Mcdonalds. all day. everyday.

I seriously need internet. This daily trip to McDonalds for my internet fix is not good! Strangely reminiscent of my Starbucks trips back in Seattle… though 1. Mcds is much further away from me than Starbucks ever was. 2. The internet is much better at Starbucks. (waiting for the pictures to load….been here for an hour already…) 3. The drinks were always better at Starbucks. French Fanta sucks.

One of my favorite things to do is just to sit and chill with friends by pretty places hehe. On Saturday, it was Orangina in the old Roman amphitheater up on Fourvière. On Monday night, it was by the Rhône, which is definitely a popular place to go at night! There were tons of people sitting on the steps by the river just talking, drinking, and having a good time. That was also the first night that I finally biked home :D In Lyon, there’s a bike system that you can use for transportation. It’s free for the first half hour, 1€ for one day, 3€ for a week, or 15€ for the year! Definitely a cheaper form of transportation, and it’s everywhere, so it’s super convenient, especially since the metro is closed between 12AM and 5AM. Although there is a hefty 150€ fine if you don’t return your bike… It was definitely a fun way to get home though :)

The next day, I went to McDonald’s to use the internet. My roommate and I had been using her fiancé’s login information for the free wifi, but since he’d cancelled his plan a month ago, they’d finally gotten around to cancelling the account login information; hence my daily trips to McD’s. It’s also much more expensive than back home. No such thing as a euro menu here :( AND prices increase at night. 1€ for small fries in the daytime goes up to 1€60 at night. Yup… that’s how much I’ve been going there… But seriously missing the late night (cheap) McD runs back home.

After going to McDonald’s with some friends for the internet (and fries with ice cream! :D still can’t believe some people have never, ever heard of this amazing mix – don’t worry, I educated some Brits ;P), I met up with one of the missionaries that I had emailed before coming to Lyon. We went to a nearby café and talked for a while before we went for a walk and she showed me different places, like the best place to buy books in English, organic foods, hair products from abroad, etc. :) Definitely super lucky to have met her and get to know her! She grew up on a farm in Canada and felt the need to go to the Middle East. The week she was supposed to leave was the week of 9/11. So she ended up going a couple months later after learning more Arabic. She lived in Dubai for more than four years, and then moved to Lyon where she now works mostly with Muslim immigrants!

After saying our goodbyes at Perrache, I took a tram to Guillotière to check out the Asian supermarket! SO much fun. It was quite small but still, it made me feel more at home, even though I probably never went to an Asian market much in Seattle… But just seeing familiar items made me really happy :) Definitely going to have to learn to cook more than breakfast foods and pasta now... one thing I want to do when I go back to the states is get some cooking lessons from my mom!!

One of the things the missionary had told me to go see was Les Halles de Lyon, which is kind of like a farmer’s market thing, but everyday. It reminded me a lot of the one on Granville Island in Vancouver, BC if anyone’s been… It was really cool, and I definitely want to go back, when I have more than 36 cents in my wallet… But most of the people there were above the age of like 60, so I kept getting lots of looks. After going there, I hopped on a bus, took two trams, and ended up at Paris Store, the Asian hypermarket. Loving the Asian stores :) Definitely make me feel more at home! I guess Starbucks could do the trick too, but it’s so expensive here :( Still haven’t been there. But maybe when I’m super homesick, I’ll have to make a trip. It was, after all, my second home back in Seattle. :P (maybe even first…)

And just cause I’m so proud of myself :P I went to the bank and opened up a new bank account – ALL in French. Mmhmm! So proud. Okay, the end…

Oh wait!

Okay…Well, almost the end..

In four days, I’ll have been here for a month!

:O

picture time!

Can someone please explain to me what Chinese sauce is? 

Mmm... ice cream and fries :D 

McD's for internet :( 

Virgin Megastore 

One of the many carousels in Lyon 

Some fountain thingy in the middle of the Presqu'île 

Bus/Metro/Tram station at Perrache 

Statue in Perrache - something about the republic and glory.. 

Hooray! Asian supermarkets ftw! :D 

this makes me soooo happpyyyy hehe 

yayyyy haha 

Mes amis by the Rhône :) 

More Rhône time 

Pretty, yeah? :) 

Croque McDo at McD's.. Terrible name and not quite as good as the real deal. 

For part of our orientation course, we went to a café theatre for a comedy show 

Some church outside of the café theatre 

The comedian.. wasn't too impressed... maybe it would've been funnier if i understood more? idk.. a lot different than what comedians are like in the US 

Les Halles de Lyon 

Front entrance of Les Halles 

Sooo much funnn :) 

i was probably the youngest person there..

Mmmmm... i want those macaroons - next time when i have money! :P 

'Le Crayon' (The pencil) and an auditorium 

Asian HYPERmarket :P 

It was like a much smaller version of uwajimaya 

Love those mural things on the buildings. the one on the right is of the tower of babel