le premier jour

Residence de Cuques. I knock on Nastya, my Russian classmate's dorm room, to head over to Residence de Gazelles next door to meet the rest of our classmates.  Outside, the air smells faintly of pine, and as we stroll down the street we are greeted by an amazing view of Mont Saint-Victoire towering over the town of Aix-en-Provence.

Residence de Gazelles. Initial introductions done, my classmates and I start walking down Avenue Jules Ferry to catch the bus to school. My laziness overwhelms, so I convince Florian, a German classmate I had previously met in Manila, to catch the Mini 2 bus with me to the center.  It was faster all right, but we got lost once we got to the center, so the rest of our classmates eventually caught up with us. So much for speed.

La Rotonde. After a long wait and a flurry of confusion figuring out where the stop for Bus 21 was, our bus finally pulls up. I hop on the bus.

"Is this the bus for IAE?"

The driver stares blankly at me. I realize he doesn't speak English. "Eee aah ooh?" he asks.

"I... A.... E....?" I repeat more slowly.

"Oui, oui. Eeee aaah ooh!"

Erm. I guess they pronounce IAE differently here. We get on anyway and after 30 minutes of twists and turns through empty streets, the bus driver lets us off at a blue gate with the name of the school printed in large white letters.

And there it is. 

Institut d'Administration des Entreprises d'Aix-en-Provence, my school for the next few months.