Yes, ladies and gentlemen, that is how happy I am to have found internet in a location that is both convenient and free! I think I may even devote this entire entry to a sonnet I'm going to write about counting the ways I love thee. I mean, the internet.
Or maybe not. (I know, you're all extremely relieved. But really. I'm so happy to have found internet.)
Oh! And FYI, if you haven't seen them yet, I wrote two entries below this one that I just added as well that detail my last two days lost at sea, so you can get in some good reading--not to be conceited or anything.
Well, we just finished our first test for our cours intensif, and it wasn't bad. Simple, straightforward, in short, exactly my cup of tea. I think things are finally settling down here. I have to go buy another bus pass today, but other than that, I think we only have a few minor housekeeping details to care of, like buying spices and meat, etc.
I'm kind of starving right now, but I honestly feel like my need to communicate with the world supersedes my need to eat. Also, did you know it's spelled "supersedes"? I totally thought it was "supercedes". Anyway. (By the way, if you haven't noticed, this is how my mind works--jumping around spasmatically--and it takes super-concentration to get a clear thought completed when I write.)
I'm going to go eat now.
Showing posts with label no internet. Show all posts
Showing posts with label no internet. Show all posts
Friday, September 3, 2010
Life without internet/Entry for September 2nd
Okay, so update number 2 without internet. (Un petit paranthèse: I’m getting used to the French notion of the “Internet”, which is always capitalized. It takes real self-control to write it the American way now.) It’s amazing how much more time I feel like I have now that we don’t have internet readily available to us any time I want it. It’s actually been really good for my productivity level, and I haven’t felt guilty about not being in contact with everyone at home while I’ve been busy doing other important things. I have begun to miss home a little bit, though.
Yesterday we had our first civilization class with M. Pelopidas. In the two-hour timeframe he was given, our teacher somehow covered 3000 years of French history in detail. It was amazing! Anyone who can get that much done has to have a high energy level, and M. Pelopidas never lost his enthusiasm. It was a little difficult to show as much excitement for it as M. Pelopidas did, but it was really interesting. Today we covered French politics since World War II, and I have to say, I find French politics way more interesting than American politics. It definitely helps that I took an amazing culture class last semester that seems to have covered every major topic anyone has mentioned to us. Our teachers keep making references to events, and I know exactly what they’re talking about. It’s kind of cool because I’ve been explaining some of it to my classmates when they get a little lost. Like today with the French political parties.
After class today, I went with some of my classmates to get our bank accounts set up because we all wanted internet, and the only way to get it is to have a bank account. So we went to the bank, got all that taken care of (I deposited a whopping 30€ in my account), and then we took off for the phone/internet store. We signed all the papers, got everything in order, and then I asked if anyone would be coming out to set it up, and the girl just replied, “No.” I thought maybe she would ask if I wanted someone to come out, but it looks like we’re on our own now. I just have to wait for them to text us that our internet and phone lines are working before I can set up our box.
Yesterday we had our first civilization class with M. Pelopidas. In the two-hour timeframe he was given, our teacher somehow covered 3000 years of French history in detail. It was amazing! Anyone who can get that much done has to have a high energy level, and M. Pelopidas never lost his enthusiasm. It was a little difficult to show as much excitement for it as M. Pelopidas did, but it was really interesting. Today we covered French politics since World War II, and I have to say, I find French politics way more interesting than American politics. It definitely helps that I took an amazing culture class last semester that seems to have covered every major topic anyone has mentioned to us. Our teachers keep making references to events, and I know exactly what they’re talking about. It’s kind of cool because I’ve been explaining some of it to my classmates when they get a little lost. Like today with the French political parties.
After class today, I went with some of my classmates to get our bank accounts set up because we all wanted internet, and the only way to get it is to have a bank account. So we went to the bank, got all that taken care of (I deposited a whopping 30€ in my account), and then we took off for the phone/internet store. We signed all the papers, got everything in order, and then I asked if anyone would be coming out to set it up, and the girl just replied, “No.” I thought maybe she would ask if I wanted someone to come out, but it looks like we’re on our own now. I just have to wait for them to text us that our internet and phone lines are working before I can set up our box.
Life without internet/Entry for September 1st
Oh. My. Goodness.
I wouldn't usually call myself a techie, or really even that reliant on technology in my everyday life, but I have had to live two days without internet, and it has been awful.
I wrote these entries on Word the last two days because I felt like I needed to keep everyone updated somehow.
So!
Wednesday September 1, 2010
Well! Life has been busy! We started our cours intensif on Monday after taking a two-hour placement test. Really, I’m not even sure how much the test had to do with anything. I know I got placed in my class because I asked to be. The test was split in two parts: written and oral, which is the same way the classes are split. The oral exam consisted of them asking us simple questions about French (why we are interested in it, how we plan to use it in the future, etc.), and the written exam was pretty run-of-the-mill. I feel pretty confident in my written French, so I requested to be put in the conversation class.
In other news, we finally got moved into our apartment! I got my key on Tuesday night, and my roommate got her stuff moved in that night. I decided to wait until Wednesday morning to move because I wanted to clean everything before I got stuff moved in. The apartment was pretty dirty before we moved in. None of the dishes were put away; everything was lying out so that we could see it for inventory purposes, but none of the cupboards were clean either. So I spent three hours wiping down our kitchen’s cupboards, shelves, and dishes. I even had to clean our dish drying rack because it had a bunch of dust coating it. It was a little gross.
I went out today and got sheets for my bed and some candles for the apartment. While I was doing that, Andrea was going grocery shopping for us, and when she got back I made dinner for us. She wiped down our shower while I cooked, and we had our first home-cooked meal here: spaghetti. Simple, cheap, and so worth it.
We did have a little incident last night when I went to hang my sopping wet towel (from the washing machine) on our clothesline. There is a restaurant that’s only open at night in our courtyard right below our clothesline, so I checked to make sure it wouldn’t be dripping on anybody before I hung the towel up. There was only a tin roof below the clothesline, so I thought I would be fine. About ten minutes later, two guys ring our doorbell, so I stick my head out the window to see who it is, and I don’t recognize them. They’re yelling indistinguishable French up at me, and I keep telling them they have the wrong apartment until finally one of them says, “Do you speeek Eeengleeesh?” I yell “Yes!” back to them from my fourth-story window, and he yells back, “Your napkeen! Weeeth thee waterrr! Iss dripping on my customerss!”
So I can’t do laundry at night anymore. Bummer.
We still don’t have internet in our apartment because everything in France takes forever, so I have to type up these entries in Word and then upload them while I’m at the program’s office. It’s definitely weird not being able to check email whenever I want. I think we’re going to get internet from my dad’s favorite (and maybe his only) French word: Orange.
Tomorrow we go to open our bank accounts here, and then Friday we get to see what the former students of the program left us all in terms of furnishings for our apartments!
I wouldn't usually call myself a techie, or really even that reliant on technology in my everyday life, but I have had to live two days without internet, and it has been awful.
I wrote these entries on Word the last two days because I felt like I needed to keep everyone updated somehow.
So!
Wednesday September 1, 2010
Well! Life has been busy! We started our cours intensif on Monday after taking a two-hour placement test. Really, I’m not even sure how much the test had to do with anything. I know I got placed in my class because I asked to be. The test was split in two parts: written and oral, which is the same way the classes are split. The oral exam consisted of them asking us simple questions about French (why we are interested in it, how we plan to use it in the future, etc.), and the written exam was pretty run-of-the-mill. I feel pretty confident in my written French, so I requested to be put in the conversation class.
In other news, we finally got moved into our apartment! I got my key on Tuesday night, and my roommate got her stuff moved in that night. I decided to wait until Wednesday morning to move because I wanted to clean everything before I got stuff moved in. The apartment was pretty dirty before we moved in. None of the dishes were put away; everything was lying out so that we could see it for inventory purposes, but none of the cupboards were clean either. So I spent three hours wiping down our kitchen’s cupboards, shelves, and dishes. I even had to clean our dish drying rack because it had a bunch of dust coating it. It was a little gross.
I went out today and got sheets for my bed and some candles for the apartment. While I was doing that, Andrea was going grocery shopping for us, and when she got back I made dinner for us. She wiped down our shower while I cooked, and we had our first home-cooked meal here: spaghetti. Simple, cheap, and so worth it.
We did have a little incident last night when I went to hang my sopping wet towel (from the washing machine) on our clothesline. There is a restaurant that’s only open at night in our courtyard right below our clothesline, so I checked to make sure it wouldn’t be dripping on anybody before I hung the towel up. There was only a tin roof below the clothesline, so I thought I would be fine. About ten minutes later, two guys ring our doorbell, so I stick my head out the window to see who it is, and I don’t recognize them. They’re yelling indistinguishable French up at me, and I keep telling them they have the wrong apartment until finally one of them says, “Do you speeek Eeengleeesh?” I yell “Yes!” back to them from my fourth-story window, and he yells back, “Your napkeen! Weeeth thee waterrr! Iss dripping on my customerss!”
So I can’t do laundry at night anymore. Bummer.
We still don’t have internet in our apartment because everything in France takes forever, so I have to type up these entries in Word and then upload them while I’m at the program’s office. It’s definitely weird not being able to check email whenever I want. I think we’re going to get internet from my dad’s favorite (and maybe his only) French word: Orange.
Tomorrow we go to open our bank accounts here, and then Friday we get to see what the former students of the program left us all in terms of furnishings for our apartments!
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