Embarassing stories and Christmas decorations!

Haha...so, being in a foreign country and all, I am bound to make stupid mistakes. This week has been full of them. I was sitting on a bench waiting for the bus and this woman comes up to me; I thought she was begging for money so I shook my head, no. What she actually asked me was if she could sit next to me. So I basically insulted her. Luckily she sat down and started talking to me, so I think it was no big deal.

I bought some Christmas decorations at the store the other day so here are a few pictures. On the left is a little Christmas tree. I needed some red in my room! Then I put some lights shaped like snowflakes around my bulletin board. I'm all ready for the holidays now! : )

Obama, weather, and the French education system

I don't have any pictures, but I have plenty of things to talk about! For one, the election! I never really realized how involved the rest of the world is in American politics until I got here. The day the election results were announced, I had random French people ask me if I was happy about Obama's win. I don't think most Americans could even tell you what kind of political system France has, let alone know Sarkozy's name. The French people in general were all Obama supporters, and they were pretty excited. People were yelling his name in the streets that night, I heard. Let's hope he earns all their enthousiasm.

Next item up for discussion- the weather here in "sunny" Provence. These past few weeks have been rainy and cold! I honestly thought I could leave my red rain boots at home in my closet, but I have needed them more this semester than ever, I think. I heard there are about 200 or so days of sunshine here (more, I think) but when it rains it rains. And rains. And doesn't stop for a whole week. And all of the gutters here drain onto the sidewalks so you get even more soaked. Cold weather with no snow is not, in my opinion, any fun. Apparently they don't believe in heated classrooms here in Europe, so tomorrow during my litterature class I will probably be freezing!

I will never again complain about the price to attend college in the United States. If you could see the building I have classes in, you would understand what I'm talking about. I will take pictures and post them soon. Imagine an old, abandoned building- a place with graffiti on the walls, unisex bathrooms that always smell like urine and that rarely have toilet paper or toilet seats, and you've got the FAC. Because no one pays for university here, and the government doesn't provide the school with any money, they can't do anything about it either. The teachers are amazing though. I think this is supposed to be one of the best universities academic-wise in France. I think they are all tired of teaching in such awful conditions, too, but they are more used to it than I am!

It is very late now and I have a 10 a.m. litterature class in the morning so this is where I sign off. I hope everyone is doing well!

Love,
Meredith