English Wednesday

Well, I'd been planning on waiting until I'd uploaded some more pictures from my camera to do this post, but I figure there's no need to put it off any longer?

Since real life starts again tomorrow (and by 'real life' I obviously mean my 12 hour work week), I should at least update those of you who have been reading this (which I assume is nobody, since I have very few COMMENTS!!) on what I've been up to since I left Paris on Saturday.

Basically, I've been settling into my new apartment and life here in Saint Etienne! I must say, Saint Etienne is a pretty cute town with really nice people. It's almost as though it's a completely different country than Paris. I'd gotten so accustomed to my life in France being in Paris that I didn't even realize all that there was to experience in other places. And here, what there is to experience is typical French lifestyle and habits.

My roommate, Mathilde, is hilariously funny. Because she's a student and takes English classes, we've decided to speak only English on Wednesdays. Though it was not ALL English today, we managed to speak some, and it was nice being the language expert for a change! Tomorrow it's back to French. I just learned that to say good luck, the French say "Merde!" which also means shit. Could be confusing...

I've been busy making trips to Auchan to buy things to make my room feel like my room. So far, so good! The bed is EXTREMELY comfy and cozy so I haven't had to buy any bedding. So instead I bought some pictures to put on my orange walls! When everything is all set and perfect I will take pictures so everyone (the 3 people that I'm assuming are reading this blog anyway) will see exactly what it looks like here!!! I have to say, it's very French, which is perfect! Though there are some silly nuances about the apartment, (such as the faucets don't really turn off the first time you try, you have to turn them on again then turn them off quickly and the toilet is in the middle of the toilet room so there's hardly room to sit and close the door but there's space behind the toilet for god knows what) it's okay! These are the things that I will always remember about my quirky little French apartment!

Tomorrow I have to go to Rive de Gier for the first time to see my school and meet the teachers and students. A little nerve wracking, but it will be good to finally know what I'll be doing this year! I'm excited to get my schedule, just like when I could hardly wait to get my schedule in middle school and high school, and when I'd spend days planning my semester schedules in college... What can I say, I guess I like to have a plan!

I'm waking up in about 6 hours to make the 8:48 train to Rive de Gier, so I should probably get some sleep! Wish me "merde!"