Road Trip...Maybe.

Well, I talked to Stephan today and he is going home to Slovakia over our two week Easter break. But when he comes back he won't fly but drive. So, towards the end of the break we might meet up in Vienna or Bratislava and then make some tourist spots on the way back. Lucia, the other Slovakian and friend of Stephan's would go but her parents don't want her driving back to France. Anyways, if I do go we might go to Munich and/or Zurich and some other spots along the way back.

A List Of Sorts

1. Almost everything closes down for lunch for about two hours everyday.
2. There are a lot of kebab places in France. Kebab sandwiches are very good.
3. Once again I have found myself in the entrepreneurial spirit and would like to start my own chain of of kebab eateries in the United States.
4. All you have to do to flush a toilet in France is easily push a button on the top of the tank. (To some of you this may not seem very different from the States...it isn't. -OK, maybe a little.)
5. Alcohol is cheap; I have fallen asleep with my shoes on twice already.
6. I've been avoiding brands of beer that I know I could get in the U.S.
7. Most of the beer here is 5% alcohol, however, I can easily get a liter of wine that is 11% alcohol for about 1.07 euros (~$1.36).
8. I am currently reading "Robinson Crusoe" by Daniel Defoe; It was one of the few books I found in the library that was written in English.
9. At the supermarket you get your shopping cart from the corral outside. However, in order to get it you have to put in a .50 or 1 euro coin to unlatch it. After you put your groceries in your car you then take the cart back to the corral, latch it back in, and get your money back.
10. Banks won't charge you if you use their ATM.
11. I bought a French phone and I can convert just about anything with it. I check the exchange rate everyday and plug it into my phone. It also comes in handy when I'm talking with the Slovakians or Norwegians and they give me a temperature in Celsius or area in square meters.
12. It costs me 4 euros (~$5.10) to do one load of laundry not including the price of detergent.
13. I don't wash my clothes very often. (See #12)
14. It costs 3 euros (~$3.85) for a very small jar of peanut butter; I now eat Nutella and jelly sandwiches.
15. When in doubt I always show my student ID card --even at fast food places. We went to a Quickie Burger at the mall in Clermont-Ferrand, I showed the clerk my ID card and got a free burger.
16. Free burgers taste better than burgers you have to pay for.
17. "This is the sort of English up with which I will not put".-Winston Churchill on the fake rule that says you shouldn't end a sentence with a preposition.* This is in case I catch grammatical flack for #16.
18. People will often bring their dogs with them to shops and cafés.
19. There is dog shit everywhere. (See #18)
20. You don't talk about fight club.**

*The actual rule is that you shouldn't end a sentence with an extraneous preposition.

**This is actually the first and second rule of fight club.

Today was pretty uneventful. Elin, Dagny, Stephan, Lucia, Ana, and I all walked to class together like we've been doing. We went to the cafeteria for lunch and unfortunately all the french students were back from their vacation, so it was hard to find a place to sit where all the international students could be together. We went back to class and I taught Elin and Dagny how to play "Spades". Then after class we walked a long way to the supermarket. When we left I had my backpack full of groceries as well as another sack that I carried in my hand. I would post a picture of my stuff, but unfortunately the internet speed here is ridiculously slow. Anyways, so we went to the supermarket, hiked back, started the blog and now it's time for dinner. Au revoir.

Well, here it is...

I've made my blog and I am looking forward to updating it at least once a day. I hope you all enjoy it and I look forward to hearing from you. Any suggestions would be very much appreciated.