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!