Just a note to say hello...

Hello, and thankyou for reading my blog! (even if you are just here for a passing visit/because you got lost/looking for something else/because I have harassed you into taking a look!) This blog really only exists because I love to write, and talking/writing is how I process and make sense of things…I have been writing stuff for years even though nobody has ever really read it, but I have set this blog up because 1) I have become slightly addicted to reading other peoples' blogs and wanted my own, and 2) because they have helped me see things differently, and I want to do the same! I hope at least some of what I've written does this for you.

From July 2015, this blog is taking a bit of a break from its usual state, and becoming a travel blog (something I never thought I, Katie Watson, would ever write, but there we go) as I embark on my adventures across the Channel, and go and study in Brittany, France as part of my degree. I hope it helps any of you who are reading it whilst planning your own year abroad, and that the rest of you reading just for the entertainment factor are suitably amused by my attempts to understand the French mode de vie!

Monday 25 May 2015

My little French 'appartement'

So I have some exciting news...I have a room in a shared flat in Rennes!! The way this came about is such a testament to prayer and God's incredible faithfulness: let me lay it out for you.

I'll start right at the beginning. I found a Newfrontiers (a UK movement of evangelical churches) church in Rennes - which in itself was amazing - and checked out their website. It looked fantastic. Not huge, but big enough, and with a real family atmosphere. They also had a good group of students, lots of different nationalities, and great comments from people who had found a temporary home and family there. So I got in touch with them, and one of the leaders replied...he was so friendly and helpful, and asked if there was anything they could do. I mentioned I was looking for accommodation, and he put me in touch with one of their students who is currently on a YA in Rennes but will be going home in August, and so would be leaving his room free.

This seemed like an obvious answer to prayer, and so after a quick email conversation with him, I contacted his landlady about the room. He had mentioned that someone else was also interested and seemed quite keen, so I decided to just bite the bullet and email the landlady asking about the room's availability, and then leave the rest to God. I prayed that He would show me the right place for me to be, and it seemed He did, because I got a reply from her just a few hours later. She said that although the room I was asking about was gone, she had another apartment which had rooms available; closer to the uni, and with the realistic possibility of having 2 French flatmates, which the other apartment didn't have. So I decided to take it!!

It's literally 2 minutes from my uni, and yet still 10 minutes on the metro from the city centre, and comes fully furnished and ready for me to move in, which is amazing! Plus all my bills are included, which means I don't have to worry about sorting all those things out when I arrive! So it seems ideal...very exciting! It's such a massive relief to have a room sorted out, as the idea of arriving in France with nowhere to sleep that night was pretty terrifying! The fact that the church seems so welcoming and family-focused is also such a blessing and encouragement, as it will hopefully not only give me a chance to practise my French with native speakers, but also mean I have a ready-made community outside the university in an environment which I am used to, and other Christians around to support me.

I'm hoping to fly out to Brittany in July sometime to check out the city, university and possibly my apartment, but until then, au revoir mes chéries.