first week of classes

The Fondation Marjolin. My bedroom is on the very top floor with the arched windows, the 2nd from the left.

My desk and bed. Notice the stud on the top corner or my bed ;o)

My armoire and sink

My mini-fridge, well stocked with yogurt, 'cause in each package you get letter magnets. Right now my fridge says "risk" and "ears".

Okay, I lied already. It's actually the end of my second week of classes...but being the perfectionist I am, I really hate to break a good routine. And I didn't tell you about my first week of classes, so this works...sort of.

Anyways, that said, yup--I'm finally in school again! Life has been settling into a routine, and the weeks are passing a bit faster. So I've decided to tell you a bit about the less adventurous side of my life, and more about "ma vie quotidienne" [my everyday life].

As I'm sure you know, I live at the Fondation Marjolin; it's a building with about 100 residents between 18 and 30, most are working though some are students, and it's a pretty good mix of cultures. My room is on the top floor, and it has a bed, armoire, desk, sink and mini-fridge. I share a bathroom with my neighbour, and the entire building shares a kitchen on the main floor. There's also a small library, a laundry room, and right now they're building a big living room.
I get up around 10 am. Yeah, I know my mom and Kim just grimaced... "What kind of life is that?" I'm sure you're asking. You're just jealous! And I figure I've only got 2 more years to enjoy it before I'm up at 6:30 every morning, so I'll take it while I can! Plus, there's really not much to do all by yourself in a room for a couple hours before class.

Then I leave for class at 11 and take the metro across Paris with Steph and Nate, it takes us about 45 minutes to make the trip. We all have class in the same building from 12-2, which is convenient, because the school is actually spread between 3 or 4 buildings, all about 15 minutes apart. So I climb 105 stairs to our classroom, and for 2 hours we go through dictées, exercises, readings and oral presentations.
After class we head to the library, a couple metro stops and 122 stairs away. It's a room about the size of Ryan's ice rink, with walls of books, oak tables and chairs and view of the Eiffel Tower. Oh, and best of all it has wifi! Thank goodness for that, or you'd never get to read about my life.
Then we take the metro back home, climb 112 stairs from undergroud to street level and walk a few blocks back to our appartment...and then it's 92 stairs to my bedroom. Although most French people eat supper around 8, our stomachs refuse to break with Canadian routine, and we usually end up making supper by 6. So far it's been a lot of pasta and rice...and baguettes. But I found some sliced bread, and on the other side of Paris I found a store that sells cheddar cheese, so tonight we're having grilled cheese baby! sweeeeeeet!

After supper we do a half hour or so of homework, then...we pick our noses. Just kidding! Usually we have tea time in Nate's room and watch a few episodes of the Office...although we've finished season 3 and now are going through all the commentaries.

And in the rest of my spare time...well...I like to polish my boots (yeah, I know, weird eh?), go for walks around our arrondissement, eat treats from the patisserie on a park bench....pick my nose...

Joking aside, I spend a lot of time thinking about home. I miss eveyrone so much! I really miss 333 Springbrook with all you awesome girls--you were a blast, and I miss having you around to chat with and goof around with! And I miss chilling at the boys house, getting my tv fix, making breakfast, playing poker...And miss my family too; this week would have been reading break for me, and I know I would have had Sunday treats at Grandma's, and then Sunday soup with my family...I love Sunday's at home. And I miss Jordan. A lot.
But I've still got all of you to look forward to when I get home! There's still so much I have to explore here and learn about, so I can't come home yet! In 98 days I can....

"Il y a trop d'escaliers à Paris" [There's too many stairs in Paris]

I'm sure it's good for me, but unfortunately I've balanced it out with a serious addiction to mini kitkat bars. Bad news for July 19...