Danny's life in France

well, i took my wednesday test. didn't do as poorly on it as i had expected, but i didn't do as well as i should have, either. oh well. couldn't stand that class, anyway. ummm...after the exam, a bunch of us all went out to get something to eat and celebrate the end of exams. also, anne had pictures of the party on saturday night. they're too funny!! i got some of her doubles. i'm waiting on caitlin's doubles, now, since i didn't have my camera with me. in other news, I'M GOING TO SPEND A WEEK AT THE CANNES FILM FESTIVAL!!!!! can you believe it?!?!? it's going to cost a pretty penny, but it's literally the opportunity of a lifetime. and a lot of my friends are going, so it's going to be a lot of fun. but it's only 136€ for 4 nights' lodging and a badge that'll get me into the festival to see the award-winning movies and such. this guy is guaranteeing us a badge. they're SO hard to come by because everyone wants one!! i don't know how he's doing it, but he's doing it. anyway, i have to wire him the 136€ sometime next week. it's going to put a dent in my bank account due to the exchange rate, but...it's going to be worth it. what else...i'm going to miramas this weekend. my train leaves at 4:17 this afternoon. i still have to pack yet. and jessie's coming to my place at 1 to take me to this park where people run. i have no idea where it's at. when it gets warmer out, i am going to start running (i would do it now, but it's too cold. and a membership to a gym club with treadmills costs over 500USD a year!). she says it's a really nice park. so she's going to show me where it's at so i'll know for when it gets warmer. well, that about takes care of everything here.

*UPDATE* ok, so i just went to theonion.com, america's finest news source. here's my horoscope for this week:
Sagittarius: (Nov. 22—Dec. 21)
Your fake-sounding French accent is even more heinous considering that you grew up in the countryside around Toulon.

too funny.

today - i got up and went to my african lit class...we just finished another book, one that i haven't even touched. then it was off to the student travel agency to see about a rental car for april. and it'll be cheaper than i thought!! no per day fee for underage driver, insurance is included, etc. then i went to the laundromat to do laundry. for once - everything that i have over here is clean!!!! there has ALWAYS been something dirty. after fixing this HUGE dinner for myself and ate nearly all of it, i went to go study for the photography final that's tomorrow. after a half hour i left the group study session. can't stand that class. therefore i don't really care about the final. well, ok, i'm not gonna do poorly but it won't be anything spectacular, either. and i just called the states - my grandma made it out of her knee replacement surgery ok. that's a relief!! on a side note - i go to the major indianapolis tv stations' websites everyday to get the latest dose of indiana news. i see pictures of ALL that snow!! even though it's a tropical winter over here and it's nice, man do i miss trapsing through the snow!!! yeah, call me crazy. ladies and gentlemen, i am off to bed. bonne nuit et à bientôt!!

yesterday resulted inme lounging around all day in my pj's. i didn't do anything yesterday!! i dove into 'fast food nation.' YOU NEED TO READ THIS BOOK!!!! you'll never eat fast food ever again. it's horrifying once you know what goes on behind the scenes. then today i got up and went to a meeting in the history dept so i can take history courses. then it was off to the office/library to read a bit more. then off to good ol' written expression. it's gotten so cold and rainy here!! now that i'm back from class, i'm in the computer lab - and there's a guy that sat down net to me. he smells like ONE HUGE STINKY ARMPIT!!! it's the most disgusting thing i've ever smelled in my entire life. gee, ever heard of a shower?? man!!!!

well, seeing as how i only have one more exam and it's one that you can't really study for, i'm finding myself, well, bored. so nothing really exciting to update all y'all on except for yesterday. our program paid for transportation to marseille and tickets to a show called 'gumboots.' it was a south african group who danced to a band - but it wasn't actual dancing, per se. it was kind of a mix of riverdance and stomp. it was really cool. they used their hands a lot to smack their boots (rubber boots), the floor, etc. to make noise. it was really good. then last night i was invited to erin's place for dinner. she had some of her friends from high school there at her apt visiting her. we just ate dinner and drank wine and laughed. it was a lot of fun. and then nicolette, a girl with whom i worked at lac du bois this summer, called!! she's coming to europe!! other than that...yeah.

geez...it sure seems like i'm getting a bit lax on posting everyday. well, to update everyone back home on the last 2 days, i did really well on my oral exam yesterday, but got a B- on the written paper for that class. oh well...who cares. i'm taking the class pass/fail so it won't hurt my GPA as long as i don't fail it. and...then i started planning classes for 2nd semester. yeup...the good old plaquettes...nothing online - only booklets of paper with half of the courses missing dates and times. so, i'm trying to figure that out now. as it looks, i'm only going to have to take 2 classes at the university because i've already got enough credits from first semester and with the program courses that i'm in - i'll be fine. but it has to be a 4-credit course. since it's so heavy on my gpa, i'm going to take it pass/fail so it won't hurt my gpa if i do poorly in it. and it's sure i won't do well... we'll see. and i learned that the monterey institute is HIGHLY selective. with my gpa going down due to grades here in france, i don't see how in the hell i'll get accepted. well, i'm still going to california when i get home to visit it. and i think roman's going to come with me. my mom's talking like she might go, too. aaaaaaaaaandddd...what else...oh!! my grandparents booked their plane tickets. they're coming for 2 weeks in april to visit me. so i booked my plane ticket on air france to fly from marseille to paris to greet them. but my flight leaves at 6:30am!! which means i have to be on the 4:45 shuttle to the airport!! remember what happened the last time i had to be somewhere to go somewhere at 6:30?? yeah...i overslept. well, that was partly because i was...yeah. anyway, jessie and i just fixed this HUGE meal. fried rice with LOTS of veggies in it, something my body doesn't get near enough of. and then i did the dishes (sheesh...) and cleaned my room. i'm soooooo bored!! i've got one more exam on wednesday, but i'm not going to stress over it. actually, to be honest, i don't care about it. i've learned that one can't worry about grades when studying abroad - it only makes things that much more stressful. save worrying about gpa's for home university time. well, that takes care of it for now. i think i'm going to go upstairs and tie into 'fast food nation.' avery let me borrow it. i've been told that after reading it you'll never want to go to another fast food joint ever again!! well, seeing as how i love good mcdonalds, we'll see. so...with that in mind...ladies and gentlemen, i'm retiring to my room for the evening. lata!!

today, tuesday, there's really not much to post. i have my war novel final tomorrow but we get to choose which book we want to analyze!! seeing as how i've only read one of the four required books, that's a good thing!! something else on the good list is martha stewart's trial is getting ready to start. man, i hope they can her!! she's so mean to everyone... oh well, back to other things. ummmm...yeah...that's about it. so, i guess just check back later for more updates (and hopefully they'll be a bit more exciting!!)

lots to tell you, group, tonight. so...my cold went away. actually, it didn't even get any worse. thank goodness. and for the exam that i had on thursday - well, let's just not go there. i was so nervous that i SERIOUSLY thought i was going to have a heart attack because my heart was racing so fast. and i was under so much stress because in france, your only grade for a course (in most cases) is a final exam. and the final exam doesn't cover all (or even most material, for that matter) material covered in the course. you're given at random a specific question about a specific subject covered in class and you're given 10 minutes to prepare before having to do the oral exam in front of the prof. well, mine...i was feeling somewhat confident about it, though, in spite of my nervousness. but...i was given a question on the only political theorean that i didn't really understand. crash and burn. WHO CARES?!?! because today i went skiing with some friends in the alps!!!!! we left at 6am this morning and it was a 3hr bus ride. we were about 9000 feet up at the highest peak of this mountain. it was simply...AMAZING!!!!!!! they had probably a good 10-12 feet of snow and just miles upon miles of soft powdery snow to be skied on. well, i spent more time on the ground than i did on the skis, but i don't care. the views, the fun that i had, and...just...it was just a truly awesome experience. i got some good pictures and video tape footage, as well. i'm a bit sore now and tomorrow will probably be worse, but i'm alive. and the ski lifts!!!!! talk about terrifying for someone scared to death of heights!!! but we all lived to tell our experiences. i don't regret at all spending the money i spent. it was truly worth it. so...on that note, i am going upstairs to take a hot shower and then i'm going to bed. ladies and gentlemen, goodnight.

for those of you back home who are beside themselves (mostly parents and grandparents) because i haven't posted in a couple of days, suffice it to say that i'm not dead in a gutter somewhere. i'm in the middle of a sea of exams and papers...i don't even have time to (insert verb)! but i'm alive and, well, i would say doing well, but, well...yeah. i'm just studying like crazy for my political theory test that's on thursday. i am basically reteaching myself this course. it's just way too far advanced. but i think i'm doing a good job. jeff's helping me a lot. and sara, well, let's just say that i told her today just what most people on the program think of her. she just makes you feel stupid because she's sooooo brilliant, rich, gorgeous, etc. and...well, i called her on it and told her not to come to jeff and my next review session because she makes me feel like a fool. and man-o-man did i feel good afterwards!! i told her what everyone else on the program says behind her back...he he he. anyway, i'm alive, doing fine, catching yet another cold. i just got over a cold from hell and i'm getting another one. but at least i don't have any air reservations coming up soon so ruptured eardrums are even further away. but i'll be fine - i'm armed with my vitamin c and other natural healing herbs... wish me luck for my exams...

ok group, here's the scoop since my last posting on thursday. so yesterday i got up and hung out downtown studying from time to time. then elizabeth and i went to the famous snacksomos to eat lunch. after returning to the office, i found out that we DO have to take an exam in that class. wasn't too happy about that one. oh well. then it came time for me and isabelle (prof. from the intensive course) to go out to eat. we went to this restaurant called 'juste en face' which means 'just in front.' it was funny - i didn't know where we were going to eat and she said we're going to the juste en face which is juste en face. lol!!! it was too funny. it was a good dinner. we talked and talked and talked. she's such a great person. then we went out for another drink before i went home. she says that she's tired of traveling alone so i invited her to come to london with me the end of feb. today, i got up and we went to the travel agency to get the tickets. she didn't want to travel on easyjet, a cheap airline b/c they're not reliable, she says. so get this - she's PAYING for over half of my trip!!! i mean this woman is just...amazing! but we're on british airways so we know we're in good hands. then...i studied all afternoon. all evening, and most of the night until 10pm for political theory. it's not coming at all. hopefully i won't fail my exam on thurs...

i strolled out of bed this morning with 20 mins to get to my 10am class. got there and sat through his usual boring harangue, turned in the paper that i did last night, and only to find out that we DO have a final exam when he told me himself a couple of weeks ago that we DIDN'T. so we all ran to the program office and our director is supposed to be getting to the bottom of it. i then came back, showered and took a nap. after getting up, i called melissa, a girl i know from iu, who did iu honors with me in high school and is doing a semester here, to go out for a coffee. after that, i met up with jena, emily and jena's boyfriend who's visiting from the states. we went to this pub called "l'unplugged." there was an american jazz/blues/country group singing. they were really good!!! now that i'm back, i think i'm going to go to bed. nite, all...

today resulted in me getting up at noon, showering, going to my war lit class (the prof showed up today unlike yesterday) and then heading to the program office to a little welcome party for the students who just arrived for the semester. i know 2 of them. then i went to get a portfolio (blank pages inside). then it was back to the office to write my portfolio that's due in my photography class tomorrow. i worked from 6 until 11:30 with a small break for pizza with some friends in the apt above the office. now...it's bedtime!!

so since my posting on saturday, lemme see. sunday, i slept all day long. and i mean ALL DAY LONG. i got up only to take a shower and unpack. yeah...i kept the shades pulled all day. monday, i got up, showered, and did my homework for my class that i had monday evening. i then went into town to go to a student travel agency to get information on a ski trip we're (some students on the program and i) are trying to put together. we want to go to the alps the last weekend of the month. so we'll see what we come up with. then my monday night class sucked, as usual, with only like a third of the students showing up. then today i got up, went to my african women's lit course (which even though i HATE and LOATHE lit, i think this class is really cool - it's taught by our resident professor, the one whose house the party was at thursday before leaving for break). it's really cool. and then i came back to my place, drank a strong cup of coffee to be able to sit through my war lit class. come to find out, he, the prof, never showed up!! so we all left. then those of us who are in the class together went back to the program library to start on our papers that are due tomorrow for the class. i worked from 3:30 until 10:30 on it. well, we stopped from time to time to play around and eat. on my way to get food tonight at quick (france's version of mcdonald's), i was crapped on by a pigeon!!!!!! anyway...it's a crappy paper and i don't think i'm going to get a good grade on it, but what do i care?? i'm taking the class pass/fail...so i only have to worry about passing the class in general. now that i'm back, i'm going to go upstairs, take a shower since i didn't have time to do it this morning, and go to bed!!!

so after i posted last night, yeup...i went to bed. however, i woke up every 2 hours due to jet lag (for some reason) and because my cold was bothering me. the flights back here really inflamed my cold. i slept from 9pm until 2pm this afternoon. i got up, showered and went into town to do some grocery shopping (see that mom?? it's GROCERY shopping and not just 'shopping' - LOL!!). then i went to the famous snacksomos and ate. then it was back to the dorms to put everything away. i then went back into town to my prof's house who wanted me to bring her back beef jerkey and a book. we just sat there and talked and talked about government, politics, ways of life, the future of the world, etc. in return for my bringing her things that she likes from the US, she's inviting me out to eat on friday. so that'll be fun. then i stopped by some friends' apt to talk about going skiing the end of the month. there are some REALLY cheap weekend trips to the alps through this student travel agency called 'idée nomade.' and they were in the process of eating so they fed me, which was good because i was on my way home to fix something to eat. and we just sat there and talked and talked and complained and complained yet some more about the french education system and how everything's so expensive in this city and how the iu overseas study office failed to tell us about how life really is like here, etc. it felt good to bitch a bit. and stevie's such a good person to do it with because we stand on common ground on almost everything!! now that i walked home in the freezing cold, i'm going to go upstairs and go to bed. toodles to all...(as they say in england...)

ok, so since my last posting on christmas morning, there is lots to tell. first of all i got to see all of my family and most of my friends over break. that was good, but it was just waaaaay too short. i must have been on crack when i thought that 1 week was enough. nothing big happened over break - saw my 2 sets of grandparents, my mom, brother and travis, jordan, beth, christine and rachael - some really good friends. and...lemme think...i went to the doctor to have some moles removed. that was pretty exciting, lemme tell ya. and i went shopping for some new clothes because i've lost quite a bit of weight since i've been here. thus, my jeans weren't fitting properly anymore. i also brought back some beef jerkey and a book for mme marechal, my presession professor who speaks english, loves the US, and wanted me to bring her those items back from the US. and...i got to see all of my cats, which was really good. i also went to bloomington on the 26th. professor carr, a french professor, wanted me to stop by. it was good catching up with him. he's the greatest!! and then i went to rebecca's and cedric's to give them the gifts that i was transporting from france. we ate dinner and then i had to get home because at 8pm, jet lag was still pretty bad. now for the details of my return trip - a trip that wasn't exactly a pleasant one. i flew from indy to chicago with a suitcase that RIGHT on the 70lb. limit. then in chicago last night i found avery and elizabeth who were returning to france. avery was on my flight and sat next to me while elizabeth was on a different flight through brussels. there was a baby that SCREAMED for the entire 8 hours. i think he was sick. he had to have been to have screamed for that amount of time. after landing in paris (it seemed like a short flight, actually), avery and i went through customs and went to get coffee. my right ear still has not popped. since i've got a cold, my ear has got some kind of fluid build-up in it. but it's gotten better in the 12 hours that i've been on the ground now. i think by morning it should be fine. then i had like a 6 hour wait in paris at the airport before taking the tgv down to aix. i slept a bit on the train which did me some good. once getting to aix, i took the shuttle from the train station to the center of town, then a taxi from there to my place. now that i'm finally settled in (well, not unpacked) i think i'm going to shower and go to bed. more to come later on in the week...