Over the airwaves and over the field...

When do you really define 'the beginning'?

Is it when you get in the car that morning, is it when you see Grenoble for the first time, nestled in the mountains? 

For me, there's a clear argument that it started the day I got my letter of acceptance. Maybe my Level 2 results.

I'm fairly certain though that yesterday was a big step. 

To start off with, I plugged my SIM card into my phone and got my phone number. It's an old iPhone that I'm being loaned, so plugging into iTunes and making it like home was nice too.

Obviously keeping the data roaming off, I would rather avoid any nasty surprises! 

Next thing that I managed to do was to pay for my American Football transfer - I sent money off to the European Federation of American Football's office in Germany.

I'm now patiently awaiting that wonderful email welcoming me to the French league... The Centaurs will be a great experience I'm sure and I'm looking forward to playing my third year in the sport under some great coaches.

Considering life in Arsonval will be different to Junxion, Lincoln, I decided to cut down on a lot of stuff I won't be needing. In Lincoln there is definitely a more 'self-catered' approach than Grenoble, where the student cafés will give you a 3-course meal for €3,50 or less. Whilst in Lincoln I had my own kitchen (within the flat) in Arsonval it's a big kitchen/catering kitchen between about 50 of you. Perhaps this will work to my advantage and stop my usual rampant overspending!

I also considered what sort of clothing I would need. Firstly, I'll push aside the irony that Grenoble today is expecting to see temperatures of 30 degrees and mention that it will be pretty cold in the winter. I'm assuming snow is a certainty!

Managed to dig out my thick winter coat and everything I only wear in Lincoln in extreme weather (as we call it in the UK, the prepared Europe calls it 'winter')

Travel plans are set in place now: we'll travel by Eurotunnel and stay overnight near Riems before making the trip down to an Alpine chalet near Grenoble.

We'll travel on a Friday, get into Grenoble on the Saturday afternoon.

Less than three weeks remain... I want to go, but a bit of me wants to stay. Nerves I'll put that down to.

I'll run another Mailbag at some point and write something American Football related during the week.

The countdown runs down.

Mike.

The little bits and pieces

A few people have been asking me about what I'm up to with certain amenities while I'm away... 

Mobile Phone - perhaps the biggest of the little things is a means to communicate with home and people I meet. There was an idea to use a French service, though all required me to have a Social Security number, something that I only get once I arrive in France. Having something read seemed a reasonable idea so the other day I ordered a pre-paid SIM card from LeFrenchMobile, a company which specialises in helping English people while they're abroad. It operates off the Transatel network and texts cost about €0.08 - calls are €0.19 a minute.

In terms of a bank account, it was a similar story - French bank account would only be available to me once I got there. Of all the options about, I sent to the Post Office as got one of those holiday cards they do. Basically use my main bank account to pay the top-up card and then use that. I don't have to pay any fees, which is quite nice too :)

Internet while I'm away will be arranged through my accommodation block via a company called Néoservices. No idea what it's like, but I do know it's €8 a month.

Well, there's a few bits and pieces to think about - I still have a bit to sort so I'll update you soon (not much I can do whilst on the bus to work!)

Mike :)