Back in Lille

Ok so I'm back in Lille for the day. I have many errands to run and an all important trip to Ikea to make...my little apartment is cute, but quite bare at the moment. I met more students yesterday and one class (the one that saw Fahrenheit 9/11) was quite interested and had lots of questions about the movie. I'm having my mom send "Dude, Where's my Country"...I'm sure they'd like to read exerpts of it. The one question most of the classes asked me, besides "do you like George Bush," is "what are the biggest differences between the US and France?" That question is hard because there aren't many differences. It seems like all I hear is american music (the girl at the bus stop was singing Beyonce - in butchered english...but i could still tell what song it was). I'd say that at least 70 % of the series on TV are American. Unfortunately they get the worst of it: Dawson's creek, Columbo, the movie Step-mom (yes, i watched it...but only because I couldn't sleep) but some good stuff too, like Six Feet Under, Eternal Sunshine of a Spotless Mind and a French version of Queer Eye for the Straight Guy, called Queer 5. Now if only the movie Garden State would come here...I think I need to see if for a fourth time....

Here in Gondecourt

So, here I am. I arrived in Gondecourt yesterday and moved into my miniscule, but FREE apartment. The teachers are REALLY nice and have been very helpful. I started meeting the students today. For the most part they were very quiet, but a few spoke up. They had some interesting questions...one kept talking about how dangerous it is in the US...you know, with all the guns. One of the classes went to see Fahrenheit 9/11 today and their teacher asked me to come answer questions about the movie for her class tomorrow, which I'm excited to do since I love that movie. The other assistants should be arriving later this week...hopefully we can work through some of these issues (like getting a bank account, and the carte de sejour) together.
It sucks, but I'm still not over the jet lag...i was up, wide awake at 4 am this morning. While it was easy to make it through the morning....I'm dying now. I need a nap, bad....but alas, i have another class to go meet.

I've arrived

This will be a short post...this keyboard is killing me. I'm in Lille and I've found the other assistants. After a long flight, hauling HUGE suitcases onto the train, finding the hotel and a much needed nap, we're exploring the town (and their internet cafes). Our hotel is in a great shopping area (H&M right across the street!!!!!) The Lillois are much nicer than their parisian counterparts. I promise more once I've had a good nights sleep.

Less than a week...i think i'm having a panic attack!

So...6 days to go...
as you can tell from the subject of this post i'm a little anxious. The anxiety dreams have started. It seems every time I go France, the week before, I start having these dreams where I'm trying to speak french and no one can understand me. Ahhhh.....
There has been some good news, though. I finally heard back from my school last week and it appears that not only do i have an apartment ready for me in Gondcourt...but it's....ready....wait for it......FREEEEEEEEEE! Yes, music to my ears. That means after bills, all my hard earned *don't laugh* cash can go towards traveling during the vacations and shopping in paris. I'm definately hitting the UK in november (which may be a bad idea...possibly too cold), Italy over xmas, Greece in April, and Sweeden in May. I just need to find something to fill that little break in February....any suggestions???
The packing is coming along and now I just need to make a few last minute purchases and I'll be ready to go. Any former Lillois know of a good (and by good i mean cheap, yet not scuzzy) hotel to crash at??? This time next week, I'll be exploring my new home in France...
adios....or shall i say a bientot?

9 days to go

Could it be so good?
Can it truly show you everything you ever wanted?
Or could it be so bad?
Can it rip you sideways, ruining the bestest thing you had?
I don't think it can.
You say it all the time. Your days and darkest nights.
And you're praying all the time, holdin' on to things you no longer have.
I don't think you should.
Could you be so sad?
You mess everything up according to the scales that you've devised.
Won't have to be so bad.
You know we're missing you all the days and evenings
We'll be saving a free seat for when you come.

- Centro-matic
song:"saving a free seat"
album: all the falsest hearts can try

The lazy days of...well, it still *feels* like summer

I know, I know...It's been nearly a month since my last post. I promise once I actually GET to France, I'll be much better about updating. The past few weeks have been quite lazy. I finally finished my scarf and I'm starting on knitting a cozy for my new iPod (which should arrive this week!). The lost visa paperwork somehow made it back to me. Talk about a relief. I didn't know how I was going to get my Carte de Sejour without it. I'm still looking for an apartment, but with little success. It seems i might need to relax my criteria for a roomie. It's impossible to find a non-smoking roomate without a cat! I think I could handle the cat, but definately NOT the smoking, unless they could do it outside. I'm definately starting to feel anxious...especially since I haven't been practicing my french much. I swear I'll get to it...I've just got too many...um...other important things to do...