Since when is me procrastinating management readings new?

Well if no one else is going to write, you are just going to all be very well educated about France. Or at least my activities in France.

Fun things that have happened since two weeks ago:

I went to Basel, Switzerland with two of my friends. First reason why this is awesome: I took a day trip to another country. Second reason why this is awesome: It was German Switzerland so I had NO clue what was going on most of the time. But it's ok, if I've learned anything about Europe, it's that everyone knows at least enough English to order food. It was a surprisingly gorgeous day, so we spent the whole day taking walking tours and sitting by the Rhine...and because swimming in the Rhine (or letting the current float you along) is one of the big things to do in Basel, we went wading...which resulted in me slipping and falling in the Rhine. Fun times!

Unfortunately, the day after involved getting a little too drunk and dropping/breaking my camera. So that was fun. I'd send it home to get it replaced for free, but the one box we've tried to send here so far is lost and/or stolen. So this is now my sign from God to stop drinking as much. Until next weekend.

Because my school, the IECS, has a tendency to sponsor giant parties on Thursday nights that they literally bus you across the border into Germany for, and then don't give you any way to come back until after 2 am. We had a giant party Thursday and it was the best night here so far...crazy German Discotheks. The problem being...we all had class on Friday, and most people got back in between 4 and 5:30 that morning and stumbled into class between 8 and 10. No one really got anything done in class...but everyone knew exactly why, which was hilarious. But now everyone is sick. Oops.

So this weekend we touristed, we planned trips, and I went on a picnic with my family, an American family they're friends with, their two cute little girls, and their 3 month old puppy that was completely adorable...we hiked around a park for hours and generally had a fun time in a mix of French and English. The husband of the American family is a GM expat who knows almost no French, but he was the only one who didn't speak it, so it made for lots of stopping and translating and whatnot. In any case, the girls love me and it is always nice to be loved.

Next weekend we're going to Nice, Cannes, Monaco, and more Cote d'Azur locales, courtesy of Georgetown...SO excited.

You know, the whole posting thing goes for all you people still at Georgetown too...because I'm kind of in withdrawal, I'm not going to lie.

yo shawties, move it or lose it

So while I may be on campus doing nothing of particular interest, I DO want to know what you abroaders are up to. So follow Kim's lead and let those of us stranded back at Georgetown know about your crazy international hijinks. Let us (me) live vicariously through you.

I love Georgetown, but...France is pretty awesome too.

So...It's been a few days since I got here and I figured I'd let everyone know what's going on. I'm living with a family right in the middle of Strasbourg, about 2 minutes from the big cathedral that's in Centre Ville. It's called Notre Dame de Strasbourg...very original. But also gorgeous. It's about a 1/2 hour walk from where I have classes though...so I've been doing a lot of walking. The family is very nice, although I'm pretty shy around them because of the language difference. I can understand things they ask me and answer them decently, but I can't keep up with everyday conversation yet with all the slang...hopefully that'll change. The mom's a Spanish professor, the dad's a musician, and there are three kids: Cléa, who I think is 16 (our coordinator told me the kids were between 10 and 15 though, I think she lied), Pablo is almost 15, and Clara is 12. Oh, and Néo the cat, who likes to jump on my bed at 1 am and scare the crap out of me, hide in my closet, and chew through my microphone cords and such.

Anyhow, the city is really pretty small. You can walk anywhere within an hour, I'd say. There are a couple rivers that run through the whole thing, so there are always tourist boats going back and forth. We found people with canoes and decided to rent some today, but apparently they're from either a private boathouse or somewhere outside of the city about 4 miles away. Because mostly everyone was out til 4 apparently (I gave up at 2ish), we're going to wait for another day to try to find them. We've been spending most of our time either with the 11 Georgetown kids, a group of people from BC, and a few other internationals. I feel like I should be using more French, but that will definitely start tomorrow, when classes start. We don't register until Wednesday, and the way it works out, I have to take 10 classes to get 5 Georgetown equivalents. But if I don't get all my classes I want...I'm kind of screwed. Oh well. Everything will work out hopefully. And if not...eh. I'll travel, take what I can, and be screwed when I get back to school. 6 classes again anyone?

In any case, I'm having a good time. We might go to Paris this weekend, which should be fun. We're also talking about going to Egypt, which is random, but awesome sounding.

Hope everyone's doing well!