Morning in the life

Wake up: 8:15 am. Sometimes, when I don't have class until 3, I will sleep in but on Wednesdays, I have class at 9:15. It takes me about 30 minutes to get ready and about 30 minutes to get the school. 8:45 -- out the door. Sometimes, it will be later than this, because this is the hardest day to wake up on, due to frequent late nights on Tuesday. If this is the case, I will often have to run to class. I live on the third floor, so I usually take the elevator. It is the 3rd floor out of 8 (and because this is France, the first floor doesn't count. It is labeled 0 or ground), however, so sometimes, I'll take the stairs to avoid feeling like the lazy American in the building. Once I'm out the building, I have to walk to the metro. I actually live close enough where I can occasionally hear the metro trains go by, but not so close that it's annoying. It's about 3-4 blocks and takes about 5 minutes. The area is nice. 8:50 -8:55: Catch the metro. If I was too much in a hurry to eat before I left (or if it's a weekend) I will often buy "un pain au chocolat," or as Americans know them, chocolate croissants, from the little Boulangerie (bakery) across from the Metro. If I am feeling healthy, I will buy a yogurt, though those are fairly expensive, since many French people eat them as desserts. After trying one, I know why. They are VERY sweet. The people in the Bakery are very nice though, and put up with my terrible pronounciation of yogurt, when I do order one, even though it takes them forever to figure out what I mean. I can't blame them. In French, yogurt is pronounced, YOW-URT and trying to say UN YOW-URT when you're used to saying YO-G-URT is tricky. It takes a while not to murder the middle sound, which is more complicated than you'd expect. I'm a very tried and true person, so I visit this bakery a lot. They've gotten to know me pretty well. There is only one person at the register, usually, and it is either a man or a woman. The woman and I have progressed to the point of talking about the Weather. I found this a little amusing at first, cool, but amusing. It became more profound, however, when I mentioned my exchange to my host mother. She nodded, and said. "Ah, oui, the French love to talk about the weather. It is one thing that everyone, rich, poor, kind, evil, young, and old, have in common. It does not discriminate. It just is." Actually, she said this in French, so I am not quoting verbatism, but still. That's a pretty cool idea. So, this woman and I discuss the weather, and she asks how I am. There is also a man, as I mentioned before. He is also quite nice. He asks how I am, in a way that makes me think he is actually interested, and gives me small discounts sometimes, like 10 cents off or whatever. Usually though -- he has done this twice -- he has added a pastry to my order, free of charge. Which is very cute. I'm pretty sure it's a form of flirting. But whatever. It's very nice. They make good Pain au Chocolat. So, sometimes I'll have that for breakfast. The French Metro is a million times better than the LA metro. It runs every 2 minutes, for my line, and every 5 or so for some other lines. It is very simple to use, once you get used to it. Another time, I will write a guide to the metro. The metro takes me up to a main station where I can transfer lines. It is a very big and very busy station, and on Wednesdays, at this time, it is rush hour. It's not that fun, but I listen to music on my ipod and get through the line change (which is a lot like changing planes in an airport) quickly because I know the route very well by now. Sometimes there are metro cops to check tickets. It is a bit of a hassle, but it only takes 5 minutes or so. Then I change onto the 4 line, and get off after one stop. After that, I walk the rest of the way to school. 9:15: or so. I don't want to stereotype, but the French are rarely on time, at least at Reid Hall. They are not hours late, but 5-15 minutes, depending on the Professor, is common. Today my first class is France and the European Union. The Professor is very nice, but she gets very enthusiastic, and because of this, it is sometimes difficult to follow what she says, as she talks quiet fast. 10:45: class is over. At this point, the girls and I will usually talk about things for several minutes before grabbing lunch to bring back to Reid Hall or, like today, to eat on our way to architecture class. I always go to the same place, a small cafe where the Sandwiches are both cheap and AMAZING. One of the girls in the program turned me on to it, and I will never go back. 9/10 times, I will order a chicken sandwich. If they have it, I will order chicken and pesto, which sounds awful, but is actually really great. The people there (also a man and a woman) know me really well now too. The man is very genuinely friendly. The woman is nice and she is always very fast at ringing things up. Unlike the bakery, these too often work together. So far, we have managed to get to "how do you do" -- or rather, the French equivilent of ça va? 11:00 -- head on the metro to whatever place our professor has given us on Monday. Wednesdays are always outdoors.