Espana!

Saturday - Woke up late and finally got up at 10:30. Then, Liz and I went and had Dunkin Doughnuts for breakfast (since I hadn't had doughnuts in FOREVER!). After some yummy chocolate doughnuts and disgusting coffee, we wandered around and saw some pretty buildings. I can't remember the names of them but they were pretty cool. Then we walked up the main road and found the Hard Rock Cafe! That makes 4 HRC's that I have been to in Europe (Rome, Venice, London, and Madrid). After that we walked back to this one place and there was this huge strike going on! We watched for a little bit. It was pretty cool as you can see below:

 

 And the musicians were cool too:

Then we took the metro and went to this market which had some really cool stuff. Then we went to see this palace. The palace was pretty cool and had a cool fountain. There also was a neat church next door but we couldn't get in. Here's how big it was:

After we visited that we went and got some ice cream which was yummy. Then we had lunch at a restaurant called Nebraska. I thought the name was funny, but the calamari I had was good. After that we did a bit more sight seeing and stopped at some stores on the way back. We also went to the museum the  Reina Sofia which was neat. We saw works of Dali, Picasso and many others. Then, we got some pizza and went to the room. We had pizza for dinner with acorn alcohol which wasn't horrible and watched a movie on Liz's laptop. Then it was a little time to relax and bed. Overall I noticed that Spain was really similar to Italy and a good place to visit.

Sunday - Woke up around 11 again and got up and around slowly. We still had Dunkin Doughnuts for breakfast (yum) and went to see this huge park. It was alot of fun and really relaxing. We came to this huge lake with boats and saw some pretty interesting things including Darth Vader Santa, lol. After we left to go to the metro I almost got pick pocketed. We were crossing the road when I felt my purse being pulled slightly, I looked back and realized this woman was right behind me. Thinking nothing of it I turned around again. It happened again and I turned back around and she moved back some.  Then I realized my purse was open when I knew it was closed! I checked a dozen times and nothing was missing. Thank goodness Liz and I kept looking back! Anyways, we went back to Sol and ate paella for lunch which is rice and seafood and was pretty tasty. Then we did some sightseeing/shopping and got food and went back to watch two different movies.

 

Monday –Woke up and didn't have much time. We got around and left the hostel with all our luggage, ate at Dunkin Doughnuts, navigated the metro, and got to the airport. Then we separated and I was a little ways away from going to Lyon, but that's another story.

FFFFFRIDAY!

Started out by waking up super early in the morning (5am) and doing some last minute things before leaving. On Wednesday I learned that there were supposed to be problems with the trains on Friday due to a huge snow storm. This caused me to be super worried and check the train schedule periodically for any news of problems. After I checked my train, I finished packing, grabbed a banana for breakfast, and left. I left at ten to 6 and by the time I got to the station I still had 15 minutes before my train. I found the platform and got on without any troubles. The train ride was smoother than I expected given the fact that trains were supposed to be delayed which made me feel really relieved. 

A couple of interesting things happened during this ride.One, there was a lady across from me who was asleep with her headphones in. I didn’t think to wake her and she awoke as we were pulling away from her stop. I felt really bad for her and wished I could tell her how much I understand how it feels when travel plans go wrong, but I didn’t feel I could portray it very well in French. She got off at the next stop but had to wait over two hours for the next train. I hope she finally got to see her daughter ok. The second thing was really interesting, a man sitting across from me on the train ride. At first, I was like oh, a mid 40 year old man sitting across from me, whatever. But no less than a minute after he sits down does he bang his hands on his brief case and start tapping out the beat to whatever he was listening to on his ipod. He used his full body and I couldn’t help but smile. After a few seconds he seemed to realize he was not alone and stopped. This spontaneous burst of music madness was awesome and made me realize that everything is going to be ok and finally relax. 

We got to Lyon right on time and I dashed over to the shuttle to the airport. After buying a ticket and waiting 5 minutes, I was on the shuttle and on my way to the airport. Interestingly enough, another man (about 10 years younger than the other) sat across from me, and no sooner than we left did he start whistling a tune and tapping out the beat. Once again it made my day and was very entertaining. Anyways, finally got to the airport and raced to my gate. I got through security and realized I had over an hour before boarding. So I went to the bathroom and got some real breakfast/lunch because I was starved and sat down to eat. Finally, we got into the boarding room and I was excited because I hadn’t missed anything. Little did I know we would be standing in the boarding room for over an hour. At last, we get on the plane and I nap most of the way there (I don’t even remember take off because I was asleep!!). We touched down and no sooner did I get out of the main section did I see Liz!!

We took the metro and had to change three times until we finally got out and walked to our hostel. We got checked in with no problems and got into our room. The room is actually really nice. It’s pretty big with two decent beds (that squeak a lot!) and a decent bathroom. It also has a small balcony which I’m sure is nice in the summer. After we got settled in we left to go check out the town. We saw Plaza del Sol and went shopping at H&M on the Grande Via. After a while we got some dinner at Mickey D's and went back. We used the wifi in the lobby and I went to bed early for it had been a really long day.

"Exam" Week

Ok to be honest my "Exam" Week wasn't a true exam week because I only had two exams. However, most of my week consisted of the following: sleeping in, watching movies, relaxing, watching tv, hanging out with my host family, doing homework, and hanging out with friends. Monday was pretty boring except for getting my lunch money and seeing Tangled in French. Tangled was good but I can't wait to see it in English because Finn's character is played by the main character in my favorite series, Chuck. Tuesday was a little bit more crazy because I had to find these papers for my ICRP. They took forever to find because I had never been to the office where they were located before. But finally I found them, ate a quick lunch, and got to my last ICRP of the 2010 year. The second half of the week is when things really started happening:

Wednesday - Started off waking up early, getting around and walking to the train station. There I met up with the other Kalamazoo Students and our teacher because we were going to Vichy to take the TCF. The TCF is the Test du Connaissance du Francais (aka test of french understanding/level). So we went to Vichy, walked around in the cold until we found the university, was taken up to a small computer room, and were off. The test started with 25 minutes of listening comprehension followed by 108 minutes of grammar and reading comprehension. Overall it wasn't too horrible and I ended up doing ok on those parts. After that we went and ate a crappy but cheap lunch at the cafe. Then we went back for the oral portion. I don't know what it was, maybe the guy's accent, maybe the nervousness, maybe sleep deprivation, maybe my brain was strained too hard, maybe the fact that there were two tape recorders recording everything I was saying; but I felt like I did really bad. However, after we finally finished the test, we toured the town as we walked back to the train station. Then we went back, I walked the 20 minutes back to the apartment, slept for two hours. And got up in time to relax a bit before dinner. After dinner the family and I watched a really good couple of episodes of Mentalist.

Thursday – Slept in, did some shopping, ate lunch, went to school, tried to find the room for the exam, gave up and studied for exam w/ Lauren, printed off some stuff for travleing, found our room for our test (in a portable that I had never seen before), took the test (which actually wasn’t that bad), printed off airplane boarding passes, and went back home. When I got back I started getting ready for vacation! However I didn't have much time until I had to leave for the final party. Most of the students in our school were going to an overpriced gala but instead, the American students got together and decided to dress up and go to a nice restaurant. We were going to go to Mexican but couldn’t get in so we went to the Sicilian Restaurant. After a good dinner, we went to a café and I got a French Coffee (coffee with gin) was pretty good but strong. After a while it was finally time to say goodbye, Happy Holidays, and leave. When I got back I packed, and packed, and packed. Finally I was done enough and went to bed at 1:30 only to be awakened 3 and a half hours later by my alarm to start Christmas Vacation.

Last Week of Classes!

For the first part of the week I didn't do very much. I got my Library card so that I can work on my project for a class, helped the kids in my ICRP decorate the Christmas Tree, did homework, and celebrated my last few classes. Although I ended up missing one of them because I literally fell asleep for two hours while waiting for the shower...oops. However, I was super excited about last marketing class - thank god that class is over! Friday I didn't do very much except have class, talk to my teacher about a project and go back to the apartment.

Weekend –

Saturday – Got up and relaxed and studied for exam. Went to Marketing exam which wasn’t that bad – I understood everything but wasn’t sure how to explain my responses. Got done super early so I left and went back to my host family after getting a quick chocolate dessert. Then had lunch and later went over to Jenn’s house. Jenn had Lauren and I spend the night since her host mom was out of town and didn't want to leave Jenn alone. This also happened to be the night of the international student end of the semester party. So after all getting to Jenn's and chilling for a while we went to the restaurant for dinner with the international students. It was kind of annoying because the majority of the students were downstairs except for the last few who got there (which included us and we arrived 5 minutes early). However, we still had fun talking to everyone although the food wasn't super. After that we all went to a store to get some booze and then to a house party. It was a lot of fun and around 11:30 we went back and slept.

Sunday – Woke up late, got around, ate a good breakfast that Jenn cooked, and went back home. Not a lot of my family was home it was just my host dad, Eliana and I for lunch. Afterward I watched a movie with Eliana. We watched Forrest Gump because she had never seen it and I told her she had to because it's a great movie. I had to explain a lot of the culture in the movie but still enjoyed it. Later I hung out with Lauren. We were going to see a movie (Tangled) but it was too busy so we wandered around the Christmas Market, saw the church and went inside. Then we went to the hypermarket (aka French Walmart) which turned out to be closed but walked over to the ice rink to check out prices to go ice skating later. After that I went back and relaxed.

Fail Trip

Fail day, fail trip, worst Saturday of my life whatever you call it the 4th of December was quite an awful day.

Saturday started out by waking up at 5AM and leaving the apartment at 5:45. As I left the building I had a weird feeling that something was not going to go right that day, it turned out that I was right in the end. I got to the train station and got on the train with no problems. I ate some food that I had brought with me and relaxed and watched the sun come up. Then I got to Lyon and that's where everything started going downhill. I looked at the timetable to see if my train was up there even though I still had two hours until it left. It wasn't but I did notice something, over half of the trains were more than 20 minutes late. I was like oh crap. You see, in order to make my plane I had to take the first train and even then I only would arrive an hour before the door to my plane closed. It was then that I realized that I might not make my flight. The train station was freezing so I finally went to the Waiting Room because at least that closed with a door and read my book as I waited for my train to appear on the screens. When it finally appeared it said it was on time. I breathed a sigh of relief and went to the platform.

I got kind of nervous because usually the train gets there at least 5 minutes before the scheduled time but this time it arrived exactly when we were supposed to be pulling out of the station. I got on and sat down and we started moving and I thought, ok maybe I will make my flight. Just as soon as we pulled out of the station the train stopped. An announcement came on but I didn't understand it very well. We waited for 30 minutes. I was freaking out. Finally when we started moving I decided to relax, enjoy the train ride and figure stuff out when I got to Geneva since I couldn't do anything on the train. I watched the scenery, the Alps covered in snow is such a beautiful site. Funny side note, I was listening to my ipod and one of the songs that came up on random was Unbelievable, that's exactly what I thought those mountains and country side looked like. We stopped a couple more times for short periods of times and when they finally announced that we were approaching the last station, Geneva, we were 45 minutes late.

As soon as we got in I took off running. I found the train to the airport, waited a couple of minutes for it to come, got on, got to the airport, got off, ran and found my gate all the way at the other end of the airport and as soon as I arrived I realized that they had shut the gate 10 minutes ago. I went down and waited in line at the information desk to see if I could get on the other flight that was in a couple of hours. After waiting over an hour in that line I finally talked to a guy who told me that I couldn't get on it and my only option was to wait until the next day at 2PM. He started transferring my information to put it on there and told me it would be 86 Swiss Francs. For those of you who aren't familiar with that currency, it's pretty much the same as the US Dollar. Also 86 Swiss Francs was three times more than what I paid for my original ticket. Also both my ticket to and from Budapest were less than that. I suddenly had a big decision before me:

Choice 1) Pay 86 Francs, find a place to stay the night, explore Geneva, relax, take the plane at two the next day, see Ada, spend less than 24 hours in Budapest then go back OR

Choice 2) Pay alot less for tickets back to Clermont, sleep in my own bed, not have to pay for meals, get homework done, and do some work for my school projects.

Which would you choose?

I chose Choice 2. I told him that that was not going to work and after giving me a puzzled look and saying that I would lose my reservation (which in my opinion was already lost) I told him that was ok and left the airport.  I called Ada on my way to the train station and a guy over heard me and asked me if I was American. I told him I was and we had a short conversation. He was there searching for an apartment because he got a job in Geneva. He was originally from Atlanta which I thought was kind of funny because that's where my Aunt Erin lives. It was kind of nice to tell someone else my story and helped calm me down because after everything I was pretty distraught. Finally I told him he should visit Bern because it's a nice city to visit once he got settled in, he told me thanks and good luck and I left. When I got back to the train station, I got my tickets and made my way to Lyon.

The trip back wasn't anywhere near as fun. It was getting dark out and I decided I should at least do some homework. I got some work done but ended up staring out, wishing I could have made my flight and listening to my ipod. When I got to Lyon I once again had a two hour wait. I got a Coke but wasn't hungry even though I hadn't eaten much except a little bit of breakfast and a sandwich at the Geneva station. Finally my train came and I got to Clermont. On the way there I realized how tired I was and laid down on my backpack with my scarf over it to soften it. I got back to Clermont at 11 and was home before 11:30. As soon as I got back I decided to eat some Easy Mac to cheer me up and then go to bed.

Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow

Tuesday - I woke up feeling really sick so I went to the bathroom and afterwords I felt like I could feint and my head hurt super bad from a sinus migraine. I skipped the first part of my first class but felt good enough to go to the second part. However, I still didn't feel good enough to go to my ICRP and I didn't want the kids catching what I got so I called and took it off. Then I ate lunch and did some homework. After that I had my last class, went back home and napped until dinner. After dinner I did a bit of work before going back to bed.

Wednesday - Woke up early again and after doing some work I went outside into the winter wonderland to go to school. I was running late and didn't have time to take a shower which worked out nicely because my hair didn't freeze as I made my way through the snow. This was the third day in a row that we had snow and throughout the day we got more than we had the past two days put together. Classes went ok and after lunch I had Marketing. During Marketing I did my FLE homework for the next day as well as some homework for my French Language class and on top of that, when we broke off into groups my group had me type the PowerPoint so I actually understood what was going on. Then I went to my last class which my brain was dead for so that didn't go too well. After class we went to a Conference presentation about classes to take in January since we have to take two intensive courses. I decided to take the Mafia course and a course about Gestalt (psychology FINALLY!!!). Then I went home, relaxed, ate dinner, did some homework, showered, and went to bed early.

Thursday - Woke up at 6 and felt really good, I guess I finally had gotten enough sleep. I did some homework then went to class. Both of my classes went well, then I had Kebabs with my friends and ran through the ice/snow to catch the tram. My ICRP was really good. I can tell the kids are getting really attached to me. When I help them they seem to really appreciate it and during recreation time one kid would not leave me alone. He came up and sat down by me during the beginning of recreation and I told him he had to sit next to the other kids. He wrapped his arms around mine and wouldn't go until I finally got up with him and we both sat with the other kids. It was really cute and sweet. It was fun seeing all the kids in the snow at recess. Then I went home, relaxed, had dinner and went to bed.

Friday - Woke up early to finish my reading for class. For breakfast I had toast with Nutella and banana which was super yummy. Then I went to class (which was difficult because there was an inch of fluffy snow over ice) which went really well. The book that we are now reading is really interesting and in my opinion the best we have read so far. During lunch I got my tickets for going to visit Ada this weekend and talked to my boyfriend since it's our 6 month Anniversary. Now I'm chilling and getting ready for my weekend, it should be good except I'm nervous about my travel because I only have an hour between my trains and flights! Wish me luck!

Weekend!!! (and Monday)

Friday - Started out by getting up, reading some for my class and then going to class. French Lit was good and then I went to lunch with my friends (we got Kebabs which are super yummy). After that I went back home, relaxed, took a 3 hour nap since I wasn't feeling so good, had dinner and then went to the Place de Jaude to go see the Harry Potter movie (in French this time). When I got there, I met up with Lauren, Jenn, Jake, Louise, and Joanne. We went, got our tickets (some people got popcorn but not me because I still had candy corn my mom had sent me), and got some decent seats. The movie was better the second time and alot more entertaining in French because A) I knew everything that was happening since I had seen it in English and B) They call a wand a Baguette. Anyways, after that I went home and went to bed since it was after midnight.

Saturday and Sunday - Was sick with a cold/flu so I slept over 10 hours each night and took a 3 hour nap each day. In addition, I watched Disney movies on youtube as well as the Harry Potter Musical (if you havn't checked it out and like Harry Potter I highly recommend it, its super funny). I also drank a crap load of water and no wine (which is weird since ordinarily I would drink wine with almost every dinner).

Monday - Woke up feeling better but I had to do alot of homework since I put almost everything off that weekend. I did work for several hours, took a shower, ate breakfast (not all in that order), then went to mail some postcards and meet Louise, Joanne and Lauren at the Christmas market. We had Truffade for lunch (supper yummy potatoes and cheese) which was super filling. Then we went to school and I tried to study for my Russian retake exam. Luckily, in place of Pepiniere we had a conference so I studied Russian during that. Then at the end of Russian we had our retake and I felt loads better about it after. Then I went home, chilled, ate dinner and went to bed.

Catching up...again

Tuesday - Woke up, went to school where classes went pretty well. My ICRP also went pretty well, I helped a different group and told the teacher that Thursday I would bring something special for Thanksgiving. Then I had another class which went ok and then I went home, did some homework, relaxed, and went to bed.

Wednesday - Woke up early to do some extra work, went to school where I got yelled at for writing my homework instead of emailing it. Then I had a decent lunch and did some more work. After that I had two boring classes, went back home, did some homework, chilled, and went to bed.

Thursday - Pretty much started out the same as Tuesday until my FLE class. During FLE I finished the work she was having us do so I drew a turkey for Thanksgiving. The teacher saw it and instead of yelling at me had me present to the other international students the tradition of Thanksgiving. I talked for 5 minutes and then didn't do any more drawing the rest of class. Then during lunch I rushed around to print out the coloring pages for Thanksgiving, eat lunch, and get on the tram to go to my ICRP. During class I once again presented the concept of Thanksgiving and some of the students colored a turkey. Then I went home, relaxed, talked to my family including aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents, who I havn't talked to in ages!,until it was time to go to the restaurant.

At the restaurant we had "Thanksgiving dinner". It was not a true Thanksgiving dinner for several reasons in my mind which I will further describe later. It started out with talking to everyone (there was all 7 of us K students, our host parents, our teachers, and Louise who is from Kansas and studying at the ESC as well). Then we all sat down, I sat down next to Lauren, her host dad and Jake's host dad. It was alot of fun and the conversation was good. 

 

The first course was Turkey, some meat thing that I wasn't quite sure of but tasted ok, red current jelly (not cranberry - which I don't eat anyways),  green beans and potatoes. 

 

The second course was a plate of cheese (of course) and dinner was not pumpkin pie but a chocolate thing with cream inside it.

After over 2 hours we were done so I returned to my house to relax a bit before going to sleep. The reasons why this Thanksgiving dinner wasn't very satisfying are: 1) I wasn't overly stuffed, 2)No corn casserole, 3)We didn't go around the table and say what we are thankful for, 4) There was no parade, 5)There was no dog show 6)And the worst part was NO PUMPKIN PIE! :(
(However, number 6 was halfway remedied the next week...)

We No Speak Americano - Yolanda Be Cool and Dcup

Saturday - After my exhausting night you would think I would sleep in, but that was not the case. I didn't want to miss my friends who were in the room I was supposed to be in first (also I didn't have their phone numbers) so I woke up early and took a quick shower and went down there hoping I didn't miss them and as soon as I walked down the stairs I saw Mayra and was super relieved to find her because then I could get access to the room and leave my stuff there and hang out with them. After a joyful reunion with Liz, Mayra, and Maureen, we went up and ate the free breakfast which wasn't the best but tasted good because I hadn't eaten alot since I got there. Then Liz and I took off and went sightseeing. We rode the tube into town and saw Big Ben, The London Eye, Parliament, Westminster Abbey, Buckingham Palace, and lots of other stuff. For lunch we ate at a pub where I got "real" fish and chips and a beer. It tasted so good and for dessert we split a chocolate bread pudding which was amazing.

Then we did even more sightseeing as we saw Platform 9 3/4 at King's Cross Station, St. Paul's Cathedral and Tower Bridge. It got really dark and cold early so at 5 we went to this mall where we got our tickets for the Harry Potter movie and ate sushi for dinner as we waited the two hours before it started. Finally we went and saw the movie. It was good and I can't wait for the last one! Then we went back and went to bed because it was past midnight when we finally got back.

Sunday - Started by saying goodbye to the girls studying abroad in Spain and rolling back over to sleep for another hour. I got up at 9 so I could take a shower, eat the free breakfast, pack up and checkout before 11. Then I took the tube into town and went to Buckingham Palace where I saw the changing of the guard. When I was there I listened to conversations around me and heard so many different languages it was crazy! It was really cool but really strange to be in a country that speaks English but since I was at all the touristy spots it was mostly other languages.

Then I got cold so I went to Hard Rock Cafe to warm up. It was kind of busy and I didn't feel like waiting so I went and ate a quick lunch at McDonalds (since I had already spent alot of money in London). Then I walked around and walked the Millennium Bridge and London Bridge (which did not fall down when I was on it). Then since it was getting dark and late I took the tube to Victoria Station, took a slower train to the airport (since it was cheaper and I had time), and bought a cheap dinner and a book to read. It was the second book in the Girl With The Dragon Tattoo series and was really good. I read all 500 pages instead of sleeping that night since I was spending the night at the airport (I didn't want to pay an extra night just to leave at 3 am to get to the airport and then catch my plane at 7).

In the morning I had breakfast and went to get on my plane. As I was waiting to get on I saw Joanne so we talked some and sat on the plane together. Then when we got off we tried to get through customs to make our train back to Clermont. We finally got past customs, took the express to the train station but by the time we got there we had just barely missed our train. So we went and got our tickets changed for a later time and relaxed for two hours until we finally got on the train and back. By the time we got back we couldn't go to school because we had missed our classes so we said goodbye and I went home and took a nap until dinner. Then I ate dinner, did some homework and went back to sleep.

All Time Low - The Wanted

All Time Low - oh yeah I left you hanging from that last post didn't I...well here you go:

So I was on the plane when the pilot comes on the intercom and says that we are getting really close and should be in in less than 20 minutes...lies. So we are in line behind two planes. The first one apparently was coming in for an emergency landing because something was wrong with the undercarriage which had debris falling from it. They landed safely but the runway had to be cleared of all debris before the other plane or my plane could land so we circled the airport for about 20 minutes until the pilot came back on the intercom and said that we were going to the other airport because we were having "technical difficulties" (running out of gas). So after about half an hour we were at the airport. After we landed and taxied for what seemed like forever we were at the gate. I was unsure how to get to my hostel from there so I called my hostel and got directions and told them I would be running late. As soon as the seatbelt sign was turned off everyone got up and got their stuff to leave. The door opened but we were told we couldn't get off until we got the OK from the officials so we waited as they ran some paperwork back and forth. After waiting what felt like ages we were finally told that we couldn't get off, they were just going to refuel the plane and then we would go to our original airport. I was super angry (but wasn't the only one).

After that announcement everyone went back to their seats and waited 15 minutes for them to finish fueling then the door was shut and we were back on their way. Funny note, the flight attendants still had to do their pre-flight safety demonstration on how to put a seat belt on and everything (seriously, we were just on this plane, do they think they forgot? it's probably some sort of government regulation or something though). Finally we were up in the air and after what seemed like an eternity we were at the other airport getting off. Then there was customs. Apparently another international plane had just landed so the line was super long, it took me over a half  hour to get through and when I finally was through I realized it was 1:05, I was supposed to be in and at my hostel before 11:30. Anyways, then I went and caught the last express train to Victoria Station and then went outside to find my bus (because I needed to take two buses to get to my hostel). I went outside and  looked but since it was so dark I didn't see anything but some construction so I went away from the construction (to the left) and, after I turned the corner of the block, found a bus stop. I looked at the sheet but it wasn't for the bus that I needed. I looked up the road and saw at least 5 more bus stops, that's when I realized I was in for a long night.

I looked at every single stop and walked over two blocks but couldn't find the right stop. Finally, I asked a bus driver who was on break and he told me to walk back to the station and keep going past the construction. So I went back and as soon as I got past the little bit of construction found a bunch of buses, awesome. I found the right one pretty quickly and got on. I knew that I needed to get off at the second stop so I sat down and at the second stop got off. Apparently in London they have scheduled stops and intermediate request stops. Furthermore, someone had requested an intermediate stop so the stop that I got off which was the second stop was actually the first scheduled stop and not where I wanted to be. Realizing this, I looked around and found another bus to take me to where I needed to be. After waiting a bit I got on and got off at the right stop. Now to find my "second" bus. I started looking around and couldn't find it so I asked some people (it's so nice that there is no language barrier but sometimes their accent makes it hard to understand) and they showed me on a map how to find it so I had to cross the plaza and go down a certain road. So I went across and went down a street but I didn't see any bus stops so I went over to the next street and promptly found it.

Then as I was waiting and studying the map, I realized that this one was going the wrong way (I had forgotten to take into account that they drive on the wrong side of the road). So I crossed the road, found the stop, and waited for half an hour. Finally the bus came. When it came I asked the driver if it goes to Sidmouth Road, the stop I needed to get off at, he said no. Not to be discouraged I walked back and took a seat. Then this guy came and took a seat next to me so I asked him if he knew where it was, he said he didn't but pulled out his iphone and tried to find it for me. He said that I could just get off the same stop as him and it shouldn't be far from there so I said ok and got off at the same stop. We started walking and then I realized that we were in the 100 block and I needed the 200 block. I told him I could find it from there but he insisted on walking me all the way there which kind of annoying and creepy. Finally I got there at 5am, and went in as he left. I got all checked in and went downstairs to my room thinking I could finally tumble into bed but not quite yet...

So I opened the door and got out my phone so that I could find bed number 8. I was looking all around and couldn't find it so I went upstairs and asked the night manager who told me that the numbers were on the sides of the bunks, of course. I looked and found number 8 but there was someone sleeping in it. I went back upstairs and asked what I should do, he said it was probably the person form number 10 who took that one mistakenly. I went back down and looked but there was someone in 10 too. So I checked all the bunks on the bottom and they were all full. I went up and told him this and he said maybe one of the top ones is open. I checked every single bed and they were all full. I went back up yet again and told him this and he frowned and gave me a different bed in a guys room because it was the only open bed. I went to the bathroom, changed into my pjs, went to the room, found my bed easily, and went to sleep at 5:30 am.

Any Way You Want It - Journey

It's been a while since I have had an update or an update with a song title so here we go... Any Way You Want It by Journey. Ok, I certainly don't get to have my life quite like how I want it but I can get pretty close.

Monday - Woke up late and then studied for Russian. After doing some other homework I went to lunch, sent my boyfriend's birthday present, and studied some more. Then I went to go to Pepiniere and met with one of the members of my group. We couldn't find anyone else so we just decided to cancel. Then I had my Russian dictation exam. It wasn't that bad but later when we went over stuff I realized that I missed alot of stuff. Anyways, I was kind of shocked because I thought oh we get to take the exam and then leave..not so. We took a 20 min exam and then learned over 100 new vocab words! I was rather shocked and overwhelmed but it wasn't that bad. After school I went back home and chilled, had dinner, did some homework and went to bed.

Tuesday - Woke up early so I could do some more homework. Then I ate breakfast (Nutella on toast and chocolate milk, what could be better?), showered, realized that I was gonna be late to class and left really quickly walking the fastest to school making it 12 minutes to school (averaging about 2 min per block or less). Then we had classes, and during lunch I ran back to my room to get some stuff I forgot, grabbed a quick lunch and went to my ICRP. My ICRP was good, I can tell the kids are starting to get more comfortable with me because they talked to me more and more even though I couldn't understand them all the time. Then I went back to school for my last class, had a test which didn't go too well because I didn't realize some of that stuff would be on there. Then I went home and watched some megavideo, ate dinner, did a bunch of homework and went to bed early because I was so worn out.

Wednesday - Woke up early again to finish my homework and left after eating breakfast and getting a shower. Then after my least favorite class, I had a quick lunch, had some more classes and finally got home at 7pm like usual. I didn't do much except homework for the next day, eat dinner with my host family, and go to bed.

Thursday - Woke up late and ran around to get to class on time. When I got there we had alot of work to do and it wasn't super fun. For lunch I ate pasta outside since it was nice enough and then caught the tram and went to the school. My ICRP was pretty fun except the kids were pretty rowdy and I had a headache. Nevertheless, I taught them some English words and the numbers 1-10. Then I went back home and had a quiet night of homework, naping, megavideo, and chilling.

Friday - Woke up and got around for what I thought was gonna be a day of classes, traveling and getting to see my friends at the hostel before midnight. I was partly right... the day started out with getting ready and going to class. After class I raced around, got lunch and packed my bags for London. Then I got on the train and to the airport with no problems. While waiting at the airport I got some Russian homework done and got on the plane once again with no problems but that was where the problems began...

Switzerland

Thursday

Woke up and packed my backpack and new purse. After a shower and some breakfast I went to the store and bought some groceries so I wouldn't have to buy as much food when in Switzerland. After I came back and packed those, I chilled for a bit and then got everything around to leave. I picked up my lunch my host mom made and was out the door. About two blocks later I realized I had forgotten my keys so I went back, got buzzed in and picked up both my keys and my phone. Then I left for the train station. Once I got there, I ate lunch and went and got on my train. That was my first of three legs to get to Basel, Switzerland. Once I got to Lyon I tried to figure out which train I was on but didn't realize that I had to look at the number not where I was going to figure out which train I was on. Finally I figured it out and got on the right train in time. That train was a little bit late getting into Mulhouse Ville so I had to rush to get to my last train but I made it with two minutes to spare. Then finally, I was in Basel.

I left the train station to find it pouring. After walking around I finally found the right place and got in. Once inside, I got all checked in without a problem and went to the second floor. However, there were no door numbers on the doors so I didn't know which one was mine. After asking for some help I finally got in my room. There were only two of us in a room that was for 8 people. We each got to pick where we wanted to sleep so I choose a comfy loft that was a bed big enough for two people. After talking with the other girl a bit (she's Canadian), I ate dinner, did some homework (yes on vacation) and went to bed.

Friday -
Woke up to see it was pouring. After sleeping in a bit I finally got up, got all of my stuff around and left. I started my tour of the city but it was kind of hard without a map and with all the rain. I still had some fun and got to see some cool stuff. However, my shoes and socks were completely soaked which was really annoying. For lunch I ate at McDonald's in order to get out of the rain. Finally, I went to the train station where I took a short train to Bern.

Once in Bern I was excited to see that it was only drizzling, not pouring. I wandered around and enjoyed walking through the covered shopping area which happens to be the main street. After a bite to eat I found my hostel. I got in and went up to my room. After I put all of the sheets on my bed I unpacked and went out to see some of the town. I stumbled upon a random band playing in one of the squares. They were pretty good and fun to listen to. Then I walked around some more and after a while went back to the hostel. Once back at the hostel, I took a shower and did some homework. I also ate some dinner and went to bed reasonably early.

Saturday - Woke up late, got up and left to see the city. I got to see alot of cool things starting with an old church and a Bear Park. The city's mascot is the bear so they have a park with four bears located next to the river. It was pretty cool to see and offered some nice views of the city (since it wasn't raining). Then I wandered about the city and some Saturday markets. Then I went to the Munster (big church) and climbed the tower. The view was incredible although the 300 plus steps were a bit much. Then I went back down and got some lunch. After lunch I visited Einstein's house and did some shopping. After a while I went back to the hostel, took a shower, did some more homework, ate dinner, and went to bed early because I had a really bad headache. However, the 5 other girls staying in that room were so loud they kept me up until midnight.

Sunday - Woke up, ate some breakfast and checked my emails. Then I checked out and went to the part of town with all of the museums. I decided to go to the Natural History Museum and ended up spending almost all of my morning there. There was alot of neat exhibits to see and, even though it was all in German, I still feel like I learned something. Anyways, the museum also had lockers that I could put my stuff in while I went around so I didn't have to lug around my heavy back pack and bags which was a plus. Around noon I left to go to the train station. Once there I had a delicious pretzel for lunch. Then I got on my first train back. This train went to Geneva and passed by some of the most amazing country side. It was like every beautiful country side photo you have ever seen of Switzerland was in there. It was amazing. Then I got to Geneva, got on my other train and was back in France. Once in Lyon, I ate some dinner but it was hard to find a place to sit since everywhere was crowded since alot of people went away for the four day weekend. Finally, I got on my train and was back in Clermont. After a short walk in the rain I was home and ready to go to bed.