in a paper boat

Oh hey. I'm in France. And of all places, I'm sitting at McDonald's because they happen to have free wi-fi and the internet in my room is not currently working. I'm talking to my sister on skype, which is quite nice. I don't think I have enough euros to take the tram back to my school and I can't seem to find an ATM, but whatever. I'm not that far away and it's worth it to be able to chat. I'm trying to download the latest episode of Glee so I'll have something to watch later in my room...it's taking forever. So! My trip!

My family took me to the airport a few hours before my 7:55 PM flight. We ate dinner and I bought a book of a crosswords and a Swatch watch. Around 6, I said good-bye and headed through security. I cried when I hugged my mom and dad and sister. And as I waited in line, I had to bite my lip to hold back more tears. I'm cry easily anyway so I expected it. When I got through and to my gate I didn't have much time before boarding the plane. Which was good, since I despise waiting. The flight was long. 9 hours. And it's hard for me to sit still. But I had my own personal video screen on which I watched The Hangover and part of the Hannah Montana Movie. I arrived in Frankfurt around 11AM and had to catch a 12:40 flight to Basel/Mulhouse. I went into the tiniest waiting area and had to take a bus to the plane, walking up narrow stairs to board. I passed out before take-off even and woke up when we had landed about 50 minutes later. I wearily followed the other passengers off the plane and to the baggage claim area. I picked up my big red suitcases and somehow was able to pull them while holding my carry-on bag and purse. After a bit of looking around I found Karine, an English teacher from my high school who came to pick me up. She helped me with my bags and we headed for the school (a 30-minute drive). She asked me questions and we ended up talking about cinema! :D

When we got the school (Lycee Louis Armand), Karine called Eric (who I think is a sort of properties manager) who opened the gate and show us my room in the internat (boarding house), as well as the kitchen, and like 37 million different keys I have to use for each door. I feel like I'm in Nicole Kidman in The Others, locking each door behind me before opening another one (so as not to expose the children to light!). Then we went next door to the actual school and saw the classrooms, teachers' lounges, offices, etc. I met a bunch of the English teachers, who are all incredibly nice. Like INCREDIBLY. I actually kind of feel like I've known them before. In another life maybe? And they all tell me I speak French really well! Sans accent! I'm sure they're exaggerating, but it's still nice to hear. And it's nice to know that I'll be speaking plenty of French while I'm hear and hopefully improving more and more. As she was showing me around, Karine was speaking to me in French, but anytime we passed by students, she immediately switched to English because they don't want students to know I speak French so that they'll only speak English in class. Jennifer (from Ireland originally), told me that her class has prepared questions for me already! And Isabelle asked me to prepare a lesson on Halloween for her students. I don't even know when I'll start working, but I'm glad that they seem happy to have me here and that I might actually be genuinely useful.

Yesterday around 5:30 PM I intended to take a nap but ended up sleeping until after midnight. (Thank goodness Karine had thought to bring me some groceries, otherwise I would have been starving and dying of thirst!) I stayed up for a little bit and went back to sleep, not waking up until 10AM. I got myself together quickly and went over to the English teachers' lounge to meet them for their 10:05 break. I hung out for a bit then went back to my room to eat something. I intended to go back pretty quickly but fell asleep reading. I honestly didn't realize how tired I was. But I have the weekend to recuperate. I will hopefully be meeting up with some other Mulhouse assistants tomorrow so we can explore a bit. We have our orientation in Strasbourg on October 2nd. October 3rd and 4th, I'm going to stay at a chalet in Les Vosges with the English teachers. Then on the 6th, they are having a welcome dinner for me at a new restaurant. No idea when I'll start working, though. I still need to set up a bank account and some other boring administrative things. But I think it will all have to wait for Monday.

I basically feel like I'm in a dream...or more like a movie, actually. Yes. That's how it feels. Well, I guess I had better head back before it gets dark. My next post will hopefully include something interesting, some pictures, and something in French (uniquement pour toi, Will!)

A+,

Stephanie (: