12. Some Final Scraps / Le Debrief

Twelve feels like a much nicer number of posts to end on. Is it because it's just so divisible? I think it must be because of its festive associations, cos I've definitely read that humans (e.g. footballs players when choosing their numbers) are supposed to find prime numbers preferable 'cause we associate being indivisible with being strong. Well I suppose that association has already been negated after Johnson and Sturgeon's depressing victories.

Anyway, what is there left to say? I hear you ask. Well, I have a few things I think I should correct slash mettre à jour and then a few final astuces... allons-y!

One: I eventually managed to crack the cafeteria system here. It ain't simple, and they're always so crowded that I still panic on a regular basis. There's one outside the Law faculty (next door to ALLSH), one next to the library (Fenouillères) and one in a nearby accommodation, Les Gazelles that all actually sell vegetables. It costs 3€30 for a meal which you put together to total 6 points. Salad, a piece of fruit or a yoghurt are all one point and meals are four. Soup, one bread roll and a napkin are free. I have really mastered the art of getting my value for money, which involves constructing a sandwich which I wrap in my free napkin for an afternoon goûter. Bon app', quoi.

French students all eat really early; I'm talking half 12 - one at the very latest. I've seen them queuing up outside just to be let in at midi. I don't know if this feeding frenzy is spurred on by a perpetual shortage of food in the cafeterias (which results in meagre crumbs by 13H) or a nation-wide phenomenon. Either way it's bizarre to me. 

Two: the alarmingly intense cat-calling of the summer very quickly abated. I don't know if it's because I'm wearing more clothes; because there are fewer loiterers whiling away their holidays by making girls uncomfortable; or because I'm so clairement a savvy local x but it's just really not been a problem since about October. Maybe 'cos that's about the time I recklessly cut myself a fringe...

Three: I have complained at some point about milk; I found normal milk (sorry vegans x) so ignore that. And I don't think I mentioned before; the vegetables are comparatively expensive here. I must admit I've been a lil deçue by the cuisine here; I was imagining affordable, adorable couscous/falafel places all over the place, but franchement you're looking at about the 5 euro mark for a very average, potentially pretty dry, falafel wrap. They don't even put hummus in them here... Your best shout is a pizza van, where you can get a fillin' morceau for around 2€. Please enjoy this unattractive photo of me outside Chicken BouBou in Martigues (I don't have a tonne of snapz which don't feature other people teehee).

Four: the weather is a lot hotter than in Britain! Surprise, surprise, eh?! EXCEPT we had like 2 weeks of genuine chill! It got down to zero and really felt like winter. This was maybe mid-November though and since then we've quasiment had another canicule... this last week we've had highs of 17. That is not normal for this time of year - even here.

Five: travel as much as you can while you're here. There are loads of places to go and it's definitely possible to find cheap buses and to Couchsurf. Obvs je ne regrette rien but there are more nearby places I that would still like to visit (Avignon, Grenoble, par exemple, perhaps further into Italy - and I always wanted to do a bigger trip to ~hip n happenin'~ Nantes). You can def afford to skip some lessons to do this, truth be told; think about all the school you'll miss out on missing out on by avoiding the annual English fluey cold!

Six: it's okay to lose touch with some people. In hindsight, I was definitely indiscriminately over-friendly at the start for fear of being lonely, but the thing is, you will definitely meet more and more people if you make the effort, and there's not that much point forcing friendships with people you have nothing in common with. I'm not outchea trying to dole out #LifeLessons but specifically on Erasmus I found it hard to relax about ~letting people go~ because there are so many advice-givers out there vehemently warning you how lonely you'll be, and how open-minded you'll need to be to make any friends. Obviously be open-minded; but also don't let all the scary fear-mongerers mean you spend your leisure time doing things that you do not find leisure-ful (what is the word??). Do not make yourself climb really high mountains when you'd rather lie reading on a beach; do not sign yourself up for salsa classes that even the idea of makes you cringe; do not put yourself through more than one night of bachata when you just know you'll never acquire the taste. There are other people who also lack the physical capacity to scale flat mountain-faces; who also have stiff, salsa-inappropriate hips and who would also much rather spend their temps libre acquiring a taste, nay penchant, for Pastis, rather than crappy music.

It's also not at all like uni in England (or at least Bristol) where (I feel) you have to meet people within the first couple of months, and otherwise asking them to do something with you entails a quagmire of social uncertainty and stress. Because noone knows anyone beforehand, everyone is always keen to meet new people, and coming from different countries means none of you have any social baggage or preconceptions (as far as I'm concerned an Italian accent is an Italian accent... I wouldn't have a clue what was posh or $treet, it's all Greek to me). And people really haven't come to climb some juvenile social ladder; it's a good ol' wholesome bunch of nerrrRRds you get that have all chosen to live in abroad; to experience (or at least witness) a new culture, n learn a new language! And, IMHO, it's a down-to-earth bunch who choose Marseille, with it's terrible reputation of crime and corruption. :)

Having said that you can lose touch, it is also astonishing how often I bump into people I know. This is France's 2nd biggest city but I see people I know all the time par hasard. Guess there are certain places it's not surprising to find other students but still! I feel like a (wo)manabouttown B)

And also, probably none of this applies if you're teach assistant-ing in a wee village up the mountains in Austria. You're most likely stuck with whatever you can find. However, thy made thou'sts bed.

Seven: Erasmussing has gone quickly and slowly. It feels like forever but has only been 4 months. I've also felt really really sociable and happy and really really lonely - surrounded by people, but (unsurprisingly) noone that I really feel comfortable enough with to have a little weep to or be my most ~silly~ with... So basically if you are miserable it will pass and you'll be fine, or if you having THEBESTFUCKINGTIMEEVER it will pass, then it'll be over and you'll also be fine. If you're mainly just fine, it'll all be fine...

Does anyone else think the quality of my English may have suffered from this experience?

Anyway let us finish on this festive number and on feeling FINE... bisous mes biches!

Oh dear sorry and for a final scrap, here are my translations of Jacques Brel's Amsterdam and Les Vieux which I did last summer in Bristol for a student-run arts magazine: A) I don't want to lose the URL lol but B) I'm also quite proud of them and really enjoyed the ~project! Unfortunately I do not enjoy the font of their website, it got rid of my extremely expressive use of italics but oh well...