Kiwis and Tartes

This morning I woke up at ten and STILL didn’t want to wake up! I am getting enough sleep I am sure but I can’t help but just feel exhausted! Tomorrow I am going to sleep in a bit. I took a shower and used my new soap that I bought yesterday and now I smell like something normal again. My bangs have grown out again so I will have to cut them soon. Thad and I have deduced that it is because of the vitamins that I have been taking. In any case I didn’t cut them yet. I had breakfast which was very good. I decided during my lonely breakfast that Kiwi’s are really under rated in the fruit department. You only ever see them on top of fruit salads as like the nice looking garnish fruit or stuff like that. Kiwis should be in more things, and I mean really kiwis because the artificial flavor that we have all the time in like strawberry kiwi stuff is by no means the same. And really neither is artificial strawberries. They really taste nothing like their artificial flavors. I want to someday sit down and eat strawberries and kiwis together because I bet that they taste totally different! Just a little tangent… 

I went to class and when I got there the desks were all arranged weirdly and there were all these coffee cups and stuff on the tables. There was an old guy in there and he asked if I had a class there and I said yeah in a half hour. So him and I cleaned up the tables and put them back in order. The school has been doing a bunch of weird stuff lately because a bunch of people have come to the school because it is like their open house of something for schools that they are allied with so they have been taking over classrooms and the staff at IAU is particularly crabby with the students. It is also funny because they have been like making changes to the classrooms that they are using to make them nicer. They added a rug to my Lit classroom which has really needed a rug because of the terrible acoustics and also a big nice table. But it’s like I feel like they are lying by not giving the people a real look at what the university is like because it’s all gussied up for these people. But like had this guy and I not cleaned everything up no one would have… Good planning.

So we put that back together and then he left. Yamina came in and I was scared I was going to get yelled at. I decided to not move and see if she wouldn’t see me. She left and I breathed a sigh of relief. Pretty soon everyone came in and I said happy birthday to LaSia. Wait actually I don’t think I outright did. But like talked about it. Oops. I just hate saying it right after someone else says it because then the person will think you didn’t remember. Well then I didn’t remember to say it. But I had been thinking I needed to say it all morning! I fail. Oh well. We had class and this other girl we know like sat in on it for some reason but it was funny because our professor was like hey you aren’t in this class that means someone is missing! So then he double counted us to be sure we were actually all there. But I think she just wanted to sit in on it. After that we had class which was pretty boring but my professor was being extra funny today. At one point after he realized his white board was gone he was like. Once upon a time there was a blackboard here. And then we were like it’s behind the curtain and he was like there better not be any dead bodies back here. Then once he went behind he was like ahhh Yamina. I laughed a little too hard at it. But I really do find him humorous. He can be kind of a jerk at times with his humor but it is usually funny. 

After that we went to get lunch at different places. I got a crepe. We went to the new building to eat after saying bye to LaSia and saying we would meet up after classes to do something for her birthday. We went and ate and talked a bit about stuff. I seem to forget all the time what I talk about with people but it is usually good conversations I think. I feel like I laugh a lot here. Like more than I do sometimes at home. I don’t really know why that is but I think it is a thing. It must be that I’m happy or something. Imagine that!

Then we went upstairs to class and I learned that our professor in addition to this times reading put some of us into groups to do an extra assignment to present on Tuesday. It was only 8 of us that would have to do it because it was in 4 parts. I knew I was going to be one of the eight… And I was. -.-‘ So I had to read a packet and then tomorrow me and my partner who is a girl that I don’t especially like are meeting to talk about what we are going to say because I will be gone the better part of the weekend. Blech. So after class and before the others finished I went and read that which wasn’t too long but wasn’t the simplest text. Today in class I was kind of annoyed because I feel like I didn’t read the novel in the same way that the rest of the class read it and I don’t see things in the same way that they did, which I think isn’t a bad thing as good works should be able to be read in different ways and have different reactions in different readers. But no one really seemed interested in my point of view. So it was kind of annoying to sit through the class and not really be able to present my point of view…. Further reasons for why I don’t think I should be a lit major today. After that I went and read and watched YouTube videos for a bit while waiting for everyone to be done with class. 

When everyone was done we dawdled around trying to decide what we wanted to do. Finally I decided we would go to a pastry shop to get LaSIa a pastry for her birthday. It was kind of an awkward situation while I was waiting outside for LaSia and Jonny to use the bathroom. I was outside with Cassandra and Patrick. And it is like… Been a bit of a weirdness with me and Patrick because I feel like he has some very unreturned feelings. And I’ve been feeling that for about two weeks now since someone told me they thought he was into me. Since then I have been throwing out the word boyfriend a lot but it just feels like there is a bit of like weirdness. And like today it seemed like he wanted us to go to dinner just the two of us tomorrow because we did that once before because everyone else bailed on us. And like I don’t feel that way at all and I’ve talked to Thad about it and did again tonight but like he hasn’t actually outright said something to me so I feel like I don’t want to say something in case I am imagining things but like… I feel like I am not. And more than one person has like said that they think he likes me. So that is awkward. I have been hoping it would just go away but I am not sure it will. But it anything else happens I’ll give it to him straight. I just feel bad… But I am definitely in no way interested as I am QUITE happy as I am. It just feels weird. I have never liked when people like me which I guess is weird. Or like when people try and hit on me. I really hate it. Also I am a bit oblivious because I just think people are being nice unless it is like SUPER direct and obvious. So that is not good of me. But hopefully I won’t have these issues for long… But it is a point of awkwardness in my life right now. 

When they got done in the bathroom we went to a pastry shop and Cassandra and I bought LaSia a berry cobbler pie tarte thing. It looked pretty good and she said it was pretty good. We stood around for a long time talking about home and things. LaSia’s boyfriend is here visiting for her birthday so she is going to bring him tomorrow for lunch/ dinner/play probably. So that will be cool to meet him. The school had a “mandatory” talk to go to tonight that I didn’t go to because I didn’t want to miss delicious honey lemon chicken dinner. But what are they really going to do? Send me home? And no one ever takes roll at those things. It was all about Camus and I really don’t care about him honestly so I just bailed. If anyone asks I will make up an excuse but I just didn’t want to go. I will go to the Camus staged reading tomorrow though that all my friends are in. That will be good I bet. More fun than listening to someone talk about something that I pretty much don’t care/know about. 

Cassandra and I went to Monoprix where I bought a new black pen, a game for Matisse for this weekend, and some bag of rice. We smelled the perfumes and I found one I liked but I figured why buy it for 6 weeks and then have to figure out how to get it home... After that I cam home and typed up some notes for tomorrow and then Madame came home and made dinner which was DELICIOUS!!! I loved it. It was the best. We also had bread and Twix bars afterwards. But it was very good. Madame didn’t sleep well last night I guess so she went to bed pretty quick after that and then I went to my room and Skyped Thad for over an hour. It was really good to talk to someone about stuff. And it makes me realize how much I miss him… But he is going to a work gig this weekend. It was good to talk to him about this whole situation! He was quick to remind me that I am good at leading people on and giving them false signals even if I don’t mean to. (Ouch. No past feelings there…)  But it was good to talk to him.

Then he made me hang up on him to finish my blog and go to bed. But then my dad signed on so I talked to him for a bit while I finished my blog. It was good to talk to him also.

Now I am going go to sleep! Goodnight!

P.S. The cat went to the party.

Expresso Cup Tower

Today I woke up and really didn’t want to. Also I said to myself man I REALLY want to just be waking up at home… I miss walking down my hallway to go upstairs and see my parents or find mom watching the soap on a weekend or weekday. I really miss that. That’s the first time I have really missed like something so simple and not a person from home. Sad… But soon enough! 6 weeks 1 day 22 hours… Not that I’m counting. I’m very happy I am here but I do miss home.
I had breakfast and Madame and I talked a bit. Apparently she has a lot of laundry to do today because she has Robert’s (friend of Jean-Claude that I have never met) laundry in addition to ours and he had more this week than usual. Combined with my more than usual because of Paris laundry it was a lot. But I don’t think she was really complaining but more like… grumbling? But she wasn’t upset about it. She also gave me a 20 to buy internet with because she thinks the internet people are going to keep being pokey. (They were/are) SO now I can have internet unsecretly. Also on my way out the door Paul made me come see his cup tower that he made this morning from the cup game we were playing with the espresso cups last night. It was pretty cute. But almost made me late to class!

I gave her my bag of laundry and then headed to class. I went and sat in the classroom where we have class and then some other came in too as it got closer to time. Then though, Yamina the housing lady came in and yelled at us for being there because the school was I guess planning on having a meeting there. And like she wasn’t like hey we are having a meeting why are you here? She like was actually yelling at us and we were like hey wow we didn’t know we have a class in here and there isn’t a sign sooo how were we supposed to know. She pretty much in 10 seconds insulted everyone in the room by yelling at us by doing what we were supposed to. It was really stupid. And then I was like well is class cancelled or are we moved to another room? So then she went to find one that was open. She came back 2 minutes later and told us the name of a room downstairs. On the way out she asked me if I knew where that room was because she didn’t have a clue… YOUR OFFICE IS IN THIS BUILDING! And you work here! How do you NOT know classrooms!? HOW!? I honestly do not understand because there are only like 6 classrooms for the whole school and 4 in this building, so like HOW!? It was really stupid. Also this class is like one of the biggest in the university so like they took our big room and sent us literally to the smallest one there is. We were like uhhhh no way is this going to work… So we went and stole another classroom across the hall. Even then we had to take chairs from other classrooms. It was really stupid and poorly planned. Obviously.

Anyways so after our sardine classroom experience, I went with Sally down to the cave where we sat for a while before deciding to go get pasta for lunch. I got bolognaise sauce on mine. It was really good but also very filing and I get tired of Pasta so quickly. I also got a hot chocolate from the espresso machine in the cave because I saw the guy change it yesterday. I just tried to spell it expresso. Oops. It would be clever that way though because it is like express. Then we chilled down there. I watched some videos on YouTube before trying to figure out my classes for next term. I think that at the end of the year I am going to transfer. It makes sense for me to do a French major or to do a theater major. I think that I have more of a passion for theater and I really miss it… I feel like it has been like the one thing that I am really good at. And I think it is kind of a special skill and I enjoy doing it. But I don’t want to do it at WOU because I just don’t really like that professor or that crowd of people. I know theater people like to party but that isn’t really the atmosphere that I want so I feel like I could find a better crowd at somewhere like George Fox. And I have looked at going there before, because it is small and they have a fantastic heater program with a professor who has won Emmys in lighting… So I just feel like I would be a better place for me? I could look at an interdisciplinary with Theater and French or do a Theater major with French minor. I think that if I went back to a private school my Linfield credits would actually count for something again which I think would be really nice as well. I don’t know. I just feel like I really am not passionate at all about an English major. Like I enjoy to reading and enjoy finding I do like famous works if I give them a chance but I am not a real Literature major. I don’t fit that mold. And it doesn’t really excite me or feel like something I really enjoy as much as French or Theater… Maybe I have just been wasting my time the last two years in school… I don’t know. But looking at my degree worksheet I really have only taken 2 lit classes towards the major. The rest have been LACC’s or gen Ed credits filled by lit classes. So I don’t know. I don’t think it is the right path for me.

I worked out that I should take more Gen Eds to finish up that this coming term and then decide when I get home what I really want to do. The classes I picked though should transfer anywhere and keep my options open. I think it will come down to money too… That really sucks. Especially because my grades here will transfer back and bring down my GPA from its current 3.95 state which won’t be good when I go looking for scholarships… I emailed if I could switch to Pass/Fail and Western said Sure! But then the classes can’t count towards major, minor, gen Ed, or elective credits…. WHAT. So literally they would be totally unusable and pointless… Awesome. So I won’t be doing that. It sucks though that Western is dumb like that. Most of everyone else’s universities give them credit as long as they pass because they know abroad classes are harder because school isn’t the main priority… So this kind of sucks for me.

After I figured that out I talked to Sophie the other Oregon girl about Oregon and classes and stuff. She recommended I take a gap year. I said uhhhhh no. Then some other people came down to the cave and hung out and I talked with them. Later LaSia, Sara, and Jonny came down and we talked. LaSia and I decided to go to Monop to get cookies and chocolate. I also bought a new bar of Dove soap which smells awesome. I think I am going to toss my weird smelling one. I have a bit of it left but I hate it… Oh well it was like 60 centimes. It was fun to talk to her. I feel like she is pretty chill which I like because some people here are a little too much crazy for me. We talked about some stuff on our way back to school and we ran into Gina. She followed us back to the Cave and then had us all sign LaSia’s birthday card which I guess is a secret but I mean Gina wasn’t exactly on the sly side with having people sign it. Oh well :-) I’m sure she will still like it. We listened to some music and then everyone left me to go to class. Sophie came back down and we got to talking again. We eventually switched school building to go to our class. She is really nice and I can see us being friends. Also it is nice to talk about Safeway, Burgerville, and Dutch Bros and not have people look at you funny because they don’t have them where they live. The small things in life!

Class started and it was kind of strange today because we worked on individual texts of a comic book translation in class. We each have a different page and are going to make a little like book thing I guess from our translations. It’s from the Stranger by guess… Only the guy who has been shoved down our throats since we got here!!! You guessed it Albert Camus! I did pretty well on my page and my professor was like oh those are good ways of going around those weird phrases so that was good. Still hard though. But it was an interesting class to say the least. Some people were quite loud all class and in an echoey room such as the one we were in it was a bit crazy at times. But there are only 8 of us in the class so ҫa va.

I walked or have started walking home with Sophie because she lives farther than me but in the same direction. So that is nice. I came home and read a bit of this giant book. Paul came up after a bit and was like dang that book is big haw many pages we didn’t have to look because I know it is 985. I’m on 363. BLECH. Hopefully I will have time to read more this weekend. Paul and I played cards, playing Bataille which I think it the equivalent of the card game war. Both flip a card, highest card wins. I think that is the game. I haven’t played in ages though so I don’t really remember. Madame asked what other games I know and I told her I am a master at Rummy :-) Because Thad and I play all the time. And I always win no matter what he says!!! :-P

We had chicken nuggets and fries tonight instead of Soup because Paul was eating with us. So tomorrow we are having my favorite chicken and then Friday unless I go out we are having the pumpkin soup. After dinner I went and Skyped Thad!!! FINALLY!!! It has been too long and it was much needed. I showed him my Eiffel towers that I bought in Paris and we talked about his work and school and what I am going to do. After he had to leave for Burger Wednesday, I got on Facebook and talk/argued with dad about what I should do. He’s pretty supportive of everything but thinks I should get a BA and then worry more about Grad school. But to do that you have to know what you want to do… I am just going to try and stop thinking about it and just figure it out when I get home… Blech. I wrote my blog while Madame did a bunch of Ironing. She found a hole in a pocket of some jeans and asked what I thought she should do since yesterday I asked for a needle and thread to patch a hole on my gray sweater and she was shocked I knew how to sew. I told her I took 3 years of classes when I was younger so I know the basics. Also I took theater costuming which helped as well. We eventually figured it out but Madame was not super thrilled to have to stay up to iron tonight. :-/

Tomorrow is Thursday which I keep forgetting and thinking it is Friday or Wednesday. Next week I have a three day week which is AWESOME! And I am excited to go to the party this weekend. The last one was really fun so I bet this one will be too!

Monopoly: Worst Game on the Planet

This morning I woke up at 10 exactly because I actually slept all the way in without waking up at all last night. I think that is actually a first for me. I usually wake up at some point in the night. But last night I didn’t! I took a shower and ate a better breakfast than usual actually taking my time. I opened a new orange juice bottle today so that was eventful for my breakfast festivities. After that I went to school and used the internet to talk to mom a bit on Skype. Gina was there early too so we talked a while about the groups trip to Brussels. I guess it was awesome. It sounded awesome. French fries, waffles, and chocolate? Where do I sign up!?

After that we had class which was kind of boring but also interesting at the same time. We didn’t get our history midterms back which kind of sucks because I’ve been most curious about that one because I can’t really peg how I did… He said maybe Thursday but most likely on Tuesday… Meh. After that we did class and after which Cassandra went to her locker and checked the mail and got my postcard from my mom. Of the Arc du Triomphe… Where I was… my mom is a dork. Funny story though… I didn’t actually go and see the Arc. I saw it from a distance and the plan was to go see the Champs-Elysee and the arc on Saturday after the Eiffel tower before leaving Paris but then with Lunch we ran out of time. So… I did see it from a far distance. But I didn’t actually get to it. I know pretty sad but now I have something for next time!

LaSia’s birthday is this week on Thursday so we are trying to figure out what we are going to do for it. It’s a bit hard because there is like a talk that we are supposed to go to on Thursday night… I really don’t want to go. We are sort of like being told that we have to but I mean what are they really going to do… And it’s about Albert Camus which I feel like the university is trying to shove down our throats. But really I don’t really care and it isn’t really what I want to spend my time doing… I’d rather be doing other stuff. Especially because prior to coming here I had never even heard of this guy… Is he really a big deal? You tell me! Leave me a comment! Have you ever heard of him? Is he a big deal? Should I be caring? Let me know!

After that Cassandra and I went to get food and went back and ate it in the library. We went to the Vietnamese place and got chicken and rice. I am already getting tired of that place. I don’t even go there that often though so that isn’t good. After that we had lit class where we talked about brothers K. It was interesting but I almost feel like at this point there wasn’t much to talk about we just we clarifying things that had happened and summarizing the book so far but not really dwelling into any real subjects brought up in the book. Maybe it was because we were coming back to it after break or because the chunk we covered was really large. In any case I got a little bored at the end of class. After class I went and watched some of Spencers videos and was happy to hear that Eli was in some of them as well! That was fun. Also Eli’s senior jury was yesterday so I am waiting to get links to the recorded stuff he did. I also got a crepe after class but I went for the sugar instead of the nutella banana because it was cheaper and didn’t walk to the good crepe place so it was not as good. Oops my bad, but the guy was really nice who I bought it from.

Then I went back home and dropped off my stuff and decided to go see what Madame and Paul were up to. I went down and Paul was watching some strange lego lion people show. It was not the greatest show but during it their mostly outside and skiddish, doesn't like loud people cat came and sat on my lap! I pet it and it was a very nice cat and likes me I guess which is nice because I really liked it. Very sweet. Her name is Stitch-ette. Like lilo and Stitch but she is a girl. I also learned instead of like electric id chips they tattoo the ears with an id number. Strange huh?
 

When the show was finished we decided to play Monopoly. I knew right then that bad things would happen. Here’s the deal. I kind of hate the game Monopoly because every time I play it, the game lasts too long and people get impatient or everyone gets bored or it just isn’t that fun and is more a math and money game than anything else. In short, I don’t really like it… In any case I knew this wasn’t going to go too well because Paul’s attention span isn’t very high as he is seven, and he likes to cheat a lot. So the way they play (I don’t especially play monopoly so my understanding of rules at home are not great) is that when you get doubles you move and then roll again. So Paul would take like three rolls per turn saying ech didn’t count until he got doubles. Of course only when he thought I wasn’t paying attention and when Madame was occupied with something else. He bought lots of properties and then was running out of money. He started not counting correctly on the board and also going really slowly on his turns. Madame was getting kind of frustrated and I was just like yep this game sucks in my head. Everntually Madame told him to hurry up and to play like he is supposed to. He stopped really watching the game unless it was his turn so we were constantly like having to bring his attention back to the game. It just wasn’t very fun. Eventually after Madame scolded him for not playing right and for being stupid and messing around which he really was and deserved it, he decided to quit. Madame said we would keep playing without him which he didn’t like. So then they fought over that. Then he said we could play but not with the things he had incase he changed his mind and she said no you play or not. So then they got in an argument.

I kind of felt like you do when you are at a friend’s house and their parent is yelling at them about something. You feel kind of awkward and put in the middle of something that is more of a private family matter. This one I saw both sides of it. But Paul is kind of crazy. Madame kept talking to me and saying wow he is so terrible and stuff like that so I was obligated to respond but like it didn’t feel right to Paul to be like talking about him right in front of him… I think that is a cultural thing though. They also don’t do private grades in school in France they are all done publically. But Madame even said like if you were my kid I wouldn’t accept this kid of behavior. Even after we put the game away and I said it was fine to just stop and be done, Paul kept like purposefully pushing her buttons. I would have like put him in time out or something. From what I have seen, they don’t really punish him and because he is an only child he gets catered to a lot. I think that may be a reason why he is so crazy and doesn’t respond to authority.

Also we used the same Monopoly board that Madame bought for Laurence when she was little. And they play where you can’t buy hotels or houses unless you own all of that color which I think is not like normal rules. 

After all that eventually Laurence and Jean-Claude came home. We had some red wine and chips and talked about them getting internet tomorrow because the guy had to get a part or something. Sooo boo.

After some cup with a coin under it game shenanigans we came upstairs. We had an improvised but delicious dinner of sausage and lentils. Tomorrow we are having pumpkin soup which must be interesting, and then on Thursday we are having the marinated chicken that I love! I am very excited! :-D I did some homework after dinner and then wrote my blog entry while laying with a heating pad. I am really sore in my legs lately from the increase in walking lately, which is only reminding me I need to book our reservations at the spa! Oh December why are you still so far away?

Cloisters and Naives

Today I woke up at 7:45 and unfortunately had to drag myself out of bed. I was still really tired so I don’t know if I am just worn out or if I am fighting to not be sick or what. But it was really hard to drag myself out of my warm bed and into the cold of the world. I ate some breakfast and as it got closer to eight I decided I was in the clear to shower. I know now I can’t shower at night but I have never thought about the morning and whether it has been okay. I figured though that if they can bang nails next door then I can shower. So I waited until 8. I took a quick one and am already missing the hotel shower… That is something I am wishing I had…

I got all my stuff together and (after getting dressed) went off to school. I put my laptop in my locker and then ran upstairs to get my mail. I have been expecting a letter from Thad but I also found an orange envelope from the family. I happily put them in my bag and headed to the cathedral which is where my class was meeting again today. It was rainy but I found a dry spot to sit and read my letters. I opened the one from my family and it was a Halloween card. It was nice J I was glad to get it. Then I opened my letter from Thad which he had sent a few days before break so I have known it would be there when I got back. Which is nice to get because I haven’t really gotten to talk to him in over a week… Hopefully tomorrow… with the new internet. I miss him…

Then we went into the Cathedral for class and looked and talked about the naives and the cloister. It was cool and kind of interesting but less cool than the last time that we went to the cathedral. This time we spent most of our time talking about the different architectural things and the names of them. It was more boring because of that but I did learn some cool things such as that in the gothique period was when they started doing the big stained glass windows because before that the arcs that they were making were so heavy that if they put a window in the arc would fall because it wouldn’t be supported well enough. That was a bit of a cool fact and made a lot of sense to me.

The cloister was really pretty and was made of a square of columns that used parts of old gravestones and older elements of stone. It was kind of cool and each side of the square of columns signified something different. There was the Old Testament, the New Testament, the early history of the church, and the history of this church specifically in the 12^th century when the cathedral was done or added onto.

After class I went to grab a baguette because I was really hungry. I went to my locker and grabbed my laptop and then went down to the cave. Cassandra was there so I talked to her a bit about our breaks and she gave me a muffin that was really delicious but very crumbly. She went to Germany to see a friend. I pawned off my gross smelling soap to her. It isn’t really gross just too unfamiliar to me so every time I smell it on myself I get confused. So I am going to buy something more familiar. After a while she went to class and I watched some of Spencer’s videos. I tried to buy a hot chocolate from the machine but it was out of powder so all I got was hot water… I put a sticky note up so no one else would experience my disappointment, of not getting a hot chocolate on a rainy day. I also put a bunch of photos up on Facebook of Barcelona and added a bunch to my Paris blog posts. I didn’t get to putting them on my Barcelona posts but that is a task for tomorrow. Or another day. But today I did that until Cassandra got done with class at 2 and we went to find her some food. I wasn’t hungry after my baguette… oops I ate the whole thing. No half loaf sale :-P But you can do that in France no problem or judging! (That’s why I like France!) But we walked to the pasta place and I ran into Monopo to get a bottle of water. The water in the not very cold cooler is 1.75 but upstairs for three times as much water that is virtually just as cold is 61 cents. That’s something they don’t tell tourists but you have to figure out for yourself. We went to her pasta place and she got pasta and I got speculoos tiramisu. It was really delicious but less creamy and thicker from the last time I had it.

After that we went back to the school and she started eating gummies she got from Germany. They were really good but like the most random shapes. There were bears, churches, hearts, guns, diamonds, dots, and oranges all in the same bag, talk about a really weird mix of shapes! They were very delicious though. We hung out in the cave while I did some homework for my next class. Then Jonny came in just as I was leaving and I asked if he was doing anything this weekend because it is a three day weekend with Armistice Day (Same as the street I live on!). I was thinking maybe I could figure out something for me and that group to do after some of us get back on Saturday night. But that was just a little idea. I had to run to class.

We got our midterms back today and I did pretty badly… I got a D+ but with the curve a C. So… yeah not so good. But luckily I was kind of pegging myself there so it really wasn’t a surprise. I knew I hadn’t done too well. And again it was the stupid verb tenses! I am going to have to ask her about that because it really is my biggest problem in French. I know lots of vocabulary and how to make the verb tenses but don’t understand their English equivalencies or how to tell which to use. So that’s a problem… We corrected the test and once we started I did really well at guessing what it should be and such. I think it was just a bad combination of the break coming up and having used all my brain power on the midterm that day before this one and then not thinking very clearly. So that is my excuse… The rest of the class was pretty chill and easy. There were only 5 of us today because 3 of the others were absent because a lot of peoples parents and stuff are here because of the break. I wish my peoples were here because of the break…

I am really homesick right now probably because I just did all the cool stuff I have really wanted to do and now am like okay time to leave! Or I know that there are only 6 weeks left and now I am like okay time to be done! Or maybe I just miss talking to people I really know… In any case I am homesick again. It seems to be a thing though as other people are saying the same thing. Also maybe because everyone’s parents are here…

Over the break I have heard that a lot of people got their stuff stolen, their bank cards eaten by ATM’s, and losing their passports and iPhones. I am very glad that none of these things happened to me. I wonder how like careful some of these people were being though… Some seem not the type who would even think of a backup plan. I however had a back up bank card in my luggage and another on my person. Also I didn’t bring my passport but a photo copy. So go me?

I came home and was unlocking the door just as Madame opened it. She asked if I had work and I said no so she said go se Paul and I will be back in a minute. I went upstairs and Jean-Claude and Laurence were there with Paul too. He lost another tooth. Also Laurence has been sick. But sick to a French person is like… a cold. So we stayed and had chips and red wine down there and talked about my trips and Paul went crazy as normal. He showed me his Halloween costume and their apartment was decorated for it. It was fun and enjoyable. Then Paul started to get too crazy so we came back upstairs for dinner. Paul ran up and stayed for a few minutes before Madame kicked him out.

For dinner we had a VERY delicious minestrone soup with vegetables! It was VERY good I really liked it. We had bread and cheese. Madame bought a huge camembert because she knows I like it. Not I feel obligated to eat lots of it. Oh darn… Then we had ice cream bars and watched I don’t even know what on TV until she got tired and went to sleep and I stayed up to finish my blog and talk to dad! :-)

OH! I almost forgot. At Dinner Madame asked if i wanted to go to another family birthday for Elise and Matisse in Orange on Sunday and Return Monday Morning. So that is the plan for my weekend after my class trip! Its at Madames ex-husbands house. Should be fun!

The Day of Sleep

Today I woke up at 8, went to the bathroom and then immediately went back to bed. I woke up at ten and decided I guess I should probably get up even though all I want to do is sleep. I woke up and had breakfast and then talked to Madame a bit before she left saying I don’t know when I am going to be back. I said hm okay. So then I did my history homework and read a bit before saying well its like 12:30 and she will probably be coming back soon so I should go get lunch so as not to be awkward and not be scolded for staying in all day. So I went to the school to use the internet but the school is closed on the weekends so I had to sit outside. I messaged Cassandra and she was back so I asked if she wanted to do lunch and she said sure give her an hour. It was really cold and I didn’t wear enough layers so I could feel myself being in a position where I would get sick. So after 35 minutes Cassandra was still online so I asked her how much longer she would be. She said probably another hour. I said What are you even doing that is taking you so long? She said Oh I’m watching Downton Abbey.

… WHAT. I even told you I am sitting here outside in the cold by myself waiting for you 35 minutes ago. And then you don’t have the decency to pause your show? … Okay. So I said whatever I’m going to get lunch and I’ll see you tomorrow. I was pretty annoyed… I didn’t even wait for her to respond back I was just like screw it and left. I went and got a piece of Pizza from a place and then headed back home. After being out for over an hour and a half I was hoping Madame would have come home so that it looked like I had been out a while. She wasn’t home though.

Plan ruined. But then I started reading. After about 10 pages I fell asleep. The book was being really boring. I slept for another two hours and then woke up and said whoops I better not fall back asleep or I won’t sleep tonight! Then I fell asleep for another hour and a half… Oops. Must be tired from all this vacationing. I read another 30 pages, got half way through the grand inquisitor scene and said “Really this is what I have been waiting for the last 300 pages for?” And then I got bored half way through and watched a movie on my iPod. After that finished I finished that scene and read a little farther on. I’m still about 50 pages ahead of where I am needed to be but that is less of a lead than I wanted so I will probably read a bunch tomorrow too. Maybe. Madame came home at about 8 and said she had run into her friends and they had gone to Marseille for the day. I said oh that sounds fun!

Then we had dinner of ham and avocado to start, followed by cordon bleu and green beans. It was good minus the avocado. We ate and then watched this like show where people do stupid stuff and get hurt. Kind of like funniest home videos but like less commentated. It was interesting. Then we watched a stupid comedy movie that was so dumb I really didn’t watch it. I used 2 minutes of free internet. Then it kicked me off. :-/ Which is weird because it was the Orange internet that I used to have a pass for all last month but then it never worked. And now SFR isn’t working… How weird. I am almost tempted to buy some… But we get internet on Tuesday… so I feel like that is stupid. But mom just told me y cousin and Grandpa and Bill and Kathi are there now… And I could Skype them… Hmmm. The question isn’t the money it’s whether I should tell Madame I am buying a day’s worth. Because then I would have to explain why I have internet when my month has expired… Hm. 

Last day in Paris

This morning we woke up at 9 to be gone by 9:30 which sort of worked. We got all our stuff and left at 9:40. We smartly figured out how to leave our luggage at the Louvre because we couldn’t take it with us to the Eiffel Tower but the Louvre has a baggage check place which is free if you have a ticket and with our Paris Pass we did. We dropped off our stuff and then headed to the Eiffel Tower. Getting between these two places by Metro isn’t easy though so by the time we switched metros twice and stuff we were a bit late to our time but they let us through anyways. There were SOOOO many people in line so I was really glad that I had bought our tickets earlier. We would have been there forever. We went up to the second level by elevator and then went up to the top. It was really cool to know I was on the Eiffel tower, and the view was good. But it was a little like hey this is almost the same view from the tower from the first day but missing the coolest part of the city… Because we are on it. There was a champagne store at the top but I said heck no! It was 10 bucks a glass!

It was really cool to do the Eiffel Tower and I’m glad I did it. I think it would have seemed cooler if I was with someone more romanticy. In fact that would go for all of Paris. But hey I had a good time. After that we went to lunch at a Café/restaurant and I had a delicious burger and then we headed back to the Louvre to get my bag. It was hard to find the metro stop and I was getting really freaked I would miss my train. We found it and then metroed back. Grace didn’t have to leave until like 5 so she stayed and walked around another part of the Louvre. I went and got my bag, said bye to Grace, and then headed back onto the Metro. I found the stop I needed and got there easily. I got a little turned around looking for the train but I eventually found it. There were a ton of people getting on it though. Also I sat in first class again but this time on the top of the train. It was fun. I watched movies on my iPod and contemplated my life. 

 

The train ride went by pretty quick and then I was back at the AIX tgv station. I took the bus back to Aix an d then arrived home. I talked to Madame a little and then Paul came up and “helped me unpack”. Then Paul left and Madame made “la raclette au fromage”. It was pretty good but SOOO much cheese. We had it with potatoes and some special hams. You melt the cheese in like a thing and then put it on your potatoes, but more cheese than potatoes. It was good don’t get me wring but toooo much cheese for me to handle. It was fun though. And Madame liked making me something new. We watched Password before dinner and then after we watched Fort Boyard. Now I am so tired I’m going to go pass out!

Its not Paris unless you are Lost

So today we woke up around nine and decided that we wanted to go to the Music museum but then we learned it didn’t open until noon. We had nutella and bananas using a broken plastic cup as a knife. So we decided to go look at the Opera house and see if they had a tour we could go on even though it wasn’t one of the days listed in the guide. We headed out there and played and made faces with a funny kid in a stroller who was very friendly and noisy. Then we learned we could take an English tour (free with Paris pass) in about half an hour. We went outside and stumbled upon a Lindt chocolate store. We went in hoping for free samples (nope) and then decided to get chocochinnos . They were good and very chocolatey. Also lots of just like free flowing chocolate in there.

We took a tour of the 13^th Opera house because all the others burned down. Its here that a lamp fell on the person in the 13^th chair and killed her. But the story has been changed to a him and the him is the Phantom of the Opera. So now there is no number 13 chair. Kind of funny all of the 13’s… But it was supppper gorgeous and our guide was really funny. We took lots of pictures and got to see a principal dancer in rehearsal on stage. We were forbidden to take pictures of it but naturally I did… It was relly awesome though.

Then we went to a Gluten Free place Grace found online and they only had fish and there was a mix up so they brought me some so I gave it to grace and ate some of the zuccinni it was on. Then we split a piece of cake and a piece of cheese cake. It was delicious cake. Then we went to our wine tasting which was really fun. We met a nice couple from Illinois who the husband had surprised his wife with the trip. It was clear they were pretty rich but they were really nice and conversed with us. Then I was kind intoxicated which I did not really want to be but I hadn’t eaten much. This is kind of where things got weird because Grace was going with the flow and I was not really making a decision on what to do so we tried taking a subway and I ate a bag of chips to try and get something to take up the alcohol. We got off at the champs elysee named metro stop but then it wasn’t actually near it at all. So then we looked at the Grand Palace which was just a big emptry cool looking building. We jumped on a red tourist bus which we had passes for. We sat on top but then it was freezing and started raining so we got off at the next stop which was at a marine/boat museum place. We went in there because we could and used their bathrooms and then walked around. We think that they had prettier paintings than the louvre and lots of cool little boat miniatures.

We then decided we should go to the perfume place. We jumped around on the metros and then found it. It was actually the same perfume place I went to in Eze. It was closed but the boutique was open so we smelled some far too expensive perfumes. We went back past the lindt chocolate store and this time they had samples when we walked by so we popped in and took one and then left. Then we went to a store that looked like it was black Friday in there. We asked some sales guy what the heck was going on and if there was a big sale or something and he was like oh uh no its just a holiday and a Friday. So we said okay bye and went to au Printemps which was like equally as scary but also a big designer people store (Gucci, Fendi, Michael Kors, other famous things I have never heard of…). We promptly left because it was scary in there. Then we went back down the metro and one of the metro machines ate graces ticket so we had to get the guy to come make the machine give it back. Then we went towards the touristy part of town to go tourist shopping. Then we didn’t find any tourist shops so we got confused. We went to a McDonalds to use their bathrooms and wifi and then realized we were on the wrong side of the Seine. By the time we walked across it we went to two souvenir places and then were like nope we are done. We went to get some dinner to bring back to the hotel room. I bought a pizza and some stuff from the grocery store. Grace bought a little wine opener. We took the pizza on the metros with us which was comical because I had to turn it on its side. When we got home and ate food and chilled. I took a shower and then we tried to use a tiny bottle opener to open a bottle of wine we bought yesterday. It was really funny to try as the first hole we made just like came out all swirly like. Then we finally got it out without breaking the silly bottle opener. Then we just stayed in and chilled and talked and drank the wine really slowly and made tentative plans to drop off our bags in the Louvre tomorrow before going up the Eiffel Tower!

 

We literally were like retracing our steps all day which was silly because we didn't have a good plan. Now we are tired. Goodnight!