how many visits does it take to get internet?

Compared to my last blog entries, the week after going to Beaujolais wasn’t all that exciting. It was pretty much packed with figuring out administrative things, like my class schedule, bank accounts, Internet, etc. Thankfully, I’m pretty much set with my bank accounts. And after exchanging tons of emails with my advisor, I think my class schedule is on the way to being sorted out! We’ll see how this semester goes, my advisor suggested that I take a quarter and a half worth of credits to get my money’s worth. So that means adding more hours to my schedule and now that I have it figured out (I think), about 30 credits here which translates to about 23 credits back home.

Lookkk! my babybel cheese came with a prize :P

kimchi fried rice! :D

my friend and i by the rhone :)

Getting my Internet figured out has been kind of a pain. Bottom line: It hasn’t gotten figured out…

my breakfast hehe :)

anddd lunch :)

To make things worse, my phone had run out of minutes, meaning I couldn’t text or call… So, I ended up having to go back to SFR, the company I have a contract with. I went in on Monday to recharge my phone, Tuesday to get Internet, Wednesday to return the Internet cause it didn’t work, only to be told to come back on Thursday. Thursday, I went back and was told to come back on the following Monday to get my money back. And even though I had recharged my phone, apparently I’d only charged about 10 minutes, and had to go back to recharge it on Saturday. And after going back on Monday, I was told that I had to come back in October to get my actual money back instead of having it just charged to my account. So far, SIX days spent at SFR… and going back for my seventh in October, sigh

Seven trips = no internet…

view by the rhone - basilique de notre dame and tv tower in the background of hotel dieu :)

But it’s been okay, since I have Internet on my phone, so I’ve been able to use my email there to figure out things with my advisor. The only thing I’m sad about is not being able to call home while at my apartment. I haven’t talked to my parents in weeks and only just got to talk to them last week while at my university. But that means calling them at 7AM their time and only getting to talk for about 10 minutes :( So, hopefully we’ll figure something out soon…

the university lights up at night! :P

taking pics at the university  :D

The last week was very chill and full of going to the river to hang out. So much fun and something I’ll definitely miss! But for now, I’ll just enjoy it! One of the highlights of the week was going to a Chinese restaurant with two of my friends. The food wasn’t all that great, but it was fun, and I ended up talking to one of the ladies there in Chinese. I’m definitely using my Chinese here a lot more than I thought I would! :)

the menu at the chinese restaurant

at the restaurant chinoise :)

round 1: eggrolls

round 2: rice with glazed pork and some fried chicken ball thingy

round 3: dessert - exotic fruits?

This week has so far been centered on going to classes. The French administration is definitely a pain to deal with, especially when they keep changing dates, and then basically thinking that it’s our fault for not keeping up to date.

sushiiii :D

there were a ton of people rollerblading down the road together

Classes are still difficult. It’s hard to catch everything the professor says and fully comprehend it, But I’m getting more and more comfortable with trying to speak in French (forcing myself to speak more French) and not getting completely nervous anymore, so that’s good :) Can finally communicate and understand people without getting completely barricaded by my nerves! Glad that’s happening after just one month, can’t wait to see what happens at the end of the second one! :D

hotel de ville

the statue in place terreaux

On Wednesday, after class, my friend and I went to Rue Mercière, this street full of restaurants, to get some sushi for lunch. Definitely not the same as Japonessa, but it was still good :) After lunch, some other friends and I went to the Museum of Fine Arts (Musée des Beaux-Arts). It was free entry for students, which is definitely nice. It was a huge building that apparently was a palace and then a monastery, if I understood correctly… It took us about three hours to get around the whole thing. But there were some works of art by some famous artists (Monet, Renoir, Manet, Gaugin, Degas, Rembrandt, Rubens, Rodin), so that was really cool. After wandering through the museum, we ended up at a café on Place Terreaux, the square right outside of the museum, and had some crepes and waffles. Pretty packed day for just being a Wednesday :)

by the courtyard of the museum

hmmm familiar looking :P

statues in the museum

So far, my schedule has no class on Wednesays, and I will be sooo happy if it continues to be that way! The school administration is supposed to schedule a smaller class section for one of our big lectures, so I’m crossing my fingers that it won’t fall on a Wednesday, especially since I’m going to have 10 hours of class in a row on Thursdays… Wish me luck! (I’ll need it… It’s France, and French administration is terrible, so anything can happen..:S )

cannottt get over the fact of how talented artists were, making stone look like cloth!

entrance of the temple of ptolemy iv

view of the fountain in place terreaux from the museum

this was pretty cool, tons of coins from different times and countries

some of the coins featured in the exhibit

a coin with hotel de ville on it!

ahh cute hippo :D

one of the staircases in the museum

looks like it's all white.. but it's a ton of numbers painted on it. i don't really understand modern art...

hope

these paintings were gigantic!

see how big it is?! :O

one of the monets in the museum

another monet

rodin sculpture

degas

renoir

gaugin

yummmm