A weeks worth of updates... I'll give it a shot.

First of all, let me say that this is my first attempt at a blog. The idea is a little foreign to me. Yes, I understand it's kind of like a journal of sorts, but to whom am I talking? Myself? You, the reader? And I'm not that used to writing about myself and sharing my inner thoughts in such a way... yes, I've been a forum geek at eomahaforums.com for probably over seven years, but it's not quite the same thing.

That said, I arrived in France last Thursday, the third of January (oh god, this is boring already). We got into Paris around 10:00 a.m. local time. I had been up the previous night at home packing until about 3:00 a.m. and didn't fall asleep until about 4:00 a.m., and then had to get up at 7:00 a.m. so as to be at the financial aid office to take care of some last minute affairs by 8:00 a.m., which is when they opened (I know this is a run-on sentence, but I'm just going to go for it) after having been closed for the entirety of winter break, which kind of sucked.

Basically, I was running on just those three hours of sleep, and the few meager minutes of sleep that I was able to get on the flight to Paris, for about two days.

After arriving in Paris, we took a four or five hour bus ride to Besançon, during which I was able to sleep a bit. The weather was really gloomy and wet.

For the fist three nights we stayed at the Hôtel du Nord. I was in a room with another guy on the trip named Aaron. During these days, we pretty much habituated ourselves to the new ville, taken a few guided tours provided by our professor from Nebraska.

On Sunday, Philippe came and picked me up at the hotel. He, and his life partner Soriya, and their one year old daughter Naïma, constitue my "famille d'acceuil," or host family. They're really great people are great to sit and have a meal with at the table, talking about random stuff in French. My room at their house is quite big. It's on the third floor of the house, so the ceiling is really high and slanted, and there are exposed wooden beams on the walls.

The following monday, I spent the day taking placement exams. Then on Tuesday we started the actual classes, which are going pretty well. For this first month, we're focusing on conversation, so we do a lot of discussion and roll playing activities. Then on the first of February we start the actual semester, and I think I'll need to take another placement exam sometime before then.

This weekend (tomorrow) is the big skiing trip in the Alps. I had missed out on it initially because I didn't sign up in time. HOWEVER, one of the girls who was going to go has fallen ill, which sucks for her, but worked out in my favor because I get to take her place. We're going to a village on the Massif du Mont Blanc called Chamonix. I'm not even really a huge skier or anything. I mean, I think it will be fun and all, but mostly it's just an opportunity to go spend a weekend at a chalet in the Alps, on Mont Blanc. Pretty cool.

The other thing I'm EXTREMELY excited for, is Abby and Katie's visits in February. I know, I'm only a week in to the trip and already I miss EVERYBODY. So, getting to see those guys while I'm here in France will be a real treat. And, as far as Abby is concerned, it will be the first time I've seen her in almost a year (almost...OK, nine months, but a long fucking time).

OK, I'm going to let it drop there. I apologize that it was mostly boring stuff this time, but I'm sure as time progresses, and I get used to this blog business, my entries will become much more juicy and interesting.

If you've made it this far, thanks. I hope to figure out how to post photos (can you post photos?), too, at some point.