Everyday Life in Chambery

Everyday life in Chambery

      I finally received an email that I have been accepted into the ISEP program at the Universite de Savoie in Chambery, France. Now that I finally have the official dates and can buy my plane tickets, this all feels real. I was anticipating a six or seven week class, but according to the official dates, I will be in France for over two months! I am super excited that I will be able to spend even more time overseas, so I hope that I will quickly adjust to everyday life in Chambery.

     Chambery is a small town near the French Alps, so I do not anticipate many tourists being there. In big cities like Paris, many people can speak English to communicate with American tourists. In Chambery, most everyone will probably be speaking French all the time. This will help me pick up the language faster. I will be around local French people at the markets, around the camps, and all throughout the town. Hopefully, the full immersion in a small town French-speaking place along with the university courses will challenge me and help me learn the language.

Even though I will be living in Chambery in off-campus apartments, I plan on traveling to Paris on the weekends. I also want to see the Mediterranean coast of France and the western coast near Bordeaux. Experiencing places all over France will be both exciting and educational. I am sure that French has its own dialects depending on what part of the country you are in. Traveling around the country will show what different dialects there are in France and how the language is different in different places.

     I am very excited for the open markets around Chambery. I don’t want to look like or act like a tourist. I want to participate in the normal weekly markets to buy food for the week. I want to try out new foods that I have never heard of before just to be like the citizens of Chambery. I am most excited about having Nutella with everything and trying out different kinds of wine with dinner. I believe that the food and the language are two of the best ways to live just like the locals do.

I also want to blend in some of my hobbies from home and incorporate them into my free time in France. I love live music, so I hope to experience a concert or a small musical show in France that shows its culture. I was also thinking about seeing a band that I already know, but see them in concert in a venue in Paris or another French city. I can’t wait to experience the music of France and hopefully I will be able to see some live French music.