Even typing in English feels a bit funny... especially on this French keyboard!

So, first thing's first: Don't drink and blog. It'll end you up with a site like caroline-sealoin, instead of caroline-sealion, which would have been quite preferable to what I ended up choosing. I blame the bourbon. Like I said, I had a blast visiting Stef in Chicago.


At any rate. Chicago O'Hare was a nightmare, to say the least. My US Airways flight was delayed, changed to a different airline (AirFrance), undelayed, changed back to the original airline, only to find out that my seat had already been given to someone else, then, finally, changed back to AirFrance, which put me on a rather convenient direct, overnight flight. I had to drag my hiking pack from terminal 2 to 5 and back again five times total, and when I finally got to Paris my luggage was lost.

That's the skinny of it, at least. The silver lining of my luggage being lost was that I didn't have to navigate CDG or the Paris Metro system with two massive suitcases. And, despite the horrible reputation of the company that delivers lost luggage for AirFrance, my bag arrived bright and early Saturday morning, free of charge.

My first weekend in Eu was nice. It's been 20°-22°C every day, which is incredibly pleasant. On Friday afternoon Clémence, one of my colleagues, offered to give me a driving tour of the area. My town, Eu, is kind of in a Keizer/Salem or Eugene/Springfield relationship with two other towns: Mers-Les Bains and Le Treport. I had dinner at her home, and despite the epic jet lag, managed to stay awake until 10:30pm. Saturday morning Clémence gave me a ride to the grocery store, then in the afternoon she invited me to join her and her boyfriend at La Société Protectrice des Animaux, which is the French version of the Humane Society. We each took a dog on a nice, long hike along some fields. Afterward we hiked along the coast, then made pizza for dinner at her house.

Sunday she invited me over for a traditional Sunday chicken with potatoes. Again, we went hiking along the coast, but in a different area. During lunch we heard a number of gun shots, and on our hike we came across a couple of different groups of hunters. From what I can gather, I kinda live in the equivalent of Marcola, or Stayton.


So far this week has been a lot of gettin' stuff done. I made an appointment at Le Crédit Lyonnais to reopen my bank account, started OFII paperwork, got a copy of my attestation de domicile, and a new SIM card for my cell phone from when I studied in Poitiers. Line, the lady who is kind of in charge of my work schedule, etc, took me on a long walking tour of the school, and I got to meet the majority of the staff. Everyone is incredibly welcoming.


I haven't really had the opportunity to speak much English so far, even though that's what I'm here to teach. It's incredibly reaffirming to see just how well I am getting along in French. My brain is the most tired part of me all the time. I haven't had time yet to think about homesickness or loneliness. I speak to myself aloud in French sometimes. Yesterday I went on a walking tour of Le Treport with some English-speaking students from Poland. It felt foreign to hear my voice in English. Even verbal pauses like "uuuuh" and "uuum" wanted to come out in French.


There will be photos soon, I promise. The apartment is pretty boring for the time being. White walls (that we're not allowed to put any holes in!), not much furniture, just the essentials. I took my camera to Le Treport yesterday, but the batteries were dead. Tomorrow I'll go zith Laurence, one of the Spanish professors, to pick up Marta, the Spanish assitante from Barcelona. She'll live in the apartment, too, and hopefully help bring it to life a bit. So, until I have some photos...

Gros bisouxxxxx