In the teachers lounge of the Lycee Europeen...
I'm sitting on a couch here in the teacher's room. I don't know why I decided to bring my journal and write in it up here. I'm sure the other teachers are wondering what I'm doing. But I'm always too self-conscious around the teachers. There are only three others around right now anyway, Carol Yven and (I think) the two German professors. I had to tear myself away from the computer room to come in here and write. I waste so much time in there. But it was getting crowded, and then the elusive Bruno showed up, so I left.
The view out the windows in this room is so hypnotic, for some reason, even though there's not that much to see. Straight ahead you can see so far, but there's nothing in front of the school except the parking lot, the apple orchard (bare and empty in this cold), an empty field, and then the forest. On the left you can see into the windows of the girls dorm rooms (all empty now - they're not allowed to enter the dorms while classes are in session). I wonder why those students never close their curtains.
Yesterday morning (Wednesday) was terrible. Maybe because Marlene, Sara, Heather, and I stayed up so late talking. I got up at 7:30 and went to breakfast with Sara and Heather. I always go back to bed after breakfast on Wednesday, since it's our day off, but yesterday I couldn't fall asleep for the life of me. I kept looking at the Happy Birthday sign Marlene made for me back in October, and thinking about how when I leave France, I'll have to take it down (and probably throw it away). It made me so hella depressed, I just lay there in bed, tossing and turning and feeling miserable. Finally I decided to distract myself, so I read a little out of Dogs of Babel and watched CNN International. They kept showing the clip of Hillary Clinton saying, "As Ohio goes, so goes the nation!" I don't know. I was sure Barack Obama would get the nomination, but maybe it will be her. Eventually I was only able to catch a little sleep before lunch.
After lunch, Sara and I went to the mediatheque, which was nice. Flowers are blooming here, even though it's so cold. The street to the mediatheque has trees on either side, and they were all full of little white blossoms. It reminded me of "The White Way of Delight" in Anne of Green Gables. The only thing that could've made it nicer was if the flowers had a scent. In Louisiana almost all flowers have a strong, wonderful scent. Here, not so much.
When we went shopping with Nathalie that evening, I bought a bar of Cote d'Or chocolate with almonds. I've heard people say that Milka is the best chocolate, but I think Cote d'Or is better.
Mariana just came in. Now she's sitting on the couch next to me, slouching so much she's almost lying down. Now it looks like she's fallen asleep.
Anyway, last night we all watched Cry-Baby together in the kitchen. Marlene has the DVD. It only had a German language track, but the songs were in English. I wonder if Johnny Depp did his own singing in that movie. The plot was razor-thin, but that's often the case with musicals. It's a really weird movie. We all laughed so hard.
Oh, I forgot to mention, when Sara and I went to the mediatheque yesterday, we stopped by Mariana's apartment and talked to her and at one point in the conversation, Sara turned to me and said, "Suddenly I forget your name." And she really did. She addressed me as "you" until it came back to her. It was very random. I didn't tell her my name because I found it so hilarious that she had forgotten it. I laughed so hard I almost collapsed.
This morning after breakfast, Sara, Mariana, and I went for a walk around town. If you had told me I was going to go for a walk in the cold after breakfast, instead of going back to bed, I never would've believed you. But I actually did it. Afterwards I meant to catch a little nap before lunch, but I overslept. And Thursday at lunch is when I usually do my video club, so I had to cancel it for today. I was worried Madame Camus would be mad about that, but she doesn't seem to be here today. Anyway I haven't seen her. I have her morning class tomorrow - need to figure out what to do with them.
The view out the windows in this room is so hypnotic, for some reason, even though there's not that much to see. Straight ahead you can see so far, but there's nothing in front of the school except the parking lot, the apple orchard (bare and empty in this cold), an empty field, and then the forest. On the left you can see into the windows of the girls dorm rooms (all empty now - they're not allowed to enter the dorms while classes are in session). I wonder why those students never close their curtains.
Yesterday morning (Wednesday) was terrible. Maybe because Marlene, Sara, Heather, and I stayed up so late talking. I got up at 7:30 and went to breakfast with Sara and Heather. I always go back to bed after breakfast on Wednesday, since it's our day off, but yesterday I couldn't fall asleep for the life of me. I kept looking at the Happy Birthday sign Marlene made for me back in October, and thinking about how when I leave France, I'll have to take it down (and probably throw it away). It made me so hella depressed, I just lay there in bed, tossing and turning and feeling miserable. Finally I decided to distract myself, so I read a little out of Dogs of Babel and watched CNN International. They kept showing the clip of Hillary Clinton saying, "As Ohio goes, so goes the nation!" I don't know. I was sure Barack Obama would get the nomination, but maybe it will be her. Eventually I was only able to catch a little sleep before lunch.
After lunch, Sara and I went to the mediatheque, which was nice. Flowers are blooming here, even though it's so cold. The street to the mediatheque has trees on either side, and they were all full of little white blossoms. It reminded me of "The White Way of Delight" in Anne of Green Gables. The only thing that could've made it nicer was if the flowers had a scent. In Louisiana almost all flowers have a strong, wonderful scent. Here, not so much.
When we went shopping with Nathalie that evening, I bought a bar of Cote d'Or chocolate with almonds. I've heard people say that Milka is the best chocolate, but I think Cote d'Or is better.
Mariana just came in. Now she's sitting on the couch next to me, slouching so much she's almost lying down. Now it looks like she's fallen asleep.
Anyway, last night we all watched Cry-Baby together in the kitchen. Marlene has the DVD. It only had a German language track, but the songs were in English. I wonder if Johnny Depp did his own singing in that movie. The plot was razor-thin, but that's often the case with musicals. It's a really weird movie. We all laughed so hard.
Oh, I forgot to mention, when Sara and I went to the mediatheque yesterday, we stopped by Mariana's apartment and talked to her and at one point in the conversation, Sara turned to me and said, "Suddenly I forget your name." And she really did. She addressed me as "you" until it came back to her. It was very random. I didn't tell her my name because I found it so hilarious that she had forgotten it. I laughed so hard I almost collapsed.
This morning after breakfast, Sara, Mariana, and I went for a walk around town. If you had told me I was going to go for a walk in the cold after breakfast, instead of going back to bed, I never would've believed you. But I actually did it. Afterwards I meant to catch a little nap before lunch, but I overslept. And Thursday at lunch is when I usually do my video club, so I had to cancel it for today. I was worried Madame Camus would be mad about that, but she doesn't seem to be here today. Anyway I haven't seen her. I have her morning class tomorrow - need to figure out what to do with them.