection pool in front of it, and it took me forever to realize that this was it, but looking at this picture, I totally see it. Though I didn't at the time. 

But yeah, there were these guys taking pictures of this ballerina, and it was impressive, and a great location. 

But by the river they had this whole big park thing, and I just walked through it and read and looked at the buildings on the way. 

It was nice. 

I don't really know what this stuff is, because that wasn't really the point. 

The point was to be out and in the sun and experiencing things. 

And taking pictures. 

So I walked back by this palace, and figured out that the reflecting pool was actually a pool

And there were kids walking around in it, 

and I figured why not? 

And it was fun. 

So once I dried my feet off and put my shoes back on, I walked around a little more, 

Saw a cool monument, and took the tram back to the house. I collected my stuff and double checked a couple of things, before I head out, walking back to the train station, to catch my train to Nantes, which was a whole other adventure. 

but, I'm glad I stopped in Bordeaux, and I'm glad that my host made me get out into the city, because that's what I needed. And I wish I hadn't had the culture shock, it wasn't fun, and it made me a not very fun person to be around, and that's sad, because I don't like to be around myself when I'm like that. But I got over it, pushed through it, and got ready to enjoy the amazing adventures ahead of me in the rest of France.