Okay, so the photo thing isn’t working out (despite having the necessary hardware and software, it seems that the computers here may be configured so that I can’t download photos from my digital camera), but it’s time to tell you all a little bit about what I’ve been up to.
So…
Day One (January 18, 2003): From the plane, I watched the sunrise over Paris. It was beautiful. What makes it even more special is that nobody in Paris saw the sunrise; it was too foggy. We were delayed a bit, landing in Paris around 9:00am (3:00 your time). Below us was a cushion of cloud (or so I thought) that looked roughly like a layer of cotton over all of France. As we descended through the cloud, I suddenly realized that we were about 50 feet from the runway…it was only then that I realized that it was fog and not cloud, and that I was one of very few that saw the sunrise at all (in most of France as it turns out). Sadly, because of the fog, I did not get to see the city as we descended. Upon arriving at Charles de Gaulle, I checked my luggage out of Air Canada, and prepared to start my long wait for my flight out. I was dead tired, having lost 6 hours in time zones, and slept less than an hour. I went for a Big Mac in the airport (it was the first food I came across…less greasy here, oddly enough) and sat around watching the interesting passersby. This included several well-armed members of the CRS, in army fatigues, carrying machine guns. Between this and my fear of losing my luggage, I had little desire to sleep in the airport.
Surprisingly, the time passed fairly quickly, and around 12:00 I made my way to the check in point for my flight out. I checked in after 2:00, for my flight (a 45-minute hop to Mulhouse) which was supposed to leave at 3:05. We boarded around 3:30, and finally took off close to 5:00 (all because of the fog-related delays). Between boarding and take off, we became part of a long line up flights trying to leave; gridlock, only in much much larger vehicles. It was an interesting sight. At Bale-Mulhouse airport, it was quite easy to find the person that was there to meet me, despite that she hadn’t the first clue how to say my name, and neither of us knew what the other looked like. It was only then that I finally found out that there would, in fact, be a room in a residence for me…only of those minor little details that nobody would tell, despite my asking repeatedly.
The residence I’m still in; Batiment A is scheduled for destruction next year, and I have already complained about it, however the atmosphere is great. It was thanks to the close quarters that a met a few key people, through whom I’ve met more and more people over the past few weeks. After a few days, I adjusted to my surroundings (my room is actually in half-decent shape relative to some of the others) and decided that I’d be just as happy to stay in Batiment A where I knew lots of people. Despite the fact that they still didn’t know when a studio would even become free, I was told, in no uncertain terms, that I would be required to take the studio I had requested. Admittedly, they are waaaaay nicer, but they are too quiet for my liking (especially since I have no radio or anything). Nonetheless, a cheap alarm clock should cut it, since I’ll be able to hear almost all the same music as at home; the vast majority of the music on the radio here is American (and Canadian!…the first song I heard on the radio the night that I arrived was by Sum 41). All that being said, on Monday (Feb 3rd), I should (hopefully) be moving into my studio (aka single bedroom with bathroom and kitchenette) from my weird dorm room that has a shower and sink (with one set of plumbing…very odd, but very innovative, and very difficult to explain without the photos I took…). So, assuming things go as planned, my address as of Monday will be:
[address deleted]
This is already getting awfully long, so I will cut it off here and write more soon.
