Christmas in Ireland '08

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Merry Christmas Everyone....and what in the world is St. Stephen's Day anyways?

Hi Everyone!

Well, my christmas was ok. I woke up yesterday morning to free breakfast, and one of the staff of the hostel I'm staying in was dressed up as Santa and handing out gifts. I got a coloring book! Yays!

So, then we went to lunch at the hotel where the christmas party was supposed to be, but since the party was booked we had to eat something else than what they were serving for the party. I was fine with that, I just wanted food. Nothing was open yesterday! Nothing!

Finding dinner was an adventure. We ended up walking around for about an hour before we settled on a convenience store that sold food. I got some asian noodles, but she put too much spicy stuff in it so I didn't finish it, and I have leftovers that I don't think I'm gonna eat. From prior experience spicy food gets spicier when put in the fridge overnight.

Then, after we were done with eating dinner, we happened to meet some friendly Brazilian guys who were speaking French. They heard us speaking french and they were really excited to meet us. They speak portuguese and french, not much english. So I guess to meet us they were really happy. They are also studying abroad this year in France. One of them in Switzerland, one in Lyon, and one in Le Mans....however that's spelled.

They were really nice, and we went out for a walk at like 11pm....Which was ok since we had 3 guys with us so we didn't have to worry about walking around town at night by ourselves. Since I came to Dublin with only my friend Crystal, it's not too safe to be walking around after dark by ourselves.

So today is St. Stephen's day, and I've heard that a lot of stuff is closed again today. We're going to some lunch thing at 12:30. Then I'm not sure what we're going to do....probably walk around again. Tomorrow a lot more stuff is open, so I'm really excited about having things to do tomorrow.

Ok, well, I'll update later. Merry Christmas everyone! .....and Happy St. Stephen's day :P

I'm in Dublin!!!!!!!

So, I got to Dublin this morning with no troubles. It was actually pretty interesting when I got through customs. The customs officer looked at my name and went, "Shannon....that's Irish right? which side of the family?" he totally forgot to ask me all of the important questions like where are you staying? but I"m here now.

This keyboard is so annoying, the backspace keeps getting stuck and deleting like 4 lines. That's what happens when you let people use computers for free. So, I"m trying not to make mistakes, if I do, I'm not going back to fix them. I don't feel like repeating myself over and over again because my lines keep getting eaten by the keyboard.

So, we didn't realize that all of Dublin shuts down on Christmas, and even worse, the day afterwards is St. Stephen's day and a lot of Dublin is closed. We're planning on going to a movie or 2 on the 26th, and tomorrow there's supposed to be some christmas party that's full....but if we get there early and beg they may let us in.

I saw St. Patrick's cathedral today, and some other random monuments. I"ll post pictures when I get back to aix on the 29th. All these computers do is internet. There is no desktop, no nothing....just internet. Which is good for what I want to do I guess. it's just if it freezes up, I have no Idea how to fix it.

Well, I"ll try to be online tomorrow.

I love and miss you all!

Merry Christmas!

Tis the season

Merry Christmas everyone!

So, in a couple of days I will be leaving for my trip to Dublin for Christmas, and then Barcelona for New Years. I'm so excited because I haven't seen either of those places yet, and I get to go with one of my good friends Crystal. Given, I would rather be spending the holidays at home with my family, but it was too expensive, and this is a chance of a lifetime.

So, yesterday my friends and I had a Christmas party before everyone left on their vacation travels. We made tacos, listened to Christmas music, and played an epic game of uno. I opened a bottle of champagne for the first time, and it exploded everywhere....I guess the bottle had been a bit shaken up with the 30 minute walk to where we had the party...

Sadly my camera ran out of batteries half way through the party...so I didn't get to take many pictures. A couple of these pictures I stole from facebook. I really need to buy better batteries for my camera. I guess it's picky. It's been eating batteries ever since my vacation to Nice.

So, I leave for my vacation on the 23rd, and I won't really be back on my computer till January 4th. If I don't talk to you before then, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

I love and miss you all!

Bisous!

xoxoxo

Christmas in Aix

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I think the weather is getting to me :P

Bonjour tout le monde!

Well, I decided that I should probably update my blog because I haven't done it in a while. Today I went to my one and only class which is 4 hours long, and only could make it through half of it before I decided I should probably come back to my dorm and sleep because I felt dizzy and sick. I've had a cold since Monday, and finally today the fever hits. I took a 3 hour nap, and I still haven't gotten out of my bed.

Don't worry...I'll be ok, I am just a horrible sick person.

For the last couple days it's been cold and rainy. My umbrella broke the first day of it, so I had to buy another one. I swear, I must be having bad luck with umbrellas this year. First I buy one because I forgot to bring one on fall break, and it was raining the whole time, then I left that umbrella in the school cafeteria by accident. And then my original umbrella breaks.....whatever....

Yesterday I went to this cafe discussion to meet some French people. They are all students at the law and/or business schools who are trying to learn english, and they wanted to practice. It was ok, but I have a bad habit of switching to english when things get difficult. I did practice though. I'm hoping to go to the next one when they figure out when it is. Suprizingly enough, there were only like 3 native english speakers there.

Ugh....I am so drained. I didn't even do laundry today because I dreaded dragging all of my laundry up a hill to building number 3 so I can get to the laundry room.

Tomorrow I have my medical exam for my carte de sejour (french visa). I'm a little bit nervous because I've heard that it's sort of awkward. You have to get a chest x-ray, and you have to do so topless. My friend Crystal went on Tuesday, and she said it was some flirty man around our age. I'm like "great...going to be raped/molested by some random french man". I'll live, don't worry...it's just going to be one of the most awkward experiences of my life I think.

Is it sad that I keep wanting to switch into French? I know not many of you will understand this blog if it was in French...so that is why I try to keep it to a minimum.

Well, I'm going to go back to sleep I think.

I love and miss you all!

Bisous! xoxo

Thanksgiving in France :)

Hi Everyone!

So today I went to this Thanksgiving lunch put on by my friend's christian church. It was fun because there were so many people there. I think there were at least 200 people.....but only 3 pumpkin pies...they needed a lot more pie in my opinion.

We got a ride there in the church's minivan. It was in this old church near Mount St. Victoire. I'm still trying to find time to go climb that mountain, but every time I plan to go something happens, like it's raining, or I stayed up too late and there's no way I'm getting up at 8am to go climb a mountain on a Saturday morning....but hey, I think this next weekend I might be going. I'm not going to say that it's definite because when I do my plans always backfire...that's just my luck.

Well, anyways I took a couple pictures at the Thanksgiving lunch, but not enough to post them to a link, so here's a group photo of the people I ate with :) Yeah... they gave us 3 bottles of wine for our table...but I think maybe we finished 1 bottle. That's just way too much wine.....

I met some new people from china, and one of them shared a cool snack with us. It was like beef jerky....but in a really cool package. (pictured above)

Ok...well posting pictures in the post is not fun...I much prefer making a link, but I only took 3 pictures...I got distracted by all the turkey...

I love and miss you all!

À bientôt!

Random weekend of travels! look at all the pretty pictures o___O

So....this weekend my friends and I decided to go to Arles on Saturday and then we went to Chateau D'If and les Iles de Frioul today. It was a pretty cheap trip because the bus pass was 5 euros, and then it cost 1 euro for each time we took the bus. It's a good deal cause that card won't expire till 2011.

Arles was nice. My favorite part was the huge ampitheatre. For all of the pictures I took there....they're 2 entries down in the Arles album. But my absolute favorite place we visited this weekend was les Iles de Frioul. I seriously want to live there. It's gorgeous! The rocks are white, and the water is blue, and...and....well, you just have to see the pictures to believe it. If you just have to go there after you see the pics, it's no problem. It was just a 20 minute ferry ride away from Marseille. So, if you come visit me, I will totally go again. (Preferably not in the winter though...it was windy and it will get cold soon)

I had a fun time with my friends, and I can't wait to do another random spur of the moment trip again.

Chateau D'If et les Iles de Frioul

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Arles

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My thoughts on politics....sometimes I think that I think too much :P

I decided it's been a while since my last post, and I probably should post....even though not much has happened lately that's really note worthy. Um...the presidential election was last week. I am glad I don't have to go into hiding. I was afraid I would have had to if Mccain won because the French people hated him. All of Europe is pro-Obama...I feel like a social outcast sometimes.

The funny thing about being here is I have so many conversations with people about politics and moral issues. In the states, if I had the same sort of conversation, they would verbally bite my head off and say that my opinions are all wrong, or they don't matter. Here my opinion matters...or at least some people think it's interesting. My opinions are all really middle ground. I have a hard time affiliating with a certain political party because I absolutely hate the ideals of part of it, but I like the other part.

My philosophy is that politics is not a religion. I don't have to take the good with the bad. I don't have to try to fit some pre-formed mold of democrat or republican. Why should I? I am supposed to have my own opinions. I am supposed to be allowed to think for myself. Are you really thinking for yourself when you just vote for the democratic or republican candidate just because you affiliate with that party?

Personally I'm not happy with the fact that I voted Mccain. I didn't put much thought into my decision. After thinking about it and looking into the subject (after I already sent in my absentee ballot of course) I decided that our country really needed change, and I don't think that Mccain can really give us the kind of change we need.

I know people are like oh! Obama's pro-abortion and pro-gay marriage, but in all reality the president can't control that, and he shouldn't. The strategies politicians use to get elected are meant to pull on your moral heart strings and make you think that they're going to ruin or save our country. In all reality they can't really do much drastic change on any of those issues. They can put their vote in, but they do not hold supreme executive power over everything that happens, that's what checks and balances are for.

Ok...so I think I'm done with my rant on politics. Gees...last year I don't think I would have even gotten close to having a rant like that. Sometimes I feel like this experience in France is opening my eyes to what's really going on in the world. A lot of the time I find myself thinking how could I have been so blind? is that really what happens when we do that? can we effect the world that much?

So on that note...I need to get into the habit of reading/watching the news more often. It is very important to know what is going on in our world, especially if you want to have an intelligent conversation with any European people, and not be seen as a stupid and naive American.

I'm back from Nice :)

Hi Everyone!

So, I had a great fall break. Even though it rained most of the time, I managed to take lots of pictures for everyone to see. As it turned out we only made it to 2 cities (Nice and Marseille) because it was raining so much we decided to head back a day early. So we spent 2 nights in Nice, spent today in Marseille, and then Crystal and I headed back to Aix, and Rin and Keebee are spending the night in Marseille at a hostel so they can catch their trains tomorrow morning.

I got back and I was so tired. Today with the traveling and such I didn't really get meals at the right times, and I didn't have breakfast, so I've been a bit out of it most of the day. I did go shopping today though, and I got some shirts that I'm excited about at H&M, and I only spent 30 euros on 3 shirts, so I don't feel too bad about it. It was stuff I needed. I bought a sweater, a long sleeved shirt, and a nice t-shirt.

I liked Nice a lot. It was really pretty. We went to the beach, and I saw the Mediterranean for the first time. I got completely soaked by a crazy wave, well I was only soaked from the knees up...

I took a video of the water, but I don't know how to post it to photo bucket, but if I figure it out I promise it will be up, and I'll leave the viewing directions in the comments of the post...but that's only if the technology decides to be nice to me.

We also climbed this mountain like thing. There were a whole lot of stairs, and at the top you could see for miles. I took a lot of pictures up there. There was also a waterfall at the top of the mountain, it was really cool.

I tried roasted chestnuts for the first time today, it was interesting. They were sort of bean-textured, and they were slightly sweet. It wasn't my favorite thing in the world, but it's always good to try new things.

I hope you enjoy my pictures. It's the post that's right before this one, and as always, to view my album click on the picture and it will take you to my photobucket album. Then when you get there, there are some blue squares of different sizes in the upper right hand corner of the screen. Click on slideshow and you can see the pictures better.

With lots of love,

Shannon

OH, and....

Happy Halloween!!!

Fall Break 2008 (Nice and Marseille)

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St. Etienne

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Exploring Aix 2

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Fall Break

Bonjour tout le monde!

So, today is Monday....and I have successfully kidnapped my 2 friends from the states who are also studying in France this year. They are both sleeping over in my room till Wednesday when we are going on a trip to explore southern France. We are going to Nice, Cannes, St. Tropez, and of course Marseille. I am so excited, and I promise to take pictures this time. I am going to make sure that I pack my camera...and if I don't, I will take pictures from my friends who also are going, but I would like to bring my camera because I tend to take pictures of things that my friends don't. I like taking pictures of the scenery more than pictures of people, I don't know why. I guess it's because I'm there to see the scenery, so my brain automatically thinks it's more important than who I'm with.

This weekend I was in St. Etienne visiting Rin because I thought she wasn't going to come because she has class all week. But she decided to skip class the whole week (which is totally not like Rin at all...I thinks she gave in to peer pressure) I forgot to bring my camera to St. Etienne, but I'll steel some of Keebee's pics and post them on my photobucket. I just have to figure out the photocard reader on my computer which I haven't tried to use yet. This computer has so many new features that I'm still trying to get used to. It makes my old computer seem low tech.

Today Keebee, Rin, and I are going to explore Aix, so I'll bring my camera and actually take pictures of where I live for once. Compared to St. Etienne, this place is really beautiful. Well, I'll talk to you later.

I love you and miss you all.

France is confusing

Hi Everyone,

I just thought it was time for an update, even though not much has been happening. Today I went to carrefour, which is like the French version of walmart. I finally got an actual blanket for my bed. I've been living with my polarfleece I brought from home and the smelly wool blanket the school gave me. Now I just have to find a place to keep that wool blanket......

I also bought some pants and a new shirt because I felt like it. It was so hard to find a pair that fit because I had to guess my size....so size 38 in french sizes = who knows what in american sizes....I really don't know what size I am anymore, probably about a size 5, but who knows.

So, last week I missed one of my classes because I didn't know that they had changed the schedule for level 3 classes. All I had was the old schedule, so some of the classes were right, but some of them were at completely different times and in completely different rooms. I had a test on the subjunctive and I missed it. That day wasn't all that great. I mixed up which day the photography and literature class was, so I got up expecting to have 8am class, and I went all the way there just to find out that I read the schedule wrong, and it wasn't on Thursday morning....it was on Friday morning. Then I studied for part of the afternoon, and I went to class again because I thought my class was at 5pm, but actually it was moved to 10am. So I missed my test/quiz, and I'm pretty sure the teacher isn't going to let me make it up.

Today was ok I guess, other than being slightly depressed because I found out the guy I like is not actually single......he's dating someone, which was news to me. God, I feel so stupid sometimes.

Well, hopefully I'll get everything figured out this week with my classes. Wish me luck!

À bientôt!

I'm moving up in the world!

So, today I faced my fears and went to the office to see the man in charge to see if I could change levels. After speaking to like 5 different people and having to fight with his secretary, I finally got moved. I don't know what it is, but it seems whenever I have to go to an office to get something I have to fight with the secretary. I think they just like a good argument. I'm not really sure, but you really have to have some courage to go up against some of those. I have a friend who isn't going to change levels even though he's about as good at French as I am just because he's scared of the secretary.

So now we were talking about Corsica and conjugating verbs in the subjunctive. We took actual notes, and I didn't have to amuse myself by playing tic tac toe with the person sitting next to me. It's always a good sign when I walk out of 4 straight hours of class dead tired. That means I actually learned something. I'd rather have my classes challenge me and give me a headache than bore me to tears. I guess that's because I'd rather be busy all the time. We actually have a quiz on Thursday. I think I'll do ok as long as I study.

Well, I'll update later, hopefully with pictures. I always seem to forget to bring my camera places. I needs to get a bigger purse to carry my folders and my camera and such....

Day one of class!!!!!

Ok, so today I went to my first classes. It's weird, I have this class with this teacher from 8-10, and then from 10-11 I have my language lab with the same exact teacher, and then from 11-12 I have more class with him again.

I'm not quite sure if I'm in the right level or not. It seems as if I know a lot more French than a lot of students in my class. I mean....today we went through and spelled our names and introduced ourselves. It was really hard to understand the spelling of the oriental students' names (and they make up half of the class...I think it's cause they have strange names in the first place, and then their pronunciation is very weird and hard to understand)

I also bought my first textbook today. Since the school doesn't have it's own bookstore, the teacher told us where to go. It was some smallish bookshop on the main street in town. I feel sorta bad, there were only 2 copies of the book there, and I bought one of them. The teacher said that there would be two classes using the same book....so that's like 40 people all trying to go to the same place and buy the same book. I'm probably going to end up sharing with my friend because he didn't go with me. I just felt like going for a walk, so I walked there. It's so nice out today.

After I bought the book I sat in the park and people watched for a while while looking through the book. It's a French grammar book, and I'm pretty sure I've learned everything in it already. Given, I don't remember all of it, but still, all I would need is a short review, and then move on to the harder stuff.

I'm not exactly sure what I'm gonna do for the rest of the day, I wasn't really given any homework. I guess I'll figure something out.

À bientôt!

Les Resultats!

Hi!!!

Well, I got my placement test results back. I am not entirely thrilled with the results, but I'm not in level 1. That's a start :) I got into level 2D, which is almost level 3, but I'm still in level 2. There are 5 levels, so I only feel slightly dumb.

I would have french pounded into my brain in any level I guess. This just means that they'll start at a level I can handle.

Sorry I'm not really in the mood for posting anything longer at the moment, I has a headache.

Placement test....of DOOM!!!!

Hi Everyone!

Well, yesterday I took my placement test to decide which level of French classes I'll be in. Parts of it were easy, and others I was trying to remember....hmmmm which tense should I use? Do I use qui or que? I guessed, and I'm pretty sure I got some things wrong, but overall I think I did ok. The oral part on the other hand, that was hard. I got the lady who doesn't prompt you with a question. Instead she says ok, talk about anything you like. I have problems doing that in English let alone French! What was that lady thinking? So, I think I failed that part. I talked about a few things, but since I was so scatterbrained at the moment, I was having trouble putting my thoughts into words. I should have just talked about myself. But instead I was trying to talk about things I like, and it wasn't working out too well.

Well, tomorrow I should get my scores back. I'm just hoping for above beginner. I have taken enough french classes that I think I'd go insane if I was in beginner level. I know I forgot a lot of the grammar rules over the summer, but those come back pretty quick.

Tonight there's a party for the international students. I don't know what the dresscode is, but I think I'll wear a nice shirt, and my dark jeans. I don't feel like putting my dress pants on, and then realizing everyone else wore jeans. Well, I might wear my dress pants....I does not know. Poor indecisive me.

On Monday my classes start, and I am so excited to meet some more new people. It's nice to have more of a choice to who I can hang out with. Only having about 4 friends gets a bit lonely, especially if most of my friends here are the go out and party all the time sort of people. They are nice to hang around with when they're not partying, but I would love to have some people more like me to hang around with.

Oh! Guess what? On Sunday there's a trip to climb the mountain which you can see from here. It looks like a pretty big mountain. The other hills around it are covered in trees....and then there's this big rock, like something out of the Swiss Miss commercial or something. Crazy mountain or rock! Well, I'll make sure to bring my camera, I'm pretty sure there will be some nice views of Aix.

Well, I'm off to find something to do today. Tootles!

I has dishes! Yays for cooking :)

So today I went to the international office to fill out my forms for the carte de sejour (my visa), and I got some free dishes! So now I can cook as much spaghetti as I want :) Mind you I will be limited on what I can acually cook because I don't have a frige ( or un frigo en Francais!) So I have a pan, a pot, 3 plates, a bowl like tupperware thingy, a cup, a mug, a wooden spoon, a strainer, and some silverware.

I went to carrefour today with a couple of my friends (carrefour is the french version of walmart) I finally got laundry detergent, so now I can wash my clothes. Everything costs way too much here. I feel like I spend at least 2 times as much on my groceries here as I would in the states.

It seems as if they serve fish at the cafeteria every day. Sometimes you'll get an alternate choice, like yesterday was duck. I know this sounds sad, but I miss Bellarmine's food so much when I have to eat at the cafeteria here. I've heard lunch is better there, but I haven't been there around lunch time yet. The cafeteria is near my dorms, and I'm usually in town at lunch time.

Well, I'm gonna go try to study some French. My placement test is tomorrow morning at 10. Wish me luck!

Exploring Aix

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To see some pics of Aix en Provence, click on the picture above :)

New friends, and food!

Hi everyone!

I am really happy today, and I think part of it is that it's really sunny out today. Another reason is that I made some new friends yesterday, and found the school cafeteria, so I won't be as poor by buying groceries all the time. A meal ticket at the school cafeteria is 2.85 euros (but if you don't give the lady exact change she gets mad at you....I gave her a 20 and she looked at me like she wasn't going to accept it)

Today I'm going out to get some more minutes for my phone (my experiment with using an international phone card and my cell phone didn't work to well, and it ate all my minutes) I ended up getting a virgin mobile phone for 29 euros. The recharge cards are 20 euros a month, so I don't think it's that bad.

Last night the power went out on my floor for no reason, and it was really interesting trying to help some girl that only speaks French try to fix it....unsuccessfully. The power eventually came back on this morning.

So, today I promise to take my camera with me when I go out to explore with one of my new friends. I know most of you want to see pictures of downtown. I don't think the open air markets are open on Saturdays, but it's really pretty anyways.

Tootles!

Bienvenue!

Well, I'm in France! I haven't done much yet, or met many people, but I have explored my surroundings a bit. Today I went with my advisor to the bank to sign up for my bank card. I also got a cell phone to use to call local numbers and such. Well, at least now I can call my friends Keebee and Rin who are also in France this year.

After the cell phone and the bank card, we went to the center of Aix-en-Provence (which will now be referred to as Aix for the rest of my entries) It's so beautiful. Here I thought that the city was passable, not many stores, sorta dirty, lots of poor people, but that was only because I hadn't seen the center of town. Next time I go there I'll bring my camera. The streets are so narrow that cars can't fit down them. There was a market in the square selling anything from fruit, vegetables, scarves, bread, purses, and even flowers. Shops everywhere! And fountains, there are many fountains in town. I ate my lunch today sitting on one of these fountains. I had people coming up to me to ask for directions because they thought I was a native.

Tomorrow I have another meeting with my advisor, and I'll be meeting my fellow students. I hope I make some friends. The first 2 days were boring and lonely other than getting lost in the city twice. My dorm is a 15 to 20 minute walk to the center of town. My classes are also in the center of town, so I'll be doing a lot of walking.

For anyone reading this who plans on going to France, here is something you need to know about the bathrooms. The toilets have no seats (at least the ones I've seen) and there is no toilet paper in the stalls...its BYOTP (bring your own toilet paper) ....so make sure you bring some with you in your suitcase for the first night.

Well, I'm off to find dinner, and a post office. I need an envelope and a stamp for French social security for some reason.

My new room!

Photobucket Album

Click on the picture above to see the photo album......of DoOm!!!!

Is it genius?....or boredom?

I feel like I've accomplished something. I finally figured out how to make my photo album posts look better. I think I figured it out because I was bored. For the last week I haven't been doing much because my car's brakes are broken. So...I'm stuck at home unless my mom takes me places or if friends come and kidnap me.

I've taken this time to watch a lot of movies, make sure I have the right paperwork for my trip to France, and catch up on sleep (I've been sleeping in till 11am every morning)

Well, tootles!

Chicago trip 2008

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Click on the picture to see my pictures from our trip to Chicago to get our French visas :)

Help help! I'm going insane!

Hi everyone! Well, my 2 friends who will be in France the same time as I am left for France yesterday. I miss them already. I can't wait till I get to leave, because until then I'm left here at home to worry.

I think I'm going to miss having a roommate next year. There will be no one to talk to, which will be a very boring existence, not to mention lonely.

Well, until I leave for France, I will devote my time to practicing my French so that I don't completely freak out when I get there.

PS- When I get my pictures back from my lovely trip to Chicago to get my student visa, I will post them. However, I am still waiting for Kroger to get done with them. NEVER HAVE YOUR PICTURES DEVELOPED AT A GROCERY STORE...ITS A TERRIBLE IDEA!!!!

TTYL!

Montreal Photos

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Here are some pics I took during my trip to Montreal Fall of 2007

Up up and away......or I will be soon at least....

Well, I'm getting ready for France. I'm trying to get my birth certificate translated, compile a decent wardrobe, obtain all of the essentials ( ex, international phone card, random meds for my first aid kit, travel sheets...which involves sewing 2 top sheets together, and a purse that is pick pocket free)

I am so excited. I was looking up what my dorm room will be like, and both options for what I may get next year are 10 meters squared. Option number 1 includes basic furnishings, and a washbasin. Option number 2 (which I'm hoping for) includes basic furnishings, a complete bathroom, and a refrigerator!

I'll probably end up with option number 1 because I am paying my room and board to Bellarmine, so they'll probably give me whatever they have. But hey, at least it's a room. I am excited that all of the rooms have internet connection. Well, the website says that all of the rooms should have internet by September 08, so I'm hoping everything's installed and ready when I get there at the end of September.

I am sorry that I had to change blogs for France. The open diary web site is difficult to use and navigate, and I decided that it would be too difficult for everyone to try to read. I wasn't having fun designing it, so it can't be fun to try to find it.

Well, I hope to figure out this website. It seems easy enough.

Ciao!

~Shannon~