Update! lol

Well it's time for an update... and perhaps more! Tuesday went alright - classes were the same as usual. Wednesday morning I woke up at the crack of dawn (before sunrise even!) to get to my 8 am class. Then I had a break and just came back to my room for a bit after grabbing lunch. Went to my other classes that day... the English to French class is in French which was a little disappointing :-( I came back to my room after dinner and crashed at about 7 pm, slept till early in the morning.

Went to my first class on Thursday, thankfully French to English is taught mostly in English! I have one class out of 16 in English! After that, I grabbed lunch at the cafeteria, then decided to head down to centre ville to just browse around. I mainly went to go buy the book I needed to read for the Margeurite Duras class which was only about 5 euros. Then I came back to my room and just hung around for a bit until my French class. Afterwards I grabbed dinner again, then chilled in my room crashing early. I seem to be crashing very early this whole week, perhaps it's my body trying to make up for being up so late the week before!

Friday morning I didn't go to my first class because it's one I'm going to drop. I found out that I don't need to take it. I thought I needed it to transfer back for a grammar class but one of my translation classes will do that so I didn't see the point in keeping a class I really don't need, especially on a friday morning at 8 am! I did go to my 9 am class though and it was really cool even though it lasted three hours! After that, I came back to room after lunch and sat down to do some number crunching.

I'm not a fan of budgeting and naturally that is what I have to do while I am here. For one, the exchange rate is killing my funds just in the exchange so I need to plan things out. So after I finally figured out how much I have to work with (I had about 7 different things of notes all with different amounts on them!) I sat down and started looking at how much some of the trips I would like to take will cost me. Before I knew it, it was almost 6 pm and my brain was fried! And to top it off I didn't really get much further than I started although I at least have more ideas and such of what things will cost. After that I messaged some friends to see what they were doing that night, but no one seemed to be doing anything or they didn't get back to me. So I ended up just staying in my room watching movies.

I slept in on Saturday as I had nothing planned to do, except get together with Charlie again to work on our script for class. So I went over to her place and we worked on that for a while, then did some shopping for a little food and drink to have in my room. I just did some research of things I could do aroudn here, and ended up heading out on my own to find some places and just get out of my room. None of the friends I messaged got back to me if they were doing anything, so I figured I can at least head out on my own. Ended up just walking all over, only found one of the places I had found online but I didn't like the feel of the place so I didn't stay. I ended up getting lost trying to find others, then just randomly walking around till I found where I was again - was actually kind of fun! But I eventually got tired of walking around and bored and just headed back to my room.

Today I woke up decently early then headed to the market again. I just bought some fruit and another chicken to eat since it was good the last time! The reason I went to the market aside from being bored was to get a hot kettle for my room. But they didn't have the one I saw for cheap the last time and i didn't like the one they had. And as I got there a little late I didn't stay long. So I just came back here, at my chicken and tried to figure out if I wanted to go anywhere. I thought about one of the museums but by the time I would get to them, I wouldn't have much time before they closed. So I just stayed here looking more figures up online, updating this blog, putting some new pictures up and things like that!

Well that's it for an update, I think I might sit down and do another blog describing my classes since I've got nothing else to do tonight - but we'll see! A bientôt!

Schedule!

Here is a copy of my class schedule. I added another class because I was already in the one after it and they very often tie into the same class as it's the same students, same classroom and the same professor. I just will be a half hour late every week because of another class but that is to explain the overlap on Mondays.

I'm doing this as the Modern Lit class apparently was cancelled today as there was only two others waiting for the class and nothing posted on the board. Naturally the secretary wasn't there yet so we couldn't even ask her either. Anyways, I will do my best to explain my classes in more detail later on. For now, its a quick nap before my next class today! A bientôt!

... I couldn't get it to upload right on here but I added it to my photo album which I gave the link to in a previous post. So you can check it out there!

Let me know if there's any problems!

Lille Photo Album Link

Here's the link to Picasa photo album for my Lille photos. I hope it works. Let me know if it doesn't!

My Time In Lille

Week 1

So it's the end of week one and time for an update. I think I listed my classes I'm taking in my last update but as I went and change some of them around - this is my final schedule. From this point I would only drop a class or decide to audit it in which I go but don't get a grade. I don't think I'll be doing that though!

- History of France
- Geography of France
- Ancient Greek History
- French of International Students
- Technique Expression (French Grammar class - might drop this one... )
- French Literature - Marguerite Duras (she's a modern French author)
- Scriptwriting
- Performance Artistique (not sure exactly what this is aside from performance art)
- Practique du Jeu (again not quite sure what it is)
- Translation of French into English
- Translation of English into French
- Dramaturgie (drama lit class)
- Travail du Spectacteur (not sure yet either)
- Modern Art
- Modern French Literature


So that's fifteen classes. Naturally being the first week of classes was an interesting experience. Some classes I didn't add until after they had already met (Modern Art, Modern French Lit, Dramaturgie) so I do not know what they are like and will have to borrow someone's notes to catch up but that shouldn't be a problem. Some classes I had time changes or room changes and I was unable to get to them because of that (they are not at all fond of students coming more than 10 minutes late to a class and often wouldn't be let in) but this was only for two of them - Translation English to French and the Marguerite Duras Lit class. I also had a few classes cancelled because either the professor was sick or other reasons - this was the Travail du Spectateur and the Translation French to English. So I don't necessarily know what my classes all entail.

I have not had a class in English, and am pretty sure the only one that will be taught in English is the Translation of English to French but as they didn't happen or issues came up and I wasn't in class I don't really know for sure. Being the rest are in French has proved easy in some and difficult in others. The History and Geography of France classes are meant for International Students so they professors talk slowly and often repeat things other ways so those who are not well versed in French can understand. There are also many kids in those classes that I am friends with and we can easily swap and copy notes too. The other classes I had that were in French were tough. The one professor for the Scriptwriting and Performance Artistique class speaks very softly and often with her hand covering her mouth. Thankfully I met someone in those classes who is very fluent in English and we opted to be in the same group as well as she has no problem in helping me understand things in class.

I guess before I go more into my classes I should explain the French college system. There are many colleges here at Universite Catholique de Lille. I am studying in FLSH which is Faculté Libre de Lettres et Sciences Humaines - essentially Facutly of Human Sciences and Letters... like english, history, politics, etc. When a student comes to the university, the first choose which faculty they'll study in. Then they choose their License or major. Unlike back home where I have a checksheet of classes I need to take but can schedule for any class, here in France when you pick your License you are automatically assigned for your classes. They have it blocked out what classes you take each semester and no room for others (or at least not in my understanding) So you are always with the same classmates for your classes. Most of my classes are mixed between different Licenses or are for International Students only. However a couple of mine are in the Arts du Spectacle which is their new Theatrical Arts degree that is brand new this year. My Scriptwriting, Performance Artistique, Practique du Jeu, and Travail du Spectateur are all in that License so they are the same group of students. I will somehow try to figure a way to make a diagram of when I have my classes to help understand them all more but that will probably in another post. After the Practique du Jeu class on Monday I was lost and went to go ask the professor what I should do to catch up to the rest of the class as it is a course that started in fall and is just continued - and that's when I met Charlette (Charlie as she prefers to go by) who helped me translate as well as helped me out. Since I have all those classes with her, I've quicky become friends which also led to us being in the same group for the Scriptwriting class as well as for the group project in Performance Artistique. I hope that didn't get anyone lost in the explaination - I can try easier if you need help understanding!

But for the most part, the French is not too bad or I can easily copy notes from someone else in the class. We were all told in the orientation that most French students are willing to share notes as even they sometimes need help in understanding the class. Most classes I have quickly discovered do not believe in handouts unless absolutely necessary such as a map. Therefore, since it is common to discuss the grading plan and projects in the first class - that is what most of my classes entailed. The professor told us and we had to write it down in our notes. Most classes are taught as lectures as well. There are some classes that do also require participation and some of mine fall in that category such as the Arts du Spectateur courses and others. I will do another post right after this trying to explain more about each of my classes for those interested as I don't want this post to be incredibly long!

Now for the other things outside of class. I'm not sure if I mentioned it in an earlier post, but I got a French cell phone. The number is 06.25.64.61.14 however I beleive that to call me on it you have to dial in the international number for France first... which I believe is 33 but I buy minutes in packs and not sure what the cost would be to call me international from in the States. If anyone is interested I can look more into that, just let me know.

I have made a lot of friends here as well, though most are International students and we seem to speak mostly in English. I think we're all still adjusting and some of them have few if any classes in French. (Lucky them!) There is a cafeteria type set-up for lunch and dinner here. There are a couple choices for lunch from a sandwich place to just chose and eat on the go as well as a few more cafeteria lunch rooms where you go through the line. Dinner is only one place and it's a sit-down type place where they come and take your order (it's only two choices though and what drink) and they bring it out to you. You have the option of fries or legumes or both... which I have always selected. Legumes are vegetables and they are self-seve as well as a very basic salad lettuce and dressing. Drinks are simple and even include beer. So every now and then I've had a Heineken beer for dinner.

A couple of us have gone out and seen some clubs and bars. Some of these I think I mentioned before. However there was a party hosted by the AEU which is the agency in charge of housing, health, meals, and extracurricular activites on Thursday night. There is a club room which is incredibly nice in the basement of the AEU building which is also where the restaurants for lunch and dinner are. It cost 3€ to get in and then 1€ per ticket for beer or the option of 6 tickets for 5€ or 15 tickets for 10€. A friend and I went in together and got the 10€ deal and split the tickets. It started at 10 and we got there about 10:30 and it was dead. They had a free coat check though which was nice and by midnight the place was packed with students. It was a good time and we all had a good time.

Since Friday only has morning classes for me, aside from this week because the French history class met twice to make up for the week the professor can't be in class, I had the weekend free. I got a hold of my friends who I have numbers for - which still isn't that many (we always forget to swap numbers!) to see what they were doing. Some had friends coming to visit so would be tied up with that, or others werent' doing much. I did meet up with Charlie and headed to her flat for some of the afternoon on Friday to work on out synopsis for Scriptwriting class but that didn't last too long. Therefore last night I ended up just staying in my room and watched movies and read the rest of The Golden Compass which was an amazing book! I then slept in rather late today as I had nothing to do. I got up and got ready to go out. I did some small shopping and bought a couple things to drink in my room as well as snack on. There are over 500 types of cheeses and I've been slowly discovering the different kinds and tasting them. So far I like Gouda cheese and I just bought Emmental Francais which tastes much like Swiss cheese and Mozzerella mixed. There are also many types of beer in Europe which really put our American beers to shame. Heineken which is a more high end beer from my understanding back home is rather low on the scale over here. I've decided to try to keep a list of the cheeses and beers that I try just to see which I like and things. But anyways... I did some small shopping and I picked up a Sicilian Pizza as well for dinner.

Afterwards, I met Charlie at 9:30 at the nearest metro station which is only a block over. She had called me earlier and asked if I wanted to go see one of our classmates and his band play at a show. It sounded like fun and I had nothing else going on yet tonight so I said sure. I have avoided the metro since I've arrived hoping that someone who knows and understands it would be able to help me out and I'm glad! It was rather confusing, especially having to hop the different lines but we finally got to our desired station on the other side of Lille. From there we weren't really sure where we were going and ended up walking in circles and all down on the street trying to find the place. We finally found it and realized that we had passed it up a couple times but it didn't look like a place for a band to play and we didn't hear music. So we finally got in there, and it was a great time. Their music is all in English which surprised me but was explained that they would be able to spread their music farther if it was in English as well as apparently the conception that the French hate the English is not true and more a misconception. English music is very well favored here and I hear our music playing everywhere - even more than French music! But the band was great, their sound was very unique and I really enjoyed it. We couldn't stay that long though as we had to take the metro back and ended up missing the last train at the station where we had to switch lines. However it wasn't that far of a walk to where we each live as Charlie is just down the street from where I'm at. Since I got back I've been just relaxing here and decided it was time to update my blog!

I realized on Thursday night that I can withdraw money in ATMs from my banks at home so I had access to some money as my one loan came in but there is still things owed to Clarion and the Parentl Plus loan hasn't come in yet. So my parents put in an extra $100 into my bank account to help me make it till my loans come in. My dad and I sat down and talked about budgeting the money and I will have to pay close attention to my funds and spending but we should be good - only sucks waiting for it to come in.

Of all the things to talk about, it's hard to pick which. I think I've covered a lot in this post or at least the important things. I can easily go off on so many tangents but this is a long enough post already!

I have taken some pictures and will try to upload them into a photo album online. This blog is run through Google and they have a picture space as well called Picassa that I will be using and as soon as I get that sorted out and pics uploaded then I will post the link to the album on here. Adding pics to these blogs is just annoying and time consuming! So until the next post, hope thigns are going good back home!

Oh, and feel free to comment on these blogs and I'm hoping everyone is able to read them!

Time for update!

It's been a few days since I last posted, so it's only right to fill things in. Tuesday I slept in as I did not have much to do. I had an appointment to set up m bank account at Societe Generale. The guy also set up a savings account which they freely put in 15 euros which is the minimum for that account. There was also an overdraft package included that was only a few euros a month which I added to be safe. So now, once the loan money comes in I should very quickly be able to transfer the money to my new account here.

After that was all worked up, I didn't have the time to go and take care of the French Social Security, which is a good thing as my loan money hasn't come in yet and I have to make it through till then with the euros I have. I then went back to Carrefour and picked up a cheap lamp for my nightstand and table with the European plug. Then I walked back to my room, picked up some dinner on the way and stopped and got some more information about a cell phone. Then I just relaxed here in my room and crashed after a while.

Wednesday was a good day, though full of interesting times. We had scheduling at 2pm, and after I finally found the room I ran into a lot of issues with the classes I wanted to take all conflicting with the required classes, or with other classes I wanted to take. However, I was able to sort it all out and have a decent schedule that is not too busy for the most part. We were told to take more classes than we probably would end up having as we can easily drop classes, but not add more. Here is the list of the classes I'm taking:

1. History of France
2. Geography of France
3. History of Ancient Greece
4. French for International Students (Required)
5. Technique Expression - French Grammar
6. French Lit - Marguerite Duras
7. French Lit - 14th Century
8. Scriptwriting
9. Artistic Performance - Acting Class
10. Translation French to English
11. Translation English to French
12. Game Practice - Acting Class

All of which seem like fun and interesting classes. Classes start on Monday so I shall see how things go with that. I need to double check where the different rooms are but all but one are in the same building.

After we scheduled, a group of us international students from the states went down to centre ville for dinner. We ate at a place that is known for crêpes. I had a coffee with Grand Marnier and chantilly in it, with a Crêpe Nicoise. They were both amazingly good! After that, we walked around doing some shopping for a little bit then relaxed at one of the girl's rooms in my building. We all then meet up later that night and joined a bunch of other international students in the city at Le Zeppelin which is a bar here. It was a little packed but was a fun time - we all had a few drinks and just sat around chatting with other students. Then after a bit we decided to go to Seventh Heaven which is just around the corner from where we were. This is an actually dance club and from there we had a blast for a bit. Then, being it was only a Wednesday night, and we were all getting tired - we decided to head back to our respective residences and rooms. I cam back and crashed. Then I woke up a while later, talked to some friends who were now online back home, and then crashed for a little bit more.

Then today, we had the international orientation. It was good at points for there was some history and things about Lille which we learned as well as we covered things such as how the classes work, and the grading scale and just some tips that are helpful in working around the culture differences. We then had a tour of the campus and it's buildings nearby which was helpful. However, for the most part my classes will be in the main building of the school. We then had to sit through a rather boring and obvious lecture on culture shock and working around the cultural differences. Finally that was all over, and we hung out at another room for a little bit before heading to the school's cafeteria for dinner. The food was actually decent and was a lot compared to the prices we were paying for little amounts in town when we ate out. After that, because it was a rather boring and tiring day just listening to people all afternoon, we separated and headed our different ways. Since then I have been here in my room, sorting out paperwork and talking with friends online.

Things are going well so far. I don't have much to do tomorrow, though I hope to look and get a cell phone by Saturday at the latest. There are open markets every few days and weekly here in Lille and we're going to be going to the largest one on Sunday morning. As of now though there aren't any plans going on - most of us are still limited to our funds until loan money comes in which is definitely the case for me. I'm sure we will have a fun weekend though before classes start even if it's just around town here. Lille's the 4th largest French city and the 15th largest European metropolis, so there is plenty of things to do just here in Lille.

Well, as it's getting late and I'm fussing with the internet, I'm going to try and get on long enough to post this and then probably going to put a movie or Alias on and crash. Till next time!

A Bientôt!

Weekend Update and Monday

Well, Sunday was a pretty boring day. I slept in, then got up and headed towards centre ville for some food and then I came back and unpacked the rest of my things and settled in more. Then I stayed in as it was rainy out and I worked on cleaning my computer up. I spent most of the night chatting with friends and doing just that before I put some Alias on and crashed.

I got woken up by an annoying alarm going off about 7 am. At first I thought it was the room's next to me but then i heard people out in the hall. Naturally it's the fire alarm, I think someone burned toast downstairs and that set it off waking everyone up. So i got ready for the day and headed down for my free breakfast. There I ran into a couple other foreign exchange students there and we talked a little about things so far for us. I seem to know the most French out of all of them, which was a bit surprising. We all had to go to Le Catho so we grabbed our things and headed out. However we ended up going separate ways when we got there as they either were waiting for someone or had to go a different place than me.

So I go inside to see Madame Bray who's the International Student Advisor with my school at Le Catho. I'm sent up to the third floor, where they then send me down to the second floor. Naturally they just sent me back up to the third floor with more detailed directions. There I filled out the paperwork they needed and got the information regarding the scheduling meeting on Wednesday and the orientation on Thursday. She then told me where to go regarding the French Social Security, so i went down the hall to that office and found out what I need to bring in for that. I then came back to my room to get more money to go open up a bank account here, as I didn't carry most of what I needed on my because stuff still needs paid. And after doing a few things here in my room I headed back out again. I stopped at a few banks and finally got an appointment for tomorrow at 4 pm to set up an account. Then I'll have to get back and get the French Social Security stuff worked out. But after I had that planned, I decided to walk around more and explore the city. Being daytime I was able to go farther than before and just explore more.

I ended up down at EuroLille which is basically like our malls here. There they had a huge general purpose store - basically a SuperWal-Mart. While there I was on a tight budget so i was looking for necessites and I found a cheap blanket throw thingy for 8 euros. As I'm tired of using my coat and towel, I picked that up! haha! I got some water as well and scissors as I somehow forgot about packing those. Then I started on my way back.

This was only about 5:30 pm and it was already dark here, and it had started to rain as well which didnt make things fun. Granted I could've figured out the bus system and taken the bus closer to where I'm living, but I didnt think it would be that far of a walk. And logically as I knew going the way I had come to Eurolille would get me back but in a roundabout way - I decided to opt for a short cut! Only that short cut ended up with me getting lost and not sure which way to go down streets, althought I found some rather interesting buildings along the way. For the first time since I was here, I had to pull out a map and figure out where I needed to go. In reality I wasn't that far off, just in areas I hadn't been through yet although it felt like I walked an eternity. That was also with me carrying a bag with 6 liter bottles of water in it! Though I finally made it back to where I knew where i was going. Although after I got back to my room I sat down with the map to see how far off I had gotten and realized that I've been taking a longer way all the time that I could've! I definitely got my exercise today though with walking! that is one good thing about being here, I'll be walking most places and burn the weight off! Yay!

But when I got back to my room, no one I met earlier was here in the dorms and i wasn't in the mood to go out as I am rather tired tonight - I worked more on cleaning things up on my computer and talking with friends. I'm going to get ready for bed here soon, put a movie or Alias on again and cuddle up under my new blanket! And be ready to start it all again tomorrow.

I also priced a cell phone here today but it was rather pricey so I need to look around more. I was also happy I carried on the majority of the conversation at the bank in French! Given one of the international students I met today only has had French for a year, I should be in great shape!

Well, tomorrow or if tomorrow deems a dreary day with nothing going on - then whenever the next big even or thing occurs I will post it! Laterz! Au revoir!

My room in Lille

well here are pics of my room... enjoy!
















my room, the closet side















my room, the other side - note the huge table!















view outside window
















view outside window
















view outside window
















closet doors open lol

My room in Lille

Bonjour! Now that I'm in Lille, I'm working on settling in and getting things figured out.

Last night came up with some interesting surprises that threw me off. For one, I didn't have internet till tonight because even though I got the key for the wireless, I had worn my battery down so low while using the internet downstairs. So I went to plug in my laptop using my adapter plug which already have a power strip on it with my phone plugged in. I turned on my laptop and it died.... I ended up blowing the fuse in the adapter. So now i couldn't get online or my computer, and since the adapter wasn't working I couldn't charge my cell phone which was halfway charged to begin with. Then, to top it all off, I had sent an email to the housing agency here regarding pillows, sheets and blankets and whether or not I would need to bring those - to which they replied they will be provided here and I just need to ask for them. So i asked my floor resident in charge about it, and was told they're not provided. But I can buy them in a package or something from the housing place but he said it's cheaper to buy them in town... meanwhile this is going on 10 pm at night here. So by this point I'm tired as i didn't sleep much on the plane coming out here, and with all these problems that kept coming up I decided to just make do and go to bed. So I threw on my sleeping shirt, turned up the heat in my room as high as it could go, used the sleeping neck pillow as my pillow, a towel and my coat as a blanket and slept!


I set my alarm for 9 am, however I was still worn out from traveling and with nothing much to do today I slept in till about 3 pm. I then got up and got ready to head out for the day just to look around and I had a few things I needed to shop for too! So I walked down to centre ville which is the main commerce and hub of the city per say. there I did some walking around, went into some of the many shops. There are a bunch of festive decorations all over as well as a huge ferris wheel in the main square for the Christmas holidays. See the pics here! And there are a ton of shops to go through. I finally found the mall area and was able to find the cable I needed for my laptop for the European plug and I also bought another adapter too. Then i ate at a cute little healthy food cafe which had an amazing sandwich with freshly squeezed orange juice! Then I did some more shopping and browsing, bought a few more things like pillows so I at least have those. Then, since it was getting late and my cell phone was dying, I decided to head back to my room. There I got settled in a little more though I still have not really unpacked anything yet save necessities... I got the internet working thankfully! Since I got back I've been going through and making this blog, getting post and answering emails while catching up on friends too. I plan to get off here soon and crash as it's 1 am here and I'm tired! So here's a few more pics... I'll hopefully find a way to add pics on here with out the words but that'll just take time. Till the next post! A bientôt!


decorations around the ferris wheel



more decorations...





the square at night

Day 1 and 2

So here is hopefully the start of a decently detailed study abroad period I'm undergoing in Lille, France. After a rather hectic morning of frantic packing and last minute running around, I fly out of Pittsburgh Airport at 5:30 pm on January 3 to Newark. I then had about a 3 hour lay over there before I boarded the six and a half hour flight from Newark to Paris, France. I grabbed some Japanese food and I swear I ate cat! The food on the plane was good, served rather right away. I started off the flight by watching a movie called Stardust which was amazing!!!! Go see it if you havent already! (yes that means you too Hilly! :-p) Then I slept a little bit, then ended up watching part of a movie that I actually cant recall what it was called now lol and then I watched almost all of The Interview before we landed.
Once we landed, it was the usual long waiting time period to pick up my baggage as it slowly came around. I then thought I had to go through customs there, but ended up not having to do anything but leave! So I thought I would go and see if I could get on an earlier TGV train to Lille since my schedule was already tighter than I would've liked. However when I went to information to figure out what I would have to do, they kept sending me places that then sent me back to other places. I ended up getting some good advice from an elderly couple who also have spent years living in Seattle - to wait for my train because I would have a definite seat reserved. So I decided I'll take the seat and the tight schedule and sat down and waited for my train.
It was a lovely ride, and really smooth for a train. About an hour long, I finally made it into Lille. From there I picked up a taxi to take me over to A.E.U. - the housing agency here at Le Catho. I got there, and after lugging all my luggage up a couple sets of steps just to pay some cash and sign a few papers to have to lug them down again, I had my room number settled. I then headed out to my new building - Sainte Camille .... only I turned the wrong direction! By the time I got to the Citadelle I realized I went the wrong way which took me about 20 min in total due to this error. By this time, dragging my two large suitcases, and my carry on with my laptop bag - my arms were killing me. I ended up stopping about every block just to give them a rest! After just about getting lost again, I finally found my building. The guy there (who was cute too btw!) helped me get my stuff up to my very bare and empty room. He had just shown two other girls their rooms and so he gave all of us a tour of the two buildings (they're two dorms that are connected but are separate too!). Then the group of four, as they had two others waiting for them to finish and me headed into the city for some food and just looking around. Only these were a group of Mexicans who flew in together. So instead of having a fun night walking around soaking in the ambiance of France and the language while getting accustomed to Lille, I had to also get used to hearing them speak in Spanish - which I can't say more than a few words in! But we did end up finding a Subway for dinner although it kinda ticked me off that these four didnt' seem to really attempt to speak French. We then headed back to our separate buildings and that lead me to this update here now. I dont' have internet yet in my room though I hopefully will have it soon! So bear with me till i can be online more often and I will keep the updates coming. I aim to head back to my room and get semi settled in tonight and crash! Then this weekend hopefully make some new friends and just walk around the city getting used to where things are and stuff like that.

Hope everything is going great back home, as I'm sure I'd hear of things if they were going wrong! haha