November pre-Nice continued

Well here is a continuation of what I have been up to before Thanksgiving weekend when I went to Nice.  As usual I will give you the highlights from what happened during these few days. 

Lundi le 14 novembre:

Shelley’s class, homework, dinner, put up some blog entries and nothing much other than that.

Mardi le 15 novembre:

So when I woke up this morning the electricity was not working in my room or my side of the hallway!  It was a pleasant surprise when I got up this morning and tried to turn on the light in the bathroom and it wasn’t working.  (I’m being sarcastic if you can’t tell).  Anyways I got ready for school and left a note for Perrine, my roommate, asking her to tell the people at the front desk because I didn’t have time before going off to school.  I had my language class and got a test back and did rather well so that was exciting (I’m easily pleased lol!).  Anyways I was going to take the bus to the CROUs for lunch but it was going to take forever so I walked and it was freezing!  I thought I was going to turn into a human ice cube!  I thankfully got to take a bus back to school because the wait wasn’t a ridiculous amount.  I got to drink wine in my afternoon class because we were learning about different regions of France and it was fun.  Definitely not something that would ever happen in an American University.  I could very much get used to a class like this.  After class I then went to my bénévolat and helped out a student with his English homework.  We got out early so I went home to work on my presentation for Thursday.  When I got back the electricity was working!  That was awesome!  I ate dinner with Sophia and we chatted for quite some time so I didn’t get as much work done as I wanted but oh well.

Jeudi le 17 novembre:

Well today I had my presentation and that went fine.  It is done and over with so that is good.  After class I went and got some lunch and that was fine.  I had my old people conversation (as I like to call them) and that went well.  I also treated myself to a delicious crumble aux pommes and I was eating it while walking down the street and this random lady said “bonne appétite,” it was rather funny.  Normal people don’t eat while walking down the street but it was too tempting to not nibble on it while heading to the bus stop.  I got home and tried out this new program that I downloaded which allows me to watch French dvds and it worked which was super exciting!  So if you ever plan on going abroad and buying foreign films make sure to download VLC Media Player (the best part is it is free).  Well now that I have given my little promotion for them I guess I will move onto a new day in November.

Vendredi le 18 novembre:

So today I went shopping with Kacey and we went to H&M and I got a warm scarf.  We then walked around a bit and stopped at the fnac where I picked up a movie and then said goodbye because I had to get home to skype with the lovely Allison.  It was fun getting to skype with my friend from Central and just catching up.  I then talked with Maissie on facetime so that was fun.  I eventually had dinner because it was late and I was starving.

Samedi le 19 novembre:

Did grocery shopping today as most Saturday mornings are spent.  As usual, I was sitting on my bed and was working on something and fell asleep.  When I woke up from my nap I got up and decided to go to le Musée l’Orangerie where there are Monet’s waterlilies.  It was rather crowded with rich American tourists but the paintings were just breathtaking.  I could have easily sat there for hours and stared at them.  I then walked around by la Seine and saw a gorgeous sunset (sorry no pictures because I hadn’t received my new camera yet).  It reminded me of how beautiful Paris is.  I walked some more along the Seine and happened upon the Christmas markets on the Champs-Élysées.  I only looked at them briefly because there were so many people!  It was super crowded and I just wanted to go home at that point.  I made it home and ate dinner with Sophia and Alessandro.  Some really nice German girls shared their cake that they made with us.  I then just hung out.

Dimanche le 20 novembre:

Bon anniversaire Maissie!!  In honor of Maissie’s birthday I ate a pain au chocolat that was delicious.  I then went to church in the afternoon and ran into Clayton, a guy from my program, after church at the coffee area.  We talked for a while and then he had to head back to his foyer to work on homework.  I also ran into Stephanie and Mar from church and we walked to the metro together and then I went home and eventually worked on homework.

Lundi le 21 novembre:

Well today I was on cloud 9.  I got my package from my parents with my new camera!!  I was super nervous that I wouldn’t get it in time for Nice however I did and will now be able to take pictures again.  I went to lunch and then went to the Central office for Shelley’s class.  She told us that tomorrow we get to skip classes to go get our carte de séjour which lets us stay in France.  One needs this along with a visa.  I had to go out afterwards and buy a 55 euros stamp and take some wonderful id photos at a photomaton.  After I got all that done I worked on homework and booked my hotel for going to Strasbourg for the Christmas markets!  I was super stoked about that.

Mardi le 22 novembre:

Well today I went off to the immigration office to get my sticker in my passport saying that I can stay in the country and that I don’t have TB.  It was an interesting experience to say the least.  I got there in plenty of time even though I woke up late.  It was like being at the DMV.  I walk up the stairs and there is a HUGE line!  I had to talk to some people at the front desk and they said that I then would have to wait until they called my name.  Let me tell you I am so thankful that my parents named me Amelia because the French can pronounce it and I can understand them when they call my name!  I waited for quite a while and then they called my name and they took me to another room with a ton of people and I had to sit and wait there until a nurse called my name.  So today consisted of a lot of sitting and waiting.  I got weighed and did an eye exam thingy which was kind of funny because I am so used to doing it in English that I started saying some of the letters in English but had to remind myself to say them in French.  I then went back into the waiting room and waited some more.  I then had to get a chest x-ray for TB and that was the most awkward thing ever.  If you want more details you can ask me in person when you see me, it is too awkward to put on here.  Anyways I got my chest x-ray and then had to go and sit and wait some more to talk with a doctor and she asked a bunch of questions and gave me my x-ray.  I now have a souvenir, lol!  After I was done talking with her I had to sit and wait some more and the receptionist called my name and then I got to go back into the first waiting room and wait some more.  I finally got my sticker saying I can stay in France!  I then went home and had some lunch and went to my afternoon class.  I had wine in class again and ate a ton of different types of cakes.  It was delicious.  I then went to bénévolat and then went to Bible Study and was late but that is ok.  It was really good and afterwards they had pie for Thanksgiving!  I got to have pumpkin, apple, and chocolate!  It was all delicious!  When I went home I wasn’t hungry for dinner.

Mercredi le 23 novembre:

Today was a regular day and I went to school and whatnot and that wasn’t super exciting.  I was having major difficulties trying to stay awake in my afternoon class.  I went home on the bus and there were a lot of families.  There was one family with 6 little girls and they were very chatty but super cute!  I also got a Thanksgiving day card from my family and was super excited about that.

Jeudi le 24 novembre:

Happy Thanksgiving!  Or as it is in France, Happy Regular Day (no holiday to celebrate here).  Today I went to class and my old people conversations.  We talked about how we celebrate Christmas in our countries.  It was interesting though because the majority of the students in my group are Asian and don’t celebrate Christmas.  Afterwards I went home and worked on laundry and skyped with the Tobeys and my family who were all together for Thanksgiving.  It was nice.  I then went out to a Mexican restaurant with Ang and Kacey and that was fine, nothing special.  I then went home and went to bed since it was getting late.