Back from London!

Well other than the fact that I broke my record for the longest time ever without sleep, I really really really had a great time visiting London. To be honest I even really enjoyed the travel, but I'll get to that in a bit.

Overall, my Friday started off at 6:30 in the morning when I got up to go to class. I only got about 4 1/2 hours of  sleep because I tried to get some of my homework done before leaving for the weekend. This is relevant because it, of course, is the starting point for my lack of sleep. At 11pm I left my shipping container to meet up with Yubo and his friends who would be my travel group, as I knew no one else in the large group because they were mostly from other other classes or another university (Rouen). One of his friends was Benoit, who I ended up spending all of the day in London with as Yubo was constantly getting distracted and was not an efficient traveling buddy (= (I'll get there too). I just wanted to introduce Benoit so you weren't all confused for the rest of the story. We left Yubo's apartment at midnight and headed to La Maison de l'Etudiant, a building a part of the campus, where we got on the bus to start our journey. And so it began.

Within about 45 minutes, everyone one the bus was asleep except our group of four, because we were talking, and by about an hour and half it was just Benoit and I talking and Yubo listening to music/sleeping. It was good that I ended up sitting next to Benoit because I could not sleep at all and neither could he, so I ended up speaking conversational French for 4 hours! It was the coolest thing. I have never ever ever had the opportunity to speak French conversationally before in my life like that. Normally you tell little stories about what you did yesterday, or what the weather's like, or what homework is due, but you don't get the opportunity to just talk like that. To be honest I don't even remember all of what we talked about, but I certainly remember talking about sleeping habits because we were both so impressed that everyone could sleep on the bus. I could not at all, though we did take sporadic breaks to try, especially since we were in the very first row of the bus and there was a cloud of heat from the driver's controls that kept us quite warm, uncomfortably so actually. Either way by the time we arrived in Calais, where we went through border control and boarded our ferry (in the bus because we kept our bus with us in England) I felt like I had just witnessed and improvement in my French in 4 hours. It suddenly seemed like the natural language to be speaking. It was, as I said, a really cool experience.

Once we were on the ferry we did less talking because Yubo and his other friend (whose name I have forgotten) were asleep within minutes, and Benoit had foudn a couch and so was able to sleep as well. Me I first went to the bathroom where I could take care of putting in my contacts and doing my make-up (because I started the trip with none because I thought I might sleep...) because after the ferry trip we would be back in a bus and then arrived in London, and I did want to look somewhat normal, even with no sleep, in my London pictures. When I cam back everyone was asleep so I tried to curl up in a chair but that didn't work either. Even though I was exhausted, all in all I think I got about 30 minutes of "sleep" between all 6 hours of bus rides and that ferry trip on the way to London. Before leaving the ferry I did go up to the top deck, but as we did all of travel during the night, I really couldn't see anything except the distant lights of England and the water right by the boat. It was still cool though. I have never been on a ferry like that before.

After the ferry ride, we had our remaining 2 hours of driving to get to London, and during that trip Benoit and I did continue to talk a bit, though we tried a little harder to sleep during that part of the trip - to no avail I might add. I just suck at it, I do not understand how people do it - I simply cannot. When we arrived in London we were literally at the foot of the Big Ben and the giant ferris wheel, where we were served a complimentary breakfast of a croissant and orange juice (very typical French breakfast) before being sent off on our own ways. To start off the trip it was the four of us and also the director of the trip because Yubo had been in charge of a lot of the details, meaning that he and the director were basically always together, and the director was young, so it wasn't like some random adult was hanging with us, haha. But unfortunately our group grew bigger by one person who had already lost the person she came with (we are talking like within 5 minutes) and so they were looking for her. She was responding to texts and all, she just had gotten turned around I guess.. either way, I wasn't in London to stand around and look for a girl who got herself lost in 5 minutes, so I was a little mad, but obviously I wasn't going to go off on my own. Well, we were quite close to Westminster station and we bought day-long metro passes and finally we got going. I saw that we were quite close to Westminster Abbey, so I suggested that we start there, and they said we would, and that we would take a bus to get there, and I was surprised because they started walking the opposite direction and also the sign had the person symbol on it which usually means "within walking distance" I told them this about three times but Yubo and the director just insisted this was better. Finally, after never actually having taken a bus, we arrived at Picadilly Square, (which is really funny to hear the French try to pronounce) and there was a map and they were like "oh we were wrong, sorry" I mean, it was fine because I saw another part of London I was just frustrated because the two of them (Yubo and Director) were always too busy talking to listen you know what I mean? After that we went to Buckingham Palace to watch the changing of the guards, and after waiting about 30-45 minutes (so that we would have a good position they informed us that it wasn't going to happen today. We still have no idea why, so that was a bummer, but I mean, I still saw the palace and the guards. But, after that, Benoit and I could no longer find Yubo, Director, and rest of group so we tried calling and texting but our service was a bit slow, so finally we decided to go off to keep exploring because I wasn't going to waste my day looking for them. Later when we spoke to them about it they claimed to have looked for us, but we know that they left before we did because of the texts we exchanged, so basically we ended up with a divided group, but I was super grateful in the long run because Benoit and I were much more efficient and saw so much!

At this point it was already about 1 in the afternoon, so we started with lunch (because the others ate without us) and we did a Chinese buffet which was quite good. Even though it was Chinese food it reminded me of America which was good. That was my gastronomical goal in London, to eat something American. Then we went on to see the London Bridge and the Tower Bridge (which is the really famous one) and walked around to see London Tower, which is quite a cool chateau-looking building. After that we went to St Paul's cathedral, which was probably the most gorgeous cathedral I have ever seen. And now that I have done some more touring of France, combined with some of what I saw as a 10-year-old, I have a decent repertoire built up, and this one was by far the most astonishing and beautiful. Also, it was cool to stand in the place were Will and Kate got married. We stayed and listened to "the singing of the choir" which was at 5, but to be honest we both determined that we needed to leave because we were falling asleep in our seats because we were just so exhausted (at that point I had been awake for 34 and a half hours) and the pretty music was too much for us to overcome. As it was I had to wake him up for an exit on the metro and we only had about a three-stop ride. We were just really getting tired near the end. After the cathedral we went to Westminster Abbey and saw it all lit up at night. Then we returned and saw Big Ben at night, and took a little walk over the bridge so we could say we crossed the river, because we had previously stayed entirely on the other side. We had dinner at KFC (SOOOOOOOOO good, I seriously have been aching for American food for so long) and at 9 we were all back on the bus and on our way to Le Havre.

Funny story though, about being in London... I sucked at speaking in English!! I am not even kidding. I spoke to four different people in French by accident, and that is if you only count actual sentences. I don't think I said "excuse me" once, it was all "pardon" (with the French accent) and I said merci instead of thank-you and on and on... so if you count all those people then I sprolly spoke to a thousand people in French while in England, even though I am an anglophone! But, as for the four that I really spoke French to, the first was when I ran onto a bus to ask for directions to the nearest metro stop, because we couldn't find one. I ran on and said the entire sentence in French and then I was like - "Oh my gosh I'm sorry"....and I restated the question in English, but the guy must have thought I was French because he tried to respond to me in French with a simple "gauch, droit" Meaning go left then right, but still I can officially say that I, an anglophone, asked for direction in London, in French, and got responded to in French. Yeah, I suck. Then I asked someone if I could take a picture for them (because it was a couple trying to take a picture of themselves) and I asked and they didn't respond, and then Benoit looked at me and said "anglais" and I was like "oh crap" in my head and I re-asked in English (on the bright side they prolly thought I had an amazing American accent, haha) and I also responded twice to the waiter for our lunch (even though it was a buffet) where I asked a question in English, but then followed with a French response, and I also said something in French to the woman taking my order at KFC even though I tried so hard to remember to speak in English. I guess I am just really out of the habit! even though it is so embarrassing that I kept using French to speak to people in England, I guess it speaks well of my immersion here in France. Also, I don't think it helped that I spent all day speaking French with Benoit. either way, because of all that immersion -- it ended up being a total of like 36 hours of travel -- I vote this as one of my favorite trips ever because I got the best French-speaking experience yet since I've been in France, and I got to do some fun touring at the same time. C'étiat génial!

On the way back I tried to sleep and I achieved a little better than before but mostly I was just trying and failing the entire way back. For the last two hours Benoit and I ended up talking again because by then we had officially given up. We arrived in Le Havre at 7:20 in the morning, and I was back to my box by 7:50 and asleep a bit after 8. Given that, I went 50 hours straight without sleep. That is my record, and I hope never to have the occasion to beat it. (=

Already it is 1:25 in the morning and I have class tomorrow and a bit of homework to do, so I should be off to bed. Here are a few picture for you to enjoy though:

Me blending in the with red phone booths. I loved them!

This is the London Tower, and it has an ice rink right beside it (left-hand side)

This is me in front of the Tower Bridge. I was starting to show my 40+ hours by then I think haha

Happy Thanksgiving (for real)

Well just a quick update from my part... Tam and I officially put in hours 10-15 today (and I am saying 10-15 hours in this just week) towards our presentation for Geo de la France and it still isn't done. We are, on the bright side, making progress though. I will be leaving for London tomorrow night so we won't be working on our presentation, which should be a nice break, though at this particular moment I have to be working on my presentation for Analyse de Données.... ahh! So much to do! But I should be taking a break when my friends get back to make some tacos by which to celebrate Thanksgiving. And even though there will be no warm hard taco shells, no sour cream, and no cheddar cheese... I am sure that they will be quite good. haha.

I just thought I would use my public communication network to honor my Dad's massive catch this morning down in Florida - a 49.5" bull shark. See the picture below. Apparently it was a 40 minute battle to land this baby, (just a wee bit longer than it took me to land my 15" puppy shovel nose shark...)

Here is the shark just hanging in the boat.... Notice the cooler next to it!

Here is the shark next to a 12" fillet knife. Congratulations Dad!

Ok. Well I am off to get some homework done so that I can merit my mini vacation this weekend. 

PS. I am arriving in London via ferry, which I just think is so so so cool.... I just hope I don't have problems with seasickness. Hopefully all will go well though, because I am really looking forward to this little excursion!

Thanksgiving!

Well tomorrow is Thanksgiving, and I think we will be doing some sort of get together out here in the the shipping containers to celebrate but I am not really sure what since we have no oven (no turkey, no pie, no stuffing...) But we will work something out I'm sure. I guess this is just one instance where the thought really should count.

I played in a badminton tournament today. Unfortunately it was singles and I was the only girl that showed up.... yeah, way to go for my gender's representation!!! But, not so way-to-go in terms of performance. I am not entirely sure what the French guys eat for breakfast but OH MY GOSH! They were so good at badminton ! To be fair, in my pool I actually did win one of my games, but seriously, I have never felt so incompetent in my life at a sport that I am generally decent at. These guys were phenomenal. I didn't even know that you could put that much skill into a sport like badminton. I have officially crossed it off my list of prospective sports for going to the Olympics in. I always thought I would make a formidable olympic badminton player. Though I was not playing anyone of my noble sex, I still have decided that it is probably not a sport I can take to the super competitive level. That leaves only one olympic-bound sport for me: Equitation Freestyle. If I get rich enough to afford a horse of the necessary quality and can afford lessons as well, I think I might actually be able to compete in this area; and it is soooo wonderfully beautiful. If you have never seen Freestyle dressage routines, the idea is that you are dancing with your horse, to an entire routine set to music. I suggest the following youtube link if you want to check it out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zKQgTiqhPbw

Anyway back on topic. So badminton was fun. Also, I just found out that my classes got cancelled for tomorrow, so that is my little Thanksgiving treat!! I will still be getting up early though because Tam and I, as usual, will be continuing our work on our presentation for Geo France. I have gotten up before 8 every day this week though I have had none of my usual 8am classes due to weird cancellations specifically to continue work on this project. It is going slowly but thoroughly and I think in the end it will be a project we are proud of. At least I hope so. We will be giving a practice presentation on Monday, so I'll tyr to let you know how that goes.

The other thing I will be doing tomorrow is helping out our ISEP coordinator with the interviews for students who want to study abroad in America. They will be conducted in English to asses the candidates foreign language capacity. So anyway I thought that it would be fun to help out, so I am going to and I think I should rather enjoy myself.

Finally, everyone with a TV needs to make sure that they watch the ever so important MICHIGAN-OHIO STATE game this Saturday... I am too upset that I will miss it, because I hear we have a chance of winning this year! Ok, well it is late so I am going to get off to bed, so that I can get up bright and early, even though I have no classes tomorrow. Lame.

Just an Update on French Bureaucracy

I just thought that everyone would like to know that I am only just now actually receiving information regarding finalizing my payment into the Sécu (the French Social Security) and getting my card that represents my medical coverage. I would guess that I should have everything worked out within the next two weeks, but either way that means that I will have spent at least 3 MONTHS in France before their paperwork-bogged government could work out processing my payment and providing me with my proof of coverage. I suppose that it is all for the better that I haven't fallen seriously sick and had to deal with who knows how much more paperwork if you show up without the card.... Oh I do not even want to think about it. I would probably die of my appendicitis before they could finish having me sign all the necessary documents. Now, on the bright side, it should prolly only  cost me three and a half trees to claim my health benefits if I go to the doctor. How fantastic!

Also, it looks like there will be a little bit of a complication with David and I and leaving my shipping container because they are so crazy about what all has to be done. I have to write like 3 different letters to all the different places informing them that I will be leaving on "such and such a date" at "such and such a time" and it is looking like I will need to find a representative to stand in for me for the last evaluation of the "state of housing".... Anyway, I will keep you updated as things continue.

Finally, I am going to be spending Saturday in London, (WOOT) because through a group sponsored through  the school that one of my friends participated in, I can go there round-trip for the day for 29E!! Pretty undeniably awesome price, and I am excited because I have never been to England at all, so might as well see London once while I am so close!

Ok, well I am going to get some homework done so that I more merit the little vacation that I am going to get to take this weekend. Keep enjoying Thanksgiving all y'all Americans!

Getting Ready for Exams, Kinda

Well the exam weight is starting to feel heavier and heavier as I get closer and closer to December. Right now I am basically spending almost every free hour with Tam, my partner in Géographie de la France, working on our presentation, because not only is a relatively large and complicated presentation (in a foreign language) but it is also imperative that we get a fantastic grade on it because we need the security for our final exam, which is going to hard, really hard. And even more so for me because I am going to have to take the exam either within one hour of David arriving in Le Havre or during his arrival to Le Havre, depending on which train he manages to take. AHH, I do not know how I am going to be able to stay concentrated! So anyway, if I think I even have at all a chance of passing what is likely to be the hardest final exam I will ever take, with that kind of distraction, I am wrong, so it is super duper necessary that Tam and I rock the socks off of this presentation, which is equally weighted with the final.

But besides that class, I have a lot going on everywhere else too. I have a large presentation in Analyse de Données, which is due very soon, not this week but next, which seems to be coming along quite well, but is quite terrifying since it is worth 100% of my grade! I hope I pass!!! Then I have three exams, one for macro-econ, one for Recherche Marketing, and one for Management International and I am not entirely sure what I should study for them, but I am quite sure that I am going to have to memorize a lot before I take them, because when in doubt I figure it is best to make sure I know everything... hahahahahaha, except that I am not sure if my brain can hold everything necessary. I guess we will see. Then of course there is Chinese, the course for which I know exactly what I have to know and I know that it is simply too much for me to possible master. But I will try quite hard!! I will have my exam for Chinese on Tuesday the 13th of December, Macro-Econ the 14th, Recherche Marketing the 15th, and Geo France the 16th. I still do not know when I will be taking Management International because he wasn't sure last week, but I should know this Thursday. I think it would just be best for my sanity if I stopped thinking about all this. I am quite nervous about failing some of these exams and then bot being able to get credit back at Miami. That would be quite tragic because this is the key to me being able to graduate on time.

Ok, so new topic. I was speaking with some of friends over lunch about my accent, and how interesting it is how I can't hear it unless it is a recording of my voice (that is, I cannot hear my accent while I am in the process of producing the language, or speaking, but only when I have the opportunity to listen to myself). And then I noted that I hoped that my accent would get better while I spent more time in France... then they told me that my accent had already improved! I was super excited! Also it is unbelievable how many vocab words you learn on a daily basis. Today it was inondation (flood), economie herbagère (the act of farming based on grasses - livestock etc) and pipelines (pipelines), but technically speaking I had no idea that pipelines was the word for pipelines in French until today, lol. And in fact I am sure that there were others but I just can't think of them. And there will be more tomorrow, and the day after that, and the day after that. It is awesome being abroad in terms of vocabulary acquisition.

Oh, and one more topic for today. I got my first e-mail of the semester from Savoie, preparing my welcome for next semester. It was great, actually awesome, because I got to learn about the skiing excursion in the Alps. It will cost 110E but I think it is well justified because in fact it is actually combined with a 2ECTS course on winter/alpine economy/tourism/management or something like that, for 5 hours each morning, (actually this sounds quite interesting) then the afternoons are open for free unlimited skiing. And transportation and meals are included, including a special dinner gala. Also, I didn't know this until this e-mail, but this is the first year that foreign students have been invited to this, so I am more than excited to go. I think David is also planning on going, but in his case it is more to experience the skiing. Luckily, the classes will provide useful exposure to French no matter what. So anyway I am quite excited and I definitely plan on participating, assuming the finances hold up.

Finally, (sorry I thought of one more thing) I am starting the process of sensitizing my Miami professors to the courses I have taken abroad in the hope to receive transfer credit, at least as far as the business department is concerned. It is not as imperative that the courses in the French department be transferred as rapidly, because I know what I should get and therefore what I need to take to graduate. However, in order to secure an on-time graduation, it is extremely essential that I have certain classes transfer successfully (or know if they will not transfer) so that I can take what I need in order to fulfill credit requirements. I literally have just sent the first e-mail even asking if it would be possible to start this talk online while I am still abroad. The response may be no, and may have nothing more to say on the topic until later. But just letting you know.

Oh, and finally finally, I would like to wish all my American buddies a Happy Thanksgiving, since of course there is none out here, and I wish you a belly full of turkey. To Mom, Dad, Karen, Grammy and Grampy in Florida, to Mormor and Opa in Michigan, and to David and all of his family enjoying a splendid get together in.... Tennessee right? This is embarrassing but I have forgotten...

Eat up for me!

Another typical day in the classroom?

I meant to post this yesterday, because I thought it was so funny, but I was busy doing homework and writing my letters of appreciation to my scholarship donors and it was suddenly very late so I had to go to bed. Anyway, my very short but amusing story:

So yesterday morning Tam and I are in our 8am lecture for Géographie de la France, and I look down before the lecture had started and I see that instead of his usual computer and projector, today the teacher has brought a sort of "high-tech" traveling overhead projector. Yes ladies and gentlemen, I am referring to the old-school projectors which display individually printed overheads and pump out heat more effectively than most heaters. And he used it for the whole presentation. I just want to recall to everyone that I mentioned a month ago or so that there was an overhead projector that sits in the back of one of my classrooms, which was representative of the less frequent use of higher-level technology in France, even though it was never used. Well, now I can officially say that I had a lecture with an overhead projector. And all I really know is that if someone showed up at Miami with one, I don't even think that students could take them seriously. Not to mention I do not know where they would get there overheads printed.... oh nevermind, they probably haven't updated their lecture in years either.

So that was my story from yesterday, and I can tell you that today was quite a successful day as I got up early (even though I didn't need to because Wednesday is my day off of school) so that I could get together with Tam and work on our Geo presentation. And work we did. We still haven't actually put that much into the presentation because it takes so long to find the exact numbers, maps, charts, and correlations that support our statements or lead to an indicative comparison, but we are accumulating resources and we are making progress, three-and-a-half hours of progress, to be exact. Then after a small lunch I went and did my three hours of babysitting - the girls are wonderful and I look forward to my babysitting each week. And it will certainly be nice when I get paid... finally a little bit of pocket money!

In general I am entering a turbulent time in my academics because the semester is drawing to a close - ahhhhh I can't believe it - and therefore I have a lot of assignments due in the next few weeks, including three presentations and three exams (two of which will be given to me orally) for my business classes, and then whatever kind of test I'll have for Chinese. Definitely a lot of work ahead... but that is really the first time I can say that for the entire semester because the French school system just doesn't have a lot of homework. Though I will mention that as this semester is drawing to an end I am already starting to think about how much I am going to miss the friendships that I have made here when I go to Chambery... though part of me is excited because it will be a cute and typical French town, and I will get a perspective on a different French accent and a different French school so that I can better formulate my cultural judgments.

PS: (which technically isn't a post-script but oh well) David is accepted into his program of study abroad is is now working rapidly to do all that is necessary to come to France (such as go to Chicago and apply for a French visa) so wish him luck! And, excitingly,our host university has started preparation for our accommodation and so far it is looking quite good, like we will have a two-person studio to ourselves in Chambery; what fun!

Finally, I am looking into David and I's Christmas plans which became a little more complicated because of the changing timetables after December 11th. But hopefully everything will work out and we will get to spend some time in Italy and celebrate Christmas with family.

Even though it is only 8pm I am really tired and I will probably go to bed somewhat early. Part of me wants to get some homework done, and the other part of me just had so much fun thinking and writing in English that I don't want to go back to French just yet. I could always just sleep and break the tie.... (= Ok well, I'll keep you updated! Thanks for following along, and always thanks for your comments!

Lazy Weekend

Yes it is 1:30 in the morning here, but I realized that I need to be keeping up more regularly with my blog for two reasons: 1) Because I am sure that you, my readers, love keeping up with the happening, and 2) because I need this for not only my Gilman Scholarship follow-on project but also my "ongoing reflection" for receiving honors credit back at Miami. So here goes.

I didn't do much this weekend, even though I really have quite a bit of homework, but I just enjoyed staying up late and sleeping in. On the optimistic side I did start work on my part of the presentation for Analyse de Donnees (which took way longer than expected and is going to pose some problems in the near future as I continue working on it) Although, on the bright side, it is one of my courses that I am learning the most in and which has the most practical application into real life. I also did ample Chinese homework, as usual, because we have started into "food" which has, I am quite convinced, an infinite number of vocabulary words.

I will mention that I celebrated the French Labor Day, November 11th, meaning that I had no school, which was great because I stayed up into 4am the night before with my friends, first at a welcome banquet put on by the university for all the foreign students, and then a birthday party for one of the friends in my group at a discotheque. It was great fun, though I was thoroughly exhausted at the end of it. And I have completely thrown off my schedule, as you can witness by the fact that I am writing to you at 1:30 in the morning. That 6:30 alarm is going to be brutal tomorrow...

On that topic, I would give today an 80 on my emotional contentedness meter because I do not feel that I was productive enough (I didn't accomplish enough of my homework this weekend as a whole) and I am not looking forward to getting up tomorrow morning. Also I am a little stressed with the educational system here in France. I think I will add a page about it, actually. Documenting my first semester observation and my second semester observations so that I can make a comparison between schools and length of exposure. Yeah, that would be cool. Ok, I am off to bed because if not my body is going to kill me. (=

Etretat - The Mommy-Ellen Trip

Well I have been really busy since my mom left Le Havre, after having done no homework during the vacation. Anyway, now I am starting to feel caught up so I am taking the time to do my blog post. First, here are some pictures from Mom and I's Etretat trip... we managed to get good weather again! Everything was wonderful while we were there.

Me in front of the other side of the Chalk Cliffs.

View of the beach and little town of Etretat from the cliffs that I was just standing in front of in the picture above. So quaint if I may so so myself.

 

Mom and I eating our typical lunch of a baguette sandwich. Unfortunately the picture is not that good because the sun was so bright and the guy taking the picture took a while to actually take it so we were both too busy squinting to really smile... haha

Mom and I on a bridge which connects one of the peaks to the main cliff face.

Me (=

So yeah, that basically sums up Etretat, and I will try to get some other posts up about life soon. 

oh but PS. I totally got 15/20 on my geography test so I am sooooo STOKED! All I needed was a ten (remember that grades are not percentage based here and in genereal anything above a 16 is like unheard of good, and between a 14-16 is really good. Therefore I am way happy! Tam and I are ready to crank out an awesome report on Normandy Economy as related to its geography... this will be my next French presentation and it is due in 2-3 weeks, we're not sure yet. Ok talk later!!