Wednesday, February 4, 2009

I can haz scholarship?

Fromage du jour: Grassy Camembert that's gone missing.

Hello there blogosphere! (I wanted to say "Hello there podcast listeners," like Ira Glass, but that wouldn't have made sense. I wish I had a podcast, though.)

I’ve been back in France for about four days. It has been pretty crazy. I live on a diet of almonds, raisins, chocolate, and Camembert. I think one of my wheels of Camembert rolled off of my windowsill… but the guy at the market sold it to me when it was very close to its expiration date so it was no big loss. The older Camembert is, the drier, and the more it tastes like grass.

France is lovely. The weather has been great despite it being February. It hasn’t rained (though it snowed a flake or two!), it hasn’t been terribly cold (especially not compared to Kentucky, so I hear!), and I’ve even seen the sun! That has been such a blessing, especially for the new students who are exploring the town for the first time. My dorm is as ugly and icky as it’s always been, but it’s warm and has been made warmer by all of the oatmeal, hot chocolate, and books that I stashed in every spare corner of my suitcase. There’s also a slight chance that I may get internet in my dorm. It would be expensive, so I have to see if it fits into my budget.

My first night here I went to my friend Emilie’s apartment and she made crepes. You couldn’t ask for a better welcome to France than to have crepes prepared for you by a French girl, especially when they are filled with Nutella and coconut! I introduced her and her friend Leticia to Reese’s. I also brought a jar of peanut butter, but felt that it is just as important to know what peanut butter and chocolate tastes like as it is to know what peanut butter tastes like alone.

Besides being reunited with the familiar faces I have met some new faces that I am very excited about being with this semester. There are two students who occupy what were formerly the bedrooms of Erica and Courtney, and there are a lot of fun Aussies who came here for their international studies program who hang out in my dorm even if they don’t live there.

But it hasn’t been all crepes and Camembert! France wouldn’t be France without hiccups and debacles. Catastrophe de catastrophes, I am not enrolled in the university and I currently do not have a scholarship. The Twinning Committee of Deauville, for some reason, did not think that I was returning this semester, and so until things are worked out with them I am not technically a student. I can’t imagine that I won’t get my scholarship back, and so I’m not that worried. They’re still letting me go to class… for now! C’est la vie—debacles occur, and there’s nothing you can do about it!

That’s all for now, folks. Tune in next time to find out if I’ve found a job as a teaching assistant, if I ever find my old wheel of Camembert, and if I’ve been deported for not being a student anymore!

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Deportation = street cred.

Chris Symes said...

I really like the word 'debacle.' Thanks for using it.

Unknown said...

Can you turn this into a Sing-a-long blog?