day 4

hey all!

i'm at the internet cafe being cool and trying to type again.

so today i my foot hurts a lot. i seriously think it is going to fall off. it's probably because i wore flats all day yesterday and walked a lot.

so, since i last posted....two french guys have hit on me... one of them said, vous etes charmant!

and we went to a chic bar last night and tonight is international night at the pub. should be fun!

classes are grueling, but i'll post the schedule later when i have more time!

well, i best be off... my mom is coming home at 8, so i want to be there to hear about her day.

may i just say... my french is getting sooooo much better. thank goodness that this trip is worth something ;)

sooo muchhhh funnnnnn!

ok. i love u all. and i miss u all. and i haven't found johnny depp yet...but i'm looking, i promise.

ciao!

Amanda

day 3

Dear all;

i miss you dearly! you have no idea; but here,s whqt i was up to today:

okey dokey! yesterday we took a tour of the city, ate lunch at a vietnamese restaurant and went to the irish pub where, yes, i bought my first beer! it wqs delicious, but somewhqt different than the beer in the US. Also, i met my host mother who is 26 and super cool! she talks slow enough for me to understand and says how good my french is from time to time which helps my ego a great deal! she made a delicious dinner which was pasta and a pate, which is really a hamburger. and cheese and a pear. it was really good.

today i woke up really late and she was gone! but she left the coffee pot and the coffee out so i could have morning coffee! she,s so nice! anyways...the shower is weird with only the little spray thingy and nothing to hang it on, so that,s going to take a little getting used to! also, this keyboard is really funky, so that,s something to get used to also...

Anyways...we went to a cute little cafe for lunch and then we just alked around all day! there,s so much i want to say here, but i don,t want to be rude and use the computer forever! anyways avignon is beautiful, classic french town with lots of tourists, but cute cafes, lots of places to shop, good food, good wine, cute french boys in tight pants, historic landmqrks, beautiful, but weird trees, nice people everywhere! i am in love with france and it,s been three days!

a bientot,
amanda

Day One

Greetings from France!

So, we just got a moment to sit down and realized that there is wireless internet and Cathy has a laptop! Hooray!

So here's what has gone down within the last couple of days.

Columbus to Detroit: ran 20 minutes late! GAH!
Detroit to Amsterdam: Cathy and I couldn't find anybody to switch seats with us, so I was alone the entire time! One good thing is that you could watch whatever movie you wanted and play games and stuff on the computer! Anyways, so I did not sleep on the airplane at all. In fact, it's 5:51 p.m. here and I have had exactly one hour of sleep on the bus from Marseille to Avignon since I left Columbus on Thursday. woot woot. P.S. I totally got my passport stamped in Amsterdam! WOOT!
Amsterdam to Marseille: I had my first french test when the flight attendant (who spoke like 800 languages) asked me: Et vous, est-ce que vous voulez un boission? Which was interesting because she was just picking the language to speak to people based on how the look, I guess. I guess I look French!

Anyways....when we finally got here we went to a cafe and I ordered a croissant and a diet coke (which was 3 bucks! GAHH! I hate airport food!) in French.....and that went well.

Katy came into the luggage claim and found us and we went outside and met up with Christophe (the director). Then after waiting awhile we went to a mall like place where I ordered a sandwich. Okay, so are you getting the idea that I'm amused by my conversations with real French people? lol. And also some guy followed me out of the mall asking if I wanted to sign up to win a laptop and I was like, "Ummm....no, merci". lol. I can get rid of solicitors in French! HOORAY! Anyways, so after that we drove from Marseille to Avignon where I fell asleep for an hour on the bus (or rather passed out from exhaustion).

Then we checked into the hotel and I showered, and Christophe gave us an itinerary and now I'm just sitting. Thank god tonight we only have dinner at 7:30 (where I will buy my first glass of wine! WOOT!)

May I just say that after dinner I plan to come back here and fall asleep! *sigh*

So, I don't really have that many pictures right now, but here's what I got:

So here's Giorgio on the airplane as we arrived in Amsterdam! Giorgio says "Hey girl hey!"


Here's my bed and half of Cathy in the hotel room!


Here are the super awesome stairs to the second level of our hotel room. We're on the first part because we're lazy.


Here's the view from our window....swizeet! Look how small the streets are! And there's that big rock thing...I don't know what it is, but it's FRENCH ROCKS!!!!!!

So I'm really tired and going to take a nap and enjoy this jet-lag-y feeling....

I miss all of you and look forward to updating you again! I might post more pictures later tonight or tomorrow morning before I meet with my host mom....we'll see, we'll see. <3 <3 <3

A bientot,
Amanda

12 hours until take-off!

Dear World,


Reasons why I love my friends and will miss them dearly:


They're not afraid to pose in strange positions with me.....it's ART, I tell you! ART!


They're not afraid to share in my weird diet....like eating snow!


They can keep me entertained on a slow weekend by creating a band called "Rock Candy", taking pictures, and of course supporting the new single "Brigitta loves Fajitas!"


They love me even though I'm obsessed with Dashboard....and they'll wait in line with me FOREVER before AND after the show!


They're not afraid to make super awesome faces when cameras are pointed at them and they have just been tackled in the snow!


They're crazy, sexy, cool-ness ALMOST matches mine!


They make me laugh. And really appreciate life. Over and over again.


They......umm........ummm........yeah.


They will stand in the snow with me to stand up for what's right!


They will "touch me softly" with a boa while I'm sleeping!


They have the same name as me!



They will road-trip with me just to take a nap in a public park!


They support me and I support them.......even while sleeping!


They love me....and I love them!


To My Bestest Friend In The WHOLE WORLD!:


I love you and I'm going to miss you sooooo much!

I love you guys and I will miss you dearly. See you in three months. <3

Always,
Amanda

Exactly 48 hours until take-off

I'm getting a little stressed about this whole new country/leaving thing...so I'm focusing on the trivial things in life (minus Chris Carrabba...he's not trivial....he's important).

Okay....so here's a list of things I'm totally into right now....

These shoes at Target. They look like this, but instead of the polka dots it's just silver shiny things.....beautiful. <3 chucks. I would never trade in my laceless ones for skimmers, but they are beautiful

Chris Carrabba. Of course. There's never a time when I'm NOT into Chris Carrabba.

Tortilla Chips. I've eaten like 100 tortilla chips since yesterday. They are delicious.


Playlist right now:

Out There- Hunchback of Notre Dame
Sheena is a Punk Rocker- Ramones
The Brilliant Dance- Dashboard Confessional
One Day I'll Fly Away- Moulin Rouge
All My Loving- Across the Universe
Tonight I'll Take What I Can Get- Dashboard Confessional
Take Me or Leave Me- Rent
Little Bombs- Dashboard Confessional
Bohemian Rhapsody- Queen (when is this NOT on a playlist?)
The Good Fight- Dashboard Confessional
Les Poissons- Disney's The Little Mermaid
The Places You Have Come to Fear the Most- Dashboard Confessional
Oh Darling!- Across the Universe
Almost Lover- A Fine Frenzy
End of an Anchor- Dashboard Confessional
Taylor the Latte Boy- Kristin Chenoweth
The Swiss Army Romance- Dashboard Confessional
Jesus of Suburbia- Green Day
Am I Missing- Dashboard Confessional
Under the Sea- Disney's The Little Mermaid
I Believe in a Thing Called Love- Darkness
The Shade of Poision Trees- Dashboard Confessional
La Vie Boheme- Rent
Write It Out- Dashboard Confessional

If you haven't heard of any of these bands....you need to listen to them now! Especially Dashboard, if you haven't listened to Dashboard.......*sigh*......do it.

Okay, I guess I should maybe start packing or something....

Always,
Amanda

4 days, 4 days, 4 days!

So...I just sorta realized that most of the people reading this do not speak French....so here's an awesomely cool translation of those letters:

Hello Amanda,

I had a student last year during the Avignon theatre festival in July, it went very well.

I listen to Rose, Zazie, Christope Mae, Ayo, Micky Green, and Alicia Keys who I am going to go see in concert tomorrow.

There are a lot of french films that I appreciate, it's difficult to name my favorite. I really liked "Je vais bien ne t'en fais pas", all the films with Sophi Marceau. A long time ago I saw "jeux d'enfants" with Marion Cotillard et Guillaume Canet, Marion Cotillard is a great actress who won the oscar this year!

You can have a lot of fun here because you are 19 and can drink alcohol.

Do you know any of the students you are going with?

Talk to you later,
Myriam

Hello,

It's to bad that you're going home in June because the festival begins the 1st of July, There are huge plays put on, and lots and lots of people in town because there are street events too.

For information here, it's about 15 degrees for most of the day. I live in a region where it is always beautiful, with little rain, lots of sun, but a great deal of wind during certain periods. Don't forget to bring your bathing suit because here we swim during the months of May. I can't wait for it to get warm!

Tonight I am finally going to see Alicial Keys in Marseill, I am very happy and impatient. Then I'm taking this weekend for two days because it's Easter, I'll start work again Tuesday.

I hope you will have the occasion to go to Marseille, which is magnificent and next to the ocean. It's the second biggest city in France. You will see here that the cities are much smaller than where you live and we live in villages that are less than 10,000 people. My parents live in a village with 1000 inhabitants.

Have a good day
Talk to you later
Myriam


So........she still seems pretty cool!

Things to do:
-Go shopping
-Do research for McNair program
-Pack
-Start strange sleeping schedule (in bed by 8?)
-Visit friends at OSU
-Visit with AJ on Wednesday
-Mayhem

Always,
Amanda

More e-mails from my host mother!

Bonjour Amanda
>>
>> J'ai déjà reçu une étudiante l'année dernière durant le festival
>> d'Avignon au mois de juillet, elle était coréenne, cela s'est très
>> bien
>> passé.
>>
>> j'écoute comme musique Française, Rose, Zazie, Christophe Maé et en
>> musique internationale Alicia Keys que je vais voir en concert
>> demain, Ayo
>> et Micky Green.
>>
>> Il y a beaucoup de films Français que j'apprécie, difficile de donne
>> r un
>> titre, j'ai beaucoup aimé "je vais bien ne t'en fais pas", tous les
>> films
>> avec Sophie Marceau...j'ai vu il y a plusieurs années le film "jeux
>> d'enfants" avec Marion Cotillard et Guillaume Canet, Marion
>> Cotillard est
>> une actrice merveilleuse qui a eu la chance de reçevoir l'oscar cette
>> année.
>>
>> Tu vas pouvoir t'amuser ici car même si tu as 19 ans tu pourras boir
>> e de
>> l'alcool.
>>
>> Tu connais les étudiants avec qui tu pars ?
>>
>>
>> à bientot
>> Myriam


Bonjour

C'est dommage que tu repartes en juin car le festival commence le 1er
juillet, il y a énormement de pièces de théâtre qui se jouent et beaucoup
beaucoup de monde en ville car il y a également des spectacles dans les rues
!

Pour information ici il fait 15° au meilleur de la journée, j'habite dans
une région où il fait toujours beau, très peu de pluie, beaucoup de soleil
et malheureusement beaucoup de vent à certaines périodes.
N'oublie pas de prendre ton maillot de bain car ici on se baigne à partir du
mois de mai. Je me languie que la chaleur arrive !

Ce soir je vais enfin voir Alicia Keys à Marseille je suis très contente et
impatiente ! et ensuite je serais en week end pour deux jours car c'est
Pâques, je reprends le travail mardi.
J'espère que tu auras l'occasion d'aller sur la ville de Marseille qui est
magnifique surtout du côté de la mer, c'est la deuxième plus grande ville de
France. Tu verras ici les villes sont plus petites que chez vous et nous
avons également des villages c'est a dire moins de 10 000 Habitants. Mes
parents habitent un village de 1000 habitants.

Passe une bonne journée
à bientôt
Myriam

I'm so sad I'm going to miss "national act like a dinosaur day"

3 presents for you, my precious reader!




Always,
Amanda

<3

ONEEEEEEEEEE WEEKKKKKKKKKKKK!

It's a letter from my host mother!

Bonjour Amanda

Je m'appelle Myriam, j'ai 26 ans et je vis seule depuis 1 an et demi sur Avignon. J'habite un très vieil appartement authentique à la Française, j'habite en plein centre ville ainsi tu seras à moins de 10 minutes à pied de l'université.

Avignon est une très belle ville, tu pourrais visiter de nombreux monuments tels que le palais des papes et le très célèbre Pont D'Avignon, l'ile de la Barthelasse.c'est une petite ville très agréable à vivre avec de nombreux restaurants, de grands centres commerciaux mais beaucoup plus petits que par chez toi !

à proximité tu as la montagne et la mer qui sont à une heure de voiture, tu pourras faire de belles excursions.

Je travaille dans l'immobilier et je travaille également dans un magasin de sport spécialisé dans le rugby, par chez vous c'est le football américain cela y ressemble !

J'ai une soeur plus âgée qui vit sur Avignon et qui travaille avec moi , tu auras de nombreuses occasions de la voir elle s'appelle Delphine ainsi que son adorable petite fille de 10 mois. Mes parents habitent à 30 mn d'ici, je les vois regulièrement et je ne manquerai pas de te les faire connaître, ils vivent dans une villa située au milieu des vignes avec piscine, c'est un endroit magnifique.

Le week end j'aime faire du sport, partir me promener à la campagne, manger au restaurant (il y a de très bons restaurants !), aller prendre un verre en terrasse, voir mes amis et ma famille.

Quel âge as tu ? Pourquoi avoir choisi Avignon ? Quelles sont tes passions ? Que fais tu habituellement de tes week ends ?

à bientôt
Myriam

Guess what???

In two weeks I will be on my way to France.

In two weeks and one day I will be in France.

Pretending that I know French.

*sigh*

Always,
Amanda

16 days......

Guess what friends?

I have a family to stay with while I'm in France! WOOT!

I'll be staying with a Myriam Muller.

And my address will be 50 rue des lices!

And I'm inside the wall! Like 2 minutes away from the university! HOORAY!

I am by myself, though. And she's never had a student from our Avignon program before....so I just hope she's not crazy!

It's so cool that I'm going to have une mere for 3 months!

Always,
Amanda

E-mails that stress me out!

17 days!


Dear all,

The list of host families is going to be available any time soon now (as well as the schedule of classes). As soon as I receive it, I will put it on our Web page and let you know.
Once you know your host family's address, you should mail your letter of presentation along with the two-page letter from me attached to this message.

For those of you who need a hotel in Paris, your best bet is to do a search online and make your reservation from the U.S. (you may want to try hotel.com or sidestep.com). Staying near Gare de Lyon is a rather good location to spend the night as you will be leaving from that station to go to Avignon and it is on Metro line 1 (which crosses Paris East-West). From Gare de Lyon, to go out at night, you can walk to the Bastille. If you do stay in that neighborhood, make sure to check "La Promenade plantee". You might find this link useful:
For Marseille, I would recommend you stay by "Le Vieux Port". Try the city's official tourist office's Web site for hotels: . The area around the train station is all right but is a bit shady.

To activate your cell phone, you will need to buy a SIM card from an Orange store (orange.fr). Before you do that, you should add airtime to your cell phone by buying a "Mobicarte" at a "Relay" (at the airport, and in certain metro and train station) or at an Orange store, a "Tabac", a "Point presse"/"Librairie/papeterie". Follow the instructions. If you can add airtime successfully, that means you're lucky and that you don't need to buy a new SIM card.

Once you arrive in Avignon, go the front desk of our hotel and say you're part of the group from Ohio University and you'll be assigned a room. Once you'll leave your things in your room, I suggest you ask for a city map, and walk to the Palais des Papes through "Rue des Teinturiers" and "Place Pie". Your first impression of Avignon might not be very positive as you'll probably find some of the neighborhood you'll going through "deserted", a bit run-down and somewhat dirty. But you will get to like and hopefully even love it.

My cell phone number in France will be: 06-72-15-77-49 (I will be in France on the 26th)
Katy's: 06-07-61-75-56

Personal messages:

For the five of you flying into Marseille, I am arranging a picking for 12:30. I will tell you where to meet later on.

Carolyn: from Madrid to Avignon, I don't know, but the train is probably your best bet, though Eurolines busses may also be an option.

Nicky: you should be able to take a camcorder from Gordy to Avignon. I will get back to you on that soon.

Erica: for a hotel in Avignon, I will show you one, but in the meanwhile you can check this site:


I will see you all in Avignon, at in the lobby of Hotel Magnan at 5 PM on Friday 28.

In the meanwhile, good luck with the end of the quarter and enjoy your spring break.

Best,

Christophe Corbin

Update!

So, friends.

I got into the McNair program, so that means I will be doing a little research on the side while I'm in France and buying a great deal of media to help.

The official countdown is three weeks. 21 days.

In 21 days I will be in France.

Crazy crazy crazy.

Still haven't heard about my host family or anything like that.

But, alas, with time...anything's possible.

Always,
Amnada

ENJOY!

25 days!



Always,
Amanda

To do is to be, to be is to do, do be do be do be do

So....HAPPY MARCH! That means, my friends...it's a lot easier to try to figure out how many days we have until I leave.

27.

Holy mcMoly.

The good news is: I am slowly getting rid of my "to-do" list....some things are hard though....ummm.....I can't fill out the health insurance thingy until I know where I'm going to live (hopefully that'll happen sometime soon.........), and I can't buy the stuff I need until I get back home, but anyways.......it's going somewhere, I suppose.

27 days.

Really?

Oy vay.



To Do:
v/ GET LOANNNNNN!
v/ Apply for Kirby Scholarship
-Fill out crazy health insurance thingy
v/ Fill out crazy cell phone thingy
v/ Turn in my resignation form
-Talk to housing and dining
-get an ISIC card (student identification card-gets you deals on hotels and such)
-get an extra picture for a 12-25 card (gets you deals on train tickets, can you tell I'm into getting deals?)
v/ look up what excursions I would like to take (especially since we are not taking a group excursion to Paris....oy vay!)
v/ buy a plane ticket, eh?
-call bank and credit card companies
-make copies of passport, birth certificate, credit card, driver's license, etc. Give a copy to father, keep a copy somewhere else.
(well, i bought chucks, does that help?) -buy a lot of stuff.

New additions to the list:
-make t-shirts for friends
-going away partay?