Venice Update

I fully intended to do a blog post yesterday, but due to unfortunate bus time layovers David and I ended up getting back to our Bed and Breakfast at midnight, so we basically crashed right when we got home. I only have a few minutes right now while David showers this morning but I thought I would share some pictures with you guys. We have been greatly enjoying traveling around Venice and its islands for these last two days since we have the unlimited travel pass. It will end after today but that is ok because we feel we have almost seen everything. Here are some new pictures:

This is the Saint Mark Square (San Marco) and it was filled with cool buildings to see. The one pictured is a basilisk, and you can see the gold-filled interior below.

Here is the magnificent interior of the basilisk. It was stunning!

This is from our third day in Venice. We went to visit Murano, and island very near Venice known for glass blowing and colorful artistic items made from this glass.

The city had set up some displays around town of various glass artwork.

I loved the owl in this one!!

Here is a picture of David as we enjoyed one of our many water bus rides around town and between the islands.

Blue spikes!

Murano was a really pretty island... but not our favorite.

This was taken on Torcello, another island which was simply stunning. We loved it, even more than Venice itself. This particular church was built in the 7th century! 

This is David and on on our final island trip, Burano. The houses were extra colorful here and all of them looked as though they had been repainted that year!

A beautiful sunset as we returned to the main island of Venice. What a way to end day 3!

Ok well David and I are off to the bus! I'll update you later!

From Chambéry to Venice in 12 hours

Hello to everyone from Venice! I am glad to be able to update you all today, as David and I finally got internet at our host's place today. But that is getting way ahead of the story, so I will start from the beginning:

At 6am David and I woke up in Chambéry (for the last time ever) to begin the final preparations for departure on our 8:25 train to Paris. We packed up all the last items, ate breakfast (I made French toast believe it or not), made sandwiches to take for lunch, and cleaned our way out of the apartment. Actually, we left the eggs in the fridge which I realized once we got to Paris so I texted our landlord my apologies and alerted him to the situation. But other than that, we have currently not found anything that we forgot to bring or forgot to do concerning the apartment. We'll see if that changes, but so far so good.

Getting from our apartment to the train station proved itself to be more difficult that we had originally anticipated because although we only have 6 bags, 3 each, they weigh a ton. Ok probably not 2000 pounds, probably not even 200, but it is rather close to that, about 150-175lbs I would say. We arrived in a very exhausted manner at the station, and boarded our train about 3 minutes before departure, so things got off to a tight start. However, after that our travel was quite smooth. Actually, it was after about 1 hour into the train ride that my motion-sickness subsided and the fun of travel began.

We arrived on time to Paris, it was now 11:18am, and we had half an hour to get to our meeting with the storage facility (henceforth Shurgard) where David and I would be storing our luggage. With the metro system in Paris, you can normally get anywhere in all of the city in under 30 minutes, so I figured this would be no problem. One tiny detail: the metro stairs. Did I mention we had between 150 and175 pounds of luggage on us? As mom can attest, the Paris metro has about 0 escalators in the entire system and about infinity stairs, so David and I not only took 45 minutes to get across town, we arrived tired, sore, and sweating buckets. Joy. On the other hand, though, the man at Shurgard was more than happy to help us and was eager to hear about our travel plans, telling us about how nice Venice is, and explaining to us how our storage box would work. He also got a kick out of me trying to say the word "verrouiller" (which means to lock) because it is really hard to say! That is the second time I have had to say that word in formal conversation and both times it has resulted in a smile. It is seriously difficult. But in the end, that appoint went smoothly so David and I were left with almost 2 hours before our train left to Beauvais airport. We alked to a nearby park (see picture below) and ate our sandwiches.

This is the park we ate our lunch in in Paris. We don't know what the thing on the hill is but we are going to check it out when we are back in Paris! It was a beautiful, albeit hot, day.

We made it to our next train in plenty of time and enjoyed a problem-free trip to Beauvais. Once there we were astounded to learn that the bus form the station to the airport only runs every 40 minutes, and we would have to wait 30 minutes more to get to the airport, but luckily at that point it was 3:15 and our flight wasn't until 6:55. In fact, when the bus did come and we finally did arrive at the airport, we still had to wait 45 minutes before check-in for our flight began. This was not a problem at all, as we enjoyed the free restroom (this is a rare commodity in France) and some card games and pretzels as we waited. Once checked in, we went to our gate and eventually prepared to board the airplane. In fact, we met another young and married American couple in line (I know, what are the chances) and we talked with them for a while, and again on the bus from the airport to Venice after the flight, and are even planning to meet up with them for a lunch one of these days in Venice. We certainly clicked and it will be fun to enjoy some more time with them. Here is a photo of us before we boarded our first RyanAir flight:

So here are the interesting aspects of RyanAir that help to explain why the tickets themselves can be sold at such low prices. First, they are extremely stingy with their baggage requirements. 2) There are only about 12 seats on that whole plane which can be reserved in advance. All the rest of us just get to pick our seats in the order we get on the plane. 3) They sell various items on the plane such as lottery tickets, perfumes, and the usual food and drinks. and 4) They have insanely positive statistics. They have the least number of lost bags of any airline, and the highest percentage of on-time flights, just over 93%! In fact, when our plane landed, there was a fanfare that played announcing our on-time arrival. At first it made some of us jump, but then most people we left smiling. Overall, a really great flying experience. 

This is a picture I snapped of the Alps as we flew overhead. I was admiring how awesome they looked when suddenly I realized that this was the first time in my entire life that I had flown over mountains. Even though I grew up in Colorado, I never flew to the West so I never actually flew over them. It was a really cool sight. I just loved it.

 Finally, we landed in Venice and in a relatively smooth fashion met up with our Couch Surfing host. As many of you who read David's blog post will know, there was problem with the guy that signed up to host us , and he informed us the day before we left (about 2 hours before we had to turn in our internet supplies) that he would help us find alternative lodging. Though this was not preferable, we felt we had no choice in the matter. Anyway, he gave us directions to our new host's house (which we have to pay for, but it is indeed much cheaper than a hotel for these two nights) but I would be lying if I said that they have only spoken a grand total of 3 words to us. It is probably the most socially awkward situation in the world. They aren't mad about us being here or anything, they just don't speak English and therefore avoid us at all costs. If it weren't for the price we probably would have left by now, but we figure it is only two nights so we'll make it.... what an experience though! I will give many more details in retelling this story at a later date when it is not permanently recorded in electronic history. I will say however, that we are both super happy that the change happened because it lead us to find the world's best and cheapest pizza joint right across the street. We ate dinner there last night and the owner/chef (who speaks very little English but loves conversing with us in English/Italian, which I decently understand) even poured us a free glass of wine each to enjoy as we chatted away over a fantastic pizza which served both of us for 4.5E. We have promised that we will be back in for dinner every night of our stay. We figure it is fun, a great price, and delicious, so why not?

Today marked the start of our Venice adventure, and though David and I walked ourselves into the ground we had a great time exploring the city. I'll let the photos tell the story:

This is David and I on one of the four bridges that crosses over the Canal Grande which runs through Venice. Whenever we needed a picture taken we would just wait until we heard some other Americans talking nearby and then offer to take their photo, and in exchange get our photo taken. It worked out well.

This photo is an exception to the rule above, because it is a timed photo that I set up on one for the more deserted bridges and less touristic parts of Venice.

I just loved all of the colorful boats floating in this canal.

Here is another canal picture. Venice sure is a gorgeous city.

Here is one of the many churches we visited today. Unfortunately Venice is a little particular about their churches, so that you can not enter most of them, male or female, if you are wearing shorts, and you have to pay. There were two exceptions that we did enjoy seeing, though for the most part we just saw them from the outside. In our other tourism days to come we have more places to see that are not just churches, we just figured we would use the first day to orient ourselves so that we didn't waste one of the three days during which we will have unlimited travel on public transport. (We start that tomorrow).

I loved the "street sign". Only in Venice.

Here are David and I on bridge number 3 that overlooks the Canal Grande. At that moment I was enjoying a wonderful though rapidly melting Pistachio Italian gelato (ice cream). It was delicious. 

I am particularly fond of this photo, which really shows off Venice culture in a picturesque way. Although I do harbor a bit of animosity when I see it because this really rude, unrightfully spiteful Venetian woman decided to literally shove me with her entire forearm and a grunt as she passed behind me. Not only did it startle me, it hurt, and could have made me drop my camera. I have no idea what her problem was, but it was very intentional and after she had passed onto the road you see on the left she turned back to glare at me. The situation made me mad because she was seriously so rude and inconsiderate, but I figure that it was my opportunity to "turn the other cheek" if you will. Just not the "other camera" because there is only one of it, and quite a collection of memories.

Well, I think David and I are going to head to dinner soon at our pizza place, but here is letting you all know that we are safe and sound and happily touring around Venice! (We probably won't cross any more grouches, haha). I'll try to keep you updated frequently! Ciao!

Last Day in Chambé!

Hello to you all! This is going to be a very short post to let you all know that we are on track to leave Chambéry at 8am tomorrow morning (we will stop by in Paris to drop off our bags at the storage facility and then plane to Venice) but this will be the last you hear from us for a bit because we have to return our internet gear this afternoon. In fact in about 5 minutes we will be out the door, and we will have no internet until we arrive in Venice. Keep us in your travel prayers as we start out on our 5 week journey of Europe exploration!!

We love you all! Next Stop: Venice!!

Leaving Preparations - 4 Days and Counting

Well, time is certainly flying during the last week that David and I will spend in Chambéry. Yesterday was our "official packing day try 1" which ended up being so successful that most likely we will keep everything the way it is now packed. Here is a picture of the process:

This is our bed, covered with our two suitcases, two duffels, and two backpacks as we tried various packing combinations. The good news is, we did it! Everything fit, including two bottles of our favorite red wine that we are bringing back for special occasions in the US. However, it was no easy feat. We also aren't sure if our bags are under the weight limit, but we'll soon know. (We already have it planned to do a last-minute switch around if necessary so we packed some of our heavy items right near the top of the suitcases so that they could be easily removed and placed in other bags.) 

The other big news is that I finished my make-up project for my Le Havre class. Actually, I finished it Thursday afternoon, after a lot, lot, lot of hard work and many hours typing on the computer, but I haven't turned it in yet because I don't want my teacher to think that I only spent three days on her project. Even though I feel I did a very thorough job, I don't feel that three days of work gives that impression. So I have decided to hold onto the project until Monday, and then I will send it to her. We can hope that I will pass this time. I am not sure if I will, because technically she asked me to repeat the same project that my group had already done (and failed) without giving me new specifications - I just love France and their lack of syllabuses - so I just did the project a little differently, and more thoroughly in certain areas. Actually, I took a different class this semester that really helped me with the analysis that I did for this project, so I think I should be good. But it is so hard to tell with no syllabus. All I know is that she said between 8-15 pages would certainly be good, and I have 15 pages, so hopefully I responded to her expectations. But we will soon know.... I'll keep you updated.

Other than that David and I are off to enjoy our LAST weekend in our apartment.... AHHHHH! I truly can't believe it!

One Week Left!

I can't believe it but David and I are down to our final week before we leave Chambéry and start our 5-week vacation before leaving Europe for good. It is sure going to be a hectic week as we verify the details of a travels, book our last reservations, pack up all our stuff (probably not going to be possible), clean the apartment, and try to enjoy ourselves a little before we leave. Also, for those of you that don't know, I had problems with my Analyse de Données class last semester, because my group didn't understand what was expected of us, and I ended up not passing the class. I spoke with the professor about it, about 3 weeks ago actually, and she said that she would propose a make-up project for me. She finally got back to me yesterday with the details of what she wanted and she wants me to repeat the same project, but for a different enterprise, that we did in class. Don't worry, this time I think I know better what she wants, but the real problem is that that was a 2-month assignment for a group of 4 students, and she has given me, on my own, 15 days to complete another one. Add to the fact that we leave for vacation in 8 days and I am not left with much time to get this project done. The good news is that I spent about 8 hours on the project yesterday and it is now about halfway finished, in a single day! I have the harder half left I think, but we'll see how it goes. I would like to have it almost finished by the end of the day so that I can do minor improvements on Thursday and turn it in by the end of the week. That is my goal anyway.

So that is basically the only thing that I will be working on for the next few days. Although I do get interrupted throughout the day with the travel projects that I am in charge of. For example, I received a phone call from the storage facility in Paris that we are renting from and we are officially good to go for dropping off our baggage on the 23rd. We also did get the promotion for 1€ for the first month of rent, so we are only paying one euro, in addition to the cost of insurance. (By the way, it is a seriously amusing document to read, our insurance... it covers some of the most obscure specificities, and doesn't cover some of the weirdest things, for example damage caused by the "wave" pressure of supersonic aircraft passing overhead. Darn it! I hate it when those supersonic waves ruin my stuff! Yes, it was a funny document to read through.

Also, I have verified out bike rental for our week of touring in the Loire Valley. But instead of renting two normal bikes we rented a tandem bike (because it worked out to be more or less the same cost) and we thought that that would be an exciting and new way to discover all the chateaux. I am so excited to check it out! I am hoping however that they aren't too difficult to maneuver because I have never ridden one before. I guess we'll see. Either way we'll look like a really cute couple!!

Ok, well enough putting off of my homework, I have to concentrate! Actually I think now that David is awake we are going to do breakfast, but then I am going to concentrate!

10 Days Left in Chambéry

Well David and I are soon going to be in the single-digits for days left in Chambéry, which is fairly amazing. We are excited to start our vacation travels, but at the same time it is going to be hard to leave knowing that my time abroad is coming to an end. I have been in France for almost 9 months now, which is quite a long time and I can't believe that soon I will be leaving!! But I haven't left yet, so here are some more Chambéry updates:

Two days ago our landlord and his wife invited David and I out to a really nice dinner just to get to spend some time with us, and it was a truly wonderful experience. The restaurant was nice, the food was fantastic, and the conversation was fun. David and I have decided that we have our very first out-of-the-family Christmas card recipients. What a benchmark.

Then yesterday we went on a hike to the Abbaye d'Hautecombe, which became yet another ill-fated hike. Actually, due to misleading signage estimates we would have had to walk for even longer than for the Croix de Nivolet trip except that we were able to take a ferry back from the Abbey rather than walking back. What we had estimated to be a 3-3 1/2 hour walk each way, turned into a 5-hour walk (one way) to get to the abbey which meant we wouldn't have had time to walk back and still make the bus. Luckily though, as I mentioned above, there were ferries back form the abbey to a different city, but one with a train station, so that we were able to return in a timely manner to Chambéry. Overall we are very happy that we made it to the abbey because it was so ornate and we had a guided audio tour included in the price which made the visit very interesting for only 1.5€! Unfortunately no photos were allowed inside the abbey, but I did find one online that I have included below. It was incredible! Here are the photos to tell the story:

Sorry this one is blurry but it needed to be included. It shows David and I before setting out on a hike for another 4 and a half hours. The sign says a little over 3 hours should be expected. The photographer is my friend Landon, another American who came along with us to see the Abbey.

Me during the hike. It was a drizzly, cloudy day all day, even though the weather predicted that it wouldn't rain, and should have been partially sunny. Our luck. You can see the water droplets on my shoulders...

Here are the three of us as we crossed one of the strange "rock waterfalls" that were set up to continue the path. This is also a deceiving picture because it makes it look like our hike was nice and flat, which is what we had originally anticipated. On the contrary there were many points during which we were crawling on all fours or slipping down muddy paths during this hike.

A little bit too much sun behind us, but a cool view of the lake can still be seen. 

This is a funny cloud formation, but since it was so foggy the picture didn't turn out very well. It was cool though because there was a strip of cloud between the two mountain "ranges" and it was super low to the ground. I am sure that Dad and Grampy will appreciate this one.

Just another view over the lake as our journey continued. Still quite grey and cloudy.

Mom will recognize these cables. This is what France puts in place whenever they feel there is a particularly dangerous rocky slope and you need additional support in order to climb successfully. Even though we started and ended at the level of the lake (hence why we falsely presumed that we wouldn't have to do a lot of elevation change during this hike) we had no less than 6 different zones which were equipped with cable assistance for scaling big boulders. Quite the exciting hike.

Our first view of the Abbey... we were so relieved because at that point we had been walking for about 4 and a half hours.Those monks sure did achieve solitude!

David and I in front of the Abbaye d'Hautecombe. You can see that its facade is very detailed and pretty. The Abbey is stilled lived in today, but by both men and women (I forget what it is therefore officially called) who have taken an oath of devotion to God and who still practice the "offices" twice a day and hold a daily service in the chapel. They are also perfectly self-sufficient as far as food and water are concerned.

I had to take this picture off of Google to show you the inside of the Abbey, but I really wanted you to be able to appreciate the elegant detail throughout. In addition to being the burial location of over 40 dukes of Savoy, there are over 200 carved statues in memory of important persons of the times and 120 smaller statues of "mourners" at each beautifully decorated tomb or sarcophagus.

Our life saving ferry!! Actually, this was not our ferry, this one was for a special group that was visiting the Abbey, but ours would arrive a few minutes later. The best part of this whole story is that the ferry arrived, we got on, we listened to the cool commentary of the captain during the 45-minute cruise (I learned some really cool stories about the lake) and then we got off. We never paid. We are not even sure when or how we were supposed to pay. As we prepared to get on David even had his wallet out, and yet we were never asked to pay. So yeah, we enjoyed a free cruise across the lake.

A final, more iconic, picture of the Abbey we were about to leave behind. Due to our luck in finding public transport by which we could return home, we all had a wonderful day discovering the beautiful history of such an interesting abbey. Oh and I also discovered a children's book that I want to get eventually that was for sale in the gift-shop, about a little boy who becomes a monk (Aimeric, un enfant au coeur d'une abbaye) but I am having some difficulty finding it online... oh well, time will tell! 

Other than that, David and I are taking yet another day to prepare for our upcoming vacation and final parting preparations. Also, tomorrow we will go grocery shopping for probably the last time (or at least the last time where we buy more than one item, like bread that we buy almost every day). Wow, I can't believe it's all coming to an end! Love to you all and see you all soon!

Final Exam in France

YAAAAAAAAYYYYY! Even though I am not actually graduating like a lot of my friends back home, I am here to say that I just took my last final in France, ever! It was over 18th century literature, and it was a written literature analysis with a 4 hour time limit. Originally I thought that surely I wouldn't need that much time for the exam but as it turns out I wrote for three and a half hours which is just insanely too long for the human brain (and hand) to try to concentrate. I am afraid that my handwriting did suffer a little near the end. Actually, nothing suffered as much as my conclusion, but I just couldn't stand to write one more sentence at that point and I felt confident that I had already obtained a very good grade. But, for memories sake I would just like to quote my final sentence, which is shameful, but amusing. So after having indicated that I was concluding, in summing up the innovations of 18th century literature and how it worked to promote public speculation and ideological criticism, I said :

"Le théâtre du XVIIIe siècle était bien unique."

Which might translate best as, "Indeed, 18th century literature was quite unique" except that the word "unique" in French means more, "of its own type", as opposed to weird or strange. But yeah, pretty much the weakest concluding sentence in the history of all papers ever. But I think after writing what I estimate to be well over 1000 words and 5 full pages over a time period of three and a half hours, I am allowed to be cut a little slack.

Either way, David and I are now officially done studying and we are on full-time vacation with a little bit of vacation planning. We are predicted to have wonderful weather tomorrow, so surely we will set out on a hike of some sort to enjoy more of our last two weeks in Chambéry. And speaking of leaving preparations, I heard back from Numéricable today (our internet service provider) that they received my request for cancellation and we are 100% on track to get that taken care of at the right time (not too early or too late) which is quite a feat in and of itself. As for closing down our bank accounts we have set up the appointment, and we will soon be all cash and no card in France, which will be a little weird. Also, we have purchased all of our train tickets for all of our 5 weeks of vacation except one because there is a little problem with the SNCF, France's train company, recognizing the existence of the ticket shown online... I am sure they will catch up with technology eventually.

All that to say, I AM SO EXCITED! I have finished the studying part of my study abroad and I will soon have a very fun vacation and then be back home in the US! NO MORE FRENCH UNIVERSITY! WOOHOO! And though I say that now, I know that I will miss a lot of this once I am back in the US. Ok well I am starving after that exam so I am off to cook dinner. On tonight's menu: Carbonara Pasta and a Frizante red wine to celebrate. Yummm.

I know that I don't include my meter picture in my blog very often, but I have continued to keep my excel document with at least 3-4 ratings per week since the beginning of the school year. Today I thought I would include it since I was extra happy (=

Bike-Hike to Chignin

Hello again,

My academics are drawing to a close here in France, and I will be taking my last final exam this Wednesday over 18th Century Literature (as you can imagine this is not my favorite topic, and I have to read an entire play before then and remind myself about the plot of two others) but I think I should do fine. At this point I am ready to begin my vacation!! Before we leave we will try to send out the itinerary to the family so that all of you will know where we are in our travels. To give you the general idea, we leave Chambéry the 23rd of May (less than three weeks!) and we go to Venice for 6 days, via Paris. Then from Venice visit my family in Denmark for 5 days. After Denmark we spend a week in Barcelona, and after Spain we return to France. In France, the first thing we do is a 2-day tour of Normandy (its beaches from WWII) and the Mont Saint Michel. Then we spend 8 days in the Loire Valley doing an extended bike trip between the chateaux. After the Loire, we head to Paris where we have between 5-6 days, depending on if we can bump our flight time a little earlier, to explore the numerous sights to see in the country's capital. It should be a great time!

But back to Chambéry. On Friday David and I did a smaller bike-hike trip, only 24km round trip. We went to the local vineyards of Chignin, where as a "historical enigma" (according to the tourism information sign) 7 medieval towers were constructed. Today there are only the remains of 5 towers, at least that we saw, but they were really cool. Unfortunately the weather turned a little sour while we were out on our hike so our pictures show a very cloudy sky, but we were lucky enough to only feel the occasional drop of rain.

We took a pause on our way up the hill to take a picture with the approaching towers. You can see the cool ancient church on the left and one of the most preserved towers on the right. Also you can probably see the telephone pole. Everywhere we went on our way to Chignin had telephone poles so we couldn't get a good "far off" picture. Oh well.

Here are the same too buildings from a closer viewpoint. We were all excited about checking out that old looking church, but when we got there we saw that it was gated... and not 5 seconds later a car drove up an entered the private property! So yeah, someone lives there with that cool church.

This is the only tower which is in good enough condition that they will let you inside it to explore (see the picture below). Though the others were cool to look at. 

This is David and I in the sweet tower. Sorry about the crooked picture though... there were only so many outcroppings on which to balance the camera!

A view back at the tower from the other direction.

I took this picture specifically because it is almost the exact picture that was taken in my hiking tourism book. I will show all of you who are interested when I am back in the US. The only difference between my photo and theirs? They took it in the fall so the vines were filled out and there was more sun. But still, I was pretty proud of the photo!

David and I with the tower and the Col du Granier (the massive mountain behind us) which I am sure you recognize from our other photos. 

Ok well I am back to vacation planning, moving out preparation, and final exam cramming! I'll update you soon! Also, I send a special shout-out to Mom, Dad, Karen, Grammy, and Grampy who are all visiting at this time, to soon be joined by Mormor and Opa... love to the family! 

Economie Européene

Well this morning has officially gone down in history. I was peacefully sleeping at 9:05am when my I heard my cell phone ringing. David and I scrambled to answer it because for some unknown reason my phone allows me to receive calls but not make them, which makes calling people back very difficult to do. Luckily David was successful in finding my phone and handed it to me. I answered, expecting to hear some sort of automated message. But no. It was a secretary from the economics and law department at the university informing me that my European Economics professor was waiting on my arrival for my oral exam this morning. Bearing in mind that this was all in French and I had been awake for about 45 seconds, I was kind of dumbfounded, and then I replied that I was certain that my exam was a written exam and it was Friday afternoon. Anyway she said that she wasn't sure what to tell me but my professor had told her that he would wait for me until 9:30 but after that he was going to leave the campus. I told her I would make it to campus in about 15 minutes (the campus is about a 15 minute walk away), she told me the room number and I set off in a hurry to throw on some clothes and get out the door.

Relevant detail to the story: my economics course was a very interesting but incredibly complex and higher level (3rd year) economics class that was based on economic principles but studied the laws and changes at a European level, making the course very interesting, as I said, but also very difficult. Though I had enjoyed the class, I was actually considering not going to the final on Friday because I figured there was no way in the world I could know all the laws and implications of European economic proceedings and pass the exam. Besides, I wasn't going to receive any applicable transfer credit back at Miami. Therefore (this is the important part) I had not begun studying. So here I was racing out the front door to my oral exam on a subject that I had not even reviewed a single second for! Joy and rapture.

I ran up the mountain (138 stairs to the main campus, but then it is about 60 more to get to the building I was in at the top of campus) and arrived in the classroom at 9:25. That makes 20 minutes to go from sleeping to in a classroom, probably setting some kind of record. I deeply apologized for being late, though I did also express my confusion concerning the type of exam and the date... he informed me that I was supposed to have a choice between the oral today or the written exam Friday (do not even begin to ask me when this choice was supposed to be made known to me because I have no clue and I did not even see a stupid post-it note telling me about it) and said that I could still make the choice. Had I known about this choice earlier, the  response would have been easy: the oral exam. I have a much better chance of better explaining myself and I can argue my points, and the professor can ask me questions at the end. But given the no-study circumstances I wasn't sure. Either way, in the end I figured I got out of bed and ran to campus for this test, and I always do well on oral exams, so I opted to just take the exam. He gave me my question and I had 20 minutes to prepare for 20 minutes of argumentation.

I actually spent most of my 20 minutes just trying to remember the topics from the course and then relate them to the question he had asked me, which seemed to add some substance to my response... After all, 20 minutes is a fairly long time to talk, especially in a foreign language. At the end though I gave my answer, argued it well, and with the questions at the end my "argumentation" was about 45 minutes long, because he really liked my perspective. I am quite sure that I passed the class. Anyway, I just figured you would all want to hear about my whirlwind of a morning. Only in France could that ever happen.