The Norah and Dad Show
A father and his college-aged daughter use music, humor, and emotional honesty to make sense of family, growing up, and modern life in real time.
The Norah and Dad Show
Aix's and Eau's
Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.
Welcome to Season 5, the first transatlantic season of the pod! Norah and Dad catch up on her first week abroad in Aix-en-Provence. Norah describes her studio loft student housing, the affordability of dining out compared with cooking, her new friends, the wine, her upcoming French immersion classes, and a day trip to Cassis (complete with sunburn). We'll be back every other week (ish) to hear all about Norah's semester abroad!
Subscribe, rate, and review The Norah and Dad Show on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.
Follow The Norah and Dad Show on Facebook.
Follow norah marie on Spotify, YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and the web.
Follow Dad on Instagram, LinkedIn, Threads, and the web.
Question? Ideas for a future episode? Email us at norahanddadshow@gmail.com.
Intro music written and performed by norah marie.
Bonjour Nora Bonjour papa.
SPEAKER_00He won't do the whole podcast in French, I promise, because that's like the only French. Yeah, that's the only French I can do. What is a what does a French person call a really bad Thursday?
SPEAKER_01I don't know.
SPEAKER_00A tragedy.
SPEAKER_01Oh.
SPEAKER_00How's that?
SPEAKER_01I was thinking of mercredi, but that's not Thursday, because merde in French means shit.
SPEAKER_00Oh, yeah, but that's Wednesday. But that's Wednesday. Well, that would have also been a really good joke.
SPEAKER_01Well, we can use that one next time. You can cut that out.
SPEAKER_00What are we talking about this week?
SPEAKER_01We're catching up about my first week abroad.
SPEAKER_00Welcome back to the Nora and Dad show. Is this season five, I think?
SPEAKER_01I mean, we started it my sophomore year of high school, right? Sophomore. And I'm a junior.
SPEAKER_00Senior. Is this season six? No. I gotta look. Whatever it is, it's a new season and it's the first transatlantic season of the Nora and Dad show because you are talking to me from Aix-en-Provence, France.
SPEAKER_01Yes, I am. And my love is student housing.
SPEAKER_00That's your student housing looks pretty damn posh.
SPEAKER_01And you know what? We have the worst one out of everyone in our group because you are touring other people's rooms. Wait, wait, so ours is still really nice.
SPEAKER_00Alright, so describe your room to the to the listeners.
SPEAKER_01It's a studio loft.
SPEAKER_00Right. So you have so you have an upstairs and a downstairs?
SPEAKER_01Yes. And our downstairs is just like a kitchenette, bedroom. You don't have to be quiet, it's okay.
SPEAKER_00And you have a roommate.
SPEAKER_01I do have a roommate.
SPEAKER_00So um so what so what makes the others nicer? Because you we got a video tour of yours and it looked like the nicest dorm I've ever seen.
SPEAKER_01Well, we were just touring upstairs and like our friends see they like live right above us actually. I could like poke them if I wanted to. Um theirs is like a little bit bigger, their upstairs area. And then the way it's set up, like they just have better amenities within the apartment itself. So like their flooring is a little bit newer, their kitchen's a bit bigger. Um, they actually have like a place to store their food. We don't really upstairs, it's kind of divided into two spaces instead of being one space.
SPEAKER_00Someone have you cooked yet?
SPEAKER_01We made pasta the other day.
SPEAKER_00Oh, alright. So you do actually need cookies.
SPEAKER_01I've been eating out a lot though, but yeah.
SPEAKER_00Well, that's to be expected. I mean, do you think once you settle into classes you'll start cooking more?
SPEAKER_01Maybe. I mean, honestly, it's just really not that expensive to eat out. Like, depending on what you get. Like if you drink, that's expensive. But if you just get like water and an entree, it's not super bad, depending on which restaurants you go to.
SPEAKER_00Okay, so you're finding the good places and the bad places.
SPEAKER_01And grocery shopping is way cheaper.
SPEAKER_00Oh, way cheaper just in France in general. Well, that I guess I guess that makes sense. And the food's probably better for you, I'm guessing.
SPEAKER_01It's smaller portions of food too, like in the pre-packaged stuff, because they have less preservatives. So I think that's part of it. It's like the portions are smaller, so maybe that's why they're less. But I don't know. I had crackers and cheese for dinner last night.
SPEAKER_00So but my under you had crackers and cheese for dinner?
SPEAKER_01I wasn't very hungry. I had big lunch.
SPEAKER_00Oh, okay.
SPEAKER_01We were in Cassie for the day.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. So I want to I want to back up because I I want to walk through your I want to walk through your week. My whole day, my whole week. Yeah, I want to walk I want you to walk through your week kind of day by day. So we'll we'll we'll get to Cassis at the end. So but I just wanted to say that I like I think over there where you are, people don't grocery shop. Like I went grocery shopping yesterday and I bought food for the entire week. But people don't like people there will shop day to day, right?
SPEAKER_01Well, we've been shopping day to day because the monople, which is like it's kind of like a target, it has everything. Um it's pretty close to where we are. It's like a 10-minute walk, and it's on like the main street, so everything else is there as well. And yeah, like I went there yesterday after we got back from Cassie because I wanted to get some more stuff. Needed to get my sunburn lotion. Went to a pharmacy nearby. But yeah, they don't give you bags either at the grocery store, and like people don't really have cars unless you live outside of the city and like need to come in. So it's just like a tote bag that you carry with you. So you can't really fit a week's worth of groceries in a tote bag.
SPEAKER_00Right. What do you buy the tote bag at the grocery store and then just bring it back and forth?
SPEAKER_01I brought one with me.
SPEAKER_00Ah, that makes sense.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Okay. So last Sunday we drove up to Detroit with you to drop you off at the airport. So you could fly. I mean, A, we wanted to say goodbye. Cleveland would have added an extra flight. So if you flew from Cleveland, you would have had three flights instead of two to Marshall.
SPEAKER_01And it would have been way more expensive.
SPEAKER_00And it would have been way more expensive. So we drove you up to we drove with you to Detroit. So A, you didn't have to leave a car there for four months, and B, we could say goodbye to you at the airport. And then C, so you could fly with your roommate Cameron. Yes. Um we dropped you at the airport. We had a a not so tearful goodbye. It was okay.
SPEAKER_01I cried. I cried more leading up to the goodbye than the actual goodbye.
SPEAKER_00But it's okay. I mean, this will be the longest we'll go without seeing you. Because even when you're in college down at Owoo, we either come down to visit or you come up to visit. So yeah. So it's so we see you every now and again. So but this will be we won't see you till Thanksgiving when we come to visit.
SPEAKER_01So scary.
SPEAKER_00I know.
SPEAKER_01Everyone wants to meet you though.
SPEAKER_00Everybody wants to meet me. Why does everybody want to meet me?
SPEAKER_01Well, not you specifically, but like you and Mom and Donovan.
SPEAKER_00Oh, okay. Oh, you have you been talking us up?
SPEAKER_01We well, I was talking about our week. We got to meet our friend Gwen's parents.
SPEAKER_00Okay.
SPEAKER_01And they were fun. And I was like, my parents are fun too. And everyone was talking about their parents.
SPEAKER_00So So the people you've been hanging out with, are those those are all the people from your program?
SPEAKER_01Yes. And then as the week's gone on, we've kind of collected a couple more people here and there who are in the other program.
SPEAKER_00Oh, so so the people that from your program that you're hanging with, is that all the people in your program or are there people you haven't met yet? And you'll meet when classes are.
SPEAKER_01So the other classes are in English, except for their French courses. And there's nine students in that one as well.
SPEAKER_00And will there be people in your classes other than the nine people, or that will be the only people that you'll interact with?
SPEAKER_01At orientation, there is about a hundred and five people.
SPEAKER_00Oh, from all over people from all different countries?
SPEAKER_01I think they said the largest population is from China.
SPEAKER_00Interesting.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. But like northwestern Africa, which I know those are like big spaces, but there is multiple countries within them. Um not a lot from Europe. I think they said like Italy. Yeah, the US wasn't even in the top five.
SPEAKER_00So aside from being a French immersion program, this is gonna be a really cool like cultural exchange. Just meeting people from all over the world.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Oh, that's really cool. I didn't realize that. I assumed you'd be with all American students.
SPEAKER_01Nope.
SPEAKER_00Oh, that's awesome.
SPEAKER_01No, ex-Marseille University is like they have a lot of students, but a decent amount of them are international students.
SPEAKER_00Oh, that's really cool.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Okay. Okay, so you arrive in Marseille at the airport on Monday. Walk me, walk me through your arrival. Stressful doing it? Because you've only really ever traveled like internationally with your mom and me. Stressful doing it on your own, or was it not bad?
SPEAKER_01Once I knew that my bags were also in Marseille, I was not stressed anymore.
SPEAKER_00And then was I right about the electronic passport stuff? Like the the They were down anyways.
SPEAKER_01There was issues with them. Okay. So but passport control was like or border control was super easy. They didn't even look at my visa. He looked at my passport, went, and then gave it back to me.
SPEAKER_00He didn't ask you like why are you here? What are you like how long you're here for?
SPEAKER_01Like I remember when we were going through customs in Portugal, they were so talkative and I don't know, not the same in France.
SPEAKER_00I think the Portuguese are a warmer people than the French.
SPEAKER_01I was telling everybody that we need to go to Portugal because everyone there is really nice and it's really inexpensive for the most part, and it would be lots of fun trying to get everyone to go.
SPEAKER_00Do you have your do you have your like your first well, I want to get back to your week, but now that we're talking, do you do you have your first no, it's okay. Do you do you have your first trip planned out? Like when and where?
SPEAKER_01No, I wanted to start classes switch in the next week. They might move me up or down. I don't think they will. I think I'm in the right level. But before I book anything, I just want to make sure I'm in the right spot.
SPEAKER_00Okay. And do you know what your class week is gonna look like? Like Monday through Friday, Monday through Wednesday, Monday through Thursday.
SPEAKER_01Monday through Thursday as of right now. Okay, so you'll have Which Eli's really happy about.
SPEAKER_00So so so you'll have nice long weekends to travel. Oh, that's cool.
SPEAKER_01I know I was talking to Miles about going to Denmark, so we're gonna set that up, and that's not very expensive.
SPEAKER_00It's like a Miles being one of your high school friends that you've known since kindergarten.
SPEAKER_01Sarah and I were talking a little bit, our exchange student from when I was in second grade, so we're gonna get together. I have to go to Paris. I might go see Courtney Barnett. That would be fun. I think you should.
SPEAKER_00I mean, we haven't we haven't talked to everyone all summer, but we we went and saw Courtney Barnett. Not too long ago in Cleveland. It was a it was a banger of a concert. So I think if she's in Paris and there's tickets available, I'm not sure.
SPEAKER_01Oh, there are tickets available. I may as well.
SPEAKER_00I kind of think you have to.
SPEAKER_01I'm kind of nervous of traveling to Paris by myself, though. Like it's not the safest place to travel as a woman.
SPEAKER_00You can't find someone to go with you?
SPEAKER_01I don't know if anyone will go to the concert with me.
SPEAKER_00Would you just go for the day and come back or would you stay overnight?
SPEAKER_01I probably stay for a long weekend and explore around Paris.
SPEAKER_00Okay.
SPEAKER_01I want to see the different Arrondissement, because when we went, we didn't really like we did all the stuff like in the heart of Paris. Like we did I don't remember which museum we did.
SPEAKER_00We did the Muse de Musee de l'Orangerie.
SPEAKER_01Okay.
SPEAKER_00With the with the Renw with the Monet's.
SPEAKER_01I have a picture with the water lilies.
SPEAKER_00With the water lilies with the giant like panels that filled the it was really cool.
SPEAKER_01And we did the Eiffel Tower and Championset, but I want to kind of do some of the like more thrifty neighborhoods. I want to explore.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, the Le M Le Marais, right?
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Right? That's kind of that's on the the other side of the Seine, but I think that's the more like Bohemian kind of like apparently the Jewish neighborhood has really good thrifting areas. That's the Marais. Yeah, I think so.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I don't know the names of them. I just remember knowing that the Jewish one has good shops.
SPEAKER_00I believe that is correct, but if any of our listeners have been to Paris and want to drop us a note and correct us, that would be fine. Alright, so Denmark, Paris, Karlsruhe, Portugal.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Oktoberfest.
SPEAKER_01It's too expensive. I don't like beer. I just don't think it's worth it. I don't know.
SPEAKER_00Are your friends are are your friends gonna go to Oktoberfest?
SPEAKER_01I think some of them are planning on it. And oh I have one of my Sorordi sisters is in Spain. I want to visit her. I think the never been to Spain.
SPEAKER_00I think the crowds at Oktoberfest would overwhelm you.
SPEAKER_01I agree.
SPEAKER_00That's my just knowing you. I think the crowds would be a bit much.
SPEAKER_01Mom suggested going to the Christmas market instead. And I think I would enjoy that more.
SPEAKER_00In Germany? Or maybe do the Christmas market, go to like find a city, because you've been to Munich before, you've been to Germany. Maybe go to No a difference.
SPEAKER_01Like I think I want to go more. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Maybe go to Austria and do a Christmas market there.
SPEAKER_01That would be fun.
SPEAKER_00Or or so let me add another wrinkle into your travel mix. If you wanted to stay in France, I have read that Colmar is supposed to be like gorgeous at Christmas time. It's like an old French medieval town that like does it up for Christmas.
SPEAKER_01Interesting. So no, I'm down for old medieval towns.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. So look it up. To the listeners, the the audio quality this season is not going to be great.
SPEAKER_01It's not going to be good. I'm using my phone as my microphone. I didn't pack my microphone with me.
SPEAKER_00Stay for the conversation and and hopefully.
SPEAKER_01We'll see how much editing could be done on posts.
SPEAKER_00We'll see what post can we see what posts can fix up. Okay, so you got you got through customs or border control, whatever, passport control, no problem. You get to your you get to your apartment, uh, your dorm, you unpack, and all right, so now walk me I guess walk me through your week as best as best you can remember.
SPEAKER_01Cameron and I went out exploring and then we went to bed because we were tired. Monday we had orientation at the CA Kappa building, so we got to meet everyone, that was nice. We went out for this nice French lunch, like a traditional French meal.
SPEAKER_00And that was done through your program?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, so we'd have to pay for that. I had cold soup. I didn't know it was gonna be cold when I ordered it. It was not good.
SPEAKER_00What was it vichy soap?
SPEAKER_01I don't know, it was green. Okay, and it had goat cheese and lemon, and I was like, oh, that sounds really good, but I didn't say it was cold on the menu. And then when it came, I took a bite of it and I was like, oh, that is that tastes like slush. Like, and it tastes I just didn't taste good.
SPEAKER_00Okay.
SPEAKER_01And then I have pork. The pork was really good. It had like this caramelized onion sauce underneath it. Oh very yummy. And then for dessert, we had some type of pastry, I don't remember.
SPEAKER_00Okay.
SPEAKER_01Can't go wrong with with French though.
SPEAKER_00You cannot go wrong with French pastry. And you do so much walking, it doesn't even matter.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, no, I've been walking everywhere. Monday night we went back to our friend's apartment because she's staying for the whole year. Um, so she has an apartment, that's cool. Which is really nice. And it has air conditioning.
SPEAKER_00Um because it's been hot there, right?
SPEAKER_01Yes, it's cold, it's cooled down a little bit. Like I don't have my fan on right now. But when we first got here, it was really warm. And then like they don't drink water here, like it's like we've I've been carrying my water bottle around.
SPEAKER_00Because the wine is so the wine is so cheap, you just you just drink wine.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, but I can't stay hydrated with wine.
SPEAKER_00I mean, do you do you want to know what you want to know what I learned yesterday?
SPEAKER_01What'd you learn yesterday?
SPEAKER_00It so by law in France, in order for something to be called champagne, it can't have an alcohol content of higher than 13%.
SPEAKER_01Interesting. We went wine tasting yesterday and they were telling us about that, but it was not champagne.
SPEAKER_00But because it's was so hot in France this summer, the champagne grape crop yielded. They're higher in alcohol percentage. Is 15% in alcohol, and there was no way for them to fix, like to tamp that down. And so they had to change the law in France so that now, so that this year's crop of champagne can be called champagne, even though it's 15% alcohol.
SPEAKER_01So Yeah, we went wine tasting yesterday, and all of the wines were really I mean, they weren't really high, but they were higher than what I expected them to be. I think the lowest percentage wine we had was like 14%. Right. And I think it's just because it's just made it just yeah, that's what she said. The heat has just made the grapes higher in alcohol content.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_01It was really good wine.
SPEAKER_00I'm sure it was.
SPEAKER_01It's really good. No reds, though. I don't know if you and Mom would have liked it. There's only rose and white. They don't do that.
SPEAKER_00That's okay. I can I can I can toss in a white, it's fine.
SPEAKER_01Well, when you're when you're here, you guys need to drink wine because they said that their their industry is dying down.
SPEAKER_00You do not have to worry about that.
SPEAKER_01I know. Well, we bought a huge well, I didn't buy a huge bottle of wine. My friends bought a huge bottle of wine. So, like, like this.
SPEAKER_00Oh, like a magnum, yeah.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. It was cheaper to do that than to buy milk pole bottles separately. Right.
SPEAKER_00You just gotta drink it before it goes bad.
SPEAKER_01I think they did they drink it all last night? Yes. Yeah. Okay. There you go. I didn't go out last night, but there you go. And then yeah, orientation on Monday. We hung out. Thur Tuesday we had orientation again. And then it was our friend's birthday, so we like threw a surprise party for him.
SPEAKER_00That's fun.
SPEAKER_01Um, we went out and got drinks with Gwen's parents, which was fun.
SPEAKER_00Did her parents they they came like just with her to drop her off and get her settled?
SPEAKER_01No, they have a house in France.
SPEAKER_00Oh, how bougie is that? Very nice.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. So they were really nice. And stayed up late on Tuesday. No. All the days are kind of blurring together because I've been out much later than I'm used to. Like I've been going to bed at like 2 and 3, 4 a.m., which is where it's like. It's not. I'm not going out during the week when I have classes. Um, but yeah. I'm trying to think of what else we did. It was mainly just orientation stuff. Um trying different foods. On Thursday, one of our advisors took us to the market. There's a market in town every Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday. Um, with like fresh produce and textile and flowers, stuff like that. Cool. Um, so we got to sample some foods from there, which was really yummy. And then Friday I had orientation at the university, which was really long and really boring and could have been an email.
SPEAKER_00Oh how far of a walk are you to the to the university?
SPEAKER_01Like 20 minutes.
SPEAKER_00Oh, that's not bad.
SPEAKER_01No, it's not bad. And there's a bus I could take, but unless it's like raining, I'll probably just walk. Because I don't have class until nine. So if I get like I'll get up at eight and that's fine.
SPEAKER_00Oh, that's not bad.
SPEAKER_01Stop and get a coffee and I don't I'm not really a coffee person. I bought Red Bull at the supermarket.
SPEAKER_00French Red Bull?
SPEAKER_01Yep.
SPEAKER_00Le Couch Le Couchon Rouge. Is that Red Bull?
SPEAKER_01No, Couchon's pig.
SPEAKER_00Oh, is pig? What is bull?
SPEAKER_01I don't I don't know what bull is. Cow is Vash, but I don't know if it's different for bull.
SPEAKER_00Le Vashom?
SPEAKER_01Oh, one second. I have to accept it's Tahoe.
SPEAKER_00Terrouge.
SPEAKER_01Terreau Rouge.
SPEAKER_00Our listeners are gonna learn a lot of French this season.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. Well, I just learned something new too.
SPEAKER_00Oh, that that right.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I didn't know what that was.
SPEAKER_00So a 20-minute walk isn't that that's not terrible.
SPEAKER_01No, it's not bad. And it's like a scenic route, like it's pretty.
SPEAKER_00So And then will you just you just stay on campus all day then?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, there's a two-hour lunch break. There's no classes during that. It's very sacred. They have, as a student, you can get a full meal on campus for one euro. So I'm gonna get that every day.
SPEAKER_00Oh, that's they just changed it.
SPEAKER_01It used to be three euro, but they just decreased it to one euro.
SPEAKER_00So no dining hall but one euro meal. Well no, it's like it's a cafeteria, but but I mean there's but I mean no no dining plan. But but a euro for lunch is pretty good, so yeah.
SPEAKER_01And like we bought yogurts and stuff. I might buy eggs depending on like or like protein bars depending on. They don't refrigerate their eggs here or their milk.
unknownNope.
SPEAKER_01What else? What else? Yeah, orientation is really long. There was a woman next to me who is from Turkey, whose son's in the program, and he didn't have housing yet, and she was trying to translate Turkish from French to me. So I don't think she understood that French was my second language, so it was a little difficult. Oh, good luck. But we got we got there eventually.
SPEAKER_00Wow. So you had orientation Friday, Thursday night. I know you were talking about going out clubbing. I did not go out. You did not go out clubbing?
SPEAKER_01No. Everyone went out clubbing last night, but because of my sunburn, I decided I wanted to stay in my bed.
SPEAKER_00Were you the only one who didn't go out?
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Oh.
SPEAKER_01Oh, there is gonna be so many weekends to go out. I need to take care of my body.
SPEAKER_00Okay. That makes sense, I guess.
SPEAKER_01And I knew that if I like if I went out, I didn't want to drink because you don't want to dehydrate your body if you have a sunburn. But I also knew that if I'm gonna be in a cluster like a really small club, I'm gonna get so claustrophobic that I'm not gonna have fun unless I'm a little like tipsy.
SPEAKER_00Okay.
SPEAKER_01So I feel like I would have been miserable if I went.
SPEAKER_00So better just to stay home.
SPEAKER_01Better to wait until Thursday is the big party night, anyways.
SPEAKER_00Okay.
SPEAKER_01Um, so I'll probably go on Thursday.
SPEAKER_00And that's because there's no classes Friday.
SPEAKER_01Well, some people have classes Friday.
SPEAKER_00Oh, but you don't have classes Friday.
SPEAKER_01I don't have classes Friday.
SPEAKER_00Very nice. And you don't know yet you you know one class you're taking and that's it?
SPEAKER_01And all my language courses, I have the options for the electives, but I register for electives on Friday.
SPEAKER_00Are there any good options to take? Like what what what are you thinking about taking?
SPEAKER_01There's an art class, art and publicity, um, which might be like art and advertisement, I think.
SPEAKER_00Okay.
SPEAKER_01Um I'm have to take I don't have to take that one. I'm gonna try really hard to take that one because that'll get me my last gen ed requirement at Owoo.
SPEAKER_00Uh-huh.
SPEAKER_01So that'll be good. And then there's a grammar course that I want to take and then a French literature course. But technically in my level, I'm only supposed to take two electives, but I might see if I can take three.
SPEAKER_00Okay.
SPEAKER_01Because otherwise I'll have like my Tuesday or Wednesday afternoon completely free. And I feel like I'd rather have a class.
SPEAKER_00Got it. Okay.
SPEAKER_01But I'll see how I'll see how it goes.
SPEAKER_00No no wine tasting classes?
SPEAKER_01No wine tasting classes. That's in the other university.
SPEAKER_00Oh bummer.
SPEAKER_01There's like different organizations I can join. I can get a 0.25 credit for doing choir here. Really? Um yeah.
SPEAKER_00Are you gonna do choir?
SPEAKER_01Probably not.
SPEAKER_00Oh.
SPEAKER_01I don't know. We'll see. I feel like I'd rather use that time where I'd be in choir, like going out and exploring.
SPEAKER_00And busking?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I'm gonna get my guitar September 30th.
SPEAKER_00That's crazy stuff.
SPEAKER_01I've been talking with him. Claude.
SPEAKER_00So you went and found a guitar on Facebook Marketplace?
SPEAKER_01Yep. And it's one kilometer away. And he's on vacation right now. So I was messaging with his friend, and she gave me his phone number. So he said, I'm out of town right now, but September 30th, you can come pick it up.
SPEAKER_00Okay, can you can you do your dad a favor?
SPEAKER_01Mm-hmm. Bring someone with you when you go to pick it up.
SPEAKER_00Thank you very much. I really appreciate that. Not that I don't not that I don't trust strange men on the internet, but I don't trust strange men on the internet.
SPEAKER_01I'm sure it's not. We were told by our advisors not to travel alone to Marseille as women.
SPEAKER_00Really?
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Why is it?
SPEAKER_01Or is it like really cautious? It's just not as safe. X is smaller and it's very like community-based.
SPEAKER_00Okay.
SPEAKER_01So and they know it's heavily student how like students that live here because of the universities. There's two universities in X.
SPEAKER_00Okay. So got it. So yesterday you went to Cassis?
SPEAKER_01Yes.
SPEAKER_00And how was that?
SPEAKER_01It was amazing.
SPEAKER_00Aside from aside from your sunburn.
SPEAKER_01You guys should visit f when you go.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_01And if you have time. There's not really an easy way to get there. You'd probably have to rent a car and drive.
SPEAKER_00Well, we're going to rent a car because I want to go. I know your your mom wants to go to Lourdes, which is like three or four hours away. Okay. And see the shrine there. And I want to go to Monaco, and I want to go to Nice. And I want to go to Cannes. And so I guess now I want to go to Cassis.
SPEAKER_01So it was just really beautiful on the water. Like I'll send you some more pictures because I took them on my camera and the the colors are better from the camera. But the water is like turquoise blue. It was so refreshing. The beach was so clean. The people were very nice.
SPEAKER_00Was it a sandy beach or a rocky beach?
SPEAKER_01It was like a mixture of both. It was what they would consider a sandy beach, but it still had like a lot of pebbles and stuff on it. Um which made it easier to kind of clean up. You didn't have as much sand sand sticking to you.
SPEAKER_00But so I wonder if the wonder if the the water is like the water was in Croatia.
SPEAKER_01It was cold. It was really cold.
SPEAKER_00Well, yeah, the w it's not warm. Right.
SPEAKER_01Um, but it felt really nice.
SPEAKER_00I mean like the color of the water.
SPEAKER_01Oh, maybe. I'll send you pictures.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I'll I'll have to see them.
SPEAKER_01We went on a boat ride. We got to see different sites. And then we went on a bus ride up to a mountain. They have like a national park there. But it's like a four-hour hike, so we didn't do that. So we just go.
SPEAKER_00That sounds terrible.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. We saw people rock climbing up the side. It was scary.
SPEAKER_00Whoa.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, it was like a completely vertical climb. You cannot pay me to do that.
SPEAKER_00You don't want to do that.
SPEAKER_01No, it's not covered by insurance either. We had a very large conversation about the things we were allowed to do and oh, so what what aren't you allowed to do?
SPEAKER_00What isn't your insurance gonna cover?
SPEAKER_01Anything that's considered like an extreme sport is not covered. But you're skydiving the extreme sport like insurance if you're like really invested in doing that.
SPEAKER_00Wow.
SPEAKER_01I'm not, that's not my forte.
SPEAKER_00No. Non-extreme sports are not your forte, so I can't imagine that extreme sports are gonna be your forte.
SPEAKER_01They have a big rub rugby base here. So Donovan rugby for Donovan, yeah.
SPEAKER_00Donovan like that when um you guys are here, but we're seeing a match at some point with CA Kappa.
SPEAKER_01We're going pottery making next week.
SPEAKER_00That's cool.
SPEAKER_01Um we had tea on Thursday. Yeah, that's what we did on Thursday. We went to this museum and had tea.
SPEAKER_00So they they've kept you guys pretty busy.
SPEAKER_01Yes. There's like two or three activities each week. I mean, that's what you pay for too. Like as part of paying for the program, is you get excursions that you don't have to pay for. Like I didn't have to pay for anything except for my lunch yesterday.
SPEAKER_00Pretty cool.
SPEAKER_01You got sushi. It was really good.
SPEAKER_00So oh you what you braved the sushi?
SPEAKER_01Yeah. I also had real ramen for the first time on Friday. That was really good.
SPEAKER_00I I'm I'm proud of you of getting back on the sushi horse because before you left for France, we went out to a really nice dinner at the marble room to celebrate you leaving, which was just voted the number one steakhouse in America. Um it was an amazing dinner, except that you got food poisoning from your sushi.
SPEAKER_01Well, the sushi I had yesterday did not give me food poisoning, and it was really delicious.
SPEAKER_00That's fantastic. I wanted to get sushi at the giant eagle yesterday at the grocery store when I was shopping, and I was like, I I I I hesitated and didn't get it because of your experience at the marble room.
SPEAKER_01In Monopoli, they have sushi there. They have like pre-made sandwiches that are like three, four euro. So I don't know if I'll get the sushi there, but people get it.
SPEAKER_00Well, I'm I'm proud of you for hopping back on the the sushi.
SPEAKER_01I'm gonna try as many foods as I can while I'm here. I tried this different I tried, well, this isn't a food. I tried this French liqueur yesterday on S Friday. All the days are blurring together.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, no, that's it.
SPEAKER_01That was like this liquorish liqueur. Oh, it was really yummy.
SPEAKER_00Okay.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, you like water it down and then it's like a sipping drink. Mom would probably like it because it's black liquorish.
SPEAKER_00Okay, interesting.
SPEAKER_01Well, what I'll have to take you guys to my our favorite, our favorite spot. Well, yeah, um, because we've become friends with two of the waiters there.
SPEAKER_00I'm gonna start looking this week. I'm gonna start looking at flights and Airbnbs. You need to send me your address so I know where you are. Yeah, so when I A, maybe we can send you little care packages, but B, when I book an Airbnb, I don't want to book one that's like five kilometers away from where you're living.
SPEAKER_01So Oh, I mean, I don't think there would be any near here. This is mainly like apartment style. Like, I don't think you'd find somewhere with I mean, how many bedrooms are you looking for?
SPEAKER_00Two.
SPEAKER_01Two, maybe. No, but it's nice. But you should try and stay more than like the city center, that's where it's very beautiful.
SPEAKER_00Okay. Oh, so you're not in the city center?
SPEAKER_01Or like ten minutes away. Like it's not bad, but okay. If you want to be more close to stuff.
SPEAKER_00Okay. Oh, so if we get an Airbnb in the city center, then we're only gonna be ten minutes from.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, it's not a very big city. You could walk back and forth.
SPEAKER_00Oh, that's not too bad. Okay. Okay, fair enough. Fair enough. So you start classes tomorrow?
SPEAKER_01Mm-hmm.
SPEAKER_00That's exciting. And then how many hours of class do you have tomorrow?
SPEAKER_01Three hours.
SPEAKER_00Three hours. Okay.
SPEAKER_01But once I start my electives the following week, I'll have a three-hour language class and then a two-hour break, and then a three-hour elective.
SPEAKER_00Okay. So you have just one three-hour class tomorrow?
SPEAKER_01Mm-hmm. And that's why it's gonna be all week, so I'll only have that one class.
SPEAKER_00Um So do you do do you have that class for three hours every morning then?
SPEAKER_01Yes.
SPEAKER_00Okay.
SPEAKER_01Except for Fridays.
SPEAKER_00Okay.
SPEAKER_01And on Thursdays it's in the afternoon. So my Thursday mornings are free.
SPEAKER_00And then are are all the people that you've been hanging with, are they all in that class or are they in different language classes?
SPEAKER_01There's different levels. So I'm in B1 plus C.
SPEAKER_00Okay.
SPEAKER_01Which is the highest like of intermediate you can be, I guess. Right. I'm on the cusp between low intermediate and high intermediate. I guess I'm mid-intermediate.
SPEAKER_00Do you have do you have friends in your language class with you?
SPEAKER_01No, I'm the only person in that section. Really? But I think there were some issues with the placement because Cameron was placed in a level that I don't think she should be in. We have another friend who's like completely fluent in French. He was placed in like A2 or A1. And so I think there was some issues with like data getting put in the wrong space. Because there's no way that they're supposed to be in those classes.
SPEAKER_00Do you think Cameron was placed too high or too low?
SPEAKER_01Too low.
SPEAKER_00Too low. Interesting.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Okay. So you think they'll move people around once they like hear how people speak?
SPEAKER_01I mean, that's what the first week is for. That's why they don't start the electives yet, is because they want to get people moved around.
SPEAKER_00Makes sense. And are the electives, are they like fluency dependent, or you can take whatever elective you want? It doesn't matter based on.
SPEAKER_01No, they only have six options.
SPEAKER_00Oh, okay.
SPEAKER_01And it's and that's basically and they meet at the same time, like two of them Monday, two of them Tuesday, two of them Wednesday.
SPEAKER_00But are but are they based on your level of language or it doesn't matter?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, so all the electives that I'm offered are only offered for students who are in the B1 Plus.
SPEAKER_00Got it. Okay.
SPEAKER_01So it'll be people from A, B, and C, but they'll all be in B1 Plus.
SPEAKER_00Got it. Yeah. Makes sense.
SPEAKER_01Yes.
SPEAKER_00Awesome. Well, hopefully your brain doesn't hurt too badly next week from thinking in French all day.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I mean I understood the orientation pretty well. We went on a tour on Tuesday, I think. And I had a hard time understanding the tour guide.
unknownOh really.
SPEAKER_01I got probably like 50 to 60% of what he was saying.
SPEAKER_00And is that just do you talk really fast? Is it like a different accent or dialect?
SPEAKER_01It just talks really fast, and then you're in a space where you're also hearing other people speak French. Like when you're in a French class, it's normally just one person speaking at a time. So now you're also having to tune out of talking. Um we went into this really beautiful church and there was like a kid playing on the organ in there, like doing scales, and the tour guide's tone was like the exact same as the notes that the kid was playing on the organ. I could barely understand what he was saying.
SPEAKER_00So it'll be interesting to see if by the end of your semester, if that's different. If like you'll be able to like manage all that without a problem. I bet you'll be able to manage all that without a problem.
SPEAKER_01I've already gotten more confident about speaking. Like when I went into the pharmacy yesterday, I did that completely in French. Um, I think they knew what I needed. They could look at me and be like, oh, you're sunburnt.
SPEAKER_00But you could just like pull down your top and be like, I'm not sure.
SPEAKER_01You even have to pull down my top, it was visible.
SPEAKER_00Oh, right.
SPEAKER_01Um we went into I went to the grocery store afterwards, but I bought the cream beforehand because it was a little bit cheaper at the pharmacy. I went on Google beforehand. Um so I went to the pharmacy and I went to the grocery store, and the woman at the grocery store was like, Oh, beaucoup de soleil, j'ouvre. Yep.
SPEAKER_00A lot of sun today. Yep. That's really funny.
SPEAKER_01So everyone's been really nice for the most part. I don't know. It was a stereotype that French people are mean, but I don't think French people are mean. Well, so we met this waiter on Friday who we were we all pre-gamed before the bar, so we didn't have to pay as much at the bar. So we were all a little tipsy beforehand. And we were all complaining about how like when we've been speaking French, people have been speaking back in English to us. And our advisor was like, just tell them that you want to practice your French and they'll speak French with you. So our waiter comes up to the table and we all say bonjour or bonsoir. And he's like, You don't have to do that, I speak English. We all get like mad at him and are like, No, on pratiquing francaise, like we want to practice our French. He does the order with us completely in French, and at the very end, he's like, I'm from Florida. But he said he hates it in France. He can't wait to go back.
SPEAKER_00Go back to Florida?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, he's been there, he's been here for six years. His parents are French, so yeah.
SPEAKER_00He wants to go back to Florida. That's the last place I'd want to go.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I don't know if I'd want to be in Florida either.
SPEAKER_00No. Ugh. No offense to any Florida listeners we have, but not not. I don't know if we have any Florida listeners, but if we do, no offense intended, but not where I want to be.
SPEAKER_01They have air conditioning there, though. They don't have that here.
SPEAKER_00They do have air conditioning.
SPEAKER_01That's the only plus.
SPEAKER_00We probably don't have any f we probably don't have any Florida listeners anymore. Probably just pissed them all off and they're gone.
SPEAKER_01Sorry, guys.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, sorry, Florida.
SPEAKER_01We went to Florida. I had fun there.
SPEAKER_00It was okay. Say it was okay.
SPEAKER_01Okay.
SPEAKER_00I mean, we've been to Disney World. That was fine.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, that was fine.
SPEAKER_00I don't know if that really counts as Florida, but it Disney World.
SPEAKER_01No, we visited with grandma and grandpa.
SPEAKER_00And then we went to Miami with we did go to Miami, and that was that was okay. So I don't know. I like my I like my European travel.
SPEAKER_01I do too. I think being here has made me realize that I think I want to live in a city.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_01I don't I like being able to walk everywhere.
SPEAKER_00Okay.
SPEAKER_01I really like not having to drive.
SPEAKER_00Cleveland has really nice apartments now, I'm just saying.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. Yeah. If I were to live in Cleveland, I would live in Lakewood. I love Lakewood.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, Lakewood's like a nice walkable right. And there's lots of young people living in Lakewood. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. And there's lots of apartments. There's not a big music scene here. A little upset about that.
SPEAKER_00Lakewood has a big music scene. I know. Lots of clubs in Lakewood.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_00I'm pushing the I'm pushing the stay in Cleveland after graduation.
unknownYeah.
SPEAKER_00You got you got two years to sort it out, but I'm pushing the stay in Cleveland after graduation.
SPEAKER_01We'll see.
SPEAKER_00We'll see.
SPEAKER_01We'll see. That's probably where I'll end up.
SPEAKER_00Probably.
SPEAKER_01But if I'm in Cleveland, I'm not gonna buy an apartment. I'll live with you guys.
SPEAKER_00Well, yeah, that's true, I guess.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, that would be a waste of money.
SPEAKER_00Berea's walkable. Your mom and I walk everywhere. Oh, I have a question for you.
SPEAKER_01Yes.
SPEAKER_00Have you ever, so in downtown Berea on the triangle, there is next to Domino's Pizza, there's like a little bakery and like chotchki store.
SPEAKER_01Mm-hmm.
SPEAKER_00Have you ever been in there?
SPEAKER_01I've never been in it. No.
SPEAKER_00Okay. You've never bought anything in there?
SPEAKER_01No, I.
SPEAKER_00Okay. Oh, because I I learned Friday night that a former co-worker of mine owns it.
unknownOh.
SPEAKER_00And she was pretty sure that someone with our last name, because she saw our name on a credit card receipt. She's pretty sure someone bought a Pride Pin. And I was like, well, it wasn't me, I bet it was my daughter. No?
unknownNope.
SPEAKER_00Okay.
SPEAKER_01I've never been to that store before.
SPEAKER_00Alright. It was adorable. You should go.
unknownOkay.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. They have nice little pastries and little like local like artisan stuff they sell.
SPEAKER_01Nice.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_01I mean, that's my kind of stuff. Yeah. That's what all the stores are like here. Everything's very expensive though.
SPEAKER_00Well, yeah, because you're in France.
SPEAKER_01I know. I kind of blew through my budget the first week, but I keep telling myself that it's the first week, so that's expected.
SPEAKER_00What is your what is your budget?
SPEAKER_01I don't have one. I've just been trying not to spend.
SPEAKER_00You blew through the imaginary budget you don't have.
SPEAKER_01I've just been trying to be cautious and like thinking about board thinking about things before buying them.
SPEAKER_00That that's fair.
SPEAKER_01So like when we were in Cassie yesterday, well, Cameron and I did a little trade. She bought me a towel and I bought her sushi. So I bought because we had to split up, so we went our separate ways. So I ordered both of a sushi and she got me a towel and herself a towel as well for the beach. And then they had, I want to get postcards from every place I visit because that's like a nice cheap souvenir. Right. Um so they had Le Petit Conce um postcards, and it was like a quote about childhood, about like how every adult was once a child. And I thought that was like perfect for me, so I grabbed that. And then we got ice cream after being on the beach.
SPEAKER_00Ice cream or gelato?
SPEAKER_01It was ice cream.
SPEAKER_00It was ice cream, okay. It was ice cream.
SPEAKER_01It wasn't very expensive though. It was like three euro.
SPEAKER_00That's not bad.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, you'll and they don't charge extra for a cone.
SPEAKER_00You'll You will have plenty of money to make it.
SPEAKER_01I know, I'll be fine. It just makes me nervous that I'm not working. I've no I haven't had a job. I haven't not had a job since I was like 15 years old.
SPEAKER_00I know, but now you're gonna have you have three gigs booked for early 2026, so yeah.
unknownYeah.
SPEAKER_00Or early 2027.
SPEAKER_01So crazy.
SPEAKER_00I know. So you'll be making money when you get back. That'll be fine.
SPEAKER_01And when I get back, I can work out a woo and like it'll it'll be fine.
SPEAKER_00It's all it's all it's all good in the hood.
SPEAKER_01I guess like I did work all this summer, like I worked a bunch this summer in order to spend money here, so I should spend my money.
SPEAKER_00But you should, you should, yes, you should spend your money.
SPEAKER_01I got a little bank account alert the other day. I had to move that thing's okay because I don't keep very much in my checking. I had to pay the visa verification fee and the like student like registration fee that the French government makes you pay. And my card was like, watch out, you need to add more money into your account.
SPEAKER_00Oh, you're fine. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01It was fine. I just needed to transfer it over.
SPEAKER_00Right, right.
SPEAKER_01Well, I can't use my debit card here because there's an international fee.
SPEAKER_00Okay.
SPEAKER_01The people at PNC lied to me when I showed them my card.
SPEAKER_00Okay.
SPEAKER_01So I've just been using my credit card everywhere, which is probably safer anyways.
SPEAKER_00It is safer.
SPEAKER_01So I've just been having to make sure I don't go over my credit limit, which I won't, but I'm just going to do that.
SPEAKER_00And you can always call if you pay it off, you can always I think every 90 days you can request a higher credit limit. You can always call the bank and request a higher limit too.
SPEAKER_01Okay. It was really just like those beginning fees. Like on my credit card, I had those fees, and then also the Airbnb that I got for Eli and I, because I got that last month. So that was in like this month's statement. So it was just a lot all at once.
SPEAKER_00Got it. No, fair enough. Fair enough. So all right. Well, I am going to I'm going to wish you bon chance for your for your for your first week of for your first week of French school. I think you're going to be awesome.
SPEAKER_01I'm excited.
SPEAKER_00Very jealous of your experience, actually. I think you're going to have to.
SPEAKER_01I think I'm more excited for classes than I have been for anything else.
SPEAKER_00Oh, that's really cool.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I don't know. It's a little nerdy. I don't think anybody else is excited to do it. No, that's but like I I was talking earlier with some of the people, but I feel like Owo kind of made me not love French as much as I did in high school because of the French program. And it's like not their fault. It's a small school. There's not that much demand for French in general in the US. Like a bunch of schools are dropping it completely. But I'm just excited to be in an environment where everyone's as excited as I am.
SPEAKER_00Right. Awesome. So I think you're gonna have a great semester. I think your class is gonna be great. I think you're gonna learn a lot, and I think you're gonna have a great time kind of exploring around Europe. And it's pass or fail. So it's and it's pass or fail.
SPEAKER_01And we get to give it Well, my final is worth 50%.
SPEAKER_00When I was in law school, my finals were worth 100%.
SPEAKER_01So well, that's law school. That's different.
SPEAKER_00I I know, it's I know. I know, I know, I know, I know. All right.
SPEAKER_01Well, the grading system is I'll have to get used to it because they don't give a hundreds here. Like it's very rare that you get 20 out of 20. Like they're much stricter about grading in France.
SPEAKER_00Wow.
SPEAKER_01So I'll have to get used to that.
SPEAKER_00Alright. You'll be fine.
SPEAKER_01I'll be fine.
SPEAKER_00Try and try and not stress about the school part and just enjoy yourself.
SPEAKER_01I will.
SPEAKER_00Since it's all pass fail, the grades don't transfer, just the credits due.
SPEAKER_01Just the credits due.
SPEAKER_00You'll be fine.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I'll be great.
SPEAKER_00All right. Enjoy your week. I look forward to hearing all about it.
SPEAKER_01Awesome. Yeah, I'll call I'll talk to you before you record again.
SPEAKER_00Sure, I'm sure we will. We'll be back in. Are we gonna we're gonna do every other try and do every other week? Is that the plan? Cool. All right. We'll be back with another with another episode.
SPEAKER_01I mean, I should be open on Sundays because I have class on Monday, so I won't be traveling.
SPEAKER_00All right. We we may have to work around the Arsenal football schedule and on Sundays mornings.
SPEAKER_01There's no Arsenal pubs here.
SPEAKER_00I looked up, I saw that. So we'll have to figure something out when we come visit how Donald and I can watch the arsenal.
SPEAKER_01It was owned by a f football player from Marseille. He's retired now, but then he opened a winery.
SPEAKER_00So maybe maybe he can find maybe he can find it for us.
unknownYeah.
SPEAKER_00Alright, we'll sort it out.
SPEAKER_01Okay.
SPEAKER_00Alright, awesome.
SPEAKER_01Okay.
SPEAKER_00Au revoir, Noah. Je t'aime.
SPEAKER_01Je t'aime aussi.