to make a long story short...

The last day in London, Sarah and I got rained on while looking for a souvenir shop that we'd been directed to by the lady in the internet cafe. We didn't find it, but we did find the Peter Pan statue. Unfortunately, my camera battery got charged after all of this.

The flight to Nice was lovely. When we got there, though, we discovered that they'd forgotten the luggage of most of the people on the flight, because the conveyor belts weren't working. (We still don't have our luggage.) We had a late dinner at the College and settled into our rooms. Sarah and I have a HUGE room, because it's supposed to be a triple, but there are only two of us.

Today, we had our placement tests. I think it's silly that I had to take one, because I'm obviously a beginner, but... c'est la vie. We also did orientation, and then went out for a bit to see the town. It's gorgeous here, and so cute in town! We're right on the Mediterranean. I really ought to go to sleep now, but I'll let you know about that luggage... ):

this is what happens when your luggage didn't get on the plane.

Mike: hey!
how's france?

moi: france itself is fine.
but
british airways sucks
and i want my clothes
noooowwwww
but it is 1am
alas.

Mike: haha
awww
you'll just have to go buy cute french clothes instead
clearly

moi: but they're costly!
like

Mike: and pretty!

moi: you look at the price in euros
and think
oh, that's actually... not bad at all
and then you remember the EXCHANGE RATE
and you cry.

Mike: lol
sorry for your puny american dollar
blame burnanke

london!

i am not going to capitalize anything because the shift key on the left isn't where it should be. ... which is disconcerting. we're in london!! yay! the internet in our hotel is not free, so we're at an internet cafe, and i'm running out of time to be on this computer. it was really nice out yesterday; it's hot today! yesterday we had chinese for dinner and were tiiiiiired all afternoon/evening. my roommate sarah and i watched the michael jackson story, then wife swap - british wife swap - then promptly went to sleep at 11. which was supernecessary, because the plane ride was uncomfortable. uhmm... so, yes. i like the people i'm hanging out with, even though i don't remember their names at the moment. today we saw cool things, like the changing of the guard and st. paul's cathedral. and i'm running out of time. we're going to see the peter pan statue later, and i'll have a camera battery then...

and tomorrow we go to france! and i can use my laptop with it's superior keyboard.

stateside.

Hello, all! I decided that the best way to keep in touch with people would be to just keep a blog about my adventures abroad. I'm pretty sure you (or I?) can have it set up such that it'll send you emails, if that's easier. But until you (or I) figure that out, you can come here to read it. I've just returned from the bookstore with a French phrasebook/dictionary, some headphones (mine died a long time ago, and the ones I got after that didn't take long to disappear), a pocket posh logic book for when the crosswords get too frustrating, and a new address book. It has owls on it! (:

The best way to reach me while I'm in France will probably be via Skype. You can download it free. It's basically... a phone in your computer. You can use it to "call" other Skype users when they (and you, of course) are online; you can also do voicechat if you have a webcam. My Skype account set so that people who aren't in my contacts list can't call me, but if you shoot me an email, I'll send you my skype username. I think you can also try searching for me, and I'll accept your friend request (if I like you enough!) I kinda hate using AIM, so if you'd like to chat via text, Gmail's chat is the best way to do that.

France is 6 hours ahead of the US (EST). That means that when you get home from work around 6, it'll be midnight where I am, and I might be sleepy. Or I might not. We'll see! It also means that when you are up early for work at 6am, I'm eating lunch. I don't know my class schedule yet (I'm taking beginning French), but I think I'll probably be around between 8pm and 11pm-ish... that's 2 in the afternoon to 5 in the evening, home-time.

Most of my pictures will be on facebook, but I'll post some here, too.

I think that's all? I also really appreciate mail, if you feel so inclined to send me a letter. When I get an address, I'll let you know via email.

Tomorrow, I pack. Yikes! Laundry time...

Last thing, guys: stop saying it wrong. It doesn't rhyme with Don. It rhymes with something in between pan and Ken, because French accents are difficult. My French friend Philippe says so, the people from the program say so, and this website says so. So, there. (: