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!

Boat party

Michael stands in the front of the boat, and says that he’s king of the world within the first hour, or I give you my next paycheck. --Jim, "Booze Cruise", The Office

I live here and I'm confused as to what part of France I live in. It was finally cleared up today: I am in Lower-Normandy, in the Calvados region, in the city of Caen, which is the prefecture of Calvados. For some reason I thought Calvados meant Normandy plus some other areas, but no, it's a region of Lower-Normandy. Got it. In a month I will have my residential permit for Calvados, which will be nice to get out of the way.

Caen is a small city. Much smaller than I had initially thought. It has about half the population of Lexington in a much, much smaller space. I feel like I've seen almost all of the town, excluding the residential areas that aren't of much interest, and that makes me feel much more at home. Let me tell you, the French may be a wee bit behind on technology when it comes to internet access, but they are decades ahead of America on public transportation, even in a small city like this. It couldn't be easier to get around unless you just had a personal taxi driver.

Today the foreign students are being taken on a boat party, or, as we Office fans call it, a Booze Cruise! We're all very excited about it because we have no idea what it consists of. Hopefully pastries. I just got a loyalty card at my favorite patisserie today!

Today I was in an information session with all of the foreign students who will be staying here for the year. There were seven westerners, a handful of Ghanans, a handful of Koreans and Vietnamese*, and the rest were Chinese. Soooo many Chinese! They're the cutest and sweetest people in the world. I feel so sorry for the Asians because they struggle so much with French. The English, Spanish, and Italian speakers among us have it sooo easy. I admire them so much for being brave enough to come here, and I'm so glad they have so many others who speak their language so they won't be lonely!

I got my first postcard the other day! I felt so loved! Personal mail is like gold here. My friends were very jealous.

Hope you all are having a good day! I'm now off to bombard my parents with more e-mails about what to put in my care package.