Here's my long weekend:
Thursday - Birthday! - When I woke up I was a little tired since I had stayed up until midnight so that I could read my cards from my parents and both sets of grandparents. I was very grateful for them and it made my day. It made me miss everyone back home but this is probably the one time I will ever get to celebrate my birthday in France and I will be back before Feburary so I didn't get too homesick.Back to the morning... since it was my birthday I decided to have some fun and wear a dress. I got alot of compliments on it throughout the day. First class was French Language which went ok. After FLE I had lunch with my teacher at Le Contraste (a restaurant across the street from school). Then since we weren't quite done with corrections we went back and had some coffee and finished them up. Then I went back across the street and hung out with Louise, Jake, Jenn and Lauren some as we wandered around town and then went back to our respective homes. After a nap, some easy mac, talking to my bother on skype, and doing my homework for the next day, it was time for dinner.
We started out with aperitifs (champagne and caffeine free coke for the kids) and little pastry things and I got a card from Eliana and a CD from my host parents. Sadly the CD won't play in my laptop so I'm gonna download it to their computer and put it on my flashdrive. Anyways, dinner was good, started with soup and then had not chicken but some other type of bird. Once we were done with the entree my host mom kept running around looking for something. She was looking for candles that she bought special for my birthday cake - a 2 and an 0. She never did find them but used some blue candles instead. So then I got my cake (chocolate) and everyone sang to me (in French, English and Spanish). After we ate the cake I went to my room, changed, and left to meet my friends.
When I got to the bar, Louise was there talking to her mom. So I waited until she was done and then we talked for a minute before she got a text saying to go to the Place de Jaude and bring a knife. She told me this and then was like oh, I don't think I was supposed to tell you that last part, pretend you never heard that. So we walked to the Place de Jaude and halfway there she cut out (no pun intended) so she could go get the knife for my birthday cake. When we finally got to the place no one was there so we called Jenn who told us to meet back at the bar. So we walked all the way to the bar and when we got there, Jenn and Lauren were sitting on the second floor with a cake and candles. It was super sweet and the cake was delicious! So they sang Happy Birthday and we ate and got drinks and chilled. It was a nice relaxing birthday and very appreciated.
Friday - Went to class and we talked about the book that we were reading which is really kinda difficult because our teacher talks about it really philosophically. Also, a couple of the philosophers she is discussing I had previously studied in my 19th Century Philosophy class and could not understand in English! Anyways, lunch was fun, then Lauren and I wandered around town because I had an appointment later for my ICRP. After having some ice cream I decided to go home for a bit and take a nap before my appointment. On the way home I noticed a huge sidewalk sale going on and was wandering throughout it for a while. At one point a guy stopped me and asked (in french) if I spoke English. I replied yes and he asked me to translate for his customer. The customer wanted to buy a scarf but it was kinda fraying and in bad condition so she had me ask him if he had any other ones and if she could get a discount or anything. It was a kinda weird situation but it made me feel good about my french abilities.
Anyways, then I went home and took a quick nap and left for my appointment. So finally I got on the tram and went to the school where I am going to be assisting. When I got there Joelle wasn't there yet and I didn't know the name of the lady I was supposed to meet with so I just awkwardly wandered around a little for 10 minutes. Then I decided to call Sam and I got the name of the teacher (the person I'm supposed to meet with is his host mom) and I started asking people where I could find her. The second person I asked took me to the office where the assistant called her and had her come down. Then I met the teacher I am working with and we went to her room and discussed what all I am going to be doing. For my ICRP I will be meeting every Tuesday and Thursday for three hours in the afternoon and helping and observing and doing little mini lessons every now and again. The students are about 5 years old so kindergarten age. I left feeling excited about the ICRP. When I got back I relaxed for a bit, had dinner, talked on skype some, watched tv, and went to bed.
Saturday - Volcania! - Woke up and got everything around to go to the Volcano Theme Park (think the Air Zoo but with Volcanoes). However, I forgot to get a lunch packed so I purchased a baguette, an apple, and a fruit juice type drink. We were supposed to meet in a parking lot behind the railroad station so when I finally got to the station I looked around. Just when I had found it Lauren gave me a call and so we met up there. Then we all boarded two buses and headed out. We didn't know very many people there except some of the german students (Ines, Silke, Daniel...) so we mostly hung out with them. The bus ride wasn't very long and then we were there. When we got there the director of the program had some of the different nationalities present themselves and sing a song. Here is the German song (This is when it was sung on Monday but they sang this exact same song at Volcania. FYI It's a drinking song for Oktoberfest, lol.)
Then finally we went in and ate our lunches (however they made us eat inside which made most of the people mad, myself included, because it was gorgeous out). Anyways so more people present ourselves and the Americans (only three of us: Lauren, me, and this girl from a different university) and sing a song. Lauren and I had already thought of doing something fun like a Lady Gaga song but instead they had us sing Old McDonald Had A Farm. At first I was like you have got to be kidding me, but then everyone joined in so it was pretty fun. After lunch we were released but not into the actual park just yet so we hung around, took fun pictures and Lauren and I played on the jungle gym. Finally we all got tickets which assigned us to groups and we went in.
First thing we did was go on some of the rides. They were 4-D fun rides and we went on the Dragon Ride, Movie Theater type ride (which had different scenarios if one of the volcanoes exploded today - my favorite one included airlifting cattle to safety, lol), and a couple of others. Then we got to explore some of the exhibits and went up to meet a guide. Then we had a guided tour which was interesting, but overall pretty boring. Most of us were itching just to go do what we wanted instead of being shepherded everywhere and our group kept dwindling as people would leave. Finally we got to do what we wanted and looked at the shops and wandered around for a while. Overall, the rides were clearly the best part and some of the interactive exhibits were cool too. Finally we all met up and got on the buses and left. When we got back, Lauren and I walked towards town and got some drinks for the party later that night. Then we parted and after I went home, relaxed, ate dinner, and changed, I left. After meeting Jenn, Lauren and Joanne at the Place de Jaude, Jenn and I went to the party since Lauren and Joanne had to go do something. The party was a house party and pretty fun. I got to talk to alot of different people but at 1 Jenn and I decided we were too tired to wait for Lauren and Joanne anymore so we went back home and to bed.
Sunday - Woke up with a bad hangover. After taking a shower and eating I decided to relax and watch TV on my laptop. My host family had something going on and was gone most of the day so I didn't do much except eat, sleep, watch tv, do some homework, and relax.
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