Last Day in Montpellier

So today is my last day in Montpellier and instead of being able to enjoy it, I am running around like a crazy person trying to shut down accounts, send things out, pack up, do laundry, clean the apartment...So I get to hang out with my friends tonight for a couple of hours and then leave to catch my plane at 10:30am. This is not much fun. Actually, it kind of sucks. It's been a really depressing week in general, though today I'm not so much sad as just overwhelmed. There's just too much to do. Plus the landlady is making us wash all the sofa covers and buy new mattress covers, which I don't really have time to do really. And I have to shut down the internet today which means I won't have any internet tonight which will also suck since that is what I do with myself to not feel so bad about leaving. I didn't really expect to get so attached to this place, but I guess you can never plan for that. I am heading to Brussels tomorrow and meeting up with Jake, which will be nice. Then we get to start our whirlwind tour through Brussels, Amsterdam, Vienna, Berlin, London, and then back to Montpellier for me, and then home. 19 days and I am home again. Weird. All my friends are going home either tomorrow or a couple days after that, so I keep thinking that I am going home too, but I am not. I keep having to remind myself that I have a couple of weeks left yet. I don't feel like doing anything, I just want to sit and relax in my apartment, but now we have it pretty much emptied so it's not even really our apartment anymore. I don't like it. We're all rather subdued and I'm really bad at goodbyes...just kind of avoid them altogether usually. So we'll see how this goes tomorrow saying goodbye to my friends and to Montpellier, which is like saying goodbye to home again. I'll be back for a night, but none of my friends will be here, so it'll just be weird. Well I got to be off to send a package home to my parents with Christmas presents. Let's just hope it weighs under 7 kilos....Ugh.

Finals Week and Ick

This past week was a nightmare of school work. Though it wasn't technically finals week, all but one of my professors decided to make it finals week. So. I had 4 papers and 4 finals in 4 days. All in French of course. And anyone who has to tried to write a paper in a foreign language will know that a 4 page French paper takes about as long as an 8-10 page paper in English. So essentially I put off all my work until this past week, spent the whole semester NOT working because in the French university system, there's really only one grade a semester and it's the final. SO I didn't have to do anything all year for anything but grammar and phonetics, and then all the sudden I had to hyperspazztically get everything done in 4 days. Needless to say, from Sunday until Thursday, I got a total of 9 and 1/2 hours of sleep, with one night being an all-nighter. I wouldn't have had to do that IF my grammar teacher hadn't decided that we really needed to make up a missed grammar class and therefore we needed to have a 4 hour grammar class on Tuesday from 4:15 to 8:15 and then a 4 hour grammar final on Wednesday at the same time. That really took a chunk out of my work time. So everyday I spent the evening writing the paper due the next day and then I spent any other free time studying for the next final. By Thursday night I was downright exhausted and delirious, having just pulled an all-nighter the night before, and I had to take 2 finals. The staying up all night actually wasn't too bad. Jade and I stayed up till 5:20 am together writing our paper on the computer, realizing we had no way to print it out, and then having to handwrite it, and then woke up at 6:55 am to go to a final. Really, really a great day. While it did feel nice to work, I realized how HORRIBLE my french level really is. All in all, my french improvement might be a lot greater than I think it is, but to me it seems like I haven't really improved all that much at all. Which is depressing but oh well. You only get out of it what you put in it, and I probably didn't put enough into it. I can however basically read books in French now, which I guess is something.
So I leave next week...Here I mean. I keep forgetting that I am not going home because everyone else is so I keep thinking I am just going too. But I am leaving here and having to move out of this apartment and leave the friends that I have made, so basically it feels about the same. Now it feels like I am leaving home. I am leaving my bags with a friend here, but she is leaving on Tuesday so I have to pack up by then and just live out of a backpack until then basically. So my room is going to be empty more or less for the last week of my stay, which is just going to be really really depressing. Renee, Jesse, Jade, and I all sat around on Thursday drinking wine and talking about the semester and all that and it's just going to be so sad to leave them. We formed our little group and now it's breaking up to go back to PA where we won't exactly fit in anymore because we've changed but State College will forever be basically the same. Strangers in our own world really. I found this quote that I quite like from this great movie called l'Auberge Espagnol:
"When you first arrive in a new city, nothing makes sense. Everythings unknown, virgin... After you've lived here, walked these streets, you'll know them inside out. You'll know these people. Once you've lived here, crossed this street 10, 20, 1000 times... it'll belong to you because you've lived there. That was about to happen to me, but I didn't know it yet."
I like it. The thing is...none of us are going to be able to explain the experience to anyone because no one can understand. They weren't here, they don't know Montpellier or the people. They don't know what we've gone through. Other people have gone through similar experiences, but they were still different. I wouldn't really know how to describe this semester to anyone that wasn't here. I don't know. I'm starting to get more and more bummed out everyday realizing that I'll never be back here again like this. Everything that has become day-to-day routine now seems depressing because I realize it's going to end soon. It's getting difficult to imagine saying goodbye. When I got here all I wanted to do was go home, and now all I want to do is stay.

Paris

I went to Paris last weekend with my friends and we had a really good time. Everything went really well actually. We were quite lucky. The train ride was nice (we all slept the whole time because the train was at 5:30am) and then we easily navigated the metro to the hostel (thanks to my amazing metro ability haha) and the hostel was really nice. I remembered enough from my last trip with the Trethewey's that I was able to navigate everyone through the city pretty well and I remembered which stops to get off at and all that. We saw all the main sites again, including Sacre Coeur since our hostel was right there. We also found ourselves in the Red Light district at night looking for an ATM because it was right down the street. Saw the Moulin Rouge a couple of times, from the outside of course. We had our minor spats as people couldn't decide what to do or people couldn't keep their attention on things long enough, but overall it went really well. We went to the Louvre on Friday night because it's free for students between 6 pm and 10 pm. I spent a lot of money there because Paris is freaking expensive. But oh well. I guess you just gotta suck it up sometimes. I also got to see the Eiffel Tower at night glowing blue and then sparkling and I got a video of it sparkling all pretty. It was freezing there, especially compared to Montpellier where it never hits freezing, so we were all kind of suffering through the cold. But we managed to stay alive. None of us really wanted to come back because we were all rather comfortable in Paris, but oh well. Paris is just a really nice city. I enjoyed it as much the second time as I did the first. We also went to Versailles of course! How could I forget that. Unfortunately, it's wintertime, so the garden's weren't as impressive as they could be, but still Versailles is interesting. We almost missed our train home because I forget that the train station was 15 metro stops away. But we made it with 2 minutes to spare, literally. We had to run through the train station, which was pretty funny. We made it home just fine at 1 am. Then we were back to Montpellier and school again.
School is almost over which is nice but also not nice because I have a lot of work to do. I can't seem to get motivated to do any of it, so I am going to be stressed out this week trying to get it all done. It's the last week of class and most finals are during the classes, so I have next week pretty free. I might have a final for my one class, but I'm not quite sure. I have no idea when the final is, which makes things pretty difficult. Weird to think I only have two weeks left here and then I'm off to traveling, and then I'm off to home. Really weird actually. I've really become quite settled here I guess. Be weird to be back where people speak English. I will be glad to get to Penn State classes as opposed to Paul Valery classes, because they are terrible here. Other than that...I just don't know. I do want some Lipton Lemon Iced Tea though. They don't have lemon iced tea here! Disgraceful. haha. I do want to see my family too. Of course. I don't know. It's a weird time that would be impossible to understand unless you've been through it. Traveling should be fun. We have everything completely settled through the 1st of January, when we are going to London. All we have to do is find a hostel to stay at in London, which should be easy, and then I have to get back to Montpellier, which should also be easy. Alright well that's all for now.

Zut

I am just feeling kind of blah for the last couple days since I got back Prague. I was exhausted after traveling and didn't get a second to relax really, but then I did this weekend. However, now I just feel kind of randomly moody for no reason. Going from ecstatic to grumpy really fast, which is kind of weird for me. I'm usually just about always in the same mood. Oh well I'll get over this. I am still feeling fairly exhausted, but I wake up really early every morning and can't get back to sleep. I'm not really sure what it's all about. I'm sure it's just the changing of the seasons and the dropping temps and all that. When it gets dark so early, I get more and more tired. I don't really want to go out at all, which is bad because I am only in France for 28 more days. Crazy right? I'm not really making the most of my time here by being a bum I'm sure, but I can't force myself to go out because then I am just more miserable. So I have to do exactly what I feel up to doing otherwise I'm just not happy. Whatever to all those people who think I'm being lame. This is just me....This is a pretty whiny entry but that's just how I am feeling. I got my presentation for sociolinguistics either shortened or deleted all together because I am American and went up and talked to her in my worst french ever so she would take pity... Horrible I know but I can't speak in front of French people because they are SO critical. That presentation would have been so much more difficult for me than all the other students in the class since I was the only American in it. Oh well. I am pretty much just trying to stay afloat in classes now because they are impossible to follow. There's NO structure. It's very confusing. Oh well. Gotta keep trucking. Only 3 more weeks of classes and then finals and then traveling, which we also have not finalized at all. Goodness me that's not good at all. Maybe I'll work on that now.

Prague and Back again

So I went to Prague this weekend and it was really really great. The city is just beautiful. It's not really all that big and there's just something kind of charming about it. Jake being there made it a little nicer as well. Getting there though...CDG airport...I HATE that place. It's the worst airport I have been to. Granted, I haven't been to a lot, but seriously. I got so lost. I did the whole train thing fine and then the using the metro to get to the airport just fine. Then I couldn't find the check-in. And then I tried to follow the signs and ended up trying to go through security with my itinerary and not a boarding pass. I was so frustrated and tired of carrying my bags around and I was dehydrated and starving. But eventually I figured it out, though check-in wasn't open yet because I was there too early. But I got there. Czech airlines was quite nice too, they gave us food and drinks on an hour and 20 minute flight. Not bad. I get there, Jake is there, and we go back and I crash. The next day we walk around and just kinda check out all the sites Prague has to offer which are all in Czech so no I don't remember their names and even if I did I couldn't spell them. But it was nice. Saw James Bond at night because they only subtitle movies not dub them like the French. Jake's homestay is real nice and I got food and stuff which was much more than I expected. I also had to get used to hearing Czech all the time and not having ANY idea what was going on. Jake's czech was actually really impressive to me. He's not doing too bad! The next day we go to the opera (Don Giovanni) which was subtitled. My first opera! It was pretty fun actually. I wasn't sure I would like it, but it was fun. Then we made chicken pot pie for dinner! Yum! The next day we went to the zoo, which was of course amazing and we saw some amazing spider monkeys and a lemur just hanging out. Then we made our way to a Kladno hockey game (we won!) and had a beer at the pub waiting for the bus. On Monday, we walked around some more, got me some gulash and then we went to the Slayer concert, which was really fun, but then my body gave out from standing and walking so much, so we left early. And then I left at 7:15 in the morning.
It was a real bummer having to leave. I really did not want to at all and I don't feel the same being back here. It's home and all but I just enjoyed my time there so much. Prague has so many parks and it's really quite peaceful that you don't feel like you're in a city. Yet you have all the options of a city. Here, it's always crowded, but there it just didn't feel like that. I enjoyed my time with Jake, and it's always hard to leave him, but we'll be back together in a month. No biggie. The Czech people, they aren't "friendly" like Americans with all the chatter and all that, but they aren't unfriendly though. I was only there for 4 days granted. But they do make a mean fried cheese sandwich! It's a funny city too with the mixture of older buildings with communist era building with modern structures that are ugly. The language is a trip though. Not used to not being able to read a darn thing, not even guess. Completely different. But it sounds pretty cool. I thought their trams were funny looking because we have like space-age trams here but Jake was pretty offended by my laughing at them...haha.
It was a really great trip over all and it was so nice to get out of Montpellier and do something with myself again. I've kinda been atrophying these past couple of weeks. Coming home, I got lost coming out of the Montpellier train station...how bad is that? I did alright though traveling for the first time by myself. Especially since it was in a different country. I think I might be getting the hang of this whole multi-national thing. Maybe. Well back to school, back to school...

Break and Back to School

So I haven't really done anything as of late. We had a few days off from school and we didn't go anywhere and we didn't do anything so I sat in bed and watched tv on the internet for 5 days straight pretty much, went to school on Thursday and then sat in bed again for 2 days. I have gotten up and taken a walk around town everyday because I get ansy and need to get out, but mostly I just sit around. Not a whole lot to do ya know? Unless you want to go out to the bar and drink, but that's expensive and gets old after awhile. I also have not been feeling the best for the past week, which also makes me not want to do anything. It rained for about 6 days straight, so my sinuses decided to go crazy. But oh well. I feel alright today so far, but the day just started. I haven't been doing a lot of schoolwork, but I did finish a book in French, which made me really happy. I have started another one on top of that which is just for fun. My reading ability is doing pretty well. So is my comprehension I guess. My speaking is atrocious. Oh well. Still have 6 weeks right? Jake and I finalized our after the program travel up through the 25, Brussels then Amsterdam. After that is still up in the air. The places I would really like to go to is Berlin, London, and Ireland, but we'll see what we get to. I am going to Spain on Tuesday (we have a holiday for Armistice Day) to visit the Salvador Dali museum and then going to Prague on Thursday, and the Paris again Nov 28-30th, so hopefully I am feeling better by then. And back to school for real on Monday, though supposedly the tram workers are on strike on Monday, so maybe I won't be going to class. We'll see. Alright, well that's about it for now. I am enjoying having the internet a lot, but it's really enabling me to be a homebody. But my friends are all doing about the same thing. We are a lazy bunch of people no? It's all good though. Our coffee maker broke, which was hard at first but then I decided to lay off the caffeine for a little while, so now it's ok. I also learned that our utility bills come out of the security deposit that we paid in the beginning of the semester, so woo...one weight off my mind. And I got my scholarship from the Liberal Arts college, so I have a little leeway. I am trying to save a little money for when I go back so that I will have some money to survive on until I can find a job. I figure I need enough for a couple of months because I should be able to find a job in that time right? Right. I also got the package from my parents with my hoodie and gum, and my hoodie smells like home. Which is different than how I remember it being, though I still identified it as home. Weird right? And gum is like 4 euros a pack here, and I missed gum, so they sent me some. NICE! Alright well that really is all for now!

Jake's Visit and Internet

I got internet! Got it a couple of days ago, but it went out again because of some set-up issues, but then I fixed it so we have it again! Unfortunately I can not get the wireless to work and there's only one ethernet hookup so only one of us can use internet at a time, but whatever. We have it! Fixed it yesterday on my birthday so that was a nice little present. So I am writing from the comfort of my own apartment.
Jake was here this past weekend, got in Wednesday at midnight and left this morning (Monday) at 7:15am. We had a really nice weekend and it was really great to see him. We just spent the weekend walking around town taking a tour, went to the zoo which was free and really nice actually. Did not expect a free zoo to be that nice but it was. Loved the rhinos! We also went to the local rugby match was Renee's host mom gave us tickets to. They were standing room tickets, but hey free is free right? We went out for drinks one night and dinner the next. We had an amazing dinner at this restaurant down the street called Entrecote which apparently only serves one thing but it's amazing. It was the cut of beef in some sort of sauce and these amazing french fries and we had a bottle of wine and dessert. It was just nice. Then we just hung around yesterday and had a little thing with Jade, Jesse, and Renee. Made pie and got pizza from Dominos. That's how I spent my birthday. It's my 22nd...not a big deal. I get this feeling that my birthdays are going to get quieter and quieter as I get older...But yeah. It was so nice to have Jake here and I am really pretty sad now that he left. I got kinda used to him being here so it doesn't seem the same now that he's gone. We hung out with my friends a little bit and he fit right in which was nice. I'll get to see him again in like 2 and 1/2 weeks, but I still am a little sad that he left. Oh well though right? Gotta keep going. That was my weekend and now it's back to class. Time went back an hour here so for this week I'm only 5 hours ahead of home. I might be failing a class here...but oh well...ugh. Well that's about all for now. Back to school and then a week off. Woo!

Barcelona

We went to Barcelona this weekend and it was very beautiful even though it was raining the first day and overcast the second. It's right on the sea so that just makes everything beautiful. The first day we just kind of walked around the city for ever taking in the city sites in general. We just stumbled on some of the big cathedrals and the one big cathedral under construction. The city is pretty typical European, old with some new stuff in between. It's really pretty and lots of tree lined streets and all that good stuff. I have lots of pictures and I will post them whenever I get a chance and/or internet. The second day we went to the Parc Guell, which is the park designed by Gaudi. It was really amazing. Apparently I really like glass mosaics. The park is in a lot of the pictures that they show people of Barcelona. I got to ride the metro there as well and I was pretty good at figuring it out, what with my experience in Paris and all. I am now an expert. And I have been to a McDonalds in France and Spain. Nice, I know. It was weird to hear Spanish. I kept trying to talk to all the shop people in French because to me that's the public language. But guess what? In Spain...they speak Spanish. Well in Barcelona they actually speak quite a bit of Catalan what with it being in Catalonia and all. But they speak English too because it's a major city. I was back to pointing at the menu and doing a lot of nodding. But it really wasn't too hard to get around. Then we headed back to Montpellier, and it was good to be home again. Yes, it's weird but France is now home. It was nice to hear French again because it feels much more familiar to me. Now its back to classes and Jake comese tomorrow!! Yay!! I can't wait. I hope it goes well and he's not bored the whole time. Alright, later!

Yeah yeah

So not much has happened again. Just going to class and sitting around. The usual. Its been pretty nice outside the past couple of days so I guess I have been trying to enjoy that. We go to Barcelona Friday evening with the program, so at least that's something to look forward to. We still don't have internet, which puts me in a bad mood most days because its been like 5 weeks since we set it up and I have talked to them about 5 times about it too which just gets annoying. No one cares and so no one wants to get anything done. They want to close up shop at 4 everyday so they will do anything to make themselves have less work. It's a little ridiculous. I mean I am only going to be here another 9 weeks so they will get paid 2 times before we shut off the stupid service anyway. ALL the have to do is send someone over to activate the phone line. Which to me...sounds pretty darn simple. But maybe I am missing something. Anyway, yesterday was a grumpy day because everything was just not working out. But it was better in the evening time. Got to talk to Jake for a bit which was nice. He gets here next Wednesday, so I have that to look forward to also. School is going alright, same old same old. I found break and bake cookies which was superfantastic. My birthday is in 10 days so maybe I will do something for that too. 22 years old...how old and boring. Barcelona!! First trip in 3 weeks! Yay! Don't really want to travel with the people from the program that much but it was a good deal. Hopefully I can just spend the time just walking around by myself because I get a lot more accomplished that way. I have to read this book for my African Literature class, which sounds pretty cool, but it's in French. Think of how easy life would be here if things were in English! Yeah I know I came here to learn French, but still. C'mon! Alright well I'll write again probably after Barcelona. Yay.

Wine Party

We had a little get together last night with some of the other American people with some wine and it was a pretty good time. At first there was just 4 of us because other people went to play laser tag but then people started to come over and there was like 10 people. Then Jade invited 3 random french guys over for some reason and they were there for a little bit. Our neighbor came over and yelled at us for being too loud and called us typical Americans who only think about ourselves and party all the time. Which made Jade mad and she let him know it. She told him thats she's tired of people putting us in this American box because that's not how it is at all and whatnot. Then he felt bad and got really nice and just told us to please try to keep it down but we should still have fun because we are young and all that. Then a bunch of people left and we were just sitting around and the old lady from downstairs came up and yelled at us for doing "gymnastics" on the floor or dancing or something because we were making a lot of noise on her floor and we don't understand that in these old building the floors vibrate and it's 1 in the morning and I was like...we're all sitting, not even walking around. And she told me that's not possible and I was like... do you want to look in? She said no but just keep it down and I said I am sorry we will sorry sorry sorry. Then I went to bed annoyed at the whole building. It was a good night though. Did not get out of bed till 12 pm but it has still been a good day. Really nice weather. Almost went to the beach but then was too lazy to go. Now I am going to go sit around and knit and read and watch Friends because I don't want to do anything. It's a night for relaxin'! Sounds beautiful to me!!!

A another week almost done (plus more)

I am almost done with another week of class. Classes are hard to take seriously here because they're once a week and I don't really know what's going on and none of the French people seem to take classes very seriously either so I can't hear the professors and all that good stuff. I talked to my dad yesterday and he changed my flight for me!! Yay I can stay and now I just have to figure out where we want to go for this time period. I got some knitting stuff so I hope that will keep me a little amused. It's kinda colder outside so I need to get something like a fall jacket, but its really too expensive. Trying to figure that all out too. Internet still is not working after 4 weeks of setting it up. We have gone in 3 times and they keep telling us more time and then now we have to call the customer service people and if it still does not work they will have send someone to do it so basically we will have internet for a month and it will be so much fun. Alright, well I actually have to go and get some stuff done before I have to go to class and take a quiz on phonetics which will also be bad. But the class won't count for anything so its hard to be overly concerned about it. One of my two courses that won't count for anything at all. Good times, Time to figure out the internet!!!

Ok so we called and it turns out that they forgot to send someone to our place to set up our phone and activate it all in the first place. And the people at the main office apparently couldn't look at their pretty little computers and tell us that. This is France for you people. They really just don't feel like telling you things. SO now they tell us that they are sending someone as fast as possible, hopefully by tomorrow night but more realistically by Monday night, because once again it IS France. Yeah. I don't believe it either to be honest. I am pretty sure we are just never going to have internet. These things happen to me though. Anyone remember my CampusFrance fiasco? These are the things that happen. I had the sinking feeling that things would get messed up and they did. Just had that gut feelings. Hopefully...hopefully. Now time for the aperatif at the office. Yay?

A weekend of Nothing

I spent my weekend doing absolutely nothing which is not surprising to those who know me and know that I never do anything. I was so bored that it put me into a really bad mood for awhile, but I am coming out of it now. I can't think of anything to do really so that's why I don't do anything. It was just Renee and I because everyone else was in Dublin having a grand old time but it was just a lot of money to go and I don't have that kind of money right now. Oh well. I am kind of saving it all for after the program. I really should go somewhere in France though soon before I go absolutely crazy sitting around Montpellier. Its not really all that big of a place so once you walk around for 3 weekends in a row, you kind of run out of places to go. But I did make enchiladas using an Old El Paso kit and then some homemade chocolate chip cookies though apparently though don't have brown sugar in France and baking soda is something people do NOT even imagine cooking with. Renees host dad really though we were strange for wanting to find it. He told us to go to the pharmacy haha. They have Old El Paso, but not brown sugar. Who knows. I just need to be better at finding things to do with my time. I don't know. If you aren't going to out to eat or out to the bar, it's a little more difficult to find things to do really. Oh well. This weekend Renee's cousin is coming so that will be something and then next weekend is Barcelona, and then the next weekend Jake will be here, so at least I will be able to find things to do soon. Well that's really all I have to say. Very exciting I know!

Raw beef

So last night I decided that I really I needed some protein, so my friend and I went out to a cafe for some dinner. After walking around for an hour trying desperately to find a restaurant where we could find something, we settled on some random place. We were about to sit down in the cocktail area when i realized that it would be better to sit in the more restaurant-y part of the place. BUT the waiter came out and sat us right down in the cocktail part with the small little tables and where no one was eating except us because its where you drink before you eat. None of the restaurants actually open until 7:15 so people just sit around and drink until 8 something when they decide oh hey its dinner time. I just always thought that people just did not eat until late, but then i realized last night that you CANT eat until late because nothing is open until late. And it was Sunday which cuts your choices by 2/3 because nothing is open on sunday. Cant even go to the supermarche. ANYWAY so then we order, and my friend is adventurous and orders something that he doesn't know what it is and I just order salmon because it sounded delicious. They bring out ketchup, mayonnaise, worchestershire (sp?) sauce, balsamic vinegar, olive oil, and tabasco sauce. We already have two glasses of water, a big glass bottle of water, a coke bottle, and a glass for my friends's coke on this small little table. It was ridiculous. THEN we wait forever and get our food. My friend looks down. Its a patty of RAW ground beef with a RAW egg on top of it. And some pickled chickpeas. I died laughing. And he ate the whole thing. I knew he was going to so I took a bite for him just so he didn't completely die. It was the funniest and most disgusting meal I have ever been through. Everyone was staring because I could not stop laughing at how gross it was. My meal was delicious. All the sauces ended up on that hunk of raw beef just trying to make it less disgusting. hahaha. It was the funniest thing. I wish I could explain it. It was freezing outside, and my friend was waiting for the meal to warm them up and then they bring out a COLD hunk of meat. Fire had NEVER touched this beef. haha. Then we get out of there, go to mcdonalds to get ice cream and coffee, and they were OUT of coffee. My friend had to go to the bathroom the ENTIRE meal so then we go to mcdonalds to use the bathroom and the bathroom was being used forever so they couldnt go. Then we almost get hit by 2 cars coming back. We decided to never leave the house again.

kinda ill

I am still not feeling the best. Kinda stuffy and sick in the stomach. I want it to go away, but no such luck. I think my diet probably has something to do with it. The only protein I really get is from milk. Meat or anything with protein costs so much that it can be really difficult to get into my diet at all. Oh well. I will make do. I just feel really weak and tired for the past few days. And I go from freezing to being flushed in a couple of minutes. Oh well oh well it will all come and go. Just gotta push through it. I did not really do anything today. Went to a different grocery store and saw some cheaper food prices. Its nice to know they exist. Ugh I am just not in the mood to do this entry. Maybe tomorrow.

Nothing new really

I dont have anything new to report really. I just thought I would write and let you all know that I am still alive. I am just trying to struggle through classes and its not all that easy. Sociolinguistics, when taught in French, can get kinda confusing. And in my Francophonie litt class, we are reading an adapted version of Shakespeares " The Tempest" . So its like Shakespeare...but in french. Gives me a giant headache if you really want to know. Anyway. Trying to figure out Prague (whats new right) and my bag situation between the end of the program on Dec 20th and when I come home Jan 6th. All these travel things are really difficult. Its not really the get up and go type of things people lead you to believe about Europe. Its actually a lot of planning. And when you dont have internet at your apartment...well that makes it even harder to figure out because I have limited time and funds to do so. Someday everything will be settled. Just sitting around watching the exchange rate change everyday and having a daily heartattack. And someone pointed out today that pulling all my money out of my American bank account and putting it in the French one I have isnt really helping the American economy too much now is it? Whatever. The economy hates me and I hate the economy. Mostly because I dont understand it. Isnt that always how it goes though... Anyway yeah might have to buy a big ol' hiking-like backpack and be one of those crazy looking people travelling from town to town. We'll see. I dont even know what I am doing tomorrow. Jade goes to Munich tomorrow for October Fest and Ill be all alone in the apartment with my German roommate who cleans like there is no tomorrow and you wouldnt want your apartment to be messy at the end of the world now would you? But it just makes it uncomfortable when you put something down and they MOVE it and then I cant FIND it. Life is rough I know. Internet soon? Anyone anyone? Please, France, Please? Just do something on time; just this once?

Last day of Paris and back home again

The second day of Paris was great as well, though a lot less intense than the first day. haha. We went to breakfast in the morning and then we went off to the Louvre, where we spent a good portion of the day. It was really overwhelming, but I enjoyed it a lot. You're trying to look at the building and then the painting, and the scupltures and the history...it's a lot to take in. But it is a beautiful place. I decided I really like Paris. Something about it is just not as intense as our cities back home. Lack of skyscrapers or something. All the little cafes and everything, beautiful buildings, gardens, green spaces, walking paths. It's really nice. We had a little lunch at the Louvre as well, and then headed back to relax a little before I had to head off again to the train at 20:20. All in all, I just had a really good time. It was really nice to see familiar faces again and just travel around a little bit. Montpellier feels like home now so it does not feel like I am really travelling anymore. It was nice to get away for a little bit. But it was also nice to get home again. The bed with the mattress was quite nice. haha. You do what you gotta do! Yesterday I really did not do too much. Sat around, went to a pizza place for lunch, went to the pub to watch the chelsea vs. man u game (it was a tie) and then back home for dinner and sleep. It was nice to go and come back because I realized how familiar I am with this place now and how comfortable I actually am in this town. I know how things work for the most part and how to do most things that I need to do to survive. The town is beautiful. We were just sitting in this park here and looking out over an aqueduct and it was a beautiful day in the high 70's and I don't know...it was just nice. And Jake is coming the end of October for my birthday! He finalized his plans yesterday! Now I just gotta figure out when I am going to get to Prague...So much to do. I have been here 5 weeks already. Time is really flying unfortunately.

One Day in Paris

I have been in Paris now for a little over a day and it has been really great. I met Mr. and Mrs. Trethewey here in the train station because they are visiting Paris for a few days. The train ride was fine. It felt a little long just because I was by myself and so I had no one to talk to, but I just listened to my ipod and read my book (which was in english and the people around me looked at me weird for reading it) and tried to just enjoy the ride. The trains themselves are actually pretty nice. I got to Paris around 11:00pm and the Tretheweys were there to greet me. Then we took the Metro back to where their hotel was, went to the cafe for a beer and then went to sleep. I had a cozy little spot on the floor. It works just fine for me! Free things always work out pretty well I think. The next morning Mrs. Trethewey and I went to breakfast and the had the normal French breakfast of croissant, bread with jam, cafe au lait, and orange juice. Then the business began! We caught the metro into the main part of Paris and visited Sainte Chappelle and Notre Dame, got lost for just a few minutes, and ended up at the Centre Pompidou (the modern art museum here in Paris). So, we decided to look around there for awhile. ha. It was like they were trying to tell us to go there so we just spent a few hours in there and it was nice to look around at my own pace. Then, after having lattes on the roof, we met up with Mr. T and the three of us went off to look at the Louvre (just the outside though, there wasn't enough time to really go in) on our way to the Arc de Triomphe. We went all the way to top. So many stairs. I got my workout for the week. But it was beautiful! The view was amazing. You could see so much of Paris and the major sites and it was just really nice. I enjoyed it. ha. The Arc is just huge. Then off to the Eiffel Tower! We did not go to the top because that was just really a long line. But I got some amazing views at it. And yes Brittany...it is huge. Really know you're in Paris when you are under that. Then we went back to this end of town, had a wonderful dinner (it was so nice to have real food!) and went to bed. It was a wonderful day. My whirlwind day in Paris worked well for me! And now I have one more day today before I leave here at 8:20pm! Lots to do!

American sized anyone?

So here is an observation for ya. Things come in 4 sizes in some places here. Small, medium, large, and...American. I wish I was joking but I am not. Many of you might have already experienced this phenomenon but I am just seeing it for the first time. Our physical size and our food is a huge joke here...Granted, the American sizes ARE actually about the size of an American large half of the time. But for the most part, the things labeled American...I would never dream of eating. It's pretty gross to me. The sandwich "americain" is a sandwich with everything in it...including the fries. Apparently all Americans just slap those fries right into the sandwich and just munch away on x-large sodas and...why not more fries on the side too? This might sound like an angry rant, but I actually find it really funny. It's funny to be an american and see the things labeled "american" that are really just gross. You never know what other countries think of you until you get there. Makes me think about all the things labeled French, or Chinese, or something else in the US that probably just seem weird. I went to get pizza yesterday at the very french establishment called Domino's Pizza yesterday and I started ordering and the man goes "a large?" Well, I did order a large because I was ordering for 4 of us...but STILL! haha. I know all this food does exist in the States, and we do eat large portions (even if you think you don't...you still do compared to the French) but it's just funny that these meals and meal combinations are labelled American. The sadest thing is...I think a lot of the Americans here are actually eating "american sandwiches." Ok...that's my daily observation. Yesterday I ate a ridiculous amount of food I thought...and then realized that it was probably about the amount that I eat at home. It was a sausage and fries for lunch (which I did not even finish) and 3 pieces of pizza for dinner. I felt sick after eating it all actually. Weird. All I wanted was some greasy food and then I had it and my stomach thought I was insane. Also, I went to the flea market yesterday, and I think it was actually the steal things off of cars and sell them to people market. Funny the things people sell. Same things back in the US. How much for the rusty ax sir?

Nothing

Haven't really done anything with my time so far this weekend. So tired from the last three weekends that we are all just using this one to relax a bit. I kind of wanted to do something but oh well. Next weekend hopefully. Money is kind of bringing me down because I realize that I don't have that much to spend on a daily basis. Barely any actually... like 20 € a day MAX. Not a lot actually when you have to eat and drink and pay the utility bills. It will all be ok I am sure. Well I don't actually have much to say today so far since I haven't been doing anything. Maybe later today though its already 2:30 and this IS France where nothing but drinking can happen past 7 or 8. It'll all work out! Ugh these French keyboards blow my mind!

Better

I am doing better today...Talked to Jake yesterday for awhile and I feel much better. Today is a day off so I don't have to do anything, which is fantastic. I think we are going to the zoo or the aquarium. I am getting internet in 10 days!! Fantastic. And a home phone and more television. Don't worry, I will still leave the apartment on occasion. Last night was a good night after I got off skype, just went to the bar across the street, had some disgusting cider that tasted like vinegar, and then wrote a letter, and then went to bed...it was nice. Today should be pretty good. Maybe we'll make something good for dinner since we have the time. Well I have not heard from my parents in a fairly long time...I think they may have given up on me? haha. It's ok though. I'm a big girl now. I'll write more later maybe. If I can get to the internet again.

Frustration is setting in

I have become a little frustrated and just blah lately, and I don't really know why. I guess the newness has REALLY worn off and now I am just trying to figure out the french way of life which is more or less impossible. It's just really disorganized and doing anything takes weeks, which is fine when you aren't leaving in 3 and 1/2 months I suppose. But I am so I kinda want things to get done sometime rather soon. Classes are going alright...I hate my grammar class because we have the worst of the 4 grammar teachers. My african francophone litterature class is alright, but the actual lecture portion is difficult. The teachers here talk REALLY quietly and don't make any effort to be entertaining at all. You pretty much sit there and listen to Ben Stein speak for 1 and 1/2 hours straight while straining to hear any of the words. It's a difficult process. In my sociolinguistics class, I could understand what she was saying just fine since it is just Intro to Sociolinguistics, but everyone around me would not stop talking to the people next to them so that made hearing anything almost impossible again. I have phonetiques this afternoon, which is worse probably than it sounds. haha. This is a depressing little entry, but that's about how things are going for me right now. I feel out of contact with everyone and when I try to email or call someone, I get no response or very cursory short answers which actually don't give me any comfort at all. So. Frustrated. I want to travel but it's actually ridiculously expensive I am finding. I don't know what to do. Go to class I guess.

Ah classes

So yesterday was the beginning of my real classes and I did not have a class until 4:15 so I had the morning to do what I wanted. I did laundry for the first time (yeah three weeks in...a little dirty I suppose) and then I recharged the minutes on my phone, went grocery shopping, and finalized my classes. It was a busy morning. The civilization class that I had was really really long but it's only once a week so I guess it will be ok. This morning I had a Francophone African literature class. It was the recitation part of the class, the lecture is on thursday. My friends are in that class with me so it was pretty nice. Plus most of the kids in that class are foreign, so the prof was really nice and easy going. I think it will be a nice class. This afternoon I will have grammer, which will be boring, but I guess we gotta do what we gotta do. They force us to take the class even though it won't really count for anything at all for me since I have already done grammer. I talked to my german roommate for awhile last night and it was really awkward since I am not very good at small talk, but we tried. I was just sitting there reading my book and she just sat there staring at me so I felt like I really had to talk. It was interesting enough, got to talk a lot about Germany vs. France vs. US. That's what we do with all foreigners that I have met up to this point. I am still trying to get travel plans to France and Prague finalized. And I realized I really need to go somewhere this weekend because I have 3 and 1/2 days of weekend to fill and I will be really bored just sitting around Montpellier when I have all of France at my disposal. I will probably go somewhere in France, maybe Nice? I don't know. That sounds nice though. Well it's time to find food, the usual problem I face everyday...finding cheap food. Au revoir, bientot.

Avignon

Today we went to Avignon to visit the Palais du Pape, the popes palace in Avignon where the Pope lived for a couple hundred years when there was a lot of political turmoil in Italy with the emperor. It was interesting enough but the building was so touristy that it was hard to get a sense of how it actually was. There were all these panels of info that just made it difficult. Then we went to this vineyard which was pretty cool. Got to see the vineyards, eat some grapes and see the process a little bit. It was a agriculture school so it was there to teach students how to make wine. It was pretty and the grapes tasted great. ha. The French love their wine though the amount they drink has definitely gone down due to the whole health thing. But it was fun though even though I get annoyed with the whole group thing and have to walk away for awhile. My German roommate arrived last night and she seems nice though it was a little awkward. She speaks english well enough but you can tell she doesnt always understand us. I am sure it will get better over time. I am getting pretty settled though I am scared about classes. I am going to go and I am going to write more later.

No internet makes life hard

So I have no internet in my apartment and that makes keeping in touch really really difficult actually. You don't know how dependent you are on something until it's gone. I published a few posts that I wrote last weekend but never got to actually post due to the lacking internet. This week was not that eventful though, just the last week of prestage classes. We went to a little wine tasting on Monday for civilization class which was fun. The guy was a mixture between Bill Murray and Richard Simmons. Interesting. Then on tuesday they scared us to death about the class system in France by telling us that basically we're not going to know what we are taking until the day before we go, and maybe not even then. And the teacher's are going to talk really fast and the french apparently take really intense notes. Then on wednesday we had the final exam for civilization class. Which was fine. But yesterday, we had the afternoon free! First time ever! They keep us so busy that we can't really do anything to settle in and it's really frustrating. (by the way my english skills have gone down since I am in this weird mix between french and english and I can often not remember how to say things in either language. So if any of this sounds weird, that's why) Me and Renee made apple pie! We had NO measuring equipment, not even metric, so we just guessed on the amounts and hoped it was right. It was DELICIOUS. haha. There were 7 of us sitting around our apartment just eating pie...and quizzing each other one verb conjugations. Oh well what are you gonna do. It made us feel a lot more settled to be able to do something normal in this country. And what's more American than apple pie right? Today was the last day of prestage classes and tomorrow morning is the final. Good times. Hard to believe I have almost been here 3 weeks. But anyway, we went to sign up for classes today, but we just kinda chose which ones we would LIKE to take. Since they have no times set for anything, we don't know if we will be able to take them. Ugh. So tonight it is studying and tomorrow it is finals and Sunday it is Avignon and Monday I figure out my classes, and TUESDAY I start. haha. I'll try to keep up with this blog. I might end up posting several posts at one time...so just keep looking back. Alright, off to study.

Carcasonne

Today we went to Carcassonne, a fortified city. It was very interesting and castle like, but the guided group tour was pretty annoying again and it was overcast for the first time since we got here. It was pretty cold out in comparison. All these excursions are nice but they keep us so busy that I have no time to get settled. Things close early here so it’s difficult to get things done when you are busy all day long. The pre-stage classes aren’t really helping that much, so I really wish they had given us this week to get settled into our new places before starting classes on September 8^th. We have class tomorrow, then wine tasting for our civilization class (tough stuff I know), then Tuesday we have class and signing up for classes, Wednesday class and final exam for civilization. Thursday APPEARS to be a free afternoon. MAYBE I can get internet set up then. The no internet thing makes life very difficult. I went to a cyber café today and the keyboards are so difficult. You have to hit shift to type a “.” And all the keys are in the wrong place and for the @ symbol, you have to press a special key that took me an hour to find. Difficult. Oh France. My comprehension has gotten a lot better though. My speaking…not really. I do end up translating a lot for Jade though. She almost refuses to speak French, and she can’t understand what people are saying most of the time. I enjoy translating a lot though actually. Maybe I’ll do something with that. It helps me learn better when both of us are depending on me understanding and being able to speak. I want to meet some French people in classes because that seems to be helping people here a lot. Class again tomorrow, so I should probably go to bed.

First day in the apartment

So yesterday was moving day. We went to the Courbet exhibit at the museum here and while the paintings were interesting, the tour guide was not. I would have liked more time to look at the paintings, but Jade and Renée had had enough. So we went to McDonalds, which was actually my first time going to a McDonalds I am proud to say. All I got was a milkshake (which they call “milkshakes”, but who knows how they actually pronounce that) and it did not taste the same because milk here is very different. They don’t have to keep it refrigerated in the store. You buy it warm. Who knows. I can’t keep up with all the differences. They’re exhausting. Then we had to go back, pack up the mess we’d made after living in the dorms for 2 weeks, and move. We had to drag our suitcases all the way to the tram (a 20 minute walk when you’re NOT carrying 70 lbs of luggage), take the tram to la Place de Comédie, drag it the 5 minute walk down crowded streets, and then lug it up 2 flights of spiral stairs that are actually oval and very awkward. AND it was easily 90 degrees with no wind and no clouds. By the time we got here, we were dead. I only have one suitcase and a backpack, but Jade has 3 suitcases and a bag. But the apartment is beautiful. It is huge, open, well decorated and furnished. There are 3 bedrooms. I took the medium sized one with a door to the balcony that I leave open most of the day. Small bed, but nice sized room. Our German roommate has not yet arrived so I figured I would take the medium one and she wouldn’t get mad about it. Jade took the big one with the door to the balcony, double bed, and double closet. The other girl gets the kids room. This might turn out bad but we did get here first and it’s hard to take the worst room when the third person isn’t even here yet. I’ll post some pics of my apartment somewhere hopefully soon. I have no internet but I’m trying to use the wifi at McDonalds because it is free. I do have 6 channels though! It was so nice to have tv even if it was all in French. It’s a good way to learn it. They dub American shows, which is funny. And we live in the center of town, so we walk 2 minutes and everything is at our disposal. Very nice indeed.

Things are going

So I have been here a week and a half and things are slowly moving along. And by things I mean to ability to understand anyone around me. The novelty has begun to wear off a bit and I am starting to miss the little things, mostly relating to food. haha. I miss coffee that is an actual whole cup of coffee and not a shot of espresso. I miss stores that are open 24/7 and understanding product names. I miss friendly people. The French don't like us as Americans, it's pretty obvious. But I don't know what to do about that. I try, and for the most part I think people understand me. I am not a forceful person though so when we are all in a huge group (which we almost always are, which is SO annoying) I can't get a word in to any French person that we meet. And Jade is very loud and dominant which means that I can not get any words in really when she is around. I am hoping that once classes start and I am not always around all the Americans and whatnot, things will be easier. We are living in this false America right now because we are making this dorm feel just like a dorm at home. When are here we forget that we are in France. When we are all together, we forget we are in France. When all we do is speak English, we forget we are in France. Except for classes, I barely experience the French people at all. I talk to them at the stores enough to say "May I have this, please?" or something small like that. But I haven't had to actually speak because everyone else around me just talks over me. They want to practice their French and the loudest person wins. I am so tired of Americans being SO loud. We break my eardrums everywhere we go and some people here just don't care. All the French people move away and they just keep being as loud as ever. It's frustrating. I am about at this grumpy stage though. I am staying up too late, getting up early, and barely eating. Today I have had half a baguette and 90g of cheese. And an apple. Not really supporting me. Once I get to my apartment life will be more settled. I just need out of this group. These dorms really kill any feeling of frenchness. We will see. I am understanding people better though. So something is coming out of all this.

Wine Tasting, and lots of other things

So I went to a wine tasting on Friday night and that was a lot of fun. Of course I did not know anything about wine so I just pointed to a bottle and said I want some of that, but oh well I tried. It's cool because you pay three euro and you get a glass to keep and 3 tickets to try 3 different wines. It's cool. It was really crowded but it's fun to be in a crowd of people that don't speak your language. The wine was good too. I tried a red, a rose, and a white. the rose was my favorite but that's always true for me. I talked to a French guy there and had a long conversation that made me much more confident in my French abilities because he said I spoke very good french for being in France for only 3 days and we understood each other very well. It was nice. He was black and they say "black" in American which just seemed weird to me but oh well. He asked about Obama and he thought it was cool that I supported Obama and he loved that Obama could be the first black American president. Then we came home and crashed. Scott, Jade, and I have become very good friends and it's really nice to have people that I get along with so well here. Jade is really awesome and I am glad that she is my roommate. Then on Saturday I spent the whole day doing nothing being homesick for American food with Renee who is also really cool and then had to walk around for 2 hours at 8pm doing a tour of the Medieval district of Montpellier. Tiring and hard to listen to. Today we went to Nimes and Pont du Gard which are Roman ruin places. Nimes is a town with an amphitheater and other Roman ruins within the town. We sat on the top of the amphitheater ( a Colosseum basically) and I walked on the top wall just looking over the village which gave Scott a heartattack. It was just so beautiful. The Pont du Gard was this amazing bridge/aqueduct that was massive and makes you wonder how they built it back then. It was a really hot day but everything was beautiful because the sky was a really clear blue. We got back to the dorm at 8pm or so and then Scott, Jade, and I had some champagne and then we all sat outside and drank. Jade and I had a drinking bonding experience and I think things are going to go really well with us living together. We will have a German roommate as well which will be interesting and I think really fun. We will see. Well I have class tomorrow so I have to go to bed and do homework/take a shower. So goodnight!

La Plage

Today, after our morning grammar and verbal practice classes, we went to the beach on the Mediterranean. C'est belle. I am not much of a beach person, but I did get to walk in the Mediterranean which is pretty cool I think. It was not cold but at the same time not really warm at all. But the sky was clear and there was a beautiful breeze coming off the sea. It was very very nice and if I was a beach person, this was a wonderful beach. The french however seem to not do anything at the beach other than sit on their towels or go in the ocean or play this ping pong-like game without the table. Many of the women are topless too by the way. Something you have to go over here in France. The pornographic magazines are not in plastic or anything so the cover is the cover and you see whatever is on it. The shock factor has begun to wear off of seeing breasts everywhere. But the beach was beautiful. However, I got burnt in really random places and I am not comfortable. One side of my stomach and thigh is burnt (Yes I was in a bikini). It looks weird. Me, Renee, and Jade are not beach people though so we spent the whole time waiting to leave after we got over the whole "oh wow this is the Mediterranean" thing. It's nice because we all really get along and have basically the same attitude towards things. In the evening, we went to the local cafe and got some paninis and beer and then Scott, Jade, and I sat outside on the stoop of the dorm drinking and then randomly everyone walked by and slowly joined us. We stay a little segregated though because none of us do the huge group thing well. It's really relaxed here. I forget that I am in France from time to time but there's little things to remind me. Such as topless beaches and the fact that it's difficult to eavesdrop on anyone when you barely can understand the spoken language. Well I guess it is about time for me to go to bed. Is anyone even reading this? If not, I might as well just stop and write in my personal journal, so just let me know. Bonsoir.

Settling In

Today started out with some intense language classes which are 1 and 1/2 hours long and are hard to stay awake through considering I had still barely eaten since I got to France and I am still slightly jet-lagged. Good times. I almost fell asleep a bunch. And after awhile of hearing French it just starts to bounce off my ears and I forget to listen. Since I have to listen extra carefully to understand, if I start daydreaming at all, it's all lost. Nothing sinks in without intense concentration. I have actually gotten to accept and like this end of town a little more. It has a certain charm to it that I missed the first couple of days just because I was expecting something so much more like downtown is. It will be different once all the french students return I am sure. Then I had a two hour or so break in the middle which I spent running to the shoppi for a notebook and some coca-cola light and then talking to my parents. Then I went to a two hour long civilization class. It's too long. Tonight I went out to dinner with some people at the cafeteria which was like less than 3 euros ( like 5 dollars) for a meal, which is really cheap out here. Everything is expensive. I bought a bottle of sunscreen for 15 euros. CRAZY. Then we walked to the shoppi for beer, but guess what? It's past 7 so of course EVERYTHING is closed. Frustrating. And you can't get take out anything here. Coffee is for sitting in the cafe in drinking, not walking around with in a styrofoam cup. Meals are mostly sit down. Take-out pizza is weird. So then we just sat around outside the dorm talking and whatnot and just enjoying the really nice weather we had today. We go to the beach tomorrow! Maybe yay? Well i really have to get to bed since I have class again at 9am and it's 11:30pm and I have not yet done my homework. (Yes homework already! What?!) I'm sure that was really boring, but that's what we do here haha.

My Second Day In France

I have been in France for almost two days now and was out of touch with everyone for 1 and 1/2 of them. It felt like a year. It's crazy how much you become accustomed to constantly being able to get ahold of everyone. Suddenly I had no working cell phone, no internet, and my calling card only had 12 minutes on it. It felt like torture and then I realized that it's been only a day and a half. That's nothing. But now I have the internet. So it's going to be ok. The flight here was ok. The first half from Newark to Paris was wonderful. I got to watch movies and spread out since no one was beside me. It went by really fast. Then we got to de Gaulle airport, the most confusing airport ever I think. We struggled to find where we needed to go, went through 18 security gates that all seemed pointless since they emptied out into...nothing. Then we sat there for 3 hours. I had not slept on the plane and suddenly it was 6 hours later than before. I am dazed. The next flight from Paris to Montpellier went well too. Except at this point I was aware that I was blaringly American and for the first time, I felt like a true foreigner. I have never been a foreigner before and it's a weird feeling being completely out of place. We don't know any of the small mannerisms and we don't know what mannerisms point us out as American. But they know. So then we got to the dorm in this run down part of town that has nothing in it, barely a shop. Which after not sleeping for 24 hours, being completely homesick, not eating for the whole day and being completely overwhelmed by France, was not encouraging. I felt horrible, exhausted. We walked around town a little and I was in an even worse mood. The dorm rooms themselves are really nice: single rooms, bathrooms, and kitchenettes. But they have NOTHING in them. No tv, had no internet, nothing to do. NOTHING TO DO. I was completely homesick and I had nothing to do to take my mind off my missing Jake and my family. I could not sleep without waking up every 20 minutes and feeling completely and totally alone. Awful. I wanted to go home so bad. I finally got to sleep after midnight my time (6:00pm back home). I woke up this morning feeling a little better but still horribly homesick. Took the french placement exam, oral exam, ate a buffet lunch, and went downtown. It is beautiful down there. Beautiful. Well I think we are going out for some drinks now. I will write again later!

My FIRST Post

Hello all. I am just writing this post before I go. I leave in a couple days and I pretty much have nothing done, but it's all good. I'll get it together tomorrow. Nothing really else to say since I am still in State College and everything is always the same here.