Roommates – Personal Well-Being in France

So… I feel like housing found me. I know so many other people looking for apartments right now in Rennes and I’m having anxiety for them! I’m telling you I got really really REALLY lucky. There seems to be a bit of a housing crisis in Rennes because so many students and people are trying to move into the city and agencies are overbooked. After finding out my exact placement, I joined the TAPIF Facebook page and found the link to join the WhatsApp group for TAPIF assistants in Bretagne (Brittany). I think I was a part of the group for a couple weeks and then that’s when my roommate’s girlfriend messaged in the chat. She wrote out a whole paragraph describing her boyfriend Ludovic’s apartment (which was in a perfect location being only a 15-minute walk from my placement and it was only 425 euros per month) and how one of his roommates would be moving out. I knew I wanted to show my interest right away and I saw someone else typing so I made sure to send it out quick and say, “I know there are a few of us placed in Rennes but if you wanna send his number in the chat that would be great!” The other person messaged right after but I made sure to text her boyfriend as soon as she sent the number and then pretty much the rest was history. I asked him if he could send pics of the apartment and the place looked much nicer than the places I had been looking at and it had a living room which the place my référent (the english teacher I will be assisting) sent me did not have. Definitely did not want to feel like I was back in a dorm. Ludovic gave me the landlord’s email address and then within the next few weeks I got the contrat de location (renter’s agreement). I did a wire transfer for my deposit. DO NOT SEND ANY MONEY UNLESS YOU KNOW THE APARTMENT IS REAL. SCAMS EXIST! I knew I was good to send my deposit because my référent went to visit the place and spoke with the landlord.

I would say meeting my roommates was pretty natural. I met Ludovic first and he was very welcoming and then I met my other roommate, Prince, later that day and he was also super nice. I’ve lived with these two guys for a little over a week now and it’s been really chill. One of the first things we did together as roommates was go to Marché des Lices which is the second largest farmer’s market in France, and they have it every Saturday. They helped me buy two large avocados and then Ludovic and I got cooked duck (as well as a sausage for me) and potatoes for lunch. Ludovic and Prince are pretty much my big bros. The other day my friend and I went to the grocery store with Ludovic and she even said it’s like we were following our dad haha. He was getting items to cook chili con carné for Prince, Prince’s girlfriend, and I. I was very confused when I thought he said shitty con carné thanks to his accent, but I wasn’t the only one who thought he said that haha. The dish was very delicious and spicy, which I love. I felt like the last time I was here I didn’t have access to much spice, so I was really happy to have it. When he was cooking in the kitchen, we were all just hanging around chatting. Somehow, we ended up talking about flexibility and Ludovic made the joke that his body is a wooden plank and then proceeded to point to a wooden cutting board and said, “that’s me!” I mentioned I had done yoga before, so I jokingly said I’d knock on everybody’s door to do yoga at 5 in the morning to help work on flexibility.

Ludovic speaks French and English and Prince only speaks French. I really need to make sure I only speak in French if I want to improve my speaking skills, but if you decide to do TAPIF/study abroad don’t be too hard on yourself if you catch yourself speaking a lot of English when you first arrive, I have been meeting some cool people who speak both languages. It’s so easy to give up and slip into English, so try to sign a contract with yourself that you will try your best to only speak French. I wrote 10 personal goals before I got here and speaking only in French isn’t my number 1 (my list pertains more to my lifestyle and what I hope to work on, but I believe making a list of goals helps to visualize what you want to work on and help you think of the steps you need to take to achieve them):

Learn as much as I can from my students and give them the best language learning/cultural exchange experience I can give.
Focus on my mental well-being (therapy/doing things I love)
Make the most out of my friends studying abroad in France at the same time
TRAVEL!! (Even alone)
Only speak in French (okay, I see it is underlined but it’s still not number one haha)
Learn how to cook (like actually cook)
Join Régates Rennaises (rowing club)/gym (already rowed this past weekend!)
Keep up a weekly/bi-weekly blog (Hello there!)
Try to read more
Look into grad programs

Now I gotta figure out what renters’ insurance I should get. Definitely should have figured that out beforehand. I’ve been recommended maif so I’ll let you know how that goes. I’ve now hit the start of the storm of documentation I need to fill out after arriving in France. I’ll make sure to ask other assistants to see what websites they used to find accommodation and share them with you in another blog.

This past Wednesday I went to Vannes for the day and met some other TAPIF assistants. It’s only about an hour and a half away from Rennes on the southern coast of Bretagne. I decided to ask people in the Bretagne group chat if they wanted to join and three other assistants showed up. I will most likely go back again. It’s less than 20 euros round trip on the train unless you go with a TGV. Here are some pictures from that day: