...if you're Columbian...
a friend who happens to be one met another girl from Columbia. on their third meeting, this girl offered her studio (with baaaaathroooom!!oh, and kitchen ooh) to my friend...because she's leaving.
fot three months. she will pay the same amount of money as she did for the simple room.
and the girl said there's a possibility she won't come back. ever.
and she left there her computer, her frigo, her microwave. wow. on their third meeting.
Thursday, November 30, 2006
Sunday, November 26, 2006
i have a tree in my room
it all started from this :
in a sunny day of september, i planted three of them in three pots.
this one was the luckiest and quickest, as in the beginning of november it started to grow...and now, the 26th of november i have this:
too bad you can't really see it well, but it's my own avocado tree.
20 cm high.
if you live in france and want to adopt this beauty in february, please call me.
in a sunny day of september, i planted three of them in three pots.
this one was the luckiest and quickest, as in the beginning of november it started to grow...and now, the 26th of november i have this:
too bad you can't really see it well, but it's my own avocado tree.
20 cm high.
if you live in france and want to adopt this beauty in february, please call me.
Saturday, November 25, 2006
road trippin'
i signed up for a trip for foreign students. what they said, great opportunity to get to know the region and taste its wonderful wine...well, i already had tasted the wine from the region before, but hey, you don't get to go on a trip every day, right?
they said, be sure not to be late, we won't wait for you bla bla. they were 30 minutes late and we waited in the horrible cold and wind, on the most open square in town..
won't talk about the rest, just the main attractions of the day
stupid group photo they always make you do ^
1. a museum in a small city, made up of 2 rooms as small as the one i live in, with some pictures on the wall (you can find much better on google); the guide was kind enough to ask us if we ever heard that there was a revolution in France some centuries ago...stop listening when she started to explain how every country has an army and that it uses it for wars..
2. at 12.30, when we were supposed to make a picnic, they took us to a wine cellar where the owner was nice enough to open bottle after bottle so everyone got very drunk fast
3. after that they made us visit a third museum, which i cannot remember what it was about, only that the main attraction was supposed to be the movie at the end, which everyone waited for in a dark room, but the movie never started so we left. oh, almost forgot, we did see a "low battery, change lamp or something" sign on the screen..
in between they basically made us wait and wait and wait some more.
if i think about it, i could have bought 14 bottles of cheap wine from the supermarket for the price of this trip...
at least when we were all drunk we played some cellar games, but that's too hard to describe, you should have been there :P
the car parket outside the vineyard. i wonder if they had the time to try the new wine...
Friday, November 24, 2006
yeah, it makes sense!
found this on this site: http://www.gapingvoid.com/Moveable_Type/archives/cat_stormhoek_
cartoon.html
and the guy is great.
social classes
there seems to be a huge distance from one student to the other in relation to where they live in the student residence.
there are the aristocrats, they live in an area unexplored so far, but their status is undeniable as they have toilets. their building is called Arches and it looks like a sunken ship with glass on it. You rarely get to see the people that live there, cause mainly they don't mingle with the lower classes. i only know one guy from there, and he has infinite power over the wireless network, so i will try not to say bad things about him.;)
then, there is the middle class, represented by the "good buildings": D, E, F, G, H
students here go about daily chores, shop in carrefour or leader price, sometimes go to church on sunday, and always greet people that they cross in the hallway.
i have absolutely no idea where the buildings A, B, C and I and J are. probably somewhere in plain sight...
there is another section of the residence called vieux fort, but i have never seen anyone going in or out from there.
and then there is the lower class. buildings K and L. outside the residence walls, with scratched paint and rust traces. with no frigos in the kitchen and windows that don't really close. yucky paint on the walls.
anyway, those that live here are a constant reminder of their misery. actually, the place is not so bad, but just the thought that there are people that have better rooms drives them mad. when they meet someone, their first question is "from which building are you?". if you happen to live in a different building than K or L, be sure that they will treat you as the enemy...
lucky me, i'm the enemy!
Thursday, November 23, 2006
i have a fan!
well, if you want to, a secret admirer.
or a stalker.
nah, he's too cute to be dangerous...he lives on my floor, he's from Japan and his name is very long and complicated so i haven't even tried to remember it...he speaks some french and some english, but it's really hard to communicate with him...i was trying to get him to tell me a shorter version of his name, but he kept repeating mine...
so, at first he was just telling me bonjour like everyone does, but in a very happy way..like old friends do when they see each other after a long time..
then in the kitchen, he tried to explain to me that he had made a very good investment in some chicken dish, that it was really cheap. that was sudden..i entered the kitcen and he just: -you know, this was a special offer!
i just said..good for you..
what could i answer to that? :))
then one day he showed me how his hand was burnt while cooking breakfast, in the same weird way..
i was putting some stuff to my frigo, he came in, lifted his sleeve and showed me a red mark, telling me "this is from breakfast today"
i said oh, does it hurt? did you put cream on it.
he said yes and left. :O
one other day i was making some soup (the real kind) and he was making pasta, just finishing when i came. of course, i completely forgot about it and about the timer that you need to unwind every 15 minutes. he did it for me, even if his pasta was ready..
now i'm convinced he's a fan cause i hear his door slamming shut when he leaves his room, so i go check the peephole of my door...guess what? every time he passes my door he tries to look through the peephole or listen!
that's too funny, poor thing :))
the bank
at some point in the beginning of september i decided to make an account for one of the french banks, cause seeing that you need a french card to pay for everything and the comissions for taking cash out on the internatinal one are big, i figured it's the best thing to do...
so i take up on an offer of a friend, who would take me to her bank and earn a gift in the process.
after one month and half of spamming my mailbox, i finally get the announcement that i got my card and i should go to the bank and pick it up. my friend got hers in a week or so.
i go to the bank, the very not nice lady at the counter says that i need to wait for another letter that will contain the paper i need to pick up my card. great.
after 2 days, i receive another letter, that they need my student certificate. i take 2 precious hours of my time, go give them the paper.
after 3 more days, i receive a second letter that they really need my student certificate!?!
after 2 days i finally receive the letter and go pick up my card.
then i realize it's not the visa card i applied for, but an "indigo card". whatever, it's still french. i give them a copy of my student certificate again.
after 1 week of using it, actually 2 times (once in carrefour, once for transportation) it keeps getting refused. everywhere.
i go to the bank again, and while in line, i say ok, let's try it in the machine, see what's up with all the money i put on it (actually, all my money!)
the machine started beeping horribly, ate my card and handed me a receipt that i should contact my bank, ans something with illegal operations..errr...
i go to the counter, and the not nice lady welcomes me with the fake smile employees in a bank have. she takes the note, and says something like: "ah! too bad."
i say: ok, just give me my card back..
she says: i'm afraid that's not possible. we just installed a new software, which is deleting all new accounts. but don't worry, we are such a great bank so we will not charge you for the fee of a new card..
i say: %~&__(+>**##@
oh yeah, what a big favour they are doing to me, not charging me for a new card...
i asked to talk to my agent (yeah, i have one), so they took me to her office. i tell them they are stupid, they didn't make the card they were supposed to, and that i had all my money on the old one. she says not to worry, i will have a new one in less than one week. it's been 2 weeks already.
and yes, i almost forgot. they asked my for my student certificate again.
and my friend never received any gift.
this was taken in front of the bank:
so i take up on an offer of a friend, who would take me to her bank and earn a gift in the process.
after one month and half of spamming my mailbox, i finally get the announcement that i got my card and i should go to the bank and pick it up. my friend got hers in a week or so.
i go to the bank, the very not nice lady at the counter says that i need to wait for another letter that will contain the paper i need to pick up my card. great.
after 2 days, i receive another letter, that they need my student certificate. i take 2 precious hours of my time, go give them the paper.
after 3 more days, i receive a second letter that they really need my student certificate!?!
after 2 days i finally receive the letter and go pick up my card.
then i realize it's not the visa card i applied for, but an "indigo card". whatever, it's still french. i give them a copy of my student certificate again.
after 1 week of using it, actually 2 times (once in carrefour, once for transportation) it keeps getting refused. everywhere.
i go to the bank again, and while in line, i say ok, let's try it in the machine, see what's up with all the money i put on it (actually, all my money!)
the machine started beeping horribly, ate my card and handed me a receipt that i should contact my bank, ans something with illegal operations..errr...
i go to the counter, and the not nice lady welcomes me with the fake smile employees in a bank have. she takes the note, and says something like: "ah! too bad."
i say: ok, just give me my card back..
she says: i'm afraid that's not possible. we just installed a new software, which is deleting all new accounts. but don't worry, we are such a great bank so we will not charge you for the fee of a new card..
i say: %~&__(+>**##@
oh yeah, what a big favour they are doing to me, not charging me for a new card...
i asked to talk to my agent (yeah, i have one), so they took me to her office. i tell them they are stupid, they didn't make the card they were supposed to, and that i had all my money on the old one. she says not to worry, i will have a new one in less than one week. it's been 2 weeks already.
and yes, i almost forgot. they asked my for my student certificate again.
and my friend never received any gift.
this was taken in front of the bank:
porn
whenever i try to view a site with porn on it, i get the message:
someone sent me a link to see a pic of "the giantest zit ever". guess what dear old Proxy said :))
this is sad, i shouldn't laugh..if people in France call zits porn..
oh the world must be coming to an end, oh Dan!
Forbidden By Proxy
You don't have permission to access http://www.x.com/ on this server. Forbidden by category "porn".someone sent me a link to see a pic of "the giantest zit ever". guess what dear old Proxy said :))
this is sad, i shouldn't laugh..if people in France call zits porn..
oh the world must be coming to an end, oh Dan!
the dead pixel came back to haunt me
did i say the problems with my laptop were over? ha ha so funny...they will probably never be over..
i keep getting a message to activate windows, which i have ignored until now when it says that if i don't do it in 7 days i will not be able to use it. so i say ok, i will waste 10 minutes on this .
i get to the part when you have to enter the code on the authenticity sticker... guess what?
code incorrect!!
never, never ever buy off ebay
i keep getting a message to activate windows, which i have ignored until now when it says that if i don't do it in 7 days i will not be able to use it. so i say ok, i will waste 10 minutes on this .
i get to the part when you have to enter the code on the authenticity sticker... guess what?
code incorrect!!
never, never ever buy off ebay
Tuesday, November 21, 2006
how to know if someone is in love with you...
...if you're in Columbia
it's absolutely great the way they do it...you always know where you stand
let's take two characters for the demostration, A and B. gender does not matter. the first thing A needs to do if he/she loves B is write the person an sms. saying pretty much nothing, like "i was just wondering how yo were", "i wish you a nice day"...
if B does not reply instantly, he is very rude. then, it's his/her turn. let's say, the next day B needs to write a similar sms to A
from this point, everything is absolutely clear, and they will hook up on the next occasion...
if B never writes the second message, there is no possibility of love.
another method:
A and B are in the same group of friends/ acquaintances.
A loves B, but does not know if B feels the same. when the group meets, A needs to greet B before greeting the others; also, as the habit of kissing cheeks is rather common, A will need to kiss B first. even if B is the last to enter.
when they sit down at a table in a bar, let's say, A will inquire on the conditions that B is in. i mean thinks like : "are you comfortable, B" or "isn't your chair too close to the window, B. it's rather cold" (yeah as if it was ever cold in Columbia)
and A also might pass something to B, like "do you want the water, B?" even if B has a lot of water in front of her/him
if A has chocolates, or candy, or whatever, he/she needs to ask if B wouldn't like to have some first, preferrably only give the candy to him and ignore the others...just imagine this at a 20 people table, A sitting at one end, B at the other. apparently, it works..
also during a walk, A might say to B something like "if you are hungry, i have some sandwiches..." or even " i really like this chocolate, but you can have it"
B will be assured of A's intentions and will reply or not in the same tone, no hard feelings or mockery from the others...
other interesting stuff:
if A were to invite B to his/her appartment on their first meeting ever; this is not interpreted as an invitation to sex. it means more like A would like B to know him/ her better, and they believe that one's home can say a lot about oneself.
-more to come soon-
it's absolutely great the way they do it...you always know where you stand
let's take two characters for the demostration, A and B. gender does not matter. the first thing A needs to do if he/she loves B is write the person an sms. saying pretty much nothing, like "i was just wondering how yo were", "i wish you a nice day"...
if B does not reply instantly, he is very rude. then, it's his/her turn. let's say, the next day B needs to write a similar sms to A
from this point, everything is absolutely clear, and they will hook up on the next occasion...
if B never writes the second message, there is no possibility of love.
another method:
A and B are in the same group of friends/ acquaintances.
A loves B, but does not know if B feels the same. when the group meets, A needs to greet B before greeting the others; also, as the habit of kissing cheeks is rather common, A will need to kiss B first. even if B is the last to enter.
when they sit down at a table in a bar, let's say, A will inquire on the conditions that B is in. i mean thinks like : "are you comfortable, B" or "isn't your chair too close to the window, B. it's rather cold" (yeah as if it was ever cold in Columbia)
and A also might pass something to B, like "do you want the water, B?" even if B has a lot of water in front of her/him
if A has chocolates, or candy, or whatever, he/she needs to ask if B wouldn't like to have some first, preferrably only give the candy to him and ignore the others...just imagine this at a 20 people table, A sitting at one end, B at the other. apparently, it works..
also during a walk, A might say to B something like "if you are hungry, i have some sandwiches..." or even " i really like this chocolate, but you can have it"
B will be assured of A's intentions and will reply or not in the same tone, no hard feelings or mockery from the others...
other interesting stuff:
if A were to invite B to his/her appartment on their first meeting ever; this is not interpreted as an invitation to sex. it means more like A would like B to know him/ her better, and they believe that one's home can say a lot about oneself.
-more to come soon-
Little red Robin Hood
I took up archery!!
it took me some time to realize what is what
-i tried aiming with the right eye, holding a right hand bow with the right hand
-aiming with the left eye, holding a right hand bow with the right hand
-aiming with the left eye, holding a left hand bow with the left hand
-aiming with the right eye, holding a left hand bow with the left hand
and finally the good combination:
aiming with the left eye, holding a left hand bow with the right hand ;)
except for tormenting pain in the arm, very sore skin and a sensationless fingertip, it's great! yay!
it took me some time to realize what is what
-i tried aiming with the right eye, holding a right hand bow with the right hand
-aiming with the left eye, holding a right hand bow with the right hand
-aiming with the left eye, holding a left hand bow with the left hand
-aiming with the right eye, holding a left hand bow with the left hand
and finally the good combination:
aiming with the left eye, holding a left hand bow with the right hand ;)
except for tormenting pain in the arm, very sore skin and a sensationless fingertip, it's great! yay!
Monday, November 20, 2006
Teachers and notes
the french system of giving notes is from 1 to 20. at 10 you barely pass. 20 is never given out.
just had an exam recently. after 2 weeks, meeting to clear up, correct and all that.
teacher: "i was very satisfied by your papers, it really seems that you have understood the point of this course, i'm proud of you"
grades ranking from 6 to 16. probably 20 is just for the teacher herself;
that's weird, because what se underlined in my paper as being incorrect, bad expression, vague, etc were exact quotes from her course. i have proof :/
anyway i got 16, so who cares...
just had an exam recently. after 2 weeks, meeting to clear up, correct and all that.
teacher: "i was very satisfied by your papers, it really seems that you have understood the point of this course, i'm proud of you"
grades ranking from 6 to 16. probably 20 is just for the teacher herself;
that's weird, because what se underlined in my paper as being incorrect, bad expression, vague, etc were exact quotes from her course. i have proof :/
anyway i got 16, so who cares...
the Post
the french mail delivery system is always late. they assure you it won't be, but it always is.
they do not have the option "fragile" for packages. they democratically throw them on the ground from the post truck. they do not take responsability for damaged or missing packages.
the three times i received packages, i never received a receipt in the mail to know if they had arrived, i had to go check every day if they had come or not.
the post-restant service is paid for them; if you receive a letter in your post restant, you will pay for the stamp it has on it. if you receive a package, you pay as if you would send it yourself.
don't ask :|
they do not have the option "fragile" for packages. they democratically throw them on the ground from the post truck. they do not take responsability for damaged or missing packages.
the three times i received packages, i never received a receipt in the mail to know if they had arrived, i had to go check every day if they had come or not.
the post-restant service is paid for them; if you receive a letter in your post restant, you will pay for the stamp it has on it. if you receive a package, you pay as if you would send it yourself.
don't ask :|
the missing ten gigas and the dead pixel...
or the alternate title: Never, never ever buy off ebay!
after tormenting myself with the lack of internet and the fact that there is no way of writing a licence paper at the library, i have decided that i neede to buy a laptop. ppl back home confirmed and sent the money, so i considered the quickest and more effective way of getting one was off ebay...
after a lot of debate i chose one from a user with 1500 good recommendations, so i said it was ok...
first problem: sending the money
-in France you cannot put cash on someone else's bank card unless you go to the bank where the card was issued (in a different city, in this case)
-i didn't have a french bank card then, so i couldn't transfer
-you cannot transfer money from your international bcr card unless you are in Romania personally
after pain and torture i managed to discover the mandate by post, which of course costs a lot, not to mention comissions from drawing money from the ro card and all that
this was on the 20th of September. they got the money after a delay that kept me awake at night ( because in case it was lost, the post will start to investigate this after 3 months- i'm curious when they would stop investigating it)
so i waited anxiously a week for the laptop, checking my mailbox every day...nothing...
i sent them a message, and their reply was: "oh, we have a missing piece, we hope to get it soon"
my answer was very menacing and all that, so after a few hours they stumbled upon the missing piece and promised to send the laptop the next working day (of course it was friday).
after one more week of torture and not getting anything, i go to accueil to ask about my package. of course, my favourite old hag was there. She told me that she's busy and that i need to show her the receipt that i got in the mail in order for her to check if it's there. I could clearly see the 3 packages that were there, and one was big enough to be mine.
i told her i will wait for her to finish her work so she can check...she just replied "you do not understand the subtleties of the french language, missy. if i say i'm busy, it's that i don't want to help you"! great!
shouting, menacing and crying didn't budge her
the next morning i found a nicer person in accueil who gave me the package. the receipt was somewhere on the floor, that's why it wasn't in my mailbox...
i enjoyed having a laptop for 23 minutes. then i realized that the harddisk had 10 gigas less than supposed to...damn...and hence it's small in general, this was a big difference.
instantly wrote an email to the ebay guys.
they replied that there has probably been a mistake and they would like to offer me a fnac cheque in exchange for the missing gigas ( fnac= sort of big bookstore)
i replied to shove the fnac cheque somewhere and to send me my harddisk..
so i had to wait another week so they could send me a receipt so i could send the laptop back free of charge (oh, forgot to mention that the normal delay between our 2 cities is 1 day. everything i sent or received was 4-10 days late. great post system)
then came the day of parture...and the start of two agonizing weeks without any reply from them.
and one day it came:
"there has been a terrible mistake, it seems we have sent someone else's laptop on your adress, please could you refuse it so it comes back to us."
hum, this says alot about how professional they are...
and also that they sent my laptop too
of course, the other laptop came in 2 days, and i had to refuse it (please do not comment on this),
and mine was again a week late...
so, after buying it on the 20th of september, i got it on the 7th of november...
and guess what? it had 10 gigas more than it should have had ;)
didn't reply to their last mail, i just think of the poor guy somewhere who was waiting for this harddisk...
...and the dead pixel is another story, another laptop, maybe another blog, huh?
about internet
To get access to the Internet in the residence, you need to subscribe for a password in accueil. Many people just got their password, and as they waited a lot for it, i said i will subscribe earlier so i'll have it when i get my laptop. Did i mention the ppl in accueil are compulsive liars?
anyway... i went to subscribe, and the lady (old bitch actually) told me they are not making subscriptions, and that they haven't had any this year. i was with my friends, and they told her they just got their passwords...the reply came swiftly: you couldn't have...
she didn't want to hear more, so luckily i found out who the guy managing the network was, and after 2 weeks or so i got it. Did i mention that it's wireless?
and that every once in a while they restrict the access, just like that? or that they restricted access last week to every website on which you needed to log in and every messaging program available..?
my theory is that they are not nice to foreign students so we will not consider remaining in France afterwards so they will have less immigrants. or, that they are plain stupid.
anyway... i went to subscribe, and the lady (old bitch actually) told me they are not making subscriptions, and that they haven't had any this year. i was with my friends, and they told her they just got their passwords...the reply came swiftly: you couldn't have...
she didn't want to hear more, so luckily i found out who the guy managing the network was, and after 2 weeks or so i got it. Did i mention that it's wireless?
and that every once in a while they restrict the access, just like that? or that they restricted access last week to every website on which you needed to log in and every messaging program available..?
my theory is that they are not nice to foreign students so we will not consider remaining in France afterwards so they will have less immigrants. or, that they are plain stupid.
Courses of course
...are in no way similar to those i do back home, except the state of boredom they seem to transcend everyone into.
so basically as a foreign exchange student, you are allowed to choose whatever you want as courses, from wherever you want. technically. everything i wanted had to do with optional courses. they said no problem, just go subscribe for them.
actually, they needed my student card for the subscription, which i got on the 18th, after 23 days of doing nothing and trying to choose courses. the subscriptions for the optionals ended on the 14th, of course.
skipping some boring details, i find out that i can only subscribe in two courses, out of which one is obligatory. so much for optionals and liberty of choice...
so i decided to go check out some of the courses to see if they fit the schedule i need to make here and choose the best one. the great thing is that you can only see the day and hour of the course after you have signed up for it. and of course, everything as description, location and all that is classified.
gave up on all the courses i came to lyon for...
this is me too lazy to write so i'm photographing the courses i miss:
so basically as a foreign exchange student, you are allowed to choose whatever you want as courses, from wherever you want. technically. everything i wanted had to do with optional courses. they said no problem, just go subscribe for them.
actually, they needed my student card for the subscription, which i got on the 18th, after 23 days of doing nothing and trying to choose courses. the subscriptions for the optionals ended on the 14th, of course.
skipping some boring details, i find out that i can only subscribe in two courses, out of which one is obligatory. so much for optionals and liberty of choice...
so i decided to go check out some of the courses to see if they fit the schedule i need to make here and choose the best one. the great thing is that you can only see the day and hour of the course after you have signed up for it. and of course, everything as description, location and all that is classified.
gave up on all the courses i came to lyon for...
this is me too lazy to write so i'm photographing the courses i miss:
Paperwork
As in every place you move into, there's a lot of paperwork to be done. but it's not as cryptic and absurd as here, i presume...
let's say...in order to get a paper that is necessary for your resident card, you need to get another paper from an agency that will issue this paper if you have your student card; or, to get your student card you need to have a resident card...and the list goes on...and of course, we needed to wait another 19 days to get our student card, because the university subscribes its foreign students only one day per semester. that is 1500 students in 4 hours. that was great, really...
another thing...the monthly transportation title, which you can use in subway, tram, bus, funiculaire, whatever, costs 30euros and something. it says that it's cheaper for those with a scholarship, but that's great for them since no one ever gets a scholarship here... and of course, those back home or the Erasmus grants do not count as scholarships..
another "great" thing about it is that its validity starts the first of the month. you can buy it on the 15th, but you will be able to use it only from the first of the month...no other options for people who are staying in town from the 10th to the 30th, let's say...only tickets, 1,50e each. ouch.
let's say...in order to get a paper that is necessary for your resident card, you need to get another paper from an agency that will issue this paper if you have your student card; or, to get your student card you need to have a resident card...and the list goes on...and of course, we needed to wait another 19 days to get our student card, because the university subscribes its foreign students only one day per semester. that is 1500 students in 4 hours. that was great, really...
another thing...the monthly transportation title, which you can use in subway, tram, bus, funiculaire, whatever, costs 30euros and something. it says that it's cheaper for those with a scholarship, but that's great for them since no one ever gets a scholarship here... and of course, those back home or the Erasmus grants do not count as scholarships..
another "great" thing about it is that its validity starts the first of the month. you can buy it on the 15th, but you will be able to use it only from the first of the month...no other options for people who are staying in town from the 10th to the 30th, let's say...only tickets, 1,50e each. ouch.
First day, continued
What was weird: i found out from someone (yeah, you know who you are :P) that the student residence was empty and creepy...yet, they insisted that there were no rooms available...
so i went back to my "favourite" train station and waited some more for my friend...spent there a total of 12 hours more or less...
when she came all was so sudden and we realized that we were spending the night in the basement of a french woman that she met in the bus from the airport to the train station...hmm that was interresting for an experience..
the Second Day
we decided to go to the residence and ask for rooms. in the administration office, which i will refer to as accueil from now on, their first sentence after hello! was "we don't have any rooms available". Great, we explained that we had a reservation, that we need the rooms, the guy said, oh, i'm sorry, you can try to resolve something in the next room.
we go into the next room; one nice lady asks directly, oh you came for the rooms, right? which kind would you like, we have many available...
whatever, we checked in and decided to make some tea and then some quick mashed potatoes.
try doing that when you have only one bowl for two people..we had to drink all the tea so we could make the rest..bleah. cold and rainy.
so i went back to my "favourite" train station and waited some more for my friend...spent there a total of 12 hours more or less...
when she came all was so sudden and we realized that we were spending the night in the basement of a french woman that she met in the bus from the airport to the train station...hmm that was interresting for an experience..
the Second Day
we decided to go to the residence and ask for rooms. in the administration office, which i will refer to as accueil from now on, their first sentence after hello! was "we don't have any rooms available". Great, we explained that we had a reservation, that we need the rooms, the guy said, oh, i'm sorry, you can try to resolve something in the next room.
we go into the next room; one nice lady asks directly, oh you came for the rooms, right? which kind would you like, we have many available...
whatever, we checked in and decided to make some tea and then some quick mashed potatoes.
try doing that when you have only one bowl for two people..we had to drink all the tea so we could make the rest..bleah. cold and rainy.
In retrospective, first day here
Bus was 9 hours late, so i had the chance to visit one of Lyon's trains stations by night, and to sleep in it... as the hotel reservation was cancelled at 21.00, i had no chance of finding something at 4.00 in the morning... so i found a bench and read, slept, ate, read again, slept again, until sunrise. Left my bag at the check in, and walked around a bit. And i was thinking how great it is to be here, oh so lucky me..
i fed the pigeons in a parc, and returned to the train station to wait for my friend whose bus was supposed to come from the airport. Found out by sms that the plane she was in had to make an emergency landing because one of the windows was cracked... received another sms from someone else that the plane broke in two... anyway the idea was that she was gonna be late..
so i went to the university, as they said, the first thing you do in Lyon, come to the university, to international relations.
So i went, by foot cause tickets seemed too expensive..there i went to the office where the division was supposed to be..big posters everywhere that it has moved..i mean there were at least 15 of them on every door, wall..and none of them said where it moved...
tried to ask some people, they all pointed me in the same direction, the old headquarters..damn..
so i started taking the buildings one by one, checking all the floors..after 1 hour and half i realized it's impossible, as it's huuuge..so i started to ask around again..found a different location, which was also abandoned, as it seemed some years ago. Yeah, i could trace all the movements of the division from its creation!...
then i started to get desperate, as i thought what will i do since the most important thing is to go to the university..where would i go next if i missed that??
after getting the rudest remark ever from a very well dressed "lady", i found some students which seemed international enough and they pointed to the door of the department, closed for another hour cause they were having a break..ironically at this point i was only looking for a toilet..
when finally we are let in, the first thing i found out was that it wasn't necessary to come to the university first.
the second thing, there is no preparatory stage, so "it seems you came a month earlier"
the third thing, "there are no rooms available for you"
great start...
to be continued...
i fed the pigeons in a parc, and returned to the train station to wait for my friend whose bus was supposed to come from the airport. Found out by sms that the plane she was in had to make an emergency landing because one of the windows was cracked... received another sms from someone else that the plane broke in two... anyway the idea was that she was gonna be late..
so i went to the university, as they said, the first thing you do in Lyon, come to the university, to international relations.
So i went, by foot cause tickets seemed too expensive..there i went to the office where the division was supposed to be..big posters everywhere that it has moved..i mean there were at least 15 of them on every door, wall..and none of them said where it moved...
tried to ask some people, they all pointed me in the same direction, the old headquarters..damn..
so i started taking the buildings one by one, checking all the floors..after 1 hour and half i realized it's impossible, as it's huuuge..so i started to ask around again..found a different location, which was also abandoned, as it seemed some years ago. Yeah, i could trace all the movements of the division from its creation!...
then i started to get desperate, as i thought what will i do since the most important thing is to go to the university..where would i go next if i missed that??
after getting the rudest remark ever from a very well dressed "lady", i found some students which seemed international enough and they pointed to the door of the department, closed for another hour cause they were having a break..ironically at this point i was only looking for a toilet..
when finally we are let in, the first thing i found out was that it wasn't necessary to come to the university first.
the second thing, there is no preparatory stage, so "it seems you came a month earlier"
the third thing, "there are no rooms available for you"
great start...
to be continued...
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
