Update

10/2/09
Firstly I'd like to say a very happy birthday to my Father. Happy birthday!

So... yesterday. Yesterday would have been a bad day if it occured in the United States....in English. Because it occured in French it can officially be deemed dreadful. Yesterday we all woke up early and headed over to our apartment and signed papers for it. Marie, the french host mom of Emma, came with us again and made sure everything went smoothly. Afterwards, Marie gave us a ride to l'ecole Stephane Pitard where we were late, of course, for our first meeting with our advisor-like people. They threw a bunch of information at us and then told us when our meetings with our schools would be. We then ran to the gare to buy tickets for Orleans (which should be refunded later...yay!), grabbed a coffee and then headed back to the school. From here a lady named Michele picked me up and drove me to BFE to my school in Ballan-Mire. She had no idea how I should get to school. She suggested the bus or the train..... a lot of help she was. She then introduced me to the principal and left. The principal then took me on a tour of all the classrooms (about 14 in total). Here I was introduced to the students and the teachers in a blur of names/French/craziness. I was then left in front of one of the classes to do....god knows what. I asked everybody what there name was and then asked the teacher if he had anything else he wanted me to do and he replied with, "You mean, you didn't plan anything for today?". WHAT? Anyway... afterwards we all had a cup of coffee together in the teacher's lounge and then the principal dropped me off in another classroom. After 3 minutes the teacher told me I could leave because I would not, in fact, be teaching English in her class. Thus, I was in the hallway of a school...alone...and the principal (who was showing me around) was teaching a class. I then ran to the secretary, told her I was lost and had no idea where I was supposed to be, and she said wait in the teacher's lounge. 30 minutes later the principal came and introduced me to another class and after 3 minutes, again, the teacher told me I could leave. I then, again, returned to the teacher's lounge and sat, alone, staring at the window for 45 minutes. (Mind you, the secretary offerred me a cup of coffee 10 minutes before school got out). The principal returned after school and told me one of the teachers would drive me home. This teacher was actually super nice and spoke a little bit of English...the best part was he used the word "bottleneck" in French and it made me think of David Sedaris. :)

What made the entire day better was the fact that after all this a bunch of the assistants went over to Marie's house for a birthday dinner for Chelsea. May I just say, I have NEVER eaten so well and I have NEVER eaten so much in my entire life. We had aperitifs with appetizers, then asparagus, then fish and zucchini, then salad, then pie, then cake. It was RIDICULOUS. And the drinks were amazing too. The dinner lasted from 7:30 until 11:30. It was quite the experience. However, all that food did prevent me from getting to sleep at a reasonable hour. Bah.

This morning I woke up at 5:30 and ran to the ATM to get the rest of the rent money out. May I just say, I have never been so sure that I was going to get mugged in my entire life. Luckily, I did not...so that's good. Then I packed up all my bags, dragged them to Marie's house for storage until tonight............. when we MOVE INTO THE APARTMENTTTTTTT! AHHHH! I'm so excited to finally be able to settle down. It will be glorious.

Currently, I am on a train to Orleans with the rest of the primary assistants and several lycee/college assistants. When we get back (around 5 or 6, I believe) hopefully we will have our keys and then I'll be able to move in..........and eventually call home, since I didn't get to it last night because of the EPIC dinner of EPIC proportions!

10/3/09

It feels so odd that it's only been about 24 hours since I wrote that post...haha. Anyway...a lot has happened. You're going to get a play by play and then I'm going to go into the interesting stuff....if I bore you often I suggested you skip down to the bottom. Let's start with the very beginning:

Orleans: We arrived, Orleans was nice...a bit smaller/dirtier than Tours, I must say...but I am partial to the city in which I am living. :) Anyway... we had a short meeting in the morning talking about all the silly visa stuff we have yet to do and we were given a pp on the history of Orleans-Tours. After this we were supposed to go on a guided tour (we were broken up into groups), but our tour guide never showed up.......so we just followed another tour until we got to the cathedral. This other group's guide did not go into the cathedral...and we wanted to...so.....we did. We (meaning Krystal, Grace, Chelsea, Emma, and a bunch of other people) went into the cathedral (one word= HUGE!). Then we headed to see a statue of Joan of Arc (because she's from Orleans, you see? I saw her house...it looked like a house...). Then we headed back to where we started for lunch....of course we were 30 minutes earlier than everyone else, but we discovered that A. The lunch was a buffet of appetizers (not filling) and B. There was free champagne. So.... we ate some food (after asking permission of course) and started a contest to see who could drink the most (unfortunately this failed because all of the other assistants showed up, the drinks disappeared, and they were not replinished...we all had 2 glasses of champagne...too bad). Then I went to sit outside with Krystal because the restaurant was over crowded...and...I guess our administrators gathered all the primary assistants together and walked them over....some place...for the afternoon meeting. Because Krystal and I were absent we were not informed about this sudden change of location. So, we went where our first meeting took place and asked where the CDPC, or something like that, was. The lady there said it's about a block away on the right in the Inspection building. Krystal and I headed to the inspection building and asked the receptionist what room the CDPC was. The receptionist, of course, had never heard of it. She called someone and (btw as I'm writing this I was just interrupted because a greve walked by our apartment and was saying something in a megaphone....in case you were wondering a greve is a strike...that's right....4th one in the first week I've been here that I've seen) asked where the CDPC is....she wrote it down...and then we asked for directions there and she obliged. At this point we are already 10 minutes late to the meeting (everyone knows how much I enjoy being late). Anyway..... we start speed walking in the direction of this mysterious building and we run into an irish guy. I ask him if he's headed to the place and he said that he was a primary assistant, but he thought it was in the first room we had a meeting. I, politely, informed him that he was very wrong and going back there would be a graveeeee mistake. So, I invited him to join us on our quest for the CDPC (by the way...this turned out to be quite advantageous in the end because I asked him A. If they drink Irish car bombs in Ireland and B. What they would be called......the answer if you are wondering is that they do not drink Irish car bombs in Ireland and the Irish boy thought that they would be disgusting). Finally...after many minutes walking....we arrived...40 minutes late to a 2 hour meeting about health insurance/housing (don't even GET me started on how angry that made me....grr....information came far too late)/ other administrative things.

Finally, after the meeting was over (and it was over 30 minutes early) we were all ready to catch the train that left in 40 minutes (because a later train would take much longer to get back). Chelsea; however, lost her phone...so we looked for it...did not find it...and 10 minutes before the train left we decided to run to the gare (mind you, of course, she found her phone on the way...it was in her boot....which was the first place I suggested she look). ANYWAY. ;) We barely made it before the train left, and all of the other assistants wanted to get on the train that said "Tours" that would leave in another 30 minutes...I said, "No, no my friends...we should take the train that matches our ticket number that is leaving now. I know it does not say Tours, but IT is the correct train to take"...of course...I was right... :) (Would've been quite horrible if that wasn't the case, eh?). When we got back to Tours we went to Marie's house and watched Emma pack (because our suitcases where there, you see?) and I called my father (a very crappy skype connection, but at least I got through). Finally, Tobi arrived and we moved all our stuff into the apartment, made dinner, ran to the grocery, unpacked, and passed out.

This morning we got up early to open our bank accounts (which went smoothly) and we went to a store (yes, a cell phone store) to ask them how to install internet in our apartment. We returned here, and I ran to the grocery store while the other two girls run to IKEA (while I really need stuff for my room...like a dresser/drawers/something...I thought it would be best to wait until I get paid for stuff that I need, but can live without for now). And here we are.

So NOW the interesting stuff:
1. We moved into our apartment! It's completely furnished, the last guy even left food here like pasta/Olive oil, etc. The landlord freshly painted my room (which REALLY needed it). He left us towels for the dishes, etc, laundry baskets, just...little things that would've really added up in price. The blankets for the bed he provided us with our RIDICULOUS looking. They're stripped...in different colors....it's soooooo silly. SOOOOO silly. The other girls are buying new ones.....I like these ones...they were free....so I'll deal with the ugly-ness. The only thing I need is a dresser/drawers/something for my clothes. Other than that I am unpacked and life is GLORIOUS.

2. Internet...apparently, obtaining WIFI in France is very different than the US. What we have to do is get a package through a cell phone company. The package we are getting is TV, Internet (WIFI...we checked), and a telephone. The telephone will make FREE calls to fixed landlines in Europe and the US.............................AND free calls to cell phones in the US (but not Europe). ISN'T THAT AMAZING? I'm so pumped. This, of course, will cost us 30 euros a month (total) with a 50 dollar deposit for the little thingy that they are giving us. Our other option is to get just the internet for 20 euros a month. But, I figure we could all use the phone thing (which I hope one of the girls is picking up at IKEA today) and Chelsea was thinking about buying a TV...which would, of course, have to stay in my room since the box will be in here (damn.) Overall 10 euros a month for internet/phone/tv is AMAZING! That will officially make rent 310 a month. Not bad, eh?

3. Grocery shopping. Today I did my own grocery shopping for the first time EVER in France. I bought 2 things of pasta, 2 bottles of wine, coffee, cheese, bread, butter, and toilet paper for 12 euros! So... that's a week and a half of food. Win. Of course, there are no vegetables in there...and I sincerely wish I could purchase peanut butter, but, alas, there was none. So...cheese sandwiches for lunch and buttered pasta for dinner! Perfect. :) That'll get me by until we start getting paid and such and I can buy real food.

4. Visitors. I've told my roommates all of the possible people that might/will come visit and they are really excited about it....so now you all MUST come.

Anyway, that's all for now. I'm going to go take a nap, perhaps, until the other girls (and Tobi) come back. We are then headed to the cell phone store to set up our internet, the hostel (because I forgot my f-ing book there), and then headed over to the foyer to use the free interwebs. Afterwards, I am making fried rice for us and the Brits and then we're getting schwasted, going to bed, and then sleeping all day tomorrow. Sounds amazing.

Love Always,
Amanda

P.S. Go check out pictures on facebook....NOW!

10/4/09

Okay... Looks like yesterday did not go as planned at all. The girls spent 4 HOURS in Ikea...they got back 30 minutes before the internet store closed, so we RAN there (it's pretty far away). We got the internet set up and stopped at the hostel on our way back (they, of course, have not found my book.... :(, but I left my name and number (well, Chelsea's number) and they will find it today and call me.....I hope...) Chelsea wanted to run by fnac afterwards for....something... and then we headed home. I gave her our bbox and headed towards the foyer to use the internet....of course, although it is only a block away, I got lost. I was quite upset about this getting lost bit, but eventually I found my way and................................. the door was closed. I, not living there, have no way to open the door. So, I headed back home where I had a ridiculous sobfest because nothing was going right and I was overwhelmed and upset and I don't have my book and nobody wanted to go to the internet shop with me and I didn't get to use the internet and talk to people..........sigh. Anyway, so right in the middle of this the Brits (Liz and Grace) show up, so I pulled myself together, made some fried rice, and had a good night with my new friends.

BTW. Two more American assistants came over and.......(drumroll please).......... the chick is OBSESSED with Twilight! I finally have somebody to go see New Moon with.................AND......... it's coming out earlier over here than it is in the states. Jealous? Yes, yes you are.

Anyway, I woke up today, made coffee, set up our bbox, and now I'm doing laundry. I figure around 3 o'clock I'll head over to the foyer and wake everyone up with my phone calls home. The part that sucks about not being able to use the internet one day is that I can't just wake up and use it....I have to wait until the afternoon to call everyone......so the waiting is pretty unbearable......oh well.

Always,
Amanda