Bon appetite

I guess it's really no surprise but the food is amazing! And I'm not talking about all the delicious bread nor croissant desserts nor the crêpes, because everyone already knows about those foods. I'm talking about the school cafeteria food. It is superb! For my first cafeteria lunch I had a piece of bread(similar to a mini croissant) a side dish(some veggies, tomatoes, and mozzarella cheese), a main dish( pasta with turkey and veggies), a dessert, and a yogurt( or there is an option for cheese). It was soo much food. I didn't even come close to finishing. So for lunch I have the option of a full course delicious meal for only... Drum roll... 2 euro 20. I took a picture so everyone could see. I thought my Pevely Primary friends would be especially excited to see French school food.

Pure Frustration: A rant about French rental policies

I've signed a lease for an apartment. While I should be excited, I find myself becoming more and more frustrated. As it happens, Nicole, her father and I all signed the lease. We purchased insurance for the apartment; provide a million forms of identification, proof of income, proof of employment (all 3 of us); we paid up the agency fee, first months rent, along with a security deposit; set up a bank account; however we are still not allowed to move in. Not until on of my parents also prints-signs-faxes a copy of the lease, along with proof of income, and a copy of their passport and sends it to the agency. Which is 100% bullshit. If I have enough money in my bank account to cover rent expenses, AND have proof of an income- more than enough to cover rent... I should be allowed to rent whatever/wherever/whenever I want. Agree? Perhaps it's my American mentality... but I would think that everything provided thus far should be enough for us to move in.

Now I wait. And while I wait I must pay 17euros a night to stay at a freezing cold youth hostel where I'm forced out of bed and out of the hostel by 10am until 6pm. 17euros may not sound like a lot but after 10 days that adds up to 170euros which is 240 American dollars. Definitely not cheap. Almost equivalent to one months rent. And I don't even get to sleep in. I suppose I should go to sleep.

Ughh... the French.

Possible Roommate

I've met one of the other assistants. Here is her quick introduction:

Nicole Grant

age: 20

nationality: Scottish

occupation: Student and temporary language assistant

school: University of Glasgow

studies: French & Spanish

Hobbies: Musical Theatre

Dislikes: Cheese & Alcohol (Yes she really is Scottish and I don't know how you can come to France and dislike cheese)

We are working on getting an apartment together. It will be awesome if everything works out. I will keep you informed. À bientôt!

iphone photos: Brest

iPhone photos: Paris

2nd day in Brest

I'm waiting at the bus stop near the auberge de jeunesse where I'm temporarily staying. It seems that I missed the last bus by mere seconds as always seems to be my luck. My first night was not great but I guess perhaps not awful either. After I arrived at the train station I had no room booked for the night and my contact told me that she hadn't found another teacher for me to stay with and she doesn't actually live in Brest so there was no one waiting for me at the train station. Awesome. I was very close to panicking. Especially after two failed attempts to contact the hostel. Fortunately my contact got in touch with the hostel and all I had to do was figure out where the right bus stop was. While this generally tends to be a difficult task all on its own it was made more complicated by the fact that all of Brittany was hanging about on the streets outside the station to witness my frantic bus search with 2 large 50lb suitcases and a large bag on my back. As it turns out, there is one BIG event every year in Brest, a huge market/carnival event and it was happening right then.

The rest of my night- I made it to the youth hostel! Hooray! There was a very nice Chinese girl sharing a room with me who spoke Chinese, French, and English. Awesome! She was leaving though because she said there was nothing to do here... :( FML.