Start of my adventures

Hello everyone!

I decided that this would be the easiest way to keep in touch with my aunts, uncles, grandparents and various extended family and friends that are spread out across the globe. Now, to stay up-to-date on my activities, just log onto my blog and, if you would like, respond with an e-mail as usual. I know it has been a few days since I have sent out an update, so I will begin where I left off...

School has been good so far. For those who didn't know, I am taking 4 classes: Operations, Strategy, International Marketing, and Finance. Finance is my favorite class so far, probably because I understand it the most, find it the most interesting, and it is the most similar to accounting *yay*! Operations is so BORING. I dread going to class and listening to a man who has the worst comb-over I've ever seen, speak about bicycle plants and manufacturing and things of the sort. I found out the hard way that I can no longer bring my laptop to class, and must instead print the notes out ahead of time. This could be due to the fact that today in class, instead of pay attention to his lecture and watch him demonstrate our homework, I planned out train stops to various cities in France and Italy and looked at pictures of Europe. Needless to say I found the homework impossible and it took me forever to get it right.

Marketing is easy, but the professor does not know English very well. He often makes little side comments in French and then everyone who understands laughs. I hope they aren't about me...

We haven't had Strategy yet, the way our schedule has been set up has us taking Operations for the first-half of the quarter, and Strategy for the second-half. Well, now that I have demonstrated that I DO attend class ;-)... let's get to the good stuff. This weekend was really fun! I will give you a day-by-day run through:

Friday: NO CLASS! We went to a winery that is about a fifteen minute bus ride from our hotel. There we went on a tour of the factory, and also got to sample various wines for free! I discovered that I do not care for red wines, but I do like white, sweet wines. After the winery, we met the French students at a pizzeria for dinner. It was pretty expensive, but it was really nice to meet ALL of the students face-to-face, and have some out of class conversation. Things did get a little heated when the topics of George W., opinions of Americans, and politics came up. I tried to dance around the issues, I'm not trying to make enemies here. After dinner, the Frenchies took us to a local pub close to our hotel. I learned how to play European style pool (instead of solids and stripes, they have red and yellow pool balls, with a que ball and one black ball). After the pub we went to the discotechque, which was SO fun!! They played mostly American music there, and we danced and sang and stayed out until 4:30 AM!! I guess that's standard in Europe, and I was told to get used to it :-0!

Saturday: Slept until 3 PM. I was really mad at myself for sleeping away a gorgeous day, but I was wiped out from dancing until the wee hours of the day. But I woke up and explored and took some pictures. Then for dinner all of us went to our new favorite Morrocan restaurant, Le Ryad. The owner there loves us and brings us unlimited portions of delicious chicken and lamb with couscous, a salad that is to die for, and "bricks" (pastry-like things filled with cheese, tuna, or chicken- yum!). The owner, Youssef, makes the BEST tea I have ever had. It's minty and you can feel it refresh you the minute you swallow. He also gave all the girls roses last time we went. I left the restaurant at 10:30 because I was exhausted, and went to bed.

Sunday: Woke up early, around 10:45. I went running and was stared at a lot because apparently they don't run outside much here. But I don't care- I need exercise and will not buy a gym membership. After that I went to the Castle of Henry IV with some classmates. My camera battery died so I will have to steal pictures from them. The castle was gorgeous, but I will be honest- the tour was boring and in French. After that we got some lunch and hung out outside for awhile.

Overall, I am adjusting to the time change. I can get used to the "kiss kiss" greeting, I think it's so cute- I would love to see my dad and Uncle Dan, Uncle Tom, or any Uncle for that matter do that the next time they see each other :-). The kids in my class are so nice, some even offered to bring me over to their house for dinner and so I can do my laundry there! I don't know how they are so skinny here- all they eat is bread and no one exercises. Oh well, one of the many great wonders of the world I suppose.

On another side note, I booked tickets to Barcelona for the weekend of April 17-20 (no class Friday again) and for Nice, France from May 7-12 (No classes during that time). I am really excited to start traveling! I am meeting my good friend, Kelly Berry, in Barcelona. She was one of my suitemates and is studying Spanish in Toledo, Spain for this quarter. I am going to be going with classmate and new friend Elizabeth. She also has a boyfriend she left behind so we have made an instant connection.

I love and miss you all! Please, please keep in touch- I love reading all of your e-mails. And feel free to pass this blog address onto to anyone you think would want to listen to me babble :-).