Aix marks the spot

Unfortunately as I write this, I’m staring down at the stupid little wifi box that sits in my host home as it flashes yellow to remind me that it can’t connect to the internet. It started doing this last night and hasn’t stopped all day, despite my best efforts. The internet at the center where I have classes is always available during the day, but the center closes at 6pm every day. I think my host is going to call the phone company and have someone come over tomorrow, so hopefully the problem will be resolved by the time I post this or shortly after.

On a positive note, this weekend was our first excursion to Aix-en-Provence! It’s a town about an hour and a half southeast from us that is known for its Roman beginnings. The city layout is absolutely astounding. The buildings are so epic, and there are fountains and monuments everywhere. Not to mention it sits inside a mountain range and is the former home of artist Paul Cézanne, whose famous renditions of Mt. Saint Victoire are known worldwide.

me in front of the fountain at La Rotonde

Aix has a much more modern feel than Avignon, and I couldn’t stop noticing how full of life the city is. The first place we stopped was ‘La Routonde’, which is a gorgeous fountain that sits in the middle of a roundabout which is surrounded by cafés and shops and people and gloriously yellow and pink buildings. There was a huge open air market in one square and a huge flower market in the next, and there are just people (and puppies!) everywhere.

The lovely streets of Aix

Speaking of puppies, I saw the cutest thing ever in Aix. There was this homeless man parked by a tree in one of the squares with a dog. He had a thin little blanket for himself, and then a dog bed, blanket and food bowl for his little dog. Normally I would be sad about homeless people having dogs, but seriously the dogs are better fed than their owners here and it’s so cute! And I get to pet dogs all day.

We also had the pleasure of visiting the Cathedrale Saint Sauver, a famous church that was built in three separate time periods using three different types of architecture. I couldn’t stop starring at the Roman baptist chamber and thinking about how amazing it was that something from the 4th century is still perfectly preserved. I was standing on the same floor that Romans from the year 300 had stood on before France was even France. People that had been baptized in that very room have been dead for literally seventeen centuries. And of course the gothic architecture is always just breathtaking.

(top to bottom) The facsade, the Bapsist chamber and the Gothic Chapel

We then were on our own for lunch, and me and some of my friends wandered around aimlessly until we came upon a cute little restaurant that’s menu looked a bit like a French Denny’s from the outside, so we took advantage of the low prices and hit it up. They even had menus in English, and we got a kick out of comparing the French and English menus and noticing the terrible translations. OH and then we bought gelato (chocolat pour moi!) and it was delicious, to say the least.
Later we got to visit the Musée Granet and stare in awe of the massive floor to 20 ft ceiling 17^th century paintings, as well as some Picasso’s and Giacometti’s. The last place we went was to the studio of Paul Cézanne. It’s this adorable little house situated on the side of a small mountain whose top floor is one large room where we would paint his enormous paintings and slide them through his custom made floor to ceiling painting door in the back. The paint in the room was never changed, so when you look at his paintings where he featured objects in the room, it’s all the same. Also, there was a kitty sleeping by the space heater that we all just fawned over until it was time to leave, and then another one outside that I pet for like 10 minutes.

We were soo tired by the time we left Aix, but it was an awesome day. I love visiting little Provinçial cities that are just bursting with history. I mean, I live in one and I still haven’t accepted how amazing that is.

On Saturday night, my friend’s host parents held a salsa (the dance, not the dip) party in the theatre they own to benefit her host dad’s charity in Africa. We also got to see the amazingly decorated apartment she lives in and meet their dog Woody!! (Yes, I miss having pets) The salsa party was amazing though; her host mom teaches dance and yoga classes, so there were a lot of her students there, and lot of people who were seriously like professional salsa dancers.

So this week has started off pretty good, although I’m currently putting off writing a one page, single-spaced paper about France’s problems in 1945. Sigh. Other than that, we have all been spending our breaks planning trips around Europe! People are going everywhere! I can't wait to go to Paris, I'm like freaking out just thinking about it right now.

allons-y!

We are finishing up our second week of classes and things are already starting to pile on. We've got a few short papers due and a lot of reading (en francais, might I add) and I am starting to get that familiar feeling of dread and stress creeping its way into my system. I know for me its defintiely the presentations that I'm signed up for that will be the death of me. I'm one of the few people that aren't bothered by public speaking, but the fact that its in my second language and I have to answer questions after the presentations is what is horrifying. Oh well, those aren't for another month or so........

Besides classes, everything else has been great here. My friend Danielle and I finally went down to the la poste to get international stamps, and after a very confusing entrance into the French post office and 10 minutes of being dumbfounded, we discovered where to get the stamps. They are a bit expensive, but worth it. Be on the lookout for postcards from the department of Vaucluse!

Also currently occurring in Avignon is the post-holiday sales. This basically means that every single store in the entire city has a huge "SOLDES" (sale) sign in the window, and they are serious about their soldes. I was in a boutique last night (not shopping, just looking!!!!!) and there were dresses that were marked down from 150 euro to 40. There will probably be some sort of purchase by me this month before all the clothes go back to regular prices. But it is so temping to buy a bunch of clothes and shoes while I'm here because the French girls are so fashionable and awesome looking all the time. Seriously. They never wear jeans and a tshirt, and they would not be caught dead in regular gym shoes. Oh and they are also all gorgeous. hahaha... but seriously. The highschool students all look super trashy all the time, though. The girls all have their lips pierced and the guys all look like tools. And usually act like tools. HS students have a LOT more freedom than any school in America, more than Uhigh for sure. Culture shock ZOMG.

As far as my French, I can tell I'm improving, but I can see how far I have to go before I'm 100% confident in my speaking abilities. One thing I've noticed, however, is my confidence is improving a lot in speaking. I would seriously start shaking if I had to speak in French classes at home, because I would be so scared of not knowing how to say something. Being here as taught me just to go for it, even you don't really know how to say it. I think before I would always try to directly translate my thoughts into French, but you learn ways to get around exactly what you want to say, and say it in a way that you do know how to say it. If that makes sense?

Oh but one thing we are all getting good at is ordering food. And by food I mean delicious pastries from the boulangerie. If I had to pick one thing I love the most about the French, it would be how they eat. First of all, everything is fresh, all the time. There are markets everywhere with fresh fruits and vegetables, a freshly baked baguette is 1 euro, and there's a never ending supply of pain chocolat and beignets (my fav desserts!). Its so adorable to see business men walking out of the market with two baguettes under their arms to take home after work. I don't know how I'm going to survive back in the States with all our prepackaged nastiness and frozen food.

Lastly, in a few weeks we have our winter break. No, I don't know why we have a week off in February, but I do know that it's going to be awesome. Currently in the works for that break is a mini tour of France with a few of my friends! So hopefully I'll know more about that soon.

Well there's not a lot else to talk about, really. We are taking our first excursion to Aix-en-Provence this Saturday, so hopefully I'll have some pictures for my next blog! Also, sorry about blogging so much. :)

I'm starting to love this place!

It has officially been one week since I arrived in France. It actually seems like I've been here for much longer, I don't know why. It's not because I'm not having fun, because I definitely am, but I think its more because I'm not into a routine yet. Its when you wake up everyday and don't have to think about where you're going or what classes you have that time starts to pass quickly. I have mixed feelings about the whole thing, really. I'm anxious about learning the language, and for that reason I want time to fast forward to when I'll feel a lot more apt at speaking French, but at the same time I know that once time starts to speed up, I'll wish it were this week again, before I had to worry about papers or tests or anything. I also know that eventually I'm going to never want to leave Europe, so I want to try to enjoy my short time here, but thats hard to do when you're homesick, which I am.

However, this week has been a lot of fun and I really enjoy a lot of the people here! Classes get a little intense sometimes, especially in the subjects I'm not too familiar with. For now I'm just going to take it one day at time, and hopefully my ear will become a little better at hearing philosophy terms in French, or my brain will be able to process years like mille sept cent quatre-vingt-dix-huit without taking 5 minutes to translate it.

I have five classes, French translation, economics of Europe and North America, history of France, aesthetics in philosophy and politics of the European Union. As you may or may not know, they are all taught in French. So thats really the only reason I think that I might struggle with them too much, because they are definitely all things I am interested in. I really like the translation course; one half is taught by a French professor and we practice translating from English to French, and the other half is taught by an American professor and we go the other way. Its super interesting to learn about the differences between the two languages when translating, and because its something I hope I can do someday, I'm trying to get the most out of it. All my other classes are okay for now, but its only been a week, so we will see how difficult they get.

We visited le Pont D'Avignon yesterday afternoon, which was amazing. It's this ancient bridge that used to cross the whole Rhone. Since the Rhone was a raging river before is was dammed a million times, it ripped away most of the bridge, but now its like a lookout point and the coolest bridge I've ever been on. We went around sunset, so our pictures are all super pretty.

That's the city in the background

Last night was also our first night out in Avignon! The students who have been here since first semester invited us all to go to one of the best bars in Avignon (its not a large city, so there aren't that many). It was so much fun!! It was like a little British pub, and as the night progressed, I couldn't help comparing it to Champaign bars. When we were in London, Geof told us about how much he loves English pubs because they are so friendly and everyone knows each other and everyone is part of something, and thats exactly how this place was. We are Americans; naturally loud and obnoxious, so of course everyone there identified us as such as soon as we opened our mouths. However we ended up meeting another American, some Germans, some British, some French and one Swedish guy. Sometimes it was getting hard to keep track of who knew who through who, but it was soooo much fun nonetheless. What I really appreciated is that it was like the British pubs, everyone was just there to have fun and be friendly, and there weren't a million slutty girls walking around trying to be slutty while a million d-bags walk around trying to find the sluttiest girl. haha alright yes, thats an exaggeration, and there are bars in Champaign that aren't like that, but you will never meet as many different people in one night as you can in a bar in Europe, and thats what was so fun. Not to mention realizing that the people I am spending the next four months with are super fun and nice and awesome! So thats a relief haha.

After that bar, we went to a discotheque!! (slash a bar with dancing haha) Of course we all were making fools of ourselves dancing to Eurotrash, and the occasional Gaga song, but it was awesome. French people love to dance! And it is sooooo much better than dancing in Champaign. Everyone is not like all over you and you don't get attacked by creepy guys trying to dance with you... well not as much at least hahaha. But it was also another really fun part of the night. Overall, the night was a success. And the kids from last semester were really nice about making sure we got home alright and whatnot. It was super nice of them. (Luckily I live right in the middle of the city, so I never have far to go!)

Also, its January and 50 degrees out. Thank you, southern France. I can't wait until February weather! I could never say that in Illinois.

Sunset on the Rhône

Mon premier jour!

Today was our first day at l'Institute! I met a lot of cool people, and spoke almost entirely in French until the evening when we were all tired of it haha. We got the basic info about important things, including how to eat properly! We also learned a bit about French culture when we were told about how men generally act towards women they don't know. They said its normal for men to whistle at women, and French women only see it as a compliment; it doesn't bother them. But in social situations, a lot of men will approach a woman and put their hand on their shoulders or what have you, and French women simply know how to deal with it. They just brush off the mens' hands and say "laissez-moi tranquille" (leave me alone) and it is never a problem. It is also a theme in French culture that if a women is wearing something revealing, it suggests they have something to give. It makes sense to me, but thinking about American culture and how girls can wear whatever they want and it is always acceptable to be offended when approached, I can see where things could get lost in translation. Moral of the story is don't dress like a hooker/sorority hoe. Okay gotcha. We also learned the golden rule of France: when entering a store, always say bonjour before you do or ask anything else, its just how they roll.

After that, they treated us to lunch at a local restaurant and I ate my first crêpe in France! And boy, was it delicious. Afterwards we got a tour of the city from the students who have been here since September. It probably would have been a lot more helpful if we could take our eyes off the ground to see where we were, but the ice would not let us. If you let your guard down for one second, you would slip instantly. I don't think anyone had any major wipe outs, but knowing me, I'll fill that role soon enough.

The problem with having snow in Avignon is that no one has any way of taking care of it. The streets are far too narrow, and they are mostly very uneven. The city is 700 years old! So that basically means that the snow starts to melt during the day when its above freezing, and then turns into an ice rink at night when its colder. Nonetheless, this city is beautiful and rich with history, and it was super exciting walking around, speaking French and pretending to fit in.

The main street, rue de la Republique, is lined with all different kinds of shops. They range from local restaurants to good old McDonalds. (Which I've been told charges 6 euro for a cheeseburger, not that I would eat there anyways) There is also a Sephora and an H&M! Its a little funny, but definitely no Starbucks. I think France is morally opposed to the idea.

Anyways, the Institute where I have my classes is in a 14th century building that used to be a hospital. It is very quaint and inviting, and I'm excited about having my classes there. My host lives super close in an equally amazing old building. I basically have to unlock a giant castle door to get inside. I love it.

We also visited Le Palais des Papes (the Popes Palace) today, which is naturally stunning. In case you are not aware, Avignon was the home of the French Papacy during the 13oo's. It's pretty neat. Anyways, this place is amazing, and the view from only halfway up is marvelous.

After we finished our tour, we went back to the l'Institute to warm up and get on Facebook haha. Some of us went to the store, which was kind of like a Target, to get school supplies and shampoo. Fun fact: Avignon is not a cheap place to live; we were looking at makeup, and mascara was 13 euro. (Roughly 20 dollars!) Wow. I guess thats what you get for living on the inside of a completely walled in city :)

So I start classes tomorrow, and I've been told they are not easy. One of he guys who is here all year said its about the same difficulty as regular classes at home, only all in French. So I guess wish me luck in my endeavors! I hope things don't get too difficult too fast! I'm going to go read my English to French dictionary now haha. Love!

P.S. My favorite picture of the day: kids sledding down the stairs at Le Palais des Papes. Yes, those are stairs.

Finally

Well here I am, finally at my home in Avignon, finally with internet.

Yesterday after my arrival in the train station I was picked up by my program advisor and taken into the city by shuttle. We were dropped off at la poste just inside the city walls, and there I met a teacher from the institute and a fellow student who walked me to where I am staying. I was grateful that she asked if I would like to speak English because by this point I was far too tired to be able to understand anything in French, let alone respond in French. So I got a mini tour of the area walking through the inches of snow that have perplexed this city. (It’s actually a little humorous, the only thing people can talk about is the snow and how it’s basically shut down the city. To those in Illinois, this is nothing compared to when Bloomington snow plows are a little behind. Imagine no snow plows, no salt and a whole city full of tiny twists and turns and only caterpillar tractors to get rid of the snow and ice.) Good thing I just walk everywhere! Actually I haven’t done too much walking. After I met my host, Edith, I stayed in all night trying to figure out how to connect to her internet. She didn’t exactly know, and I went to bed last night pretty distressed that I hadn’t figured it out yet. I figured I just needed some sleep, because I was probably over-reacting about the whole thing.

This morning I woke up and had breakfast. I sat down for cereal and she had put out two bowls. I didn’t think much of it until she asked me if I wanted coffee and proceeded to pour it into the bowl I wasn’t eating from. I seriously almost laughed out loud. They drink their morning coffee form a bowl, like soup. I guess that’s the first strange French thing I’ve encountered. Anyways, after that I quickly went to work at the internet again, but obviously this time I got it to work!

Having internet here has made me feel so much better about everything. I am not going to sugar-coat it, I am still really nervous about my language skills and living here. I really really miss the comfort of home and the knowledge that I can just go anywhere and do anything without having to worry about speaking another language. I guess this feeling is a little like when you first move into your freshman dorm and you don’t know anything about the campus or the city. If you can remember the feeling of when your parents left you at school for the first time, it’s like that times a million. I definitely miss home in Bloomington right now, I definitely miss the house in Champaign, and I even miss the flat in London! Mostly though, I miss all of you. I know we will talk as much as possible, but of course it’s always different being in a new place without knowing anyone right away. It’s also hard for me to accept that I won’t see anyone for the next 4 months. (Unless of course you would like to visit Europe, because that would be spectacular.) But anyways, enough of the depressing thoughts, I really am quite ready to just take my classes, meet my fellow students and explore my city. I think I probably won’t be able to blog as much, but obviously I love it so I’ll try to get in as many as possible. For now I’m just going to study my French, start to put my things away and settle into my room.

Also, pictures of everything will be on facebook soon! Love you all!!!!

Possibly the worst day ever.

Well basically it looks like I am just not made to travel easily. First our terrible fiasco with trying to leave Chicago, and now I have to re-route my life just to get to Avignon. Basically everything went fine today until just now. Lauren and I woke up before any normal person should so I could catch my 8 am flight to Marseille from London Standsted airport. I managed to get my big bag to weigh 14.4 kg, .6 kg under the restriction for RyanAir, and we headed over to the gate when it was time. The flight over was super short so I basically didn't even notice it, but the troubles began once I got to Marseille. This is a beautiful city, and I really wish I could stay here. The airport I flew into is at the bottom of a valley and the surrounding mountains look like Greece with all the stone buildings built into them. Unfortunately, I immediately got lost trying to find the train station. When I finally realized that I had to take a shuttle to the station, a French girl approached me crying and saying that she too was trying to get to Avignon but all the trains were cancelled for today. I was not too upset at first, because I figured there would be another way to get to Avignon, but the more she talked to people, the more I got worried. I got even more worried when she just hopped on some bus and there I was again with my poor French all by myself trying to think of a way to get to Avignon without taking a 200 euro cab ride. Finally after talking to my mom and my program director I got on this shuttle to the Marseille TGV station, which is the high-speed train that apparently can still work when the regular trains can't. I'm still not 100% calmed down yet, but I'll finish this entry when I'm on my way to Avignon or there. I feel like I've never been less prepared for anything in my entire life, and I really regret not being able to communicate fully with people when I really need to. I'm also really disappointed that I'm in the south of France and there is snow on the ground. People book beach resorts here, there can't be snow! This is probably also the reason that the trains are freaking out. If London is ill-equipped for snow, I don't even want to know what south French cities do when it snows, they must be having a conniption.

 

Wow talk about bad luck. So I guess what happened next isn't necessarily that big a deal, but I bought a ticket for the Avignon TGV and then immediately all the trains started getting more and more delayed. Basically I bought my ticket for a 3:00 train and it said it would be 30 minutes delayed, and then 40 minutes, then 50, then an hour and finally when it said it was 1:15 delayed, the train came. But just for some perspective: this is Marseille, a usually fair weather location, so they built this whole train station to be an open air building. It was about 30 degrees Fahrenheit in the south of France today and I had to huddle with strangers next to tiny heat lamp for about 2 hours. It was cold and uncomfortable and not fun at all. But here I am, finally on a train that is actually moving on its way to Avignon. There is definitely a screaming baby in my car, and I haven't eaten since 7am this morning, but I don't care; as long as I get to my effing city without any more problems I will be happy. I almost want to erase that last sentence because I feel like if I'm too optimistic something else will hinder my journey.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Would you like this for here or take away?

So it is a Thursday night in SW of London. We just got back from a lovely meal at an Italian restaurant in South Kensington. This is also mere hours after our rendez-vouz with Julian Lloyd Webber. If the last name sounds familiar, its because it is. Besides being the brother of the infamous composer and writer, Andrew, he is also a world renowned cellist and is leaving for a seven concert tour in South Africa this week. He was really a very nice man, very reserved and quite nice, and Lauren and I both noted his unique look. He's probably the prettiest man I've ever met.

On Wednesday Lauren and I visited a variety of famous places, starting with a trip on the London Eye.

Its pretty sweet for sure, we got a bunch of pictures of the beautiful city from atop "the world's largest ferris wheel" haha. But really, its awesome.

Obviously we also saw Big Ben and Parliament, and then headed over to the Westminster Abbey. If you are not familiar with the Abbey... you should be. Its full of history and memorials of famous people, and it is also the final resting spot of English royalty and many other important people...like Charles Dickens and G.F. Handel.

So then we made our way over to a lovely pub for lunch where we spotted some of our own kind (Americans) and talked to them for a bit. Naturally we took some London phone booth pictures and what have you and then headed over to Trafalgar Square, down the Mall and then to Buckingham Palace. Overall, we had a very productive and fun day!

Today we went over to Covent Gardens and Piccadilly Circus! It's pretty touristy over there but overall really pretty. We went shopping on Reagent Street, which is kind of like the Michigan Ave of London, only everything is in these awesome historic buildings and its really neat looking!

So tomorrow we are planning a trip up to NW to cross ABBEY ROAD! I'm super excited, as you can guess, because the best album EVER was recorded there! We also might stop by the London Dudgeon and probably Madame Tuassauds as well.

Tomorrow could be a bit busy with trying to pack up and whatnot. I leave for France at 8 am on Saturday and Lauren leaves for Dublin the same day. I'll probably have some time on the train to Avignon to write, so I'll have a post up by Sunday I think. Alright lads and lasses, goodnight!

Bad start, good ending.

So here I am, finally in London at the fabulous residence of Lauren's aunt. Why do I say finally? Because less than 24 hours ago, we thought this trip was going to be severely shortened.

Basically, we get to O'Hare in plenty of time for our 4:35 flight to Amsterdam which would then connect us to a flight to London. Well, as we sit at our gate, patiently awaiting the flight to begin boarding, we hear rumors going around that the flight is cancelled. We ask some of the people that appear to be working but they have no information to give us. When 4:20 rolls around, they announce that everyone should line up. Thinking that this means we are getting on the plane, everyone happily gets in line. Unfortunately the first person in line talks to the people working and turns around and leaves the gate. The flight has been cancelled. After a few minutes they instruct us to go pick up our checked luggage downstairs and to go back to the ticketing desk for KLM airlines. Fantastic. Naturally it becomes a mad dash to get in "line" which actually just means masses of people squishing into one space. Someone then comes out and announces that there is something wrong with the plane, that they flight is cancelled for the day and that we get hotel and food vouchers for the night. They will call us in a few hours about when we can leave Chicago. Maybe tomorrow, maybe the next day. What??? They also gave us the option to wait in line and figure out alternative flights. So of course Lauren and I stay in the line. We wanted to get to London ASAP. Although the line gets shorter and shorter as more people give up and go to the hotel, we literally stood in one spot for 45 minutes. After an hour and a half, we had moved a few feet. How long did we wait in that line? From 4:25 to 8:00. Seriously. The entire time we are in line we are overhearing people's stories about where they are going. One lady was trying to get to London also, and her flight the previous day had been cancelled. The guy in front of us went to get his luggage and was told they couldn't find it, and some girls a few people in front of us had to be in Italy the next day because their classes were starting. It was a nightmare. Every time someone walked up to the ticket counter, everyone would just stare and try to read lips and figure out if they got a new flight worked out. The family in front of us heading to Egypt were thrilled that they actually got on a flight that would get them there earlier, but a lot of people just walked away looking very angry or about to cry. When we overhear that a family of four in front of us is also trying to get to London, we start to get really worried. If there are any seats left on flights tonight, they are going to get them.

So when we finally get up to the lady at the ticket desk, she looks at our passports and starts searching London flights. "There's absolutely nothing to London tonight that isn't full". That's fine, we say, what do you have for tomorrow? "Well there is a direct flight to London at ten o'clock" Oh good, ten in the morning? "Actually…..at night." At this point I think I was two seconds away from climbing over the counter and punching someone out. We cannot get to London two days after we planned when I'm only going to be there for 5 days! I was so frustrated I was honestly just trying not to explode. Finally my mom walks over to the ticket desk for British Airways and just asks about any seats left. We were told there are only $5,000 business class seats left that KLM can't transfer us to. After more and more arguing with the ticket lady, my mom goes back to the BA desk and asks again. "We can put them on standby for the 8:30pm flight direct to London tonight". Yes! "But its only standby," we are warned by the KLM lady. Like we even care, we were ready to try anything at this point.

When the KLM lady finally walks back with our British Airways standby tickets, we grab them and run over to the BA ticket desk. Keep in mind its about 8:00 and the flight is scheduled for 8:30. After a slight wait, we are given our BA tickets back, and we have seats!!!!! It was a frickin miracle. After that moment is was all smooth sailing. The flight was slightly delayed so we had plenty of time to get through security and we had no problems on the plane. Minus the 5 screaming babies in our general vicinity, it wasn't a bad flight at all. AND it was British Airways, which equals super nice food, coffee and tea service, British people everywhere and free wine with dinner. Not to mention the 33 channel personal movie player/tv in front of everyone's seat. Basically, it was a great flight.

We were then promptly picked up by Geof, I had to Mind the Gap for the first time in my life, and we had a very odd conversation with a British stranger who was grossly enamored with America and Google. Currently we are in a lovely flat in SW7 of London, UK. Tomorrow Lauren and I are going taking the tube (subway) around to all the best London sights like Big Ben and the London Eye. Hopefully we will get some great pictures and I'll post them here! Weeee!

Love,

AK

And so it begins!

Okay! So I'm heading off to France! Well actually first I'll be in London with Lauren, but on the 9th I leave for Avignon. In case you do not already know, I'm studying in Avignon this semester. If you don't know where that is, here you go:

And if you don't know anything about Avignon, here you go:

http://www.avignon.fr/en/

So yes, I'm extremly excited...and horrified...and excited. Anyways I have nothing of interest to say right now. I plan on writing more while on the million hour flight to the UK when I'm less focused on packing and more focused on the fact that I'm going to EUROPE for an entire semester.

Oh yes, other important information:

email: juneau84@gmail.com

skype: alaska.andre

More soon!

love,
AK