I feel like I'm living in the Arctic

It's so cold here. And that's coming from my Indiana self, not even my Charleston self. We had a big snow storm a couple of days ago, and now there are six inches on the ground, with temperatures dropping...meaning little hope of melting the "winter wonderland."

I went to Lyon yesterday and did a little bit of shopping at the mall right next to the train station. Unfortunatly, the mall seemed to serve as a haven for those like myself, who did not wish to spend the day wading through the snow. It was crowded. So I didn't stay long, but I got the shoes I had been eyeing (Merry Christmas to me!) and I got some socks, and a shirt.

A funny thing about socks: I seem to be wearing out socks here like it's my job. I have never in my life had to throw away so many pairs of socks because of holes in them. I mean, in the States, my biggest sock problem was losing one of a pair, making it a necessity to get rid of the other. I have probably lost five to seven pairs of socks here, and it's not even January. I'm worried that I'm actually going to end up with no socks. But, more importantly, my socks dictate when I have to do laundry. If I only have 14 pairs, instead of the 21 I started out with, I'm going to have to do laundry a lot more often, and that is neither easy nor cheap. I don't care what anyone says 3.80 euros to wash ONE load, and 1.70 euros to dry for 25 minutes is expensive. And people complain about laundromats in the States.

Anyways...nothing here is really going on besides the socks and weather. I'm kind of ready for school to start back, to at least give me a little more structure.

Oh yeah, and our heat in the high school got shut of last night. It's being worked on, but below freezing temps plus a drafty high school equals me being really cold in there. Not that it's much warmer here in the internet cafe, because I think my feet are still kind of numb from the walk. Oh well, I guess that's life. Or at least, life as I know it.

I saw Harry Potter in French yesterday. I had really been wanting to hold out and see it in English, but I got tired of waiting and was really bored. So aside from some of the major names changing, and despite the fact that all the voices were (obviously) different, I really liked the movie. I missed some of the parts that the director couldn't include, but I think it was still very true to the book.

Speaking of books, I've been reading a lot of mindless novels lately (in English) and am really starting to miss good reads. I haven't really read a good book since the Kiterunner in October. I guess it's finally time to tackle the French books that I've picked up, because it's not like I don't have tons of free time right now.

My big activity of the day is going to be a feeble attempt at making pancakes from a waffle mix. If it doesn't really turn out (for whatever reason) I'll probably end up making an omelette and calling it a day. One thing that hasn't changed much: I lived on eggs in college, and even in France, they still make a great meal. Add and apple and some break and I'm good to go.

Tomorrow, I think I'm going to go shopping in Lyon. Maybe get some new shoes.

I still see my students ALL the time, and they always say hello. It's nice.

It's Christmas and...

I am here all alone in the internet cafe/bar. Okay, that was pretty shameless. I am in fact by myself now, but only because my friend Matt from another town just got on the train to head back to his town. He came up last night so that neither of us would spent Christmas by ourselves. We made tacos.

Since my last update (which was not that long ago, despite the harsh comments from emily...) I went to Paris for three days to visit some college friends. It was really good to see them, and it definitely helped to ease some of the normal holiday homesickness.

The biggest problem that I have right now is the fact that I come to this internet cafe practically every single time I am in town. I think I'm becoming a sort of regular in a place that I never really thought I would be a regular. Kind of weird.

And I have to go. More to come. Seriously this time. :o)

Update

Ok, since enough time as passed since my last update for everyone I know to stop reading this, I guess I decided that I would give it another go.

So much has happened since Oct. 20 that I am going to fly through the highlights. I went to La Rochelle and visited Jeremy and his girlfriend. It was there that I went to a housewarming party, then for the first time in my life, to a casino. It was a spur of the moment 4am decision, where I promptly lost one euro playing the slot machine.

I went to Paris to visit Clemence, and there I went to an Arabian cafe and smoked a hooka of flavored tobacco. It was awesome to see her again, and her family accepted me as one of their own.

I went to a bar for Thanksgiving with my friends, and left at 3am, all the while knowing I had to teach at 8:30. While we were in the bar, it snowed like 3 inches. Our first snow here in Macon.

Then some weeks went by, and my dad came to visit me. We ate at a super fancy French restaurant, and went wine tasting in another town.

And the computer lab closes now, so I'll finish tomorrow. Seriously.