Defying gravity and taking chances.

2 things about the title for today: 1. if you haven't seen the show Glee, that is a travesty and needs to be remedied ASAP. 2. I've been listening to the music basically non stop for a few days and I feel like these songs are so inspiring for me right now! I was also listening to them before I left to try and get excited about studying abroad and not be as worried about being on my own in a foreign country. Now I've been listening to them because I'm loving it here and the message is so great for me right now - I need to just go and do the things that I want to and make sure I don't let anything get in the way. Really, I should do that with life in general, but I'm trying really hard to make sure I do what I want to while I'm here and not let others dictate what I do. I still have trouble coming out of my shell with strangers (aka people in my classes who are french that intimidate me lol) but my goal for this week is to be better about talking to them at least a little bit.

With that big blurb out of the way... lol I don't even remember when I left off...

Ok, so Saturday night I was lame lol and just read my book, which is actually pretty good! Went to bed relatively early (~1ish) and woke up relatively late (~11ish) ate breakfast and then got ready to meet up with the BC group at the movies (a BC sponsered trip, so we paid for... nothing - I even made 3 euros off the trip lol) We went and saw Le Siffleur, which was kind of a french version of Oceans 11. We think. It was pretty funny, but I really only followed some of it and at points I had no idea what was going on or who was on which side or who betrayed whom lol but it was fun nonetheless. Then after that, we all met up at a cafe for pastries and coffee. I got a chocolate mousse type thing and a cappaucino. The chocolate mousse was ridiculous. I don't even know how to describe it lol, it was like a ball of chocolate covered mousse, but the mousse was firmer and richer than mousse... like a truffle kind of (not the fluffy kind of truffle tho, like the ones that you eat one and have to lick the roof of your mouth afterwards... does that make any sense at all?) and the chocolate on the outside was dark, really really rich chocolate. Oh and it was almost the size of my fist. I barely finished it, but it was so good I couldn't stop. (Although I probably should've since I later had a chocolate overdose induced headache and stomachache lol). BC paid for that too :)

After that, I didn't eat again till like 8:20, because dinner was kind of here's food, eat whenever you want kind of deal and I was absolutely stuffed from that gigantic ball of richness. Thennnn I don't remember what I did... probably nothing haha maybe watched some Glee (I downloaded it and have been watching it all the time since then) then picked up my new book - Pillars of the Earth (because Mom told me to read it since I'm going to be visiting cathedrals and stuff all over the place.) Oh, now I remember! I did laundry last night! which was good because I was running out of underwear and socks... TMI sorry :) but yeah, yay clean clothes! And they have a washer but no dryer, so all my clothes had to hang dry, so its a good thing I did it yesterday and not tomorrow haha so I did my laundry, waited till it came out and then hung it up and then went to bed.

So then this morning, I woke up, had bfast, checked my laundry, put away the dry clothes and then got dressed and ready for my first day of school! I had 2 classes today: Regional History of Alsace: Wines, Vines and Vineworkers (rough translation lol) from 1:30-4 and Culture and Society in Europe after 1945 from 4-6. I had to meet with Susan (our program coordinator) before 12, though, so Caitlin and I left around 11:20 this morning. And it was a BEAUTIFUL day, the sun was shining, the sky was blue and it was [relatively] warm! It was glorious! (Pics coming soon).

So we met with Susan, turned in some paperwork and then set out to find out where our classes are- they don't post that stuff online (that would be too simple, obviously). It took a bit of navigating and asking questions and locating hidden stairwells, but we figured it out eventually :) Then she and I went to our first class, we're taking Regional History together and it went really well! The professor was really nice, one of the first questions he asked was "Who are Erasmus students?" (Erasmus=exchange) and my hand shot up. He then went on to say that we wouldn't have to do the oral presentation that the rest of the class has to do (phew! I was freaking out when he was talking about that). And then the class went through introductions and then we started talking about the basics of a vineyard! About how grapes grow and what makes good or bad harvests, grapes and wine, etc. It was difficult to follow, but really interesting and I really liked it!

After that, we had to book it to our next class that's about a 7 min jog away but we ended up making it before the professor walked in. Culture and Society is taught in English, so it'll be my safety class in a way - it has more homework than most classes I think, but its all in English, so I and other native English speakers have a distinct advantage. It sounds interesting too, we'll study how people's identities and cultures have changed post WWII- topics will include the Cold War, immigration, decolonization, globalization, americanization, all those "zation" words. But the focus is on the people and culture, not politics or governments, which I think will make it really cool. So all in all, a good first day of school :)

Then, Rebecca, Caitlin and I walked home (Rebecca, Caitlin, Cammie, Kelsey and I are all taking C&S together) and I scarfed down some random food (yogurt, nutella sandwich, carrot, more nutella) before heading off to a surprise bday party for a BC girl (that I actually didn't know, but she's really nice!) where I ended up gorging myself on absolutely delicious pastries and cake- I feel like a million pounds at the moment lol. I can't wait to rent my bike and ride it to the pool and swim and feel like a real person again (this not working out thing is absolutely driving me INSANE! because I eat so much good, but rich, food and don't work it off so I've been feeling really heavy and gross lately).

But, that brings me to now- just sitting at my comp, typing this and thinking about my feb break (tentative plans to go to Spain with Sonia, one of my suitemates from last year). And listening to Glee, obviously ;)

Wow, that was a long post! Props if you actually read it all the way through! lol next time I'll try to break it up more.

I'll stop here :) love you all! bisoux à tous!

PS. I'm so glad people actually read these posts- I actually never felt like people would read these, but I'm glad they [as in, you] do! It makes me feel a little less silly to be documenting my life in such detail to know that someone appreciates it! Let me know what you think and maybe I'll bring you back a present! ;) Or, at least let me know your address and I'll work on sending postcards! Ok, now I'm really stopping haha - bon soir!