Almost Made It....

I have 3 days of class left - 2 RER tix/day.....been using the half-price tickets even though you have to be a kid or have a card that qualifies you. Today I got stopped by the police. Fortunately I'd been rehearsing my speech for just this occasion.
I'm a student, here's my student card. No, it's no good. But don't students get discounts? No, it's no good. Hmmm, not a great conversationalist. You pay 25 euros. Uh, ok, how do I do that? (as I'm on the train platform, no ATM) Do you take cards? Yes. Dammito! Then another one of the 15 police comes over, they have an exchange in which I catch that I'm American and I've given a lame excuse. :D BUT, the outcome: You go buy another ticket and no fine. YAY!!! Only now I have 7 tickets that I can't use, and I have 6 more times to ride the train. That's 10 euros! Oh well, better than 25.

My greatest strength is seeing the best in you. My greatest weakness is remembering the best in you.

Don't think for a minute that my lack of posts means I've forgotten all of you....I miss you all like crazy, including the one I 'yoinked' the title for this blog from.

My school

here are the halls of the school...but the part where I only walk through to get to classes. And yes, that is the bar (the room w/strobe light)

http://www.facebook.com/ext/share.php?sid=84583141278&h=h8IN0&u=RqDKo&ref=mf

Start in the main lobby, then goes down a hall...you can see the cubicles where we slept when we were kicked out of the residences because of the fire...how fun!!! :D :D

I go to school with a beauty queen!!

Virginia, from the Philippines....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RrjHYXIMmMA

who knew!! Little Virginia, with her great sense of humor....

Sometimes I look at certain paintings and the clouds always look retarded. I realize now they are French clouds, and aren't retarded at all. The clouds really are that different over here.
And the homeless get to pitch tents where they want, and the train stations are patrolled by guys with automatics and german shepherds with muzzles. Different stuff, never seemed noteworthy til now. Strange...

Finally!!

I Finally got to complete a full circle on a roundabout!! Yes, we missed our turn, and yes, the driver got dizzy from it, but we did it!!
And there were more fireworks today...not only do they have a lot of holidays here, they make sure they celebrate them in style. And yet we still have class on holidays.

Speaking of Light Switches.....

Love the 2 or 3 way switches back in the states...set one in the middle, and the other(s) don't work. Beautiful way to annoy the hell out of someone. ;o) Also, the phone number that you could dial and it would call you back--turning the house phone into an intercom of sorts. hehehehehe....

ILVTOFU

No, not vegetarian, and not in love. But it would have been a great license plate, stupid Colorado!

I don't think I'll ever get used to the light switches in this country. Up is off and down is on. Still get it wrong 7 out of 10 times, in my own bathroom!!

Went into Paris yesterday after class (yes, on Saturday!). Met up with my friend Verena (German), had a beer with peach syrup, then went back to the apartment she's staying in. You have to go through a door, then a little alley (maybe 20 feet) into a courtyard, and then to the building where the apartment is. Pretty standard for france, but these courtyards can be so beautiful! We had dinner, then rode bikes down to the river and met with some friends. Everyone drinks in public here, and yes, I peed in a public park. As did a lot of others. Am almost French now, except the language issue.

Have been spending today trying to communicate with a group, very frustrating. One girl did all the work, then sent it to everyone. Unfortunately I was not at a computer during the day, and they had all divided the work before I had a chance to respond to the first email (22 by the time I checked my email!!!!) Now I've sent them some work and entirely revamped the power point as they like to put EVERYTHING on the slides and then just read them. Asked for input/opinions/disagreement, and everyone seems to have conveniently ignored the issue. Dorks.

Still need to write about the fun that was Italy, but first, Hotel Real Estate Finance problem sets, reading 10 chapters for the week, preparing 2 presentations, and 1 case study. Who says school isn't fun?!? ;o)

Torando T2

Wow, the second trimester is finally over, and I have a second to breathe!! I took my trip to Italy during our first break, and was supposed to have a class this week, but the instructor had a heart attack so they canceled the class. Thank heavens! This trimester was rumored to be easier than the first, but the rumors were false. Very false. Classes included quantitative methods, revenue management, corporate finance, real estate, entrepreneurship, tourism information systems, and project development. They were almost all very interesting, but a ton of hard work. The girls (Laura and Danielle) and I decided to start kickboxing to help us get through the trimester, so we grabbed my laptop, Danielle's speakers, and we went to the TV room. We did the warm up and got about 10 minutes into it, then Danielle decided to open the windows. The windows here are a little odd--you lift a lever and the window pivots at the bottom to create an open space of a few inches at the top. Only it turns out that the 2nd window she opened had a broken latch at the top, so the window swung all the way down and hit her on the head. It had to weigh at least 50 pounds, plus the momentum...she had a goose egg the size of a squash ball on her forehead within seconds. We got her some ice, and had JC take us to the hospital to make sure she didn't have a concusion. She turned out ok, but her eye was swollen shut for a few days and she had a nasty black eye for several weeks. And being the nice supportive friend I am, I just started laughing every time I saw her. hehehe.... We had several indian dinners together, other than that the time was full of studying. Oh, and I had a teacher that looked exactly like Kent Knowley, the owner of Port O'Call, but he had an Italian accent. Very odd man

We did manage to go to an Irish pub on St. Patti's day, and it was great!!! I really miss going out and being able to talk to strangers, so Laura, Shubham, Danielle, Dami and Sumati decided to humor me for the holiday. I met a professional cyclist who was willing to try his english to entertain me. Turns out he is a GB Packers fan, too. Luck o'the Irish! We had a great time.

As of last week all the interns left to the corners of the world to do their internships, so they won't even be around for graduation, and the apprentices started working full time so I won't see them either. Hopefully the third trimester will be a little lighter work load! Italy and Lyon stories later tonight--miss you all!!

Fire Fire Fire

Pics of us at our favorite hotel, Premier First Class. We managed to brave it, but had to take turns turning the hot water timer for each other when showering since it was outside of the bathroom.

So as many of you already know, I am without internet at home and have been since Jan 13th. We had a fire and it burned all the cables (see letter--or not, it won't upload right now). We had to stay the first night at the school, sleeping on benches and wherever else we could find. They gave us blankets and that was it. The next night Danielle and I grabbed a hotel because it was too cold the previous night and we were too tired to stay awake for classes. Fortunately they let us back in the 3rd night. And then I caught tonsilitis or a severe case of strep or something, couldn't eat for 4 days my throat was so swollen. Never walk around outside when there is snow on the ground and your hair is wet after you've inhaled smoke and your throat is already vulnerable. :D
Anyway, things are coming along well. Had my Real Estate midterm, my quantitative methods final, and my corporate finance midterm will be next Tuesday. Classes are much more interesting this term. Going to Italy next week....that's all the news I have! Love you guys!

Kindness

I had a great time surprising everyone at Christmas, and a ton of fun while sis was here, but those stories will come later. For now, just a quick note about today's adventure.
It was my (second) first day of school, and I was late. I ran all the way across the icy/snowy parking lot, icy/snowy sidewalk, driveway, and when I finally make it to the door I decide to trip over a metal plate and fall hard on my knee on a metal grate. My friend and I started laughing, and ran into the classroom just in time. It was about 20 minutes into class that I realized I had torn my jeans, and about 40 minutes into class that I realized my jeans were absorbing a fair amount of blood right below the sore spot on my knee. I went to clean it up at break, and my first thought when I looked at it was 'that might need stitches'. Then I got grossed out at the thought of cleaning it up myself so I went to the school nurse. Yes, I go to a small school, and they have a nurse just like elementary school. Except the nurse decided not to be there today. I went to the reception desk to ask when she would be back, and after looking at my torn and bloody pants Crystal (the receptionist) called someone to come take a look. We apparently have some ex-firemen/military guys on campus (no need for prison work release program jokes here...). He grabbed the first aid kit and took me into a room with an examination table. Crystal came with us since neither guy spoke English. She was very kind and helpful, filled out paperwork for me (I had to give them my age--first time since my birthday that I said that number out loud) and kept me distracted while they cleaned me up (I decided I liked them though, one of them said I could only be 23). They decided I would need stitches, so they called the ambulance. Crystal told me what I would need for the insurance, and told me I could take a bus or catch a taxi when I was done. She gave me her # to call if I needed a taxi.
Three paramedics came, only they were the 'frail French' type. Made it very awkward when they put me on a wheelchair 'dolly' and the little guy had to wheel me out to the ambulance. They were joking about taking me to the butcher, cutting off my leg, and silly things like that.
After the Xrays they took me to the doctor where he numbed my knee and gave me 9 stitches. 4 in one cut and 5 in the other. I watched him do one and that was enough. eww. Then he told me I could get dressed. Only he didn't leave the room--which wasn't a surprise from my previous medical visit where I had to have my chest xrayed and they expected me to just go topless in the process. So I went to pull on my pants, and my toes went right through the tear in the jeans. Yes, I was dancing around the room in my underwear trying to untangle my foot while the doctor was there. Beautiful picture (eye roll and a chuckle). Once I got my care-instructions and prescriptions I set off to find the bus or a taxi.
The doc took me to a phone first, so I called Crystal and asked her to call a taxi for me. She said she would give the driver my name. I went outside to wait for the taxi, and some guy pulled up a few minutes later and waived me over. I looked around to be sure it was me he wanted since he didn't have a taxi sign, and then went over to the car. It was the same guy that had helped out before at the school. He drove his own car over to pick me up. Highly awkward, since he doesn't speak english and my french is absolutely miniscule, but we survived. I bought him a coffee when we got back to school as a thank-you.
Then I went to my 2nd class where I learned that one of my guy friends that I talked to before I left thought the blood on my jeans was because I got my period....apparently he skipped anatomy class. He and two other friends offered to fill my prescrips for me after their last class so I wouldn't have to walk to the pharmacy.
When I got home I had a slip in my mailbox that I had a package from home. Alina and her two girls sent me an array of gifts, including a homemade puzzle with pics from the time we all went to SeaWorld. Perfect surprise to end a crazy day!
Thank you Crystal, guy who's name I can't remember, Laura, Shubham, JC, Poupon, Alina, Amanda, and Rachel!