i love technology!

I have NO idea how my brother was so good at keeping up with his blogging while he was in Germany last year! That's some random gene that I never got... (If you're interested in checking his very well-maintained blog out... click here! ;P)


Anyway, back to my time here in France.. ;) Another thing I lack is brevity... so please bear with me! (Hopefully the pictures help :P)

Place Bellecour by night with Fourvière in the background :)

In the European Union, the exchange program between different universities is called ERASMUS (EuRopean Community Action Scheme for the Mobility of University Students... :O wth?!) Here in Lyon, there's a group of people that puts on get-togethers and helps ERASMUS/international students with different things like finding housing, jobs, phones, banks, etc. It's really quite helpful, so I got some advice on some things like my bank account when I went to their 'student welcome days.' That night, after talking to the ERASMUS people and an amusing trip to the grocery store with some friends (ask if you wanna know more ;P), a lot of my new friends from the orientation went out together and had a good time :)

There are a lot of things here that are pretty complex in getting done - bank accounts, phones, etc. just because of the amount of paperwork and stuff that goes into it. So, on Saturday, I finally got my metro card, meaning I only have to pay 25€ per month for rides on the metro, instead of the 1.60€ per hour, which gets SO expensive... Thankfully I was able to get it done with just my American credit card, which the lady at the counter started telling me about how dangerous it was not to have a PIN for it.. Yes, I'll get right on that.. 

After getting my new metro card, there was an ERASMUS picnic at the Parc de la Tête d'Or. It's a huge park in the north of Lyon with a ZOO! I haven't been to a decent zoo since leaving Oregon in 2004, so this part really excited me, especially since it was free as well (blame my Asian-ness for my excitement) :D 

gates of the park

the pond in the middle of the park

botanical garden

picnic time!

the MANY people at the picnic..

giraffes!! :D

zebras

they don't look quite as excited as i was about the zoo..

birds....

not so exciting..

timon!! ;)

never moved... per usual..

cuteee :D

this leopard was staring at a huge dog like it wanted to eat it..

he just kept pacing through the trees and wouldn't pose....

yay elephants

zoo excursion group :P

The next day was the first day that I felt legitimately homesick, so I stayed home all day, took a bath and drank lots of Orangina! I also called some friends back home, which was really nice to hear their voices again! If you have my 206 number, feel free to leave me a message that I can check on my Google voice ;) OR if you have talkbox, leave me a message :P Technology is seriously wonderful and has made me feel so much more at ease here! Just this morning, I called one of my best friends for about an hour using my gchat, and it was completely free! :D 

my roommate told me that her mom brought some peanut butter from the states when she went to georgia so i can have it whenever i feel homesick! <3 so sweet :)

random picture.. sheep brains in the grocery store.. yum?

I'm also SERIOUSLY missing Asian food here...especially my mom's cooking! So, yesterday while I was at the grocery store, I saw pre-made fried rice and bought it. :P Nothing close to back home, but it was still delicious just cause I've been craving Asian food! If anyone wants to send me some, I'd have no objections ;) Speaking of sending things! Just got my first letter from home in the mail :D All this love from friends and family back home is making me feel so loved hehe! <3 Ah, missing y'all!

first letter from home :D going to need my dictionary for some of that chinese...