Well...I made it...

After much hassle, frustration and worry, I have now made it into France. I feel like I don't know what to say, but I'll go ahead and say what i've been through thus far.
            Day 1: Arrival into Brussels. My 7 hour flight really wasn't that bad...although my plane was relatively small for a transatlantic flight...and the pregnant italian lady sitting next to me wasn't very friendly...The food on the plane was not the greatest...but what can you do?? Anyways, it was the most gorgeous sunrise and completely clear so that we could see the bright lights of London and Southampton, England below us...it was serioulsy the coolest thing I've ever seen...And flying into Belgium was seriously spectacular...everything is so green and beautiful, I just couldn't believe my eyes! Customs in Brussels was a hassle though...but I met this really sweet American couple who apparently have a daughter that studied in Paris a few years ago before Med School. Anyways, after that I finally found my super huge suitcase and Colleen!! She's my friend who goes to the Univ. of Iowa! We planned to meet up at BRU (Brussels airport) and take the train to Lille together. I was wrong in thinking that navigating Brussels was going to be easy...but then I realized, I don't speak FLEMISH. OMG!!!!! Ridiculous. As we got on the train to get to the Brussels-Midi train station, I started to feel stupid about bringing the biggest suitcase I could...luckily, people were very friendly and I got a few minutes to relax and catch my breath on the train to the station. Brussels is not exactly the most picturesque city in the world, but I did see several lovely buildings! When we got to the Brussels-Midi station, poor Colleen lost a wheel on her suitcase on the way down the stairs...oops. And navigating the train station was also interesting...especially when lugging around a 60lb suitcase and a smaller one. UGH! We bought our TGV (train a grande vitesse) tickets and then finally bought a Coke. I have never needed one more in my whole life. We boarded our train at 11:20am (which, to me, was 5am...without sleep...) I was having a lot of trouble getting my suitcase onboard, but luckily this cute little French family helped me. They were so sweet and their daughter (who was about 3) probably spoke French better than I did! But I managed...when we got to the train station at Lille-Europe, Colleen and I were completely tuckered out. We met Emmanuel, the guy who was going to pick us up. He was so nice and took my big suitcase and we just followed him. He drove this van thing made by Renault...it was so weird! And I think French drivers are craaaazy!!!!! AHH! But we made it to our residence hall, Triolo, in like 15 minutes. The building is seriously confusing. Each section is named after a famous French philosopher, poet, or writer. I live in Stendhal...on the fourth floor. But the thing is, they don't have elevators...Only this tiny winding staircase...it is so lame. I checked in with this red-haired secretary...she wasn't exactly the friendliest...But it's whatever I guess. She gave me a key to my room and a key to my own fridge! Woohoo!! My room is pretty cute though! With TONS of storing space :D (eat your hearts our BU people hahahaha) I also have my own bathroom...but its like a capsule...and the shower is awkward, but i like it! My desk is gi-normus! My bed is like a foam mattress, but after being up for nearly 36 hours, I'll take it :D I sat in my room and kinda freaked out for a few minutes. It's the jetlag...it does things to you. After a quick nap, Colleen and I decided that we wanted to go exploring. The thing is, we had no where to go...We asked the mean red-haired lady where the Metro was and she gave us these odd directions, but we eventually found the centre-ville (like, downtown of our suburb that is called Villeneuve d'Ascq.) We found the Metro and rode it around just to get used to it. Afterwards, we headed to the V2 Centre Commercial (the mall!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) Seriously, its like heaven to me there. And then we got some pizza at Pizza Pai (Kind of like Sbarro). We then discovered Auchan. Its like the French version of Wal-Mart. It's 2 floors...on the top floor they have like non-food things...I bought a comforter for my bed which turned out to be really thin...lol! I then bought some Special K (and seriously, its soooooooooooooooo good.) Also some H2O and stuff like that. Auchan was seriously crazy. I don't even wanna think about it. We also walked around Villeneuve d'Ascq just to see what we were in for. I really had an overwhelming and stressful day, but it was just that first day experience. I survived.
          DAY 2: Thursday was interesting...Colleen and I met at 8 to head over to Lille III (my school, Universite Charles de Gaulle) to take the Test. We met some cool Brazillian girls in the lobby so we all walked over together. The campus of Lille III is really quite dull looking...its kind of like just a bunch of gray buildings with a concrete quad. lol. After downing an Orangina (fizzy orange juice), I was ready to take this on. We walked into this big auditorium that had like 150 people in it...all speaking different languages. Definitely a unique situation. Anyways, we sat in there for like an hour waiting for Nadia (our international coordinator) to give us a presentation. In the meantime, I met a few new people! Sarah, is from Ole Miss, and she is sooooo fun! Full of energy and her southern charm was definitely appreciated especially seeing as I am a southerner too ;) I also met Monika, who is from Poland! She is sooo nice!!! And I finally met Rosalind, a girl from UofK (I have to distinguish now between UK and UofK because here UK means united kingdom...lame). Anyways, the meeting that we had was completely crazy. Nadia spoke French soooo quickly and I caught maybe half of what she said. UGH! And did I mention how WELL French people dress???? I felt SOOO frumpy in my tennis shoes and crops the other day...it was AWFUL! I never ever thought I'd feel frumpy. On the other hand, after the test, me, Sarah, and Colleen ate lunch at the cafe Flores on campus. It was soo amazing. I guess I'd describe it as Cafe-Ogle-ish? I dunno, but they had great food. I ate a panini du jambon (a grilled sandwich with ham, melty cheese, and tomatoes.) it was DELISH. And I had a banana and a bottle of water. Then we went back to the main building and found out that apparently there is a computer lab for international students. SWEET. But its kind of a long wait to get one. And the French keyboards are sooooooo weird. After that, we had to take this French proficiency exam in the auditorium. It actually wasn't bad...I guess it was about as hard as Dr. Carriere's in 212...but the essay was completely ridiculous...Should there be one language in the EU? No. Easy. But I think I did alright! After the test, Sarah and I went upstairs and I registered with the international office to say that I was there officially and whatnot. They gave me a sweet bag FULL of stuff about Lille and Lille III! I feel so much better about everything that i have to get done. I appreciate the patience that people have had with me back in the States; getting internet is complicated here in France. But I have it :D After registering, me and sarah ventured down to the Ulysees' club room. Ulysees is a club thing for international students and there's this cool cafe/hangout spot for just international students where you can get food and drinks! (Sidenote...there is actually beer on tap at the cafe Flores. true story) anyways, we joined that and started talking to some Lille students hanging out there. One's name is Brian and he actually went to LSU!!! He was SOOOO nice and incredibly helpful. He offered to show me and Sarah how to get to Triolo by walking from Lille and then to the Metro station closest to Triolo. After that long afternoon, Sarah, Rosalind and me went out exploring and found a cool chinese restaurant called Asian (i know, quite original) and had dinner there. The people of Lille are seriously SO cool though. Everyone is quite polite and really helpful! We kind of got lost on our way to the restaurant, so we stopped in a Pharmacy and the pharmacist gave us directions...she was awesome. After dinner, we walked around some more, and the climate is definitely significantly cooler here than in Louisville. WOW. BRRR! But it was quite pleasant. We then went back to Triolo and all sat in Colleen's room for a few hours just talking and laughing like we had been best friends for years...even though we'd only met that day!!! Good times. Gotta love the bonds made with other Americans going through the same thing you are. It's comforting. I slept for 11 hours. Epic.
          Day 3: Today was also reeeeeeallly fun. Me, sarah and rosalind decided to meet at noon and then head over to school to get some internet time and I had to take passport pictures...there are literally photobooths EVERYWHERE. i LOVE it! So we spent some time at Lille III and met up with Monika and Colleen. After that, we all went to the Centre Commerical to go to Orange (the AT&T of France) to get cell phones. It actually wasn't too complicated either. Thank goodness. My american cell phone is apparently locked so I  had to buy another cell phone but it was waay cheap. I got a prepaid deal, so it was not bad at all. We had to have a french telephone number in order to get internet. yeah, true story. I am definitely starting to feel more comfortable with France now. It's not nearly as overwhelming and I am starting to become familiar with places here. And did i mention that the shopping is AMAZING? It is. Wow. Ok so anyways, I also decorated my room with pics of my friends, Steve, family, KY, etc...It's cute. After Orange, we went and had a cafe (coffee) at a cafe (it is what it is). I had a cafe creme (coffee with milk) and 2 sugars in this tiny little cup but it was delish. There was this cute little French woman sitting next to us (she was probably in her fifties) and she heard us speaking english and started speaking to us in french and was just so fascinated that we were American and one Polish. She told me that i was really pretty! HAhAH! And told Rosalind that she looked like Hillary Clinton...which is odd because Rosalind has red hair...lol. Anyways, she was asking us all about Obama and his healthcare bill, lol. I had actually expected this to happen to us in France. But she was sooo nice and told us how sweet we were and how well we could speak french! I liked being told that by a native...TAKE THAT, AP FRENCH EXAM! After an interesting discussion with the French woman, we headed to Auchan again to get groceries and whatnot. I bought some pots and a bowl, as well as milk and cereal. You wanna know something interesting? They do not refrigerate their milk in France. Its really weird but apparently they don't need to! BTW: Charles de Gaulle is from Lille, and Louis Pasteur went to Lille III. Ok just thought I'd throw that in there. After Auchan, we walked back to Triolo and went our separate ways for the evening. And here I am. That is my life from the past 3 days. Tomorrow I am going to the Braderie tomorrow (it's the biggest flea market in Europe!!) and it's held here in Lille this weekend. I can't wait! I need a new purse...I've been carrying around my red Lille bag...lol! Well I guess that's all i have to say for today. It's been a crazy journey getting here, but I am definitely glad I'm here. :) Bon soir!