21!!!

I am officially 21 here in France now. It is too bad that it isn't such a big deal here. I am so glad that I never have to worry about drinking age again. Now I can have a glass a wine with my meal. Yay! I am going to celebrate well. I have this weekend here in Aix and then I go to England next weekend! I just wanted to say Happy Birthday to me.

so they're striking already

Yup. There is a strike planned for this Thursday (my birthday). At least I won't have to go to class for my 21st! For those who can read french this is what the director wrote to us.

Il y aura déjà une journée de grève universtaire ce jeudi 29 janvier, que vos profs de la Fac et de l'IEP vont certainement respecter.

Si d'ici lundi 2 février le gouvernement et les universitaires n'arrivent pas à un accord, ce sera peut-être de nouveau la grève, dont la durée est, à l'heure actuelle, imprévisible.

Also this is the website for the strike http://www.29janvier2009.fr/.

Yay for French politics!

Some Paris photos finally.

Hilary and me at the lunch in Chartres

Caitlin, Lisi, and me with a view of Chartres

Our group with tour guide, Lucille, in front of the Cathedral in Chartres


An awesome table at the Ron Arad Exhibit in Pompidou

At the Ron Arad Exhibition (click the link to see what it was like)

The Seine and the Eiffel Tower

With Hilary in front of Sacre Coeur

A very cool sculpture of a polar bear at the Musee d'Orsay

In front of the Institut de France (I think)

My new apartment

I moved in this morning. I am very pleased with my apartment. I am going to take and post pictures as soon as I buy batteries for my camera. I went out and did some shopping for the new place. I bought a cute pillow for my bed, a mirror to put on my dresser, and a wire shelf thing to use as a bedside table. I also found some nice photo things of flowers to put on the walls. Cheap (very cheap) art. They make the room much less bare and make me happy so I am thrilled with them.
We had a nice dinner in the apartment with some of our friends. Ali cooked a delicious meal with mini bow tie pasta and creamy tomato sauce with sun dried tomatoes and zucchini. We also had braised leeks, which I surprisingly enjoyed a lot. Afterward, some of us went to watch Vicky Christina Barcelona. I really liked the movie, but it left me somewhat confused about life. It kinda leaves the viewer with two unsatisfactory ways to lead their life. I guess it is the usual pessimistic Woody Allen outlook.
Tomorrow is Sunday so that means no shops are open. I don't know what I will do. Hilary and I have two goals. 1.) Get Hilary's pictures from her camera to my computer 2.) Look into where we will travel for our Feb. break. We are thinking Italy at the moment.

Movin' In

I get to move into my apartment on Saturday! Yay!

Oh and p.s. I saw the wild pig fountain today!

Fontaines d'Aix

First some images of the Fontaine Moussue. One of my favorites!





Next, this is the drooling Wild Boar. I haven't actually seen this yet, but I have heard about it. I will have to go on a quest to find it.

This is one of my favorite fountains so far. It is actually very close to my apartment as well as a Gap. I thought is was funny that there is a dog in the picture especially because yesterday I saw a dog hop up into a fountain to get a drink. There are a lot of stray dogs in Aix and sadly a lot of their poop as well. I think they do have homes, but they like to take themselves for walks. Kinda like a dog I know at home (oh Rosey Posey). The dog I saw was a black lab. He just crossed the street even checking for cars and then hopped up and had a drink. It was so cute.

Arrived in Aix

I arrived in Aix on Monday. Paris was a lot of fun, but I am glad I won't be spending my whole semester there. I think it is too easy to slip into English since it is such an international city. I really loved the train ride. We got ride in a double decker TGV train on the upper level. I loved seeing the French country side and I was sad when it came to an end. It was three hours, but I could have stayed on for much longer.
We are still in a hotel because the Fall semester students haven't moved out of their apartments yet. We will all hopefully be moved in this weekend. I went to see my apartment. It seems very nice. There is one large room where the beds, desks, dining table, and couch all are. There is a good sized kitchen off of that. I didn't see the bathroom (I hope that there is one), but I am pretty sure it is off the kitchen.
Aix is lovely. There are tons of markets, little streets, and cute shops. I can't wait to get to know the city. One thing that is especially nice is that Aix is a city of water. They have 26 (pretty sure it is 26) fountains throughout the city. I really love them because they are all so different. Some have moss and plants growing all around them. I will have to take some pictures or find some on the internet because I still haven't bought new batteries for my camera.
I am terrified about classes. It is so hard to even work out what classes I am going to take and their schedules. It makes me very nervous. Also I keep hearing that so many people have to take oral exams. That really scares me. At least it won't be until the end of the semester. Ahhh!