April 10th Thursday

I got up at 9:00am. I had some cereal for breakfast and got ready for the day. While I was getting ready, I got a call from Casey. She was running late and wouldn’t be able to meet me before the orientation. I didn’t have to go to the orientation because I’d been last module. I was just going to go to meet Casey and show her around. But I still wanted to see what they had to say.

I went to the orientation and got to meet some of the new Euromasters. It was a pretty big group. They gave the same kind of talk as last module. They had some helpful information on classes though. We got a new class schedule. After class we went on a tour of the campus. David was another return from last module so he and I stayed in the back during the tour and talked. I tried to talk quietly. I always hated it when people talk over tour guides. Then later they always ask me what happened. I think the guide was still peeved that we weren’t paying attention. She didn’t know that we’d already been there for three months.

We went to the student card office so that people could get cards. Then we went to Astrid’s office. This was the main part of the tour I was interested in. I needed to get my readings still. We went and picked up our photocopied readings. My eyes grew when I saw the amount of reading we had. One professor’s reading was twice that of our biggest book last module. It was two volumes! They were each about two inches thick. I was kind of worried about meeting this professor. It was insane. I thought I was going to break my arms or my back carrying it all.

After Astrid’s the Euromasters split into a few groups. I went to lunch with David, Tobias, Anna, Luis and Manu. I had met David and Luis previously so now I got to see what Tobias, Anna, and Manu were like. I was a little uncertain because Manu didn’t seem like he wanted to talk much. He had only been talking in French since he arrived while the others spoke English. It was also awkward because I hadn’t been introduced to him yet and neither of us had introduced ourselves. So I knew his name from what the others said but he hadn’t told me himself.

We went to the CROUS cafeteria for lunch. I picked a type of salad dish, some cherry yogurt, and a fish with baked beans and carrots. It actually tasted okay. The last meal I’d had there had been unimpressive. We ate lunch and talked about what the classes might be like. Everyone seemed excited by Howorth’s Security and Defense class. He was the one who had assigned two volumes of reading. I was not very interested in the topic so I laughed to myself when everyone said, “Wow. I think everyone’s going to do their 9,000 word paper for him.” “Well that’s what he gets for picking an interesting topic.”

After lunch we left and Anna invited some of us over to her place for some coffee. I went there with Anna, David, and Luis. Her apartment was on the very top floor. I was winded by the time I got up there. I blamed all the books in my bag. Luis had been joking about how small her apartment was. I finally saw what the jokes were about. It was a tiny apartment. These kinds of apartments used to be the servants’ quarters. Now they’re the cheapest ones out there and many students inhabit them. There was room for a bed, a small bedside table, a mini-fridge with a stove on top and a sink. Three of us sat on the bed while she stood and made coffee. While she made it, she told us about when she toured the apartment. The landlord showed it to her and she asked, “okay so where is the toilet?”
“It’s down the hall.”
“And the shower?”
He pointed to the sink and she laughed for a bit until she said “So seriously, where’s the shower?”
He pointed again to the sink. He was serious. He said, “You students these days. Showers are luxuries!”

In spite of the cramped space, Anna managed to make amazing coffee. I’d told her that I don’t really drink coffee and she took it as a challenge to make something I’d like. It actually was pretty good. She made a frothy top for it.

We sat around drinking coffee for a while. It was nice to get to know everyone a bit better. Eventually, David had to go so he could clean his apartment for his girlfriend’s arrival. We all decided to disperse then. We made our way down the stairs. Luis walked me down Rue de Lille to my street before continuing onward to his.

Once I got home I settled down to rest. I was feeling very tired. I ended up sleeping from 6:00pm until 9:00pm. I was really surprised when I woke up. I wasn’t expecting to sleep that late. I got up and ate some ramen noodles and a yogurt. Then I played online for a bit. Adrienne talked to her mom on Skype.

I found myself waking up again after a 15 minute nap. I still hadn’t recovered from my paper writing apparently. I woke up and got to talk to my parents on Skype from midnight to 1am. Then after I talked to them I actually got to talk to Tom on Skype as well! He and I talked for two hours. By the time I went to bed, it was 4:00am. Obviously, I was off to a good start for the module.