Finally! We arrived in Besancon at 8pm last night.. We're staying at a hostel at the moment.. My room is a bit bigger than the one that I had in Lille but it seems smaller cause I have my own toilet in the room.. And the good thing about this place is that.. It has a LIFT! =)

After carrying my 5 heavy luggages and 2 boxes of stuff up my room (with the help of Delphine and Barry.. and the LIFT..) we all had a short rest and took a shower before heading to the city centre at night in search for food.. Lawa lah the place.. But it's not much of a city though.. We had kebab for dinner.. Well, it's more to a midnight snack cause it was already midnight when we got to the city centre..

Thank god I have my fan (kipas angin) that I brought from Lille cause it was not as cold as I expected it would be..

Today, we set off to the city centre after having breakfast at our place. The place provides free breakfast.. =) It was hot outside! Macam di Brunei rasa nya cause it was 29°c.. Angin nya.. skajap ada.. skajap nada.. tapi most of the time, angin nya inda kuat..

We walked to the city centre and went to the CLA (the uni).. we went for lunch at the same place we went to last night.. Ngalih ehhh jalan kaki ah pasal panas atu kali.. Oh well..

I'll upload gambar soon.. too tired to do so now..

SELAMAT BERPUASA!! sungkai kami pukul 8.16pm isuk =s

crazy for baguettes

Assalamualaikum everyone..

I've created this blog just to give you an update on what's going on with my life here in France..

I just arrived in Lille from London at around 12.30noon. I took a taxi back to Maupassant, the place where I lived last year and coincidently, the taxi driver was an Iranian who used to lived in Besancon! Incroyable! He told me he has met a Bruneian once before in Besancon and it was about 10 years back. He told me the Bruneian was a small and short girl. And I immediately thought of Cikgu Rokiah.. who else could it be? When I shouted her name, the taxi driver said, "well that name does ring a bell.. yes.. maybe it was her. I can't really remember her name" But in my mind, i am sure it was Cikgu Rokiah..

Anyway, at Maupassant, I had to wait outside my building for an hour or so cause the reception opens at 2pm. (lunch break is usually at 11am-2pm here). Fortunately I have my trusty Horrible History book with me to entertain myself.

At exactly 2pm, I went to the reception to get my keys and had to carry all my stuff to my bedroom on the 3RD FLOOR using the stairs.. It was a hell of a workload.. I was really tired by then so I didnt go to the bank as I have originally planned..

At 9pm, I went to Barry's room which was on the other side of the building to see him and ask him about Delphine's arrival.. We had a brief chat cause I was really tired and just like that, I went back to my place and went to snoozeville.

Today, I finally met Delphine.. I went over to her place around 2pm and hung out till 5pm.. We went for a little walk for a while to buy ourselves a baguette which I have been craving for since I've got here.. Nyaaaaman wah baguette nya.. I love the baguettes here!

I let her rest for a while and she asked me to come back at 8pm for dinner with her husband, Barry. It's great to have a little company and someone to talk to.. I had dinner with them and had a typical long discussion of a particular topic that we've watched on TV.. Oh la la.. The meal lasted for two and a half hours.. It's ok.. C'est normale. I think I'm used to the 2-3 hour dinner by now..

Ok then.. Till tomorrow..

I'm off to a new town tomorrow.. Delphine, Barry and I are going to have a FIVE HOURS road trip from Lille to Besancon! So I really need my rest for now..

A plus!

Intro

Just a brief intro..

I'm Masitah Jaafar. My friends call me Mas but my indon friends call me Sitah.. Nada bahh.. beibun saja about the Indon thing..

My birthday is coming soon on the 6th of October. I'm going to study French in the Centre Liguistic Appliqué (CLA) in Besançon (pronounced BAY-ZONG-SONG). The CLA is famous for its french courses for foreign students. I've been there once to visit the university during a STPRI school trip in 2004 and I remembered it well. I remembered that the receptionist was an Indonesian who married a Frenchman and we also had the oppourtunity to meet the principal who was a Frenchman who married and Indonesian and can speak the Bahasa Indonesia.. Aku nyomong yang bener.. It had lots of internatinal students from Africans, Japanese, Chinese, Vietnamese, Arabs, Eastern Europeans, Mexicans etc..

The city of Besançon is really lovely! It's located inside an oxbow lake which flows from the Doubs River. It has a citadel or a fortress surrounding some parts of the river.. I went there once and there was a lot of history in the building and a lot of hills! Besançon is located in the eastern part of France near the western borders of Switzerland and an hour away from Dijon and two hours away from Lyon and Strasbourg. lawa lah the place but honestly, it's more of a town than a city, I guess. I know you'll love it if you visit it.. but I'm dubious if I'll enjoy staying there for a few years.. untuk melawat, ok eh.. lawa brabis.. tapi utk tinggal sana? we'll see.. On verra..
a bird's eye view of the city of Besançon

I am half excited and half scared about this new town, new adventure, new school and new friends.. I hope I can cope with the studies and adapt the style of teaching and life in Besançon dès que possible.. I'm also hoping to find new friends to keep me sane all the time.. and find a shopping outlet nearby..

Ben, je vous laisse! a plus

Bis