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Mary's Travels
This week was my first week of classes... well half of my classes. Not all classes are on the same time-frame and sometimes teachers don't show up, so I only had 6 of 12 classes this week- LITERALLY half. It got to the point where I wished I had class- the repeating cycle of anticipation and let-downs was getting annoying, I just wanted to learn!! So, I was very thankful for the classes I did have, and I only wanted to drop one (the one where the professor spoke at 100mph). Besides Medieval History that I mentioned in the previous post, I also had Contemporary History (where the teacher spoke insanely fast, even the French kids had trouble), French Literature, a translation from English to French class, History of France, and Geography of France. We also took a placement test for our international French language class, so I'm excited for that. Yesterday I switched out my Contemporary History class for a Modern History class- don't ask me how they're different, but there's no way the new teacher can talk as fast as the old one, so I'm looking forward to it.
Ok now to the fun stuff. Let's see, Wednesday night I came home from Contemporary History and passed out at 9pm... That guy spoke way too fast and required way too much energy to keep up with. So ya that was pretty crazy. Thursday night our dorm/building had a party in the kitchen. It was fun to meet people, it was mostly internationals though, which was great, but everyone on my floor is French so no I did not make any friends that I will see again. whoo. I said hi to the smokers by my room today, that was pretty good progress. I also felt like a saint because I smiled at them even though they smoke next to my door multiple times a day. Pretty good for week 2 I think.
Last night (Friday) a group of internationals went out... Gina and I went out a bit later because we took a long nap and had a dinner for two in her room that consisted of packaged sandwiches and chips, so it was pretty romantic. Luckily we found the group on a street corner (I promise it was a lot less sketchy than it sounds) and we tried to find a bar that could hold all of us, although we were not as big as we were last weekend. We ended up in this place called Brooklyn, a bar, not NYC. We were the only ones in there besides the bartender, but they had lights and music and a smoke machine so that was special. We sat down and ordered some drinks, and after about an hour they cranked up the music super loud- obviously time to get the party started, even though we were STILL the only ones in the whole place. I'm really enjoying French bars- the music genre of choice is 90's to early 2000's and it is prime. So yes, when they cranked the music they were cranking Soulja Boy and other songs like "Right Round" by Flo Rida and "Beautiful Girls" by Sean Kingston. At one point they literally played "Barbie Girl" and "Cotton Eyed Joe". We loved it. It was like 8th grade all over again, but with alcohol- what could be better?? Since we were the only ones in the room, we broke out in song and eventually dance. It was the funniest thing.
We walked home our friend Isabel from Brasil, and she lives in Vieux Lille which is beautiful, so that was cool to see at night. I slept in a lot today which was nice- I didn't realize how many morning classes I had.... Gina and I met up with Elizabeth (another girl from Marquette) and Maylis (a girl who studied abroad at Marquette last semester who goes to our school in Lille). We went the the best place in the world I decided- the hot chocolate was insane, and I got a waffle on a stick that was also covered in chocolate. It was SO GOOD. But it was just as good to sit and catch up with Elizabeth and Maylis :) Maylis was super helpful with all our questions and concerns, and she wants to go to Brussels with us sometime so that would be cool :)
After meeting up with them, Gina and I got some books for school and went to the grocery store to buy hot plates so we don't have to walk 5 minutes to the kitchen every time we get hungry. Let me tell you it is SO nice to have a burner in your room! Genius! I reheated my steak from I won't say when, and I made green beans from a can. This also means I now know how to open a can without a can opener so come at me zombies.
Along with that amazing feat and beginning to get into a routine, I'm starting to feel more at home here. There's still room to grow, but I'm feeling more comfortable in my building and with the city itself. I still have a list of housekeeping things I need to do, like getting a cell phone which will make seeing people much easier, but I'm getting there and the list gets smaller and smaller. It's been an exhausting week in many ways, but I'm finally getting a taste of what my life will be like for the next 5 months... the beginning of normal. I'm gonna go eat a jar of Nutella now.
Ok now to the fun stuff. Let's see, Wednesday night I came home from Contemporary History and passed out at 9pm... That guy spoke way too fast and required way too much energy to keep up with. So ya that was pretty crazy. Thursday night our dorm/building had a party in the kitchen. It was fun to meet people, it was mostly internationals though, which was great, but everyone on my floor is French so no I did not make any friends that I will see again. whoo. I said hi to the smokers by my room today, that was pretty good progress. I also felt like a saint because I smiled at them even though they smoke next to my door multiple times a day. Pretty good for week 2 I think.
Last night (Friday) a group of internationals went out... Gina and I went out a bit later because we took a long nap and had a dinner for two in her room that consisted of packaged sandwiches and chips, so it was pretty romantic. Luckily we found the group on a street corner (I promise it was a lot less sketchy than it sounds) and we tried to find a bar that could hold all of us, although we were not as big as we were last weekend. We ended up in this place called Brooklyn, a bar, not NYC. We were the only ones in there besides the bartender, but they had lights and music and a smoke machine so that was special. We sat down and ordered some drinks, and after about an hour they cranked up the music super loud- obviously time to get the party started, even though we were STILL the only ones in the whole place. I'm really enjoying French bars- the music genre of choice is 90's to early 2000's and it is prime. So yes, when they cranked the music they were cranking Soulja Boy and other songs like "Right Round" by Flo Rida and "Beautiful Girls" by Sean Kingston. At one point they literally played "Barbie Girl" and "Cotton Eyed Joe". We loved it. It was like 8th grade all over again, but with alcohol- what could be better?? Since we were the only ones in the room, we broke out in song and eventually dance. It was the funniest thing.
We walked home our friend Isabel from Brasil, and she lives in Vieux Lille which is beautiful, so that was cool to see at night. I slept in a lot today which was nice- I didn't realize how many morning classes I had.... Gina and I met up with Elizabeth (another girl from Marquette) and Maylis (a girl who studied abroad at Marquette last semester who goes to our school in Lille). We went the the best place in the world I decided- the hot chocolate was insane, and I got a waffle on a stick that was also covered in chocolate. It was SO GOOD. But it was just as good to sit and catch up with Elizabeth and Maylis :) Maylis was super helpful with all our questions and concerns, and she wants to go to Brussels with us sometime so that would be cool :)
After meeting up with them, Gina and I got some books for school and went to the grocery store to buy hot plates so we don't have to walk 5 minutes to the kitchen every time we get hungry. Let me tell you it is SO nice to have a burner in your room! Genius! I reheated my steak from I won't say when, and I made green beans from a can. This also means I now know how to open a can without a can opener so come at me zombies.
Along with that amazing feat and beginning to get into a routine, I'm starting to feel more at home here. There's still room to grow, but I'm feeling more comfortable in my building and with the city itself. I still have a list of housekeeping things I need to do, like getting a cell phone which will make seeing people much easier, but I'm getting there and the list gets smaller and smaller. It's been an exhausting week in many ways, but I'm finally getting a taste of what my life will be like for the next 5 months... the beginning of normal. I'm gonna go eat a jar of Nutella now.
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