ça fait environ un peu plus que une semaine

since I've returned. (It's been about a little more than a week). I was supposed to leave the 20th and come back the same day. However, with all the dodgy weathe

r that Europe was experiencing combined how ill-prepared they are to deal with such circumstances (no snow plows for example), I didn't leave til 6 hours after my flight was originally planned. I had two connecting flights which I obviously missed. When I arrived in Newark that night, I was told I basically had to spend the night there but I had a direct flight in the morning to Grand Rapids. So I rechecked my checked luggage and basically jumped into this white van with tinted windows which dropped me off at the Hotel. True Story, plus ou moins (more or less). But before I get into more detail about leaving France, let me highlight all the important points since my last entry...

On the Tuesday before my last weekend in Angers, the 7^th of December, I had crêpes with Laura and some other friends, since she was leaving to go home that Friday. It was very enjoyable and I miss Laura so much already. We have skyped though since then, but only via IM. The next day I got a hair

cut which I very much enjoyed. It was not what I had wanted originally but I loved it and I continue to enjoy it haha. I had coffee later on with Melissa and Casey and we discussed many things, such as leaving Angers and Marcel the Shell. J The next day, Thursday, was the Soirée International. I believe I mentioned one at the end of September. I did not participate in this one due to mostly time constraints. But I enjoyed watching it very much and I had the urge to go to Japan next fall after watching the Japanese students present their beautiful country with a slideshow, music and dance. Afterwards, some of us went to Soft, including Matt Joss (yes, another Matt). Matt went to GV last year actually, so it was great to see a familiar face when first arrived in Angers. I had barely seen him though, so it was nice to hang out with him, if only once, before I left. Matt Cullen, Katie B., Dave Joyce, Jenna, Betsy, Julien Petit, Élise, Annie and some others. It was loads of fun. Definitely a week to remember.

And then, my last weekend in Angers was definitely what I had planned it to be: memorable.

The friday of that weekend, I hung out with Matt Cullen and some of my Erasmus friends, many of them I met that night; Kirstin, Sophie, Dave, Jill, Cathy, Laura, Julian and others. These folks are from Ireland, Scotland, England, Germany...it was lovely. We first hung out at Sophie's then headed to the bus that would take us to Dome, a discothèque in Angers. Or maybe it was on the outskirts of Angers, seeing how we had to take a bus to get there...hmmm...Either way, it was definitely worth the bus ride. Fridays were free for everyone in december so we just had to pay for the bus ride there and back, the coat check, and any drinks at the club. We had a great time

dancing and enjo

ying ourselves. I actually saw this one guy there who I had met near the beginning of my stay in Angers and only saw him once before. Ifelt things were coming in full circle. We took the last bus to Angers which was fairly late/pretty early and enjoyed a great sleep.

The next day, I had lunch at McDonalds with Marcela, Matt H., Tatis, and Katie I think. Very French of us lol. We then were walkin around and checked out the Marché de Noel (Christmas Market) in Angers. We met up

with Katia and Gaby and hung out with them for a bit and we got some café except for Katie and Tatis who wanted to check out the market some more.

We got some café that was comme-ci comme ça and after we went to the supermarché (supermarket) I decided to head back to chez moi (my place). In a little bit, I went to my friend Elise’s place and met some friends and

met some others. A little before midnight, we decided to go to the discothèque, DO-RE-MI. After we got there (by bus as well), we ran into Matt, Marce, Gaby and Katia as well. We had a great time. I think I might have enjoyed Dome better but

it was still fun none the less. I got home later that night (or the next day rather), than the night before-Marce and I watched the night turn into day together! We were so tired but stopped at the bakery on the way home. Like I said…a very much memorable last weekend in Angers.

After some papers and tests the next week, Katie and I had pizza at this pizza restaurant on Rue Bressigny, a street my friends and I often visited. It was very excellent and we talked about our friends, from back home and the ones here. We shared stories and it was an excellent bonding time. We stopped at Benji before heading home. We had to

get up early the next day because we were going to Lyon the next day with about 20 other students! Some of my Erasmus friends, like Dave, Meike, Charlotte, Kathy and Laura, as well as Matt C. and Jessica were going. Victoria also came. This weekend in Lyon was the Festival of Lights so it was an especially good time to go.

The train left at about 7 in the morning so needless to say I woke up pretty early. The group often did things together but we also had time to do things in smaller groups. I often hung out with Matt, Jess, Maelle, and Katie.

At about 8 we all split up again and we had some dinner. Where at? At a pizza place of course. Chez Maria or Mario (we couldn’t agree on what the restaurant was called). It seemed a bit dodgy at first but it was fine. We eventually met up with Guillaume, my Lyonnais friend I hadn’t seen in 2 ½ years! It was so great to see him. I met his girlfriend, Marion and we also met Matt’s friend, Mia and her friend Katie. Guillaume and Marion brought us to this park where they had parts of it on fire-part of the theme of this year’s Fête des Lumières (Festival of the lights). It was really neat. We hung out for a few hours before it was getting late and Marion had a concert to practice for the next day. I wish we could’ve hung out more but I’m sure I would have felt that way if we had hung out the entire weekend. It was really neat to hang out with them and I’m sure I’ll see them another day soon. There were talks about them coming to the U.S. sometime this summer so….on verra J

We left for the hotel (we had to take a bus to get there-not sure why there seems to be a bus theme appearing all of a sudden) at about 1 a.m. and I shared a room with Dave. After having some initial difficulty getting the door open, we barely spoke before we collapsed on our beds. We were carrying our bags all day long which turned out to be quite tiring, especially when we walked up this enormous hill to be on top of Lyon. Quite the exercise.

The next day, we looked around the town, stopped at the marché de Noel (the one in Lyon) and stopped at this miniature museum. Pretty neat stuff. Many miniatures from movies, especially set equipment and props from Das Parfum – Die Geschichte eines Mörders, a german film apparently. After this, we headed back with everyone else to la gare (the train station) and headed back. But we just made the train actually. We were runni

ng throug

h the crowds running from one car of the train to the other, not sure which one was the one we were supposed to enter. We made it just in time though. J

The week followed was my last in Angers. I was done with all my finals on Tuesday. Tuesday night, I had my last dinner with my AFIA family (a family who we see a few times and spend time with) and Pauline, another student, from Poland, who had the same AFIA family as I. It was very nice but I felt pretty somber when I left. This was the first time I was getting sad about leaving Angers. I mean, I knew it would be sad and I would miss it. But this was the first time when it started to show.

Afterwards, I went to Mardi Café of course and hung out with the usual crowd. The next day, Katie and I went to the château d’Angers (the Castle of Angers) and it was pretty nice. It was pretty chilly but I really enjoyed the castle. Beautiful views from atop it and the tapestries inside were pretty riveting. Loved it.

That night was the last-minute-prepared last Beer Pong tournament for us. David Hayes and I were TBA (that was our team name…long story). It was one of many last great get-togethers. It was also Rémi’s last day in Angers because he was going to be leaving for St. Louis the next day to visit his fiancé. I left somewhat early that night, only to arrive at my home with the door double-locked! Double-locked in a way where my key wouldn’t work L Apparently, my host mother, Brigitte, thought I was home already. But c’est pas grave! I went to an after-party with des amis and I spent the night at Meike’s apartment. The next morning I was saying bye to Meike when I left her apartment which was hard. I somewhat rushed to the Catho to say bye to Matt Cullen, one of my best friends I made in France. After lunch, I said good-bye to Jessica, even though I said good-bye to her the night before at Beer-Pong. It was harder this time though.

At night, I hung out with Marcela, Matt H., Katie B., that crowd at Ambers.. Very fun indeed. There were a bunch of us. Later on, we went to k’lypso and it was a blast. A very fun and memorable last-get-together. The next day was my last day of classes but we mostly just watched stuff about Noel (Christmas) and ate food and talked.

Good times. I said my many good-byes to Keisuke of course and took a few more pictures with him. Later on, I grabbed my bag from Amber’s and said bye. I kept thinking that these were ‘the last times’ I was going to do these things. Kind of déjà-vu from when I left home to come to France…

Later on, I went to Soft an

d hung out with Dave Joyce and Jenna. It was pretty good but I was not feeling too well. I eventually went to K’lypso and said bye to everyone there. I said my final good- byes to everyone there who I knew, which was pretty much everyone. Hamadi, the owner announced my parting to everyone as I headed to the doors and everyone wished me farewell haha. It was very nice. Before I actually left Rue Bressigny though, I got a couple pictures with

Hamadi. What a great guy.

The next morning, Brigitte dropped me off at the train station and I met up with Katie. Katie and I were spending the next couple days in

Paris before our flights left on Monday. Marcela came to tell us good-bye as well as Tatis, Daniela, Alexa and Majo. When we finally left, Majo and Tatis were pretty upset and so was Katie. Thisdid not help my situation of course. Eventually the train took off, and we knew that we would see them someday again.

We arrived in Paris alright, after some difficulty with my luggage mdr. After we checked into our hotel, we had dinner at a pretty nice restaurant. Paris was pretty rainy/snowy. I was fortunate enough to have brought my hood. Katie, however, was considerably soaked. Afterwards, we looked around for stores but many of them were

closed. We stopped at a grocery/convenience store and bought some conditioner. We got back to the hotel, Katie made some tea for us, and we fell asleep watching this odd, British fim, with Bill Nighy. It would have been nice if he was in the movie! Just kiddddding J

The next day, on Sunday, we wanted to climb the

Eiffel Tower but it was closed because of the snow. “Too dangerous” apparently. So we went to the Arc de triomphe, but that was closed as well. This did not help Katie’s theory that we were going to be stuck in Paris forever and never able to go home. Afterwards some shopping which was quite fun, we stopped by Napoleon’s tomb and museum and then to the Louvre. It was pretty neat, and we saw the Mona Lisa along with other neat paintings and sculptures. I would have enjoyed it more if we weren’t walking all day though haha. It was still pretty neat. I just think it would have been better if we had more days in Paris. But we worked with what we had and it was pretty neat. We stopped at a starbucks and

the way out and I tried to get ahold of the other Vincent Panozzo. The one who lives in Paris. I wanted to meet up

with him and meet this man but it just did not work out. Maybe the next time I go to Paris?

We had our Last Supper at a quaint little restaurant where the table next to us kept glancing over which

made me laugh and made Katie a little irritated. But it was all good fun in the end. We thoroughly enjoyed our dessert and headed back to the hotel. After Katie made some tea, we watched Love Actually while we packed our bags.

After some intial confusion and frustration in the morning with the hotel, Katie and I got to the terminal where I had to be. Eventually, Katie left me so she could get to her terminal and we said our good-byes. It was really nice to spend the last few nights in France with such a great friend.

I eventually got in the line with my bags so I could get them checked-in, along with myself. I was very delighted to see that my flight was on time. My passport got checked and was fine. I was not sure about my bags because my host family’s scale was broken. Luckily, everything was below the limit and I was clear. I eventually was in the waiting area, somewhat sweating (since I did not know how much weight I was carrying in my bags, I was wearing 4 shirts, a light-weight jacket, my winter jacket and two pairs of pants. I am a very serious packer.

I found Sergio, a fellow student at la Catho, and found out that his flight to Newark was cancelled. “That sucks” I said. “I’m going to Newark too but mine is the 10:05 one”. “Yeah…that’s mine too.” Surprise, surprise. Apparently, it was going to be about noon when we left. No big deal I suppose. The snow in Paris was too much for the plane to land so it was waiting in Amsterdam. When Noon came around, we were informed that our flight would be arriving at 1:15 but with refueling the plane and all the maintenance, we would not be able to board until 2:45. Yet, when 2:45 rolled around, we were not boarding Yet, when 2:45 rolled around, we were not boarding yet. When we finally were boarding the plane, when I got random checked by TSA. This actually did not bother me. I was actually relieved that they checked me, and not the stereotypical Arab, Mexican or other minority. Being the skinny, light-brown haired, blue-eyed white boy, I was the definition of the average, safe A

merican. (Boy, did I fool them! ;) Just kidding again folks J). And the TSA officer somewhat joked around with all the junk in my trunk. And by that I mean all the stuff in my bag. I eventually packed it all up and found my seat on the plane. We eventually left about 4:00 p.m. 6 hours after I was supposed to leave. Needless to say, I missed my connecting flight to Cleveland, OH, and I was on my way on missing my connecting flight to Grand Rapids, MI.

*Side note- I met some people who were sharing the same flight as I was (some American, some French), and it was great meeting and conversing with them (in English and French). So I suppose there was some light in this dark waiting.*

The flight to Newark was not too bad. It was awfully long, and I do dispise long flights. I get awfully bored and antsy, especially with no iPod to keep me company. The movies and TV shows being shown were being repeated which is quite the drag on a 9 hour flight. We eventually landed with our filled-out custom forms and we were in the good ol’ U.S.A.

I did not expect this kind of reverse-culture-shock. I guess I was not sure what to expect exactly. But I did not recognize America. First thing I noticed-why on earth do our security personal, foremost of all, at airplanes, which transports people from all cultures, only speak English? A lot of the people going through customs could not speak English, or if they could, it was very limited. The security personal seemed to have very little patience for the non-english speaking travelers, which is understandable. However, it should be more than expected that working at an airport would require working with people who speak a variety of tongues. When I arrived at the Customer Service line, which was relatively short when I arrived thank Goodness, I found out that there was no flight to Grand Rapids that night. I could either have a direct flight to Grand Rapids the next morning at 7, or wait til the afternoon for a connecting flight to Cleveland, then to Grand Rapids. I took the former.

There were a number of shuttle vans to take from the airport to a variety of hotels. First, I wanted dinner

however. I received two meal vouchers from Continental due to the flight delays. First, I thought that my first meal back would be McDonald’s but it turned out to be Subway (very good decision on my part I’d say). I used one of the meal vouchers entirely on that and saved the other one for the morning (which I eventually forgot about). I took the “Air Train” or whatever it was called to the point where the shuttle vans take you to to your desired hotel. I jumped into a white van with tinted windows and spent the night at Best Western, Robert Treat Hotel. Not too shabby. I should mention the second thing that really took me by surprise about the states. Highways. I do not understand why they are so large and long. Granted, at this point, I was sleep deprived, jet-lagged, somewhat upset, tired and just wanted to be home. Shortly after I got in my room, I skyped with the parents, then my sister, and fell asleep around 11:30 or so, woke up at 5:30 I think and then took the van shuttle back to the airport. I got to Grand Rapids around 9 and saw my Mom as I walked down the ramp; I was so incredibly happy to see her. Very glad that she was the first person I saw when I arrived in Grand Rapids and that she was the one who picked me up.

So I’ve been home for about 9 days now. Hung out with Kendall and Stephanie quite a bit since I’ve been back.

Hung out with Lauren a little who has been so nice and considerate through my entired French journey, including the effects of reverse-culture-shock. La letter était très gentille et je l’apprécie tellement. I hung out with Anthony a few times. However, I’ve facebooked chatted and skype –chatted with many of my friends I made in France and….la France me manqué beaucoup. Mais, as Gandalf once said, “One Stage in your journey is over, Another Begins.” I’ve ended my contract with Verizon and began one with Credo. The New Year is coming in approximately 27 hours. And I am looking forward to going back to GVSU and getting back to activism, and moving into a house in Grand Rapids. My Christmas was wonderful and it was nice to see all my extended family and especially wonderful to have all seven (plus Jezebel!) of us home for Christmas, if even only for some of the day.

This is an especially long blog post but seeing how it is my last, I think that justifies it. I appreciate all the prayers, thoughts and positive energy that has been sent my way and it means a lot to me. Thank you for reading and I highly recommend you study abroad or at least visit a differently in your life. It really opens your eyes and brings a whole new perspective to your life. It changes you for the better. As I have said many times, it is definitely one of the best decisions I have made in my life. Thanks again for reading and who knows? Maybe I’ll start a blog one day about my adventures in Japan ;)

Much Peace et Love, Namaste, Bisous,

Vince

Plus que un mois plus tard....

So it's been a bit more than a month since I last blogged (the gist of what the title says). At first, I was going to apologize for not letting you know what was going on. And then I realised that I have no reason to apologize. I have been living my life here in France and if you wanted to know what was going on, you could've e-mailed me, facebooked me, called me, skyped me or even written me a letter. I am sorry if that came off as a bit harsh-but it's really not. It's just the truth baby, just the truth.

I have been writing in my journal quite a bit. A lot of stuff has been going on lately, so I try to write as much as I can. I only write in french in my journal and I feel like my "expression écrite" has definitely "améliorait" (improved). I actually find it sometimes easier to write and type in french, than english. Which is definitely a sign of improvement.

Shortly after my last post, there was Halloween. Two of my really really really really good, great amazing friends, Marcela and Katie, went to Bordeaux for the extended weekend (November 1 is Toussainte (all saints day)). They invited me to come but I decided to stay in Angers. I kno

w some friends were gonna stay here and it'd be cheaper. So why not? Well....my halloween could have gone better. I mean, don't get me wrong. Halloweek was one hell of a week. Case in point~look at my facebook pictures. But the thursday of Halloweek I lost my iPod. And for whatever reason, I wasn't too worried about it. But then that Saturday (the night before actual Halloween), I lost my phone and my new camera I had just purchased. Not too cool. It could have been a lot worse though. My phone was completely out of credit (it was a pre-paid phone) and the camera I lost was smaller and not as nice as my other camera I brought. So I would have been devastated if I lost that one. Needless to say, I've had nicer Halloweens. But I did go to my first hockey game and had a blast and I was so happy that my British friend, Jenny, was back. It was an interesting time but all in all, looking back, it was quite a wonderful week :)

A couple weeks later, Matt Cullen, Jessica Ludwig and I went on another trip. We had a fall break in the middle of november (the anniversary of the end of World War I), so we decided to head to Bruxelles and Amsterdam! We took the train from Angers to Paris and spent our first night in Paris. This was pretty fun. Our hostel was relatively close to the Moulin Rouge, so we walked that strip which was neat haha. We left somewhat early for Bruxelles the next day. We took the bus from Paris to Bruxelles I believe. And shortly after we arrived in Bruxelles, I had an unexplicable attraction towards the city. I immediately fell in love with it. The hostel we stayed in was pretty nice too. We had lunch a little after we checked into the hostel and eventually met up with Katie, Becky, Melissa and Annie, who were staying in Bruxelles for their entire weekend. We had dinner at a restaurant that apparently it didn't have a name. We decided that it was such a great restaurant that it didn't need a name. People were lucky enough if they found it. Afterwards, we went to this jazz club/bar that was pretty nifty. Keep in mind that it was raining during a lot of this looking and walking. This didn't dampen my spirits one bit though. That's how strong my love for Bruxelles was.

So yes....we arrived at this 1930s jazz bar. To enter, you ring this bell and the door creaks open. Pretty bad-ass. We came in and each had a drink of some sort. The music was really classy (ya know, jazz-like and all) and we found out that it didn't close til like 5 or 7. A.m this was of course. So if we didn't find anything else that we fancied, we could always come back. However, everyone else wanted to go back to the hostel. So I ventured out into Bruxelles by myself. I had a map. And my umbrella. And my camera. That was pretty much it. And the best thing about this was, I felt completely comfortable and safe in this city. I think one of the reasons why I loved Bruxelles so much was because the people there speak SO many different languages. The two official languages are French and Dutch. But many people there speak Russian, Spanish, English, Arabic, German...it's magnificent. Being the capital of Europe, you would imagine that it would be quite the melting pot. But I found it pretty neat that 46% or something of the percent has foreign roots. I love that.

So yes...I ventured out on the streets of Bruxelles by myself. I'm pretty sure my parents would be thinking (more like saying out loud), "What are you thinking Vincent!?". But it was bliss. I loved it. I found a few bars and finally stayed at one where I met quite a few belges (Belgians). I finally left around 3 or 3:30 I think and went back to the hostel where I wanted to tell Matt and Jessica all about my night. But needless to say, they preferred to go back to sleep so I very easily fell asleep, on the top bunk, et je dormait comme un bébé (and slept like a baby) :)

The next day, after having pizza for lunch (we are committed to having pizza in every country we visit) and visiting the Palais de Justice we took the train to go to Amsterdam. We arrived in the evening and after a little bit of trouble, we found our hostel. After dropping off our bags and checking in, we had dinner I believe at a pretty nice restaurant and got some sort of pasta deal (of course :)). Shortly thereafter, we arrived in a café and hung out there for a bit. We eventually went to this Sports Bar/Restaurant. It was pretty fun. After some time, we ventured out into the Red Light District. What a scene this was. Pretty much being the most liberal country in Europe, we should not have been too surprised with the women in their offices/rooms dressed rather...hmmm...almost naked...giving you winks and blowing kisses towards you. It was a bit much though and somewhat bizarre. It didn't help that I barely got much sleep the night before and we were all not entirely sober. Going to a club was tempting but eventually we just went back to the hostel.

The next day, waking up in the afternoon to recover from the day before and to catch up on my sleep, we went to the Heineken museum, which was pretty interesting actually. We met some people from Chicago and had a pretty nice chat. After we were done with the Heineken museum, we went out once again and ventured out in the town. We did stop by the VanGogh musum but it was closed :/ We got some dinner and checked out some shops. We went back to that same sports bar/restaurant and after, we went to the clubs. I didn't necessarily think the club that Matt and Jessica were going into was as fun as one I could find haha. I did find a few that were pretty neat. English is widely spoken in Amsterdam even though their official language is Dutch. I eventually left the bars about 3 and headed back towards the hostel.

Matt and Jessica however, had to stay at their club til 5 when it closed because they lost their coat check numbers. I don't exactly remember what happened but I know that things got complicated because we only had one key haha. It was nice when we all fell asleep finally haha.

The next morning, we woke up later than expected and had to somewhat hurry to catch our bus that was going from Amsterdam to Paris. A 7 hour bus ride. It was sort of tough but we did get a break which was nice. The bus did make a stop at Bruxelles which was nice. I can't wait to go back there :)

We took the train shortly after we arrived in Paris, to get to Angers. It was quite the adventure. I enjoyed the trip for shure, but I think I enjoyed Bruxelles more. Kind of funny since it was just kind of a pit stop. Grand times :)

The week after was Thanksgiving! I had Thanksgiving dinner at Becky's house and she was there along with Melissa, Jaimee, Laura, Annie, Megan, Aurélian, Matt Cullen, and Anne. We had Turkey, stuffing, green beans, wine, cranberry sauce...all the Thanksgiving essentials. It was so great. A wonderful Thanksgiving. I eventually skyped with my family and my Mom met all of these wonderful friends haha. She even invited them to come to our house next year for Thanksgiving! ~ But we might need another table Mom!

Later that night, around 11 or so, I met up with Erica, Marsela, Matt Hutton and Erica's brother, Wes. Erica's family was visiting her for Thanksgiving week! We went to Le Bar Soleil, which was pretty amazingly fun. Lots of people, lots of fun music, and cheap drinks. Good times. We got

invited to this one guy's afterparty but he apparently disapparated, so we just went back to Erica and Wes's hotel, except for Marsela who went home. We just hung out and chat about the most random stuff that you only talk about when you've had a few drinks. Matt and I left around 5 I believe. This entire Thanksgiving day and night was pretty fun. Good times.

The entire week was pretty fun actually. It was really fun hanging out with Erica and Wes. We hung out pretty much every night and every night was worth it. So much fun. The Saturday after Thanksgiving, I had another Thanksgiving dinner/birthday celebration for Majo. At Amber's apartment, I enjoyed another Thanksgiving with Marsela, Matt Hutton, Yuriko, Majo, Amber, Natalia, Jocelyn, Cyril, Aurélian Beuzon, Bastien, and Erik. A lot of us (6 or 8 of us), shopped for all the Thanksgiving food and I still had some uncooked Green beans from the first Thanksgiving. We brought everything back, cooked it and had a grand time. We sang for Majo's birthday and presented her cake. She was turning "14" (actually 19 but it's a long story and an inside joke). Eventually, I left with Cyril and Jocelyn to go to a concert at James Joyce. But it was going to be delayed by an 1 1/2 hours so I walked back to Amber's apartment and hung out

there til we all left together. It was quite a night and quite a week.

It's funny that both major Holidays that I spend in France both have really good high points and some not so great points. Memorable times for shure. And now, a week after Thanksgiving, I am presented with mounds and mounds of french homework and studying to do, especially for next week. I have about 5 tests and a paper due, which all mean more meaningful since I'm leaving in Décembre-the trimester actually ends in January but some students (mostly American) are not coming back in Janvier. Donc, we're taking our finals in décembre. However, I had a wonderful night last night at K'lypso, watching my favorite Bartender and great friend, Rémi, performing his wonderful songs and covers. We danced and listened to everything from Irish songs to Rihanna, Pink Floyd to French. He is a very talented man and a wonderful friend.

This weekend coming up is my last one in Angers. Sure to be memorable. The one after that, I'm going to Lyon, to see the Festival of Lights and to see my friend Guillaume! Whom I have not seen in 2 1/2 years! Sure to be great~can't wait! J'ai hâte! The weekend after that I leave for Paris with Marcela, Katie Bayne, Victoria, and maybe Matt H., for our last weekend in France until Christmas. We're going shopping for gifts that still have to be purchased, doing what we do and going out later to celebrate Victoria's birthday. We're also going to hit up some museums, that we still have to see before we leave. Then we all leave Monday but on different flights.

I'm not sure if I'll write another blog until I come home. But I've skype with Kevin and Dad yesterday, Mom yesterday, Kate late last night, Jeff today and Lauren tonight. And I even facebooked chatted with Alexandra for the first time since I've been here I think. I'm looking forward to seeing all my friends and family back home. I am. But I need to focus on the here and now and love every moment here in France until I leave because it's been one of the best choices I have ever made and I love it so much here. I'm going to spend my time studying and doing well in my classes of course, but also spending my time with the close friends I have made here. I have made so many and I am so completely thankful for each and every one of them.

I am going to sign off now and do some homework and probably walk with a friend in a bit. Thanks for reading chaps - you've been great :)

Bisous,

Vince