Did you find that in your attic?

Today was pretty boring. I had to get up earlier than I normally would on a Monday because I had a meeting with this phonetics professor to help me with my pronunciation and grammar for the Nocturnes de Louvre this Friday. She told me last week that I should try to memorize my speech, but obviously I didn't do that. The only thing I knew by heart were the dates. I think she was kind of annoyed because she kept telling me to stop looking at my paper. I stopped looking at it and just started talking. That seemed to make her happy but she also started writing down all of my mistakes. When I finished she told me that it was a lot better than last time...which is good I guess. Then she told me everything that was wrong with my speech. Every mistake that I made when I stopped looking at my paper was correct on my paper. If I just would have looked at it she wouldn't of had to write all that stuff down. We ended our meeting and she wished me good luck, I'll probably need it knowing me.

I went to the cafeteria and spent way too much on their overpriced sandwiches. I could have gone to the Huit a Huit but I didn't feel like walking all the way to the store. I ate and then started walked to L'eglise Saint-Germain-des-Pres. It's the oldest church in Paris. It wasn't that long of a walk. I passed all of these fancy stores like Cartier, Burberry, Louis Vuitton and wished I could walk into those stores. Oh, and I also passed Les Deux Magots which is this really famous cafe. I've been wondering where it's been the entire time I've been here and turns out it's like a 10 min. walk from school. The church was cool I guess...it's a church and it's really old. After a while they all start to look the same. I left and started heading for le Musee National du Moyen Age, Musee Cluny....it's a middle ages museum if you didn't get that, for my history class.

We had a tour guide. She was cool and the tour was a lot better than our last class that we had at Les Invalides. I'm really not into the Middle Ages stuff so I was spacing out the entire time. I swear she talked about a table that was painted for like 15 minutes. I was like okay, big deal, it's hand painted, there are a bunch of snakes on it....who cares. I swear, some of the stuff looked like people just pulled it out of their attic and said, 'hey, this looks old. Let's give it to the museum.' There were these cool heads (not real heads) made out of stone that used to be on Notre Dame above the 3 arches. They were cool looking. When the tour ended some people were looking at the Asterix exhibit that they had there. Asterix is this really only cartoon and it's pretty popular here. I'm not a comic book fan so I left with this guy named Jason. We walked to the metro and then I headed back to the apartment.

When Renee came home she asked why I wasn't here this afternoon for lunch and I told her that I had a meeting. I was going to tell her last night when I got back from dinner which was AMAZING!!!!!! but she was already asleep....it was only 9:30, so I didn't get to tell her. I told her I was sorry but she said it was okay. She made me dinner and now she's asleep...it's only 9. I swear she's going to bed earlier and earlier every night. I think she's avoiding me. Oh well. I should go, this is long enough.

A bientot

Oh and Lex, if you're reading this will you PLEASE get in touch with me....I'd really like to come visit you in a few weeks and I need to know if my dates are okay.

It's the most wonderful time of the year

This weekend I thought I'd get into the Christmas spirit because I was just really down about missing out on Thanksgiving at home. So on Friday my friend Katie and I went to check out the Christmas lights on the Champs-Elysees. I was just expecting there to be lights in the trees but man was I wrong. Yes, there were lights in the trees but there was so much more! When I got out of the metro there was this little roller coaster that was a sled and this machine that was blowing out fake snow. It was really cute. I wanted to ride on it but then I was like no, you're 21 years old now, you're not a little kid. Plus, I don't think I would have fit on the ride.

We walked down to Place de la Concorde and there was this giant ferris wheel. It reminded me of the ferris wheel at Navy Pier. The things you sit in were enclosed and were really big so you could fit your family or group in it. It was so pretty. It was all lit up and looked down the Champs-Eylsees. The view from the top must have been amazing. We really wanted to go on it but it was 10 euros a ticket and I only had 5, so we're going to go back and go on it before the season is over. We then walked up the other side of the Champs-Elysees. There were little vendors selling food, and gifts....cute stuff like that. The food they were selling smelled so good. There was this one stand where they were selling ham, like a huge ham. It was sweet. There was also this one stall where it was 2 Euro to go in and I guess it was a Nativity scene. There was this giant ox/bull thing outside of it. Everyone was crowding around it. It's like they've never been to a fair or something. We walked up to the Arc de Triomphe and hung out there for a little while. After that we walked back down the other side of the Champs-Elysees. The lights in the trees were so pretty. They are LED lights that I guess cut back on the electricity they are using to power them. So, way to be green Paris....props. There were a lot of people walking up and down the Champs. Even though there were so many people and they were walking really slow, everyone just seemed to be in a really good mood, which was nice. Overall, I really enjoyed the night. It was amazing and I'm so glad we went. I can't wait to go back and ride on the ferris wheel.

Yesterday Renee and I were supposed to go to see a movie but when she came back from shopping she said that she had a really bad headache and didn't want to go anymore. Oh, she bought a 32 inch flat screen tv. I walked into the living room and saw it in the box and was like OH. MY. GOD. this would be so awesome to watch football and hockey on!!! But then I was like oh yeah, they like soccer here...ugh! She gave me her discount card to use for the movies. I asked a few people if they wanted to go see New Moon again but they were busy. So I watched a movie instead. I really didn't want to go to the movies by myself...that's kinda lame. Tonight we're having group dinner at this Mexican restaurant. I really hope it's good because I've been craving some Chipolte. But, it is Mexican food in Paris so I'm really not expecting it to be amazing. We shall see. Friday is Nocturnes de Louvre so I'll be getting ready for that all week...should be fun

A bientot

Joyeux Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone!!! I hope you day is full of good food and spending time with your family and friends. Today I was a little sad because I really do love Thanksgiving and spending time with my family. When I woke up this morning it didn't even feel like Thanksgiving. Last year, and every year at Thanksgiving, I'm so excited when I wake up because I watch the parade, my dad makes breakfast, and the I help my mom with the cooking. Today, I woke up and it was just another day in Paris. It was really weird getting on the metro and people were just like well, one more day until Friday.

The pumpkin pie at the dorm was actually really good. I asked Dr. Costello if he made it himself and he laughed and said no. He bought it from this store that is run by an American in Paris and he sells a bunch of Thanksgiving things. He said that it is a very expensive store because everything is imported. He didn't tell us how much the pies were, but I can just imagine how expensive they were. He had pumpkin and pecan. I'm not a pecan fan so I stuck to pumpkin. It wasn't like my mom's pumpkin pie, but it was pretty good. It was just nice having a little piece of Thanksgiving in Paris and it brightened my day a little bit.

School was school so I won't even bother talking about it. Except, I did get my test back and I get a 14.75/20. Renee said that it's an average grade so I'm pretty happy with that. When I got back to the apartment, the man who works in the office stopped be and handed me a huge box from my parents. I thanked him and ran upstairs to open it. My parents sent TONS of food. I got rice, mac n cheese, the fancy mac n cheese with velveeta, cookies, my favorite trail mix, oatmeal, rice-a-roni, some pasta things, dried cranberries, a new memory card for my camera, a movie, nutty bars, and a new hat that my mom made me. Plus there were pictures in there that Maddie made me. The box made me really happy.

I called home and talked to my dad, and Nick, who flew in from Vermont for Thanksgiving, and Steve. My dad and Nick were drinking beer and making breakfast....typical. I asked Steve if he was having a beer and he said of course....he's 12. I then called my mom who's at my aunts house helping her get ready for today. I talked to everyone there. It was nice to get to talk to everyone, but I just got really sad because I'd like nothing more than to be sitting at the table with my family enjoying Thanksgiving.

Again, happy Thanksgiving to everyone! Have some turkey and pie for me!!!!

A bientot

I saved a life today....nbd!

I finally got around to watching Modern Family. I only watched the first episode but it was so funny. I really liked it. So now I have 8 more episodes to watch in order to catch up. Renee made lunch today since she didn't make dinner last night. It was pasta (she said she felt bad because all I ever eat when she doesn't cook is pasta) with fruits de mer (sea food) mixture. There were little shrimps, clams, and muscles. It was pretty good. After I ate I left for school. We watched "Hiroshima Mon Amour" today. I was alright. It was a very complicated movie but was also very pretty. If you turned off the sound and just watched it you'd be amazed. It really had nothing to do with Hiroshima, which kind of threw me off. I was really confusing too. Before the movie started, Michel (the professor) was talking and then he goes "un moment, un striptease" (one minute, a striptease) and takes off his sweater. Of course all the girls in the class start laughing and then stare, myself included. He's so funny. After the movie ended we had a break and then answered questions and discussed the movie.

There's this Latino girl in the class and she is always answering the questions. Sometimes I just want to be like can you please not say anything for like 10 minuets and give the rest of us a chance to say something? Sometimes I think the professor purposefully ignores her to give the other students to answer the questions. I tried to participate more today. I asked a question and apparently hit some major theme of the movie (go me) but then when I tried to answer another question, the Latin girl started talking over me. She finished and then the professor asked me to finish and I just lost my train of thought and made something up that had nothing to do with what we were talking about...so I felt stupid. There's this older woman in the class and I think she has a huge crush on Michel. Usually during the break she goes and grabs a coffee from the cafe that's right down the road because we usually have a 20 minute break. Well, today I was sitting in the class waiting for break to end and she walked in with 2 coffees and set one of them on Michel's desk. He asked how much he owed her and she said no, it was alright she got it. And then proceeded to flirt with him. I was like come on lady....clearly Michel isn't into you because I think he might be gay. Anyways, she's probably in her mid to upper 40's which isn't that old but she's at least 20 or more years older than everyone else in the class. She likes to just start talking randomly too, which is weird. A lot of people raise their hands, but not her. Also, her French isn't that good. And she has a really weird French accent. I guess I really shouldn't say anything because mine isn't that great either, but hers is like uber American.

Class ended and I made my way back to the metro. I was walking to the Monoprix to pick up some food for when Renee isn't here to cook for me because I seriously have nothing to eat. As I was walking there was this woman pushing a stroller and a little boy, probably around 3 years old, walking along side her. She was talking to her friend and the little boy was holding onto this little ball. He dropped it and it started rolling into the street. He chased after it and there were cars coming. I grabbed his arm before he made it to the street and he mom grabbed his other arm. I was so afraid that he was going to run out into the street. I picked up his ball and his mom thanked me about a million times. I think I really scared the boy when I grabbed him because he started crying. But hey, at least he wasn't dead.

I got to the store and really had no idea what to get. I wanted to get some new things instead of eating the same stuff all the time but the store really didn't have that much of a selection for some reason. So I stuck with what I usually get....pasta, pizza, popcorn, yogurt....the usual. I really wasn't in a very good mood in the store. I guess I'm so used to seeing all the Thanksgiving things out in the stores back home and there was nothing like that here obviously because the French don't celebrate. Also, everyone in the store seemed to be in a foul mood.

I made a pizza for dinner and it wasn't very good. I miss Olando's pizza. Tomorrow I'm going to go to the dorm for some pumpkin pie before class. I hope it's good. I've never seen pumpkin pie filling, let alone pumpkins in any of the stores so I don't know how they are going to make it. I don't even know who is making it....maybe Dr. Costello?? I'll let you know how it is tomorrow.

A bientot

Memories....

My art test today was A LOT harder than I thought it was going to be. I didn't sleep well last night again because my head felt like it was going to implode, that and I can only breathe out of one nostril. I planned on studying this morning but by the time I started studying it was already 12, I ate and only ended up studying for 40ish minuets today. But, I did study a lot last night so I figured I'd be fine. I headed to class and got there early so I could study. Obviously, I started talking to my friends so I didn't study. We started the test right away when the professor got to the classroom. Someone asked how much time we had and she said that we had as long as we needed. I was glad because there were 13 paintings to identify and multiple questions that went along with each painting. I recognized a lot of the paintings and the artists but when it came to writing the titles on the paper I blanked. I knew some of the complete titles but on others I just knew parts. I really didn't like the way the questions were wordered either. You would think that in a class where the majority of the students speak English, the questions would not be filled with crazy words that no one knows or multiple inversions. It really wasn't necessary. Before we even started the professor was like, "okay, when I say this word I mean this..." couldn't she have used the simpler word for what she was implying? So many people were asking questions because they didn't understand the question because of the vocabulary. I think the professor was getting a little annoyed.

I went up to the professor to ask her a question because I didn't understand the words she used. She goes, "Well, I've already explained this question to the class" and I just wanted to be like, well, excuse me if that was over an hour ago and I wasn't on that question yet. I didn't want to move to that question and lose my train of thought for the question that I was on. She did eventually tell me what she meant but I was pretty angry at her. I turned around, rolled my eyes, and walked back to my seat. We had been taking the test for about an hour and a half and the professor goes, "okay, it's time to finish up." I was like, ummm didn't you say that we had as much time as we needed? I guess she really didn't mean that. So I felt really rushed in the last section of the test. I really didn't study that section this morning or last night so I knew I was pretty much screwed. I tried answering the questions and fast as I could and handed in my test. I hope that I did well because there is only 1 other test and that's it. We get a participation grade, and while I do participate a lot, I'm just worried that it won't be enough if my test grades are not that great.

Renee usually makes dinner on Tuesdays. When 7:30 rolled around and she wasn't back yet I wondered were she was. I didn't have any of my own food to eat here, besides mac n cheese, but I'm saving that for when I'm really desperate for something from home, so I had nothing to eat. I gave her until 8. When she didn't show up I just made some noodles for myself. I checked my phone and she sent me a text message about 3 hours ago telling me that she was going out with her friend and wouldn't be back for dinner. If I would have seen it earlier I could have stopped at the store and grabbed something, but it was a little late now. She's making me lunch tomorrow because she won't be here tomorrow night because of her swimming class thing. It's almost 11pm and she still isn't back. Poor Norton, he probably has to pee so bad!

I got a card and a letter in the mail today from Bonnie, my Nana's neighbor. It was really sweet and made me miss home. Tonight, as I was listening to the Lite, all the songs that came on just reminded me of home. For example, Mariah Carey's "All I Want For Christmas is You" came on, and of course, I love that song. Every time I would hear it at home last year on break I would start dancing no matter where I was in the house. I did the same thing here in my room but it just wasn't the same. Some songs my dad likes to change the lyrics to so every time I heard those songs it makes me think of that. My mom really likes the "Christmas Shoes" song and every time she hears it she cries like baby....so do I. Although I haven't heard it yet, I just know it will make me think of her. I really hope that this holiday season isn't very hard on me. I just really wish I was home for Christmas and Thanksgiving. Those are my two favorite holidays. I wish I could sit on the couch and watch 25 days of Christmas on ABC Family like I do every year. Last year I even printed out the schedule so I would know what was going to be on each night...I'm a dork, I know. I hope every is enjoying their time off (if you go to U of I that is). Enjoy your time with your family, no matter how annoying they get this holiday season!

I'm tired, I should get to bed. Hopefully I'll be able to sleep better tonight.

A bientot

JE SUIS JESUS!!!

Sorry, I know I haven't updated, and no, I haven't watched Modern Family....tomorrow, I promise :) I think I've come down with a sinus infection and a nasty cough. I had the same thing last year at this time, and I swear the cough lasted for months. I'm pretty sure my family and Casey were pretty sick of me. My head feels like it's going to implode, seriously. It sucks. I had a really hard time falling asleep last night because of it.

Today in history, we talked about Christianity. Now, I'm not very religious, never really have been, so I don't know much when it comes to the story of Jesus and how Christianity came about. I do know that it was a forbidden religion and many people were killed for being Christian, but really that and some of the more obvious facts about Jesus and stuff is really all I know. My mom is always like, well if you went to church you would know more...but I really don't want to do that. It's really not my thing...anyways, I don't want to get into a religious debate. So I was pretty lost in class today. I didn't seem to be the only one either, thank god.

The professor handed us this huge packet and we were split up into groups to read different sections and answer questions. I was in the group that had to explain the orgins of Christianity....great, just the group I needed to be in. I could have switched to a different group but 1) I didn't feel like moving, and 2) I sit next to this sweet girl named Timone (I think that's how it's spelled) and she's a nun. Props to me for sitting next to the nun. Clearly she knows a lot about Jesus and stuff so that was my main reason for not moving. We read the pages and I kind of understood it. It kept talking about Paul. I had no idea who he was. Apparently, he took this long journey or something like that and told people about Christianity. I asked Timone a question and she seriously gave me a 5 minute response. It was awesome. She's Vietnamese and she's super quiet. She's so adorable! So I really didn't answer any of the professor's questions today about Jesus because I didn't want to make a fool of myself.

The professor gave the groups different paintings of Jesus and told us to interpret them. My group's painting was actually a mosaic. Jesus' beard looked like it was made of grapes. We had to come up with a name for the painting and I shouted "JE SUIS JESUS!!!!" (I AM JESUS) and Katie (my partner for Nocturnes de Louvre) starts cracking up. It was pretty funny. We got out of class early today. Next week we're going to the Middle Ages museum. They have this Roman bath thing outside. It's really cool.

This afternoon before class I had a meeting with a phonetics professor so she could help me with my presentation for Nocturnes de Louvre. She said I did really well. She then proceeded to tear apart (not literally) my entire speech. It is covered in red ink. I was like well, gee, thanks lady, I officially suck at French. But then she kept reassuring me that it was fine. It didn't seem fine considering there was red ink all over my paper.

I got some new medicine from the pharmacy today. One is a cough syrup that tastes horrible and the other is a vaporizer. You put it in some hot water and then put a towel over your head and like stick your face over it. It smells exactly like Vics Vapor Rub. I wish I had some of that....I'd rather rub that all over me than s
tick my face over this stuff for 10 minuets. Oh well...

I have a test in my art class tomorrow. I hope it goes well. I should be getting to bed.

A bientot

Oh, I also started listening to Christmas music today. I told myself that I was going to wait until after Thanksgiving, but since the French are lame and don't celebrate I thought that it was alright if I started listening now. I only have 50 ish songs on iTunes, so after I listened to all of those I turned on 93.9 LiteFM...and they play all of my favorites. I'm so glad I can listen to it in France. Even though I can't be with my family on Christmas, at least I know that we're listening to the same thing...if that makes any sense at all.

3 months

Yesterday, the 20th was the 3rd month that we have been living in Paris. Some days it really doesn't not feel like it has been 3 months, and other days it feels like I've been here forever. I really don't know....does it seem like I've been gone for 3 months or have I just faded away in your memories? lol. I was feeling really sick yesterday. I thought about not going to class, but I only have the class one day a week and I feel that if I don't go I'm going to miss something important. We got our tests back. I got a 16/20 (80%) although I don't know if that is how they grade them. And, who knows what that grade will turn into when I get back to U of I and they review everything I've done. The professor asked if I was feeling alright and I just told her that I wasn't feeling well. She actually asked me twice if I was alright, so I must have looked pretty horrible. I was spacing out the entire class...and it was about the weirdest things too. I left class and came back to the apartment and crashed for 2 and a half hours. I was exhausted. When I woke up I still felt miserable and still had a fever from earlier. Great....so I had to bail on Lizzie and everyone else from the group who were going out for Lizzie's 21st birthday. I felt horrible. I was really looking forward to going and everything. So I really did nothing the rest of the night except watch The Office, which I thought was horrible, and Grey's, which was okay. I went to bed at 11:30...I'm so lame.

Today I just worked on my history papers that are due on Monday. Sometimes I feel like the professor treats us like 5 year olds. She always gives us busy work, and last Monday we did puzzles and filled in maps. Seriously, I was like okay, this is not 3rd grade. So the papers had to be about what I saw at Les Invalides almost 3 weeks ago. One had to be about the Napoleon exhibit and the other had to be about the WWI exhibit. I only looked at the WWI exhibit for 15 minutes and took the worst notes in the world. Seriously, my notes consist of "uniforms, hats, long guns with mirrors, trenches, Uncle Sam, Africans, ....etc" the worst notes ever. The teacher said that the Invalides website would help us, but she lied. There's really not much on there. I really relied on wikipedia which I know, is horrible but what else was I going to do? It's due on Monday and I don't have time to go back to the museum. I'm going to ask Renee to look over them for grammar things before I go and hand write them because I don't have a printer.

Tomorrow I think we're doing our monthly group dinner. I'm just not sure when or where yet. That usually doesn't get decided until a few hours before. I hope dinner is almost done. I'm starving. Renee was making some sort of cabbage earlier and I'm really not a big fan of cabbage so I'm hoping that it's not all over the plate so I'll be forced to eat it.

a bientot

NEW MOON!!!!!!!

Alright, so I suck at updating this lately. I've been really busy and sick so bare with me....

On Tuesday, I had a meeting with Dr. Costello. But before that I went to the bank with Renee to ask them (well, to have her ask them) where my debit card was. Apparently you had to pick up your card from the bank. However, I didn't know this because they usually just come in the mail after you get your pin, which I got. So now I have my card and my pin, I just have to figure out how to transfer money to my new account. That should be fun. The meeting went pretty well. Dr. Costello just asked how I was adjusting and I told him that I was missing home, but it is really close to the holidays and I figured that I would be missing home around this time anyways. Then he asked if I got along well with the group. I told him yes, but we don't hang out very much because some of them like to go out a lot and I really don't have the money to be doing that all the time. He asked what I've been doing to meet French people and I told him that I really haven't met any because I don't know what I can get involved in. He told me there are a lot of church groups and choir groups at school, but seriously talking about God and stuff and trying to sing well are just not my thing. He laughed when I told him that. He said that he would try to look into a few inexpensive activities for me so I have stuff to do. He also asked about my classes. I told him that I really didn't like my literature class, but I guess because I haven't taken French 210 at school...so I have to have another class with the same professor next semester....awesome. He asked about Renee and I told him that she works a lot and he said that he would talk to the agency about it. I understand that she works and can't stop her life for me but it would be nice to see her more than a few minutes at night. The only day I really see her is Saturday. I had my art class after that. We have a test next week. That should be interesting. I also got 2 cards from Missy. They were so nice and thoughtful. They really made my day. HINT HINT to anyone who reads this....I like to get mail....I don't even care what it is. It can be a picture or a card, or a love letter, whatever you want. I'd love it whatever it is.

Wednesday was a little crazy. I had a test in cinema and I did study, I really did. I wasn't expecting to know certain dates or the names of the actors, or other movies that the director did, because we never really focused on that in class. We usually interpreted what we saw and talked about themes...stuff like that. While that was on the exam, there wasn't very much. Two of the quizzes that we didn't get to take were on the exam as well. I got 5/10 on both of the quizzes....so not very good. I really don't understand the grading system here so I won't really know how well I did until I get the exam back. But right now, it isn't looking very pretty. After class, which thankfully got out early, my partner Katie and I headed over to the Louvre. I thought that we were going to be practicing our presentations but we just listened to this lady for 2 hours talk about how to present a painting. She spent at least 45 minutes telling us things not to do. For example, she told us not to touch the painting or the frame, don't get too close to the painting because a lot of them are on an alarm system and if you get to close to it, it will go off, she told us not to fall over the guard rail and land on the paintings (seriously, she really did tell us that). It was mostly common sense stuff so I really don't understand why it needed to be 2 hours long. She also gave us some tips for presenting which was helpful, but that lasted 15 minutes tops. Oh, and she also told us that if anyone started giving us problems or harassing us, to tell a guard and they would help us. I was like god, should I be worried about my life? She also told us to study the map of the Louvre because someone always asks where the bathrooms are or where the Mona Lisa is. So I guess I have to give directions too. I got back to the apartment around 9 ish. The Algerian soccer team beat the Egyptian team and there are a bunch of Algerians living in the neighborhood....they were going nuts. This guy was driving his car really fast down the street and when he got to the end, where I was walking, he did a 180 with the car and honked his horn the entire time. He did this many times. It was really crazy so I booked it inside.

Today is the day I've been looking forward to the most. The plan was to go to class and then after class go to see New Moon, which I've been so excited to see. Renee even knew how excited I was to see it. She made me lunch and then I left for class giddy because I couldn't wait to see New Moon. I sat in class for a bit and then all of a sudden this woman walked in holding these papers. She told us that our professor is sick and cancelled class. I looked at Amber and was like omg....we can see the movie earlier!! We left with Lizzie, Amira and Emilia and headed to Les Halles to go see the movie. Figuring out how to get the tickets was confusing. They had all these machines but it wouldn't take Amira's credit card because it didn't have that stupid microchip in it like the French ones do. The card that I just got has the microchip in it. It was already 2:30 when we were trying to figure out how to do this, and this guy tells us that we have to go downstairs to buy tickets. We finally figured it out, and then couldn't figure out how to get into the theatre. Everything is so complicated here. When we walked in, it was PACKED. Seriously...it was 2:45 in the afternoon....don't these people work? Amira and I joked that they just wanted to see New Moon, which came out yesterday here, so they took off work. We sat all the way in the front. It wasn't that bad though, it was actually pretty nice because we could stretch our legs out and the screen was in a half circle shape and went all the way to the ground. So no matter where you sat you had a good view and we didn't have to look up the entire time to see the screen.

New Moon was amazing! I don't want to ruin it so I won't talk all about it, but I thought it was a lot better than Twilight because it really stuck to the book. And, Taylor Lautner looked FABULOUS with his shirt off. God, his abs were amazing. I really don't even know what to say about them. Rob Pattinson didn't look that bad with his shirt off either, although he was really pale. Taylor definitely looks better with his shirt off. If I weren't so for Team Edward, I'd consider switching to Team Jacob after seeing the movie....but I won't....I just can't. Tonight I have nothing planned. I don't have homework, for once, so I'm going to catch up on Glee, maybe read a bit, get some food because I'm starving, and watch a movie.

A bientot

.....I want to see New Moon again!

What? You don't remember what happened when the Berlin Wall fell? No, I was one

I'm really missing home today. I really have no reason as to why. I woke up and just looked out the window and it was cloudy and grey outside and I just wished I was at home. I'm sure it's cloudy and grey there too, but it's home....it's not 4000 miles away. :( Hopefully I'll get over this soon. And just so you know, I don't feel like this all the time. It's just every once in a while. But I think everyone gets like that sometimes; no matter where you are or how far from home you are.

Renee was still here when I got up this morning, making me question what time it was. She's not working today, tomorrow or Wednesday. I ate, showered and then we walked to the bank to figure out why I haven't gotten my debit card yet. They weren't open. Of course....they are closed on Mondays and every day from 12-1pm. Seriously....I don't even want this bank account any more because it's been such a hassle. It is not this hard to open up an account in America. We went to the pharmacy next because I have a cold and Renee wants to drug me up so she doesn't get sick. I really have no idea what I'm taking. It's Advil, but Advil for a cold....probably something they only make here. It's probably illegal back home. We came back, Renee made lunch and I left for class.

I was so exhausted walking through Montparnasse today. I felt like I was going to pass out and my head was spinning. I watched 4 trains go by because I just couldn't get up without knowing that I wasn't going to barf everywhere. I made it to class without barfing and could barely keep my eyes open. The professor started talking about the Berlin wall and when it feel and she asked us how our countries were feeling when the wall fell. She asked each country, and saved the Americans for last because they're are more of us. We all just looked at each other. How are we supposed to know how the country was feeling when the Berlin wall fell? That was in 1989...most of us were 1 years old, or we weren't born, so no, we don't know what the country was feeling. I don't think the professor understood this. Katie, a girl in the class and my partner for the art thing I'm doing goes, "Well, we were all really young so we don't know, but if I had to guess, they were happy that the cold war was over...but that's just a guess" we all laughed. I was so glad when class ended. The professor gave us more homework, on top of the 2 papers that we have to write, but she said that we didn't have to turn it in next week if we didn't have the time (this would never happen at U of I) we could turn it in the following week. So I'll probably turn it in the following week considering I haven't even started my papers.

Dinner tonight was gross. Renee made soup and it had like a million peas in it. I can't stand peas, and I told her that but she probably forgot, so I ate around them. Then she laughed when I told her that I didn't like peas. She gave them to Norton. Then she made this weird thing with endives and ham and cheese and it was so salty. The best part was the cider that we had. It was apple cider but was carbonated. It was so good. Although, I would have preferred hot apple cider from Vermont or Curtis Orchard in Champaign, but I'll settle for this. I should probably get going. I wanted to start studying for my cinema exam tonight, but that didn't happen.

A bientot

Just another Weekend

This weekend has been pretty boring. I've been feeling a bit sick. I'm just so tired for some reason. Friday afternoon when I got back from wandering around school I just felt so out of it. I slept for 9 hours that night and when I woke up Renee and her daughter, Caroline (who came back the night before) were gone. I wasn't sure where they went or when they would be back. It looked really nice outside so I thought maybe a little fresh air would do me some good. I walked around for about an hour and I was going to go to this park that's near the Montparnasse tower to read but it was so windy, I decided not to. It then got really cold, then again it could have been because of the wind but I'm not sure. I walked back and made some lunch. Renee and her daughter weren't back yet. I planned on doing homework but obviously that didn't get done. I was so tired I decided to take a nap for a half hour but that turned into an hour and a half and I was still tired when I woke up. My throat was starting to hurt too. The last thing that I want is to get sick. So I really did nothing for the rest of the day. Oh, I did do my art homework....go me. I watched "Wedding Crashers" and just vegged out. Renee came back, without her daughter, around 9ish. I told her that I wasn't feeling well and she gave me some stuff to take. I have no idea what it is. I was in bed last night by 10:30 and fell asleep around 12. I slept 10 hours and when I woke up this morning I still felt really tired.

I hate feeling so tired...I feel so lazy. I had breakfast and started doing homework. I'm really tired of doing it. I know that if I were at U of I right now I'd probably be doing a ton more but oh well. Speaking of U of I, there's a strike going on with the TA's and GA's. Why does everything exciting have to happen when I'm gone? Striking in France is a right a passage. The French don't feel French unless they're striking about something. It's nuts. There's really nothing new going on here. I have a pretty busy week this week. I'm most looking forward to Thursday because I'm going to see New Moon.....YES!!!! I should probably get back to homework.

A bientot

Ohhhhhh Rafa!!!

Yesterday was AMAZING! I had such a good time at the tennis tournament. I really didn't know what to expect but it turned out to be really sweet. I could barely sit still in my literature class because I was so excited about the tournament. The night before I was on Skype and Lizzie told me that Rafael Nadal was going to be playing in the match that we were going to see. I was so excited!!! When I first found out about the tournament and we decided to go, the only person I wanted to see play was Nadal. Not only is he incredibly good looking but he's just amazing. This is totally off topic but it was pretty funny...yesterday when I was coming to school, I walked into the metro and as I turned the corner to go down the last flight of stairs to get to the platform, Jacob Black's face greeted me and I was so shocked I almost fell down the stairs. Okay, so it wasn't Taylor Lautner himself, but it was the poster of him, as Jacob and the rest of the wolves...then next to it was a poster of him, Kristen Stewart, and Rob Pattinson. It was a lovely way to start my school day. I saw 8 New Moon posters on my way to school....crazy! We're going to go see it on Thursday and I CAN'T WAIT!!!

So literature was really boring, and I swear the professor repeated herself twice. She didn't finish grading our tests yet. I was happy because if I did bad, I didn't want it to ruin my night. After class, Amira, Lizzie and I went to this pasta place for dinner. It was pretty good and not that expensive. I got just regular spaghetti. I wish they would have had garlic bread or something but they didn't. After dinner we jumped on the metro and headed for Bercy which was were the tennis match was. It's right inside Paris which was nice. We were there a little early and they wouldn't let us in so we walked around for a bit and sat at a cafe. We were going to order stuff but no one came out to serve us so we just left and entered into the stadium. After waiting in the concourse for 20 or so minutes they finally opened the doors and we walked in. They were interviewing Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, who is a really popular French player...and he's HUGE, so that was cool. The lights went out and there was this little light show on the court. It was really cool. Tommy Robredo came out first and the Rafael Nadal came out and everyone went nuts, myself included. If you were wondering he was wearing a lime green shirt and checkered black shorts with a white sweatband and white wristbands.

The match was really one sided (Rafa) in the first set, which he won. And then in the second I don't know what got into him but he didn't do that great and he ended up loosing that set. Then in the third set it got really intense. I thought Robredo was going to win but then Rafa came from behind and won. It was so awesome. He was jumping up and down and was going crazy. It was so exciting. When ever they would finish with a set there was usually a longer pause for the players compared to the breaks they got when the switched sides. I really don't know any tennis lingo but the breaks aren't called time-outs, I know that. Usually when I watch tennis and they say the score the say 15-Love or whatever the score may be. I thought they might do that in French but they didn't, the just said 15-0 (quinze - zero) that was interesting. Also, deuce was egalite for some reason. Oh, and even more interesting, when the players would challenge a call, the referee, or judge what ever he's called (the guy who sits on the tower) would say in English that they player is challenging the call. Both players are Spanish and the people in the crowed are mostly French so I have no idea why he said it in English. In between the sets Rafa took his shirt off.....Lizzie and I just about lost it when he did it the first time. I think the guys sitting in front of us were a little annoyed but whatever. Then he did it a second time and it was even better. When he won the match he took his shirt off and put on a jacket. Rafa was taking his sweet time changing into his jacket, probably because he knew I was there....hahahah!!! The picture above is from the end of the match....delish!

I didn't know that there was another match after Rafa's. It was Fernado Gonzalez v. Juan Martin Del Potro. It was around 10:40ish when their match started. I didn't stay for the entire thing because I wasn't sure how long it was going to be and I had a test in the morning. I left at 11:15 and didn't make it home until 12:15. I was so tired. Then, I couldn't fall asleep...go figure, so I didn't end up falling asleep until almost 2. I was up at 6:50....so I didn't get that much sleep. The test today wasn't that bad. We did a practice where we got to hear the sentences we had to repeat and then we got to practice reciting this poem. We then had 10 minutes to listen to what we said before the real test started. I didn't get to listen to the last 2 statements so I think I messed those up a little bit on the exam but other than that it went really well I think. I got out of class 20 minutes early and went to the library to try to figure out how to use the WiFi so I can use it on my phone when I'm at school. Well, of course I couldn't figure it out. I saw Amber outside and we walked around for a little bit and looked for something to eat. We couldn't find anything so we went out separate ways. I headed back to the apartment but first stopped at the eye doctor so I could buy some contact solution. It cost me 21 euros for a box that had 2 in it. I was like omg are you kidding me???? Luckily I had that much cash on me because it would have been more if I used my card because of the exchange rate. They had a box that had 3 in it that was 30 euros but I didn't have that much money.

The rest of the night I'm probably going to take it easy. I think I'm coming down with a cold. I want to watch The Office and all the other Thursday night shows. Maybe I'll watch a movie or something. Although, right now I think a nap is looking pretty good. Maybe I'll wake up feeling better.

Bon week-end

Run, Run, Run!!!

So what have I been up to this week you might ask? Since it took me forever to write about my weekend in Normandy I haven't been able to tell you what went on this week. It's been pretty crazy. I forgot to put this in my last post, but on Sunday when I got home I noticed that Renee washed my sheets and put a new set on my bed, along with a new duvet cover and new blankets...I thought it was really sweet of her.

Monday was insane. I felt like I never stopped moving that's how nuts it was. I had a meeting at 12:30 with my art professor and my partner for our Nocturne de Louvre thing. Naturally, the group before us ran over with their meeting so we didn't start talking until almost 1. We told her that we had to leave no later than 1:20 to make it to Les Invalides to meet with out history class. She said okay, we got to talking about our painting and didn't get out of school until 1:30. My partner Katie and I ran to the metro as soon as we got out of the meeting. The RER workers have been on strike. Luckily, the line that we had to take was not one of the lines that was on strike. For some reason, there were lot of policemen and dogs in the metro. There were also a ton of people trying to figure out how to get from one location to the next when the RER line that they needed to take wasn't running. We got a little confused as to what platform we needed to be on, but I figured it out. Once we got off the RER we went in search for our group. The teacher gave us the address of the meeting place but we had no idea where that was so we just walked into Les Invalides and they all just happened to be standing there. We had a guided tour from one of the workers at the museum and it was incredibly boring. We have to write a paper on what we saw and the only things that come to my mind are how short Napoleon was and how much he liked extravagant clothes. We also have to write a paper about what we saw in the WWI museum. But, after we got done looking at Napoleon's tomb, which was HUGE....I think he was trying to compensate for his short stature....we only had a few minutes to look at the WWI museum before it closed. So, I literally ran through the exhibit and I have no idea what I saw. So writing those papers should be a blast. I then had to run back to the metro to make it back to school by 5:15 for another meeting with this lady from the Louvre. Naturally, I was late and everyone seemed to be on time so I had to crawl over everyone to get a seat. The meeting went 20 minutes over and I didn't make it back to that apartment until almost 8pm....I had been gone since 11:45 ish. Oh, and I also didn't get to have lunch because there was no time. So I was starving. I feel asleep right away that night.

Yesterday was a typical Tuesday. The art professor seemed to pick on the people who never participate in class. She kept asking this girl all these questions. I felt bad for her but she never participates (she's usually sleeping). Class seemed to go by really slowly. Oh I learned that Russian Hottie is 29 years old.....he def. doesn't look 29! I ate dinner by myself because Renee was leaving when she got home for vacation. She'll be gone until Friday. She's going to go to her theatre class at night and then she's leaving again on Saturday with her daughter to go somewhere else. I have no idea how long she's going to be gone for. Renee seems to have a lot of vacation time.

Today is Armistice Day (Veterans Day) and I didn't have school. I woke up really late this morning and could care less. I watched this thing on tv that was at the Arc de Triomphe. Nicolas Sarkozy and some lady from Germany were there. Sarkozy looked bored out of his mind. He has the biggest ears and nose. It's actually quite funny. He gave a speech and it was pretty good, from what I could understand. They played the French National Anthem "La Marseillaise" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4K1q9Ntcr5g like a million and a half times and then they played the German National Anthem....I don't know what that's called. They put a bunch of flowers on the tomb of the unknown soldier and that was really nice. I thought about going to Musee d'Orsay today but after going to the store to get some food and seeing how many stores were closed I figured that the museum (since it is a national museum and all) would probably be closed today. I really didn't do anything the rest of the day. Today was the Francis Ford Coppola guest lecture but I decided not to go because I had to do my literature homework and had to start studying for my phonetics test which is on Friday. Tomorrow is the BNP tennis tourney and I'm pretty excited. I don't know who we are seeing or what time the match starts so i should probably figure that out or something...I also have no idea what time I'll get home so I probably won't update until Friday.

A binetot

What a weekend!

Sorry I haven't written about my weekend trip to Normandy and Brittany...I was really tired when I got back. This will probably be a long post....just warning you.

Saturday 11/7:

I woke up at 6:30 ish and got ready to leave. I planned on leaving the apartment at 7:15 to make it to the bus on time. Well, I didn't end up leaving until 7:25, and was late getting to the bus. I had to run through the metro and because I had to transfer twice. It was 7:55 (I was supposed to be at the bus at 7:45) when I was standing on the last platform waiting for the RER B. This guy asked me in a horrible French accent "Pardonez moi, parlez Anglais?" I told him yes and he asked if he was going the right direction to get to the airport. I told him yes and then we started talking. He turned out to be from Chicago.....SMALL WORLD! when he said that I was like OMG NO WAY!!!!! I think the people on the train were a little annoyed with me because we were really loud. He was here for vacation for two weeks and now was heading back home. I got off the RER and ran like a crazy person through the station. I made it to the bus at 8. I was so worried that I was the last one there but I wasn't. Someone ended up being 25 minutes late so I didn't feel so bad. We left and just about everyone fell asleep. I looked out the window for a while because I like to do that and everything looks so different when you get outside of Paris....there are actually blue skies and grass...unbelievable! It was a 3 hour bus ride to Memorial de Caen, which is a WWII museum. It was very nice. I had lunch there and watched this movie that showed how the US, British and Canadian soldiers came into France from the beaches and helped France defeat Germany. I learned a lot. I was a bit upset though because I wanted to have more time to look around the museum. I felt like I was being rushed. There were a lot of cool artifacts to look at but I really didn't get the chance because we were on such a tight schedule. We left the museum and headed to our next destination.

It was an hour drive to Colleville-sur-mer. This is where Omaha beach is and the American cemetery. It was a very emotional place. The security there was so tight. The guy yelled at me because I forgot to take off my scarf when I walked through the metal detector. I thought that was a little unnecessary but it's his job. The first level is a museum that explains how the American troops stormed Omaha beach on D-Day June 6, 1944. It described how they planned the attack, and how it progressed. There were a lot of videos playing and I was surprised that they all were in English. The descriptions of the artifacts like uniforms and the packs that they carried were also in English. Usually in the museums the description is first written in French and then in English. Well, I guess since this is funded by the US government and it's for the US troops that stormed the beach it should be in English. We left the museum and as we were walking outside there was someone on a recording saying all of the names of the American soldiers who were killed on Omaha beach. It gave me goosebumps. We walked outside and onto the overlook of Omaha beach. I took so many pictures. In a way I felt weird taking the pictures because of all the men who lost their lives there....but everyone was doing it. As we stood there over looking the beach it started to rain and these bell started ringing. Then they started playing "America the Beautiful" and I got a little teary-eyed. Standing there I felt really proud to be an American at that moment. I know that sounds super cliche and corny but it's true. We walked down to the beach and it started to rain harder. We stayed on the beach for a while. The water wasn't as cold and I thought it was going to be. I took a rock from the beach....don't tell anyone.

It was a really steep down to the beach and even steeper going back up. I can't even imagine what it must have been like for the soldiers because they didn't have stairs, there were Germans shooting at them, and they were carrying at least 70 lbs of equipment on their backs. We made it back up and then went to the American cemetery. If you've ever seen "Saving Private Ryan" it's exactly like the scene where they are in the cemetery. It was so peaceful there. I wish I had more time to look around, but yet again I was being controlled by the schedule and had to head back to the bus. The following pictures are of Omaha Beach and the American Cemetery at Omaha Beach.

It was a 3 hour bus ride from Colleville-sur-mer to Saint Malo, where we were spending the night. Saint Malo is a very old town in Brittany. It is a fortified city, meaning that is has a stone wall that surrounds the old part of the town. It would protect the village from any enemy that tired to attack. The hotel we stayed at was called Bristol Union. It's run by a cute family. I roomed with Amber. It was a very small, typical French hotel room. We had two twin beds that had a small gap between them so they could both fit in the room. That night we went out to dinner. I had a salmon salad for an appetizer. It was smoked salmon and was amazing. I loved it. My entree was steak au poivre. I ordered it saignant, meaning medium, because I was afraid if I ordered it a point (well done) it was going to be too dry. When I got the steak I couldn't even cut into it because my knife was dull. The bus driver, who came to dinner with us, pulled out a pocket knife out of her purse, washed it, and then handed it to me. I was like ummmm thanks? The steak was incredibly rare. I forgot that in France the rare, medium and well done are completely different then they are at home. My steak was chewy. I had to chew it like a million times before I could swallow it. I really couldn't even look at it while I ate it because it was so red in the middle. It came with potatoes, and some sort of squash puree. It all tasted very good. You just had to ignore the "moos" coming from your plate as you stuck the steak in your mouth. I had two big glasses of red wine with dinner....delish. It was free so I figured, why not? They did set the bottle in front of me. Dessert was an apple tiramisu. It really wasn't that great. We got done with dinner and then walked back to the hotel in the pouring rain. That night Amber and I watched "Final Destination" in German. It was pretty funny. I had a hard time sleeping. I kept waking up and seeing what time it was. That got annoying really quick. Luckily, Amber doesn't snore....hahaha. The top left picture is our small room from the hotel and the bottom one to the left is a picture of the wall that surrounds the city. It wasn't night time when I took the picture either, I know it's really dark. Those were the clouds that were threatening our day.

Sunday 11/8

I woke up and got ready and headed downstairs to eat breakfast. It was your typical French breakfast. I had some pound cake, kiwi, yogurt, and compote....yeah, I kinda pigged out. It was all really good. We left a little after 9 and drove an hour to Mont Saint-Michel. It was raining really heavy during the drive. We were scheduled to have 3 hours to explore Mont Saint-Michel but Dr. Costello said that would depend on the weather. As we were driving he gave us a little history on the Abbey that is Mont Saint-Michel. According to the legend, St. Aubert saw a vision of Saint Michael the Archangel. Saint Michael told Aubert to build him a shrine. Aubert didn't listen to him and ignored him for a long time. Apparently, one day after not listening to him, Saint Michael burned a hole in Aubert's head with his finger. After that, Aubert started building right away. There are sheep that graze on the grass that grows from the salt from the water surrounding the island. When these sheep are killed and the meat is sold to local restaurants, on the menu it is listed as sheep from Mont Saint-Michel. This is because it tastes different than other sheep from France because of the grass that they graze on. I think Dr. Costello said that it's not saltier tasting it just has a different taste. He said he's had it before but only a person who eats a lot of lamb can really tell the difference. The abbey is on top of the island with a small village below it.

It was a very long, steep climb up to the abbey. Just as I thought we had finally made it I was wrong and there were even more stairs. I was really tired and out of breath by the time I made it up to the first overlook of the abbey. Even though I was exhausted, the view was well worth it. It had finally stopped raining and we had the full 3 hours to explore unless it really started pouring. We had an audio guide for the abbey. It was a very good guide. It was interesting and not boring at all. The abbey was really confusing...it was like a maze. There were so many rooms. In this one common room there were two huge fireplaces. They were so big I didn't have to duck to walk into them. It was insane! The picture to the left is one of the many huge fireplaces inside the abbey. The tour took about an hour and a half. After we finished with the tour I bought a few things from the gift shop. Mont Saint-Michel is split up into 3 levels. The first being the lower town, second the upper town where there is a walk way that takes your around the entire town, and the 3rd level being the abbey itself. After the gift shop, Laura, a girl from the program, and I walked around the 2nd level. Because it had been raining on and off all day the stairs were really slippery. I was walking down this huge flight going to this over look when I stepped down and ended up falling right on my tailbone and sliding down five or six steps. It really hurt. Laura helped me up and I was covered in mud and rocks from the stairs. It was gross. I'm just glad I didn't twist my ankle or hit my head or something. After that my legs were shaking so bad coming down the rest of the steps. I didn't want to fall again. The pictures here are from the overlooks once you reach the top of the stairs. There were two overlooks. These pictures are from the second overlook because there wasn't a view of the parking lot from this overlook. It overlooked the sea and these other islands. After falling down the stairs we went into town to get lunch. I ended up getting a galette with andouille sausage and tomatoes. A galette is like a crepe but the batter doesn't have sugar in it like crepes do. The batter is also brown where as the crepe batter is yellow. I guess you could call it a savory crepe. It was very good and the andouille was amazing. I bought a chocolate filled beignet for dessert and then headed back to the bus. I told Dr. Costello about falling down the stairs and he started flipping out. He was like are you hurt? did you hit your head? do you need to see a doctor??? I was like no, I'm fine, just sore and I'll probably be sore for a while. He dropped it after that. Everyone came back to the bus and we were on our way.

It was a 5 hour ride back to Paris from Mont Saint-Michel. The bus driver isn't allowed to drive more than 4 1/2 hours straight at a time by law, so she had to stop at a rest stop about 2 hours from Paris. I was glad because I had to pee so bad and it was nice to finally stretch my legs. I slept for about 45 minutes on the ride back. I woke up and finished reading "A Year in the Merde" it was really good. I want to get his other books because this one was so funny. The rest of the ride I just listened to my iPod and looked out the window. We hit a lot of traffic after we passed the exits for Versailles. It took us about an hour and a half to get into Paris from Versailles, which isn't that far outside of Paris. We got back to the dorm a little before 6pm. I headed for metro and made my way back to the apartment. Renee told me before I left that she would make me dinner that night so I didn't have to worry about that. I just had to wait for her to come home. During dinner we talked about my trip and how awesome it was. Here's a picture of Renee I took while she was making dinner. She hates getting her picture taken. I'm sure you all have been wondering what she looks like so here she is. Just your typical French lady.

Over all this weekend was AMAZING. I had such a good time and would love to go back there. Congratulations if you made it to the end of this post....I know it was incredibly long. I have to eat lunch now so I'll update tomorrow about what's been going on this week.

Bonne journee!

That was some spicy mustard!

Last night, as I wrote about yesterday, Renee made dinner. She made pork chops and potatoes. I've never really been a big fan of pork. It doesn't have much taste and always ends up dry no matter what way you cook it. Renee brought out mustard to eat with the pork. I thought that was a little weird, but she eats everything with mustard so I figured it would be alright. Plus, she was putting a ton on her pork (probably to mask the taste, like I was planning on doing). So I put a bunch on my plate and dipped my piece in it. The tiny piece was COVERED in mustard mind you. I put it in my mouth and when my tongue started burning and my eyes started watering I realized that it was spicy mustard and not regular mustard. I started crying because it was so hot. Renee just looked at me and laughed...she must have thought I was crazy. She could have told me it was spicy mustard before I put a bunch on my little piece. Once my eyes stopped watering I could eat the rest of my dinner....not that I could taste it because the mustard killed all of my taste buds.

School was alright today. I was really tired but tried really hard to pay attention because we have our first test next week and I want to do really well. The professor was making fun of the way I pronounced this word today....she thought I was tying to be American while saying it. I was like, but I am American....I was just pronouncing it wrong. During the break I went to get a tea from the drink machine. I was walking up the stairs and of course I trip and fall up the stairs spilling my drink everywhere. I was so embarrassed. Not to mention the tea was burning my hand. This guy who's in my class asked if I was alright and I told him I was....then I ran to the bathroom and tried not to cry. I'm such a baby.

Class ended and I got on the metro and headed to the Louvre. I got in for free because I'm an awesome art student and went to go find the painting that my partner and I are presenting at Nocturne de Louvre. It took me a while to find. It was nice though because there were no annoying tourists there getting in my way. There was a little bench right in front of the painting and I sat there and studied it for an hour and took notes...fun stuff like that. After I was done looking at my painting I looked around the other galleries on that level. There are mainly French artists here. It's kind of sad because no one really comes up there to look at those paintings. Everyone comes to the Louvre to see the Mona Lisa, which isn't even that great...it's kind of lame actually. I got back to the apartment around 2:30 and Renee was still there.

She went back to the bank today and yelled at them for me. She told me that she wasn't very happy at them and she fixed everything and I should have my packet with my debit card and all the information in a few days. I'm really glad that she went and did that because when I try talking to them nothing gets done. She told me that she told them that they were giving the country of France a bad image. I was like ouch....good one. She left for work and I ate lunch. I packed for the trip this weekend, not really knowing what to bring so I just grabbed a few things and put them in my giant backpack. I'm probs gonna look like a loser with this huge backpack for the weekend but I wasn't going to bring my suitcase. I have to be at the dorm tomorrow at 7:45 so I NEED to go to bed early tonight....although I say that every night and it never happens.

I'm not bringing my computer with me so I'll try to update on Sunday when I get back, that is depending on what time it is and how tired I am.

A bientot!

We'll that was fun

The test today wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be. It was a lot of writing. There were only 2 questions that I wasn't really sure about. On a lot of the questions I just bs-ed my way through them and hoped they were right. It took us all around an hour to do the test. When we walked in the room the professor asked if we prepared the poem for today. We all gave her a blank stare. No, obviously we didn't prepare the poem, we have a test today. That was a dumb question. The hardest part about the test was thinking of words to use. The professor told us a few minutes before the test that we could use a dictionary. It would have been nice to know that before I left for class because I would have brought my dictionary. There was one question that listed the names of the poets and you had to write the title of one of their poems. I pretty much bombed on that. I could only think of parts of the names of the poems. So maybe I'll get partial credit or something...who knows. After the test the professor started the next lecture. It was really interesting and then she got sidetracked and started talking about some Spanish king. I really wasn't listening at that point. I was drying pictures in my notebook. I attempted a dragon but it looked like a retarded dog and then I drew some Christmas trees, reindeer (which were like sticks), a sleigh, and Santa...presents and all. So cute!

Today before class when Renee came back for lunch I was studying and she told me that she talked to the other Fontaine in the building and she said that he sent back the stuff from the bank that was sent there for me because he didn't know who it was. She was like, lets go to the bank and I'll talk to them. I agreed because I just want to get this thing solved because it's really starting to annoy me. We walked to the bank and they were close for lunch....go figure. Everyone closes here for lunch. It's so annoying. We don't do that in America. When we got back to the apartment Renee told me that she would go back to the bank after I left and she would talk to them. I'm not sure if they will be able to tell her much because it is my account...but who knows how they do things here.

In class I asked Amber is she was excited for the trip this weekend, she told me not really. I was like oh, umm....well I am! I pretty much dropped it after that. She said that she just wants to sleep. I was like well you can sleep on the bus for 3 hours. She didn't know that we have to be at the dorm at 7:45...she's like WHAT!?!?!?! Last time we had to be there at 8:45. So it's not that bad. And we get to sit in the bus for 3 hours so we can sleep or whatever we want to do. I'm sure everyone will fall asleep.

Tomorrow I have my phonetics class. I hope it goes better than the last one did. After class I'm going to go to the Louvre to find the painting that I am presenting for Nocturne de Louvre because I haven't seen it in person yet. I figured I probably should go and look at it before I meet with the teacher again. Hopefully I'll be able to find it. I have the room number but the Louvre is HUGE and I really don't want to be there all day because I have to pack for NORMANDY!!! I'm just a little excited.

OMG....I was walking through the metro today on my way back to the apartment after class...I really don't pay attention to the posters that are on the walls because they are always the same. Today I was looking at them and I saw the first New Moon poster....AWESOME!!!!! It was so sweet. I had to do a double take. Then there was another one right next to it, even better! I really have no plans for tonight. Renee's making dinner so naturally I'm starving because I haven't eaten since lunch and we usually don't eat until 8:30. I need to go to bed early tonight, class is at 9 tomorrow....barf.

a bientot

"If you are speaking English you will be stoned to death!"

Man was it cold today! It was actually sunny this morning for a change but that obviously ended after an hour and it started raining. I was studying for my quiz in cinema this morning when my phone rang. It was BNP (the bank). The woman was speaking in French, obvs, but she was speaking so fast I had to ask her to slow down because I didn't understand her. I hate when I have to do that because I feel like an idiot. She asked me if I had received my debit card in the mail and my account information. I told her no, that there is another person in the building who has the same last name as me so my mail could have been put in their mailbox by mistake. I asked her if she could send me new stuff in case this woman found it or something (not that there's any money in the account) but the woman told me that she couldn't do that. I really don't even want this bank account any more. It's such a hassle. When Renee came back for her lunch break I asked her if she could ask the other Fontaine (who she knows) and see if they got my mail. She said she would. Then she got all mad at the bank because they should have known better to write her name on the mailing address because I had the form that said I was living with her and it's her apartment. She was like, well they knew you were American...blah blah blah. She then said something about going to the bank and yelling at them. I'm not sure if she was serious or not.

I left for class and didn't do that bad on my quiz. I got a 6/10 which is a lot better than my last one (4/10). Some of the questions on the quiz I thought were misleading. One of the words was the same in English as it is in French but the meanings are a little different. Well, the majority of the people in the class, including myself, got it wrong because we all speak English, except for a few Asians. So this girl who's in my program goes, "mais, je ne parle pas le francais" (I don't speak French) and the professor responds while snapping his fingers in a Z shape in the air "ce n'est pas ma probleme que vous ne parlez pas le francais!" (It's not my problem that you don't speak French). It was the funniest thing ever. He got all diva on her. The movie we watched today "Pickpocket" ...so boring. I learned all the crazy tricks pickpocketers use. That was the only interesting part of the film. Before the professor started the film he was writing questions on the board for us to answer and everyone was talking (mostly in English) and he stops, looks at us and says, "If you are speaking English you will be stoned to death." Everyone started laughing...but then they all started talking in French when he turned back around to face the board. It was pretty funny.

I don't have class next week because the professor is helping to organize a speech that Francis Ford Coppola is doing....and guess what? WE WERE INVITED!!!!!!! We were all like OMG SWEET! so I'm totally going. I'm not sure what he's going to be talking about, obvs something about cinema, but it should be really interesting. Maybe he'll cast me in a movie or something.

My literature test is tomorrow. I studied for 3 hours tonight and by the time I was finished my brain hurt. So I'm putting it away until tomorrow. I re-read all of the poems, some more than once, and read over all the review questions. Hopefully the exam isn't too difficult. I went to bed really late last night because I watched an episode of True Blood. The ending was so shocking I had to put my hand over my mouth to keep myself from gasping out loud because it was around 1:45am. So, tonight I'm going to try to go to bed a little bit earlier.

A bientot

Finally, after 5 weeks my computer works!

I've been pretty bad about updating everyday...sorry if you check this everyday. Anyways so yesterday my package finally came. When I talked to FedEx they told me that the package would be here on Monday before 1pm because I told them I had class. Well, I woke up early on Monday and sat around waiting for FedEx to show up. It was 1:30pm and still no package, so I left for school. I figured if they did come Renee and Mathilde would be here. When I got home after class, which wasn't that great, but then again it was the first day back after break, my package was waiting for me. I was so happy. Then I looked at the box and it seriously looked like it had been torn to pieces. It was wrapped 3 times in all this plastic and said something about reimbursement on the front of the box. I thought, awesome, my parents deserve a reimbursement because the package didn't get here on time. Then Mathilde told me that Renee had to pay the delivery guy 42.96 Euro for the extra customs charges. I was like WHAT??!?!?! WHY? and she had no clue. I tried installing the program but it made me uninstall a bunch of programs and back up a bunch of files in case they were deleted when it was upgrading. That took forever.

We ate dinner and afterwards, (oh I forgot, Mathilde left) I started installing the new program. It said that it might take a few hours. It always says that and it really only takes a half hour or so. Well, it wasn't lying. I started installing at 8:30 and it didn't finish until 1am. I feel asleep while it was downloading so it might not have taken that long. I really didn't get to play around with the new features because I was really tired so I just shut my computer down and went to sleep.

Today I got to play with my computer. I really like it so far. The task bar is really wide for some reason and I don't think I can make it any skinnier. But that's alright. I really like the "pinning" thing. You can pin the programs that you use most often to your task bar. I pinned skype and itunes. It's really cool. And when you have more than one tab open you can see the tabs by putting the mouse over the internet explorer icon. In Vista you had to click on all the tabs to find the one you wanted. Oh and the backgrounds are really sweet too. Okay, I'm done geeking out about it.

It was such a gloomy day today I really didn't feel like getting out of bed. Class today kinda sucked. I lied through my teeth when the professor asked me what common theme I noticed when I went to the Louvre or Musee d'Orsay over break...I didn't go to any of those museums over break. I just kind of made something up. I started talking about Degas and his different techniques and she thought it was good answer so she moved on. It seemed like every question I answered after that was wrong. She asked where VanGogh was from and I was like, Denmark, and she looks at me and is like no, in her serious face. When I got back from school I ran to the ATM so I could pay Renee back. I then tore apart my room looking for my notes for my Nocturne de Louvre. They ended up being in the notebook that I lent to my friend so she could copy my notes.

Renee came home and I was studying for my quiz in cinema tomorrow. I felt bad because I was in the living room and she usually watches this soap opera when she gets home, so she watched it in her room. We ate and I tried to give her the money but she wouldn't take it. I didn't know how to tell her that I felt bad that she had to pay the fee for me when it was my package. I tried saying it in French. I think she understood what I was saying. She was like just keep the money for your trip this weekend. So that was nice of her.

I will try to update tomorrow. I have a literature test on Thursday that I obviously haven't started studying for. I really don't know what to expect with this test. Hopefully it's easy.

a bientot!

She Looked Like a Pumpkin

Firstly, Illinois WON! How in the world did they pull that off??? Two years in a row beating Michigan. Pretty awesome. Too bad it's like their 2nd win. Yesterday was Halloween, obviously. I've never really been a big fan of Halloween, except when I was younger but I think that was mostly for the candy, but now I could really care less about it. It was definitely weird not seeing people dressed up in costumes or seeing any carved pumpkins or decorations. So I guess I did miss Halloween a little bit. I'd really like some candy. Renee, Mathilde and I went to the mall yesterday. I thought we were going to a mall that's in Paris but it wasn't. We took Renee's car and it was like a half hour drive to get there. Renee's car is really small. She probably thinks is huge because there are cars out there that are much smaller. But man, sitting in that front seat I was like god, I hope she doesn't hit anything because I'm dead if she does. French drivers are kinda crazy. They love their horns and they have to have good breaks because they are constantly stopping after someone cuts them off. Scooters pretty much rule the road. They don't care about the people sitting in cars or how long you've been waiting at the light, they just drive along side you and cut right in front so they can go before you. It was just nuts. I don't think I could ever drive here.

We got to the mall and it took forever to find a parking space. Once we finally found one, Renee had to let us out of the car before she parked because the spot was too small to open the doors. I don't even know how she got out. We went in and it was packed. Clearly no one had anything better to do that day so they all decided to go to the mall. Renee was dressed like a pumpkin. She wasn't wearing a costume or anything, but she had on this black dress, with black boots and was wearing orange tights, and an orange shirt. She was a giant pumpkin. I don't think she realized that orange and black are Halloween colors. I thought about saying something to her about it but I didn't think she would have understood what I was talking about.

We went to a bunch of stores. Renee and Mathilde kept asking what stores I wanted to go into but I told them I didn't know because we don't have the same stores back home, so I'd go to whatever ones they wanted. One of the first stores we went to was having a really big sale. It was a pretty cool store, a lot like Forever 21 at home. I had a lot of trouble with the sizes. They were all in European sizes which are a lot different than American sizes. So I asked Renee what size would be best. I showed her what I had, it was a 32 and she goes, oh no, that's way to small. I was like oh well gee thanks Renee...I'm too fat for that. She found the right size and I headed to the dressing room to try everything on. The only thing that I really liked was the the shirt. It was 50% off so I decided to get it. It's pretty simple but I really like it. It's 2 shirts in one because they are connected. It's really cute. And, it was only 9 euro so awesome! Mathilde bought a bunch of stuff. I was like god, it must be so easy for you to find clothes, you're a stick. We left that store and checked out a few more. I really didn't find anything. I was looking for a dress with pockets. We found a bunch at this one store and they were super cute, but they had elastic on the bottom and it looked so awkward. The mall was really starting to give me a headache. It's really hard for me to concentrate when there are all those people around me speaking French. It's like being on the metro when it's really crowded. I tried listening to what Renee and Mathilde were saying but I just couldn't understand with everyone around me talking just as fast and louder than them. We ate sandwiches for lunch and finally sat down. My feet were killing me.

The mall was a lot bigger than I expected it to be. There were 2 levels and the sign said 170 stores. After lunch we continued shopping. Renee left me and Mathilde so she could go grocery shopping..there's a huge grocery store at the mall. It reminded me a lot of Walmart. Me and Mathilde checked out bunch of stores and really didn't find anything. We went into H&M which was HUGE! It was the biggest H&M I've ever seen. I told Mathilde that this H&M is a lot bigger than the ones at home and she didn't know we had them in America. She said she went to one that was 2 floors. I couldn't even imagine and H&M with 2 floors. It would be amazing. I looked around and lost Mathilde like 3 times. I found her and told her I was going to try my things on. I found 3 dresses and only ended up liking 2. I found a pair of leggings to try on with both of the dresses and decided to get the purple one. It's super cute and perfect for winter because it's really warm. I really like the collar on it. It's really baggy and just adorable. You really can't tell in the picture but it is purple. We left H&M and waited for Renee to get done shopping. When we found her we headed back to the grocery store and Renee bought us some drink because we all were really thirsty. I saw these cool things at the grocery store that are like the machines they give you when you are doing a gift or wedding registry. You swipe your credit card and then it unlocks a machine for you. When you are shopping you just scan the product, put in the number that you are getting and put it in your cart. Then when you're done shopping you show it to someone and they look over everything. It charges your card and then you leave. You don't even have to wait in line. It's probably the coolest invention ever. They should totally do that at Walmart. It would save so much time.

We left the mall and went to this sporting goods store. Renee needed a backpack for her vacation. I'm not sure when she's leaving but I do know that it's sometime in November. We left and I almost fell asleep in the car on the way back. I was so tired and had a headache all day. Mathilde made dinner. It was really good...potatoes, cheese, and ham. Delish. She left right after dinner to go to her friends apartment. I really didn't want to go. I was so tired and my head still hurt, and she didn't ask me if I wanted to go...After Mathilde left, Renee went right to bed. I fell asleep before 12:30...it was nice.

When I woke up this morning I went to grab new contacts to put in because it's the first of the month. Then I realized that I only have enough contacts to last me until the end of March. I only bought 2 boxes when I really need 4. I'm such an idiot. Hopefully the eye doctor will let my parents buy another box. I'm not sure if he will because my prescription is up. So I'm wearing my glasses today, just in case I have to wear my contacts tomorrow. My glasses hurt my eyes because the prescription is different than my contacts. Plus the ear things hurt my head. God I'm such a complainer...I'm sorry. I'm just going to take it easy today on my last day of vacation. I should probably start studying for my literature test on Thursday but I probably won't.

A bientot