Days 3-6

By now I have purchased a good working alarm clock which, of course, I normally don't actually need to wake up, but I love it anyway because I have never had to use an analog alarm clock that I had to set myself, so the process will always remind me of France I think. Also, I have become completely accustomed to my 4-5 minute showers because that is how much "hot" water I have. I guess the French are just super ergonomical in the shower because I can barely wash my hair in that time! When I went to shave I most literally had to turn the shower off for the whole process and had it on just to rinse when necessary.

Also just a weather update: It is never over about 75 degrees, but it spends most of its time in about the 50-60s, completely rainy and very very windy thanks to the bordering ocean. In fact, when I arrived we had three straight days of sunshine and everyone was commenting on how weird it was to see the sun so much and now I know why! Since it disappeared I haven't seen the sun, and the wind absolutely never stops blowing here. In fact my container (yes I am referencing my home) is not very sound proof to the wind so I hear it constantly all night long, though I kind of like it when it isn't too ridiculous. What I do not like is how cold I am all the time - first of all no one in our apartment complex will have access to heating until October, but mainly just because I left the extremely warm United States and arrived in a more-than-temperate maritime France, so my body and mind aren't adjusted quite yet. I actually was wearing my lighter coat around today.

So, a new topic. (I just apologize that this is just such a conglomeration of thoughts, but I wanted to get my "catch-up" out of the way so I can get on to telling you about my days as they happen). What I have had to do since I arrived in France:

• Go to the bank and open an account. In France, by the way, it is impossible to deposit any money when you open your account, so my account has all these monthly payments agreed to on it, but no money in it yet... the system is so stupid.
• Buy "Assurance Habitation" this is my insurance for where I live, my box. 
• Get my "R.I.B." from the bank (this is my Bank Identity in France). This is the piece of paper that you have to present everywhere if you want to do anything, I am not kidding. Even though I have no money in the bank, this sheet shows that I have an account, therefore I have an official location where charges can be sent, so I can proceed through the French bureaucracy. 
• Sign a contract for my housing. This is needed in order to get internet, but in order to sign the contract you need to have your RIB, and in order to get that you have to open the bank account....
• Buy tokens in order to use the washing machine. One token does one load in the washer only and costs you 1.80 Euros.... AHH!
• Set up payment for my electricity. In order to do this I must go in person to the centre ville and present myself to the company with my RIB (no I am not kidding, the stupid RIB again) and my housing contract. Then I was told that since the person who lived here before me somehow never set up her account I had to go all the back, collect some information from my circuit board, and return. In fact, I have to go back tomorrow. 
• Register with the university. They make each student do this every year, even if you are a returning student, and all the information is entered by hand from a document that we have to fill out. In order to register you have to provide your own identity photo, though they take another one for your student card, and pay your social security fees if you come from a country outside the European Union. 
• Get a "Carte CROUS". CROUS is the social service department in France for university students. Therefore it is required that I get a carte CROUS in order to buy any of my food from a university restaurant. Then I found out that for students who had just opened their first accounts with LCL (the bank that I used) you could get the credit for 20 free meals on your card. I therefore had to go back to the bank, ask for an attestation that I could get the 20 free meals, and then return with yet another filled out document in order to get my carte CROUS. 

And there are probably a whole lot of other things that I just can't think of right now because it is super late and I absolutely have to go to bed. I'll try to keep up on my blog posts as of tomorrow though... Bonne Nuit!