So by now, I am sure you're wondering what am I doing in Lyon, no? I am supposed to be teaching but up to this point I haven't even mentioned my supposed job. Alright, here we go!
My official job title is Assistant of English. Last December I applied for the TAPIF program - Teaching Assistant Program in France. This has been my dream since senior year of high school. I fell in love with France thanks to my high school school trip with Mr. Anderson and awesome french class. My degree was in French at U of I, and my minor was Teaching English as a Second Language - I was perfect for this job! And then, come April 4th, I was wait-listed and my dream was shattered. Luckily, less than 2 weeks later I received an email saying I was admitted into the program! I was placed in the Grenoble Academy - an academy I hadn't even picked, so I was extremely nervous. Then I had to wait until the end of July to find out where I would be placed - a little town called Bourgoin-Jallieu. Haven't heard of it? Yeah, neither had I. I soon found out it was only 21 miles from Lyon, the second largest city in France. Lyon had been my third choice for an Academy (after Nice and Marseille)so my decision had been made - I was planning on living in Lyon.
My roommate, Mindy, had the same idea as me because she is in the town next to mine, as well as Tina, who is on the other side of my town. It worked out perfectly! We easily could handle commuting at max 30 minutes to work. France is known for the high speed trains and whatnot. France is also known for their strikes and for these great trains breaking down. My first week of commuting was great, but that did not last long. I have experienced 3 strikes, 5 broken down trains, I have missed 3 classes because of this, I have been stuck on trains for 2-4 hours two times, and was left stranded in a town that I did not know. Vive la France!
Now, back to my job, I work at 2 middles schools in my town - yes middle schools. I work 6 hours at one school and 6 hours at another school. My first choice was primary school and I didn't get it. I was very hesitant at first about middle school because I remember myself in middle school and I was NOT fun to deal with - my parents can attest. So I just imagined a classroom full of little mes and I was nervous. In France, students go to middle school from 11-15/16 (they only have 3 years of highs school) My youngest students are sixièmes (6e.) The youngest are 6's, the next are 5's, then 4's, then finally the oldest are 3's. Interesting, no? The youngest are the most excited about learning English, but there English is not that advanced so I find myself speaking a lot of French and translating it - which I don't think I am supposed to do, but hey, what can you do! I teach one 6e, 3 5e (cinqièmes), one 4e (quatrième), and one 3e (troisième) at my main school. At my other school, I teach 3e and 4e - WHICH my teacher in charge there told me I would be teaching a class of 5e so I had been giving this class 5e work - only to find out LAST WEEK that they are actually 4e. OOPS. But they act like 5e's... and there level is around there too.
I have some classes that I love, and others that I frankly, do not. The 4e's that I thought were 5e's are very tough students. They are constantly talking (in French) they barely pay me any attention, they don't listen. It is so frustrating. I only teach them for 2 hours and I am exhausted by the end. I shouldn't! I only work 12 hours a week (yes, start the rolling of eyes, complaining, talk about how I am not allowed to complain) but kids aren't easy to work with sometimes. People give teachers a hard time about "how they work so little, they get too many breaks, are paid too much." If you're on of these people, then you have never stepped in a classroom before to teach. You would not last a week in the classroom, and I gladly challenge anyone. The teacher's job extends out of the classroom. Between grading papers and projects and lesson planning - lesson planning alone takes hours. Then they have to get up early and deal with hundreds of kids - screaming, yelling, fighting. I have so much respect for the teaching profession (as I always have.) I was worried I would be deterred from it after this experience, but so far I haven't. yes some classes make me mad, but then I have those classes that are so rewarding. I am still trying to figure this out, it will be a long process, but then again you should always be learning something new for a job. That is what keeps it exciting.
Ok, I will end my little rant/philosophical/whatever-the-heck-this-is spiel.
Saturday, December 3, 2011
Wednesday, November 16, 2011
The French can be swindlers...
My first week in Lyon was about getting settled in. Mindy and I went to the Part Dieu shopping center almost every day that first week. It is the largest mall in France I think? It is huge! However, by then end of that week I began to hate it. Our apartment was not equipped with internet and we cannot live without internet (we are so American) so we went to Part Dieu because it has like 4 different internet companies in the mall alone. We went to each company - Bouygues (still don't know how to pronounce that one), Orange, Darty, etc. but Bouygues told us it was take 14 days, Orange told us it would take 7-10 days, and Darty told us 2 days - which wasn't bad at all, but we decided to try one more place, Infinity, which sells SFR products. We explain our situation and this woman tells us it will take 7 days, so we start to leave and she tells us to wait. We could get this 3g key that creates a wifi hot spot so both of us could use it. It sounded perfect! Only 30 euro a month - good deal! AND it is unlimited internet. We made triple sure with everything she said, so we decide to sign up for it.
Boy did she get us good.
When you sign up for internet/tv plans, it is much like a cellphone plan - you have to sign up for 2 years, which stinks big time. We are going to be here for 7-8 months but they don't have plans like that. But, we needed internet. So we got the key and returned home excited to use it.
We had to download all this software and low and behold, it does not create a wifi hotspot like the woman said. We call the store and they tell us to do a few things. We hang up, do the things they say, and still nothing. We call again, they tell us to come in the next day. So we go to Part Dieu once again, they tell us to do a few things, and send us on our way. We come home, boom. Still no "instant wifi-hotspot" This became a cycle - us calling them, us going to visit them, them "working on it" and then sending us home. We also began to notice that our internet was slowing down immensly - like it would take minutes to load a page, while at the beginning it was super fast. This went on for a week, the calling and visiting! Hence why I started to hate Part Dieu.
At this point we are so annoyed that I go to Darty Box and sign up for an ACTUAL wifi box. Another 2 year contract.
Finally on the 8th day we go in with guns blazing. They proceed to tell us that we need to call SFR and talk to them and we can't return the key because there is a 4 day return policy. Great. So we call SFR - 7 times we spoke to them because our phones kept running out of minutes or we somehow get disconnected - and they tell us no, we can't make a wifi spot and since there are no hotspots around us that it is too bad. Also, when we asked why the internet was slowing they told us that we have a capped limit of so many gigabytes and after that the internet slows down exponentially. So, yet another thing that the workers at Infinity lied to us about. We are stuck with the 3g key. So we are currently paying for 2 internet plans despite the fact we only use one. Unfortunately you just can't call and complain like you can in the U.S. They just don't care. Oyy. You live and you learn - just the hard way I guess. The good thing is (at least, goodness I hope) since we leave in 8 months we can show them our visa and copy of our work contract that shows we are leaving the country and we can end our contracts. Let us hope it is that easy come May...
Boy did she get us good.
When you sign up for internet/tv plans, it is much like a cellphone plan - you have to sign up for 2 years, which stinks big time. We are going to be here for 7-8 months but they don't have plans like that. But, we needed internet. So we got the key and returned home excited to use it.
We had to download all this software and low and behold, it does not create a wifi hotspot like the woman said. We call the store and they tell us to do a few things. We hang up, do the things they say, and still nothing. We call again, they tell us to come in the next day. So we go to Part Dieu once again, they tell us to do a few things, and send us on our way. We come home, boom. Still no "instant wifi-hotspot" This became a cycle - us calling them, us going to visit them, them "working on it" and then sending us home. We also began to notice that our internet was slowing down immensly - like it would take minutes to load a page, while at the beginning it was super fast. This went on for a week, the calling and visiting! Hence why I started to hate Part Dieu.
At this point we are so annoyed that I go to Darty Box and sign up for an ACTUAL wifi box. Another 2 year contract.
Finally on the 8th day we go in with guns blazing. They proceed to tell us that we need to call SFR and talk to them and we can't return the key because there is a 4 day return policy. Great. So we call SFR - 7 times we spoke to them because our phones kept running out of minutes or we somehow get disconnected - and they tell us no, we can't make a wifi spot and since there are no hotspots around us that it is too bad. Also, when we asked why the internet was slowing they told us that we have a capped limit of so many gigabytes and after that the internet slows down exponentially. So, yet another thing that the workers at Infinity lied to us about. We are stuck with the 3g key. So we are currently paying for 2 internet plans despite the fact we only use one. Unfortunately you just can't call and complain like you can in the U.S. They just don't care. Oyy. You live and you learn - just the hard way I guess. The good thing is (at least, goodness I hope) since we leave in 8 months we can show them our visa and copy of our work contract that shows we are leaving the country and we can end our contracts. Let us hope it is that easy come May...
Thursday, November 3, 2011
The rest of my doozy arrival
So I last left you with Mindy and I getting to know each other. Sorry it took so long to post - I was out of the country - I think that is a legitimate excuse! Anywho,
Mindy is my roommate here in France. She is an assistant just like me and is also in the Grenoble Academy but decided to live in Lyon. Now, she is ALSO from Illinois and went to ISU! What are the odds? We both posted on Grenoble Academy wall on Facebook about how we want to live in Lyon, and decided to live together if possible. We both didn't want to live alone, that is for sure. She was a life savior because she got here a week and a half before me, meaning she did all the apartment hunting on her own. i felt horrible not being there to help her :( but glad I had somewhere to live when I got here!
Now, the getting to this apartment part. It was a difficult process... after the cafe we had to hop on the metro to get to our landlord's place. He lives outside of Lyon. Remember, I have to big suitcases and a carry-on AND one of the big suitcases is broken. Getting those bags down stairs and onto the metro was crazy. My suitcases kept flipping over because it was broken. We then had to get on a bus but there was literally 100 people on this tiny bus. It was 80 degrees, I am sweating, I am trying to fit these bags onto a bus with 100 other people who are sweating. it was a nightmare. We were on the bus for a good 20 minutes and then we got off at the bottom of a hill. This is where my bag completely broke and I left a big metal tub lying on the ground -oops. At the point I just didn't care. So I drag my suitcases up the hill, and by now I know I probably reek, I am sweating, my make-up is half off my face from travelling and I get to meet my landlord. What a great first impression.
I thought I was probably cranky but mand does my landlord take the cake. He is a majorrrr grouch-monster. He was extremely sick and coughing up a lung so I can understand it somewhat, but I was just not ready for it. And the fact that he made us put down 1300 EURO (yes THIRTEEN-HUNDRED) I wasn't in the greatest sympathy mood. After a half hour of paperwork (I was so weary at this point I could not understand a thing. Poor Mindy had to do all of the talking) he tells us to follow him. He makes us clean out his car and tells us to get in - he doesn't tell us where we are going. So naturally we load my stuff and get in the car. Don't worry it was fine, well we had to shell out more money because we had to pay for homeowners insurance - so another 193 euro down the drain.
When we left the insurance place our landlord called the previous owner of this apartment and got into this big yelling match with her. Apparently, she had to work and he "had no key" for us to get into our new apartment, therefore he dropped us off into the courtyard area of the apartment complex and we waited there....in the dark....of 3 hours. Three hours. See the French are all about conserving energy, which is great, but we literally had to press this light button every 30 seconds or so, so we could see what we were doing. It was great. At this time I am exhausted, hungry, still smelly and just wanted to go to bed. Finally near 11, we got the keys and got to enter our new apartment!! Yay!!!
It is super colorful with pale lime green trims in the kitchen/living room, light blue in the bedroom, purple in the entryway and water closet (a room with just a toilet) and our bathroom is yellow. It is super cute! There is only 1 bedroom, but it
is a large bedroom so it is like freshman year in the dorm again, but hey we are making it work. The downside of the apartment was - it wasn't furnished. There was a table and chairs, a fridge, 2 stove-tops and a futon and that is it. No beds. No closet/shelves. etc So Mindy and I really got to know each other because we shared the futon haha but we slept the opposite way so our feet were on the ground and there was much more room.
At one point there were three of us on the futon because Tina, another Grenoble Assistant living in Lyon hadn't found a place and our floor is not comfortable at all. But all worked out in the end! We went to this Irish pub in Old Lyon and this British guy started talking to Tina and asked her how she is. She answered truthfully, that she was awful because she had no place to live, and low and behold
one of his roommates moved out that day! So now she is living in a swanky place in a really nice neighborhood - sometimes it pays off to be honest! We couldn't believe her luck, especially after hearing how many assistants still did not have any housing whatsoever. It is verrrry difficult to find housing, especially in big cities and our little guidebook does NOT help us at all, nor tell us it will be as difficult as it was. Again, I am thankful Mindy was here a week early and found a place otherwise I possible would be living in a cardboard box on the street rather than this cute apartment.
Luckily, Mindy's friend Katie, who was a Grenoble assistant last year, came to visit us and she had a car - MEANING IKEA!!!! She graciously took us there to get our beds, clothing shelves, plates, containers, bedding etc. It was great and I might have gone a little overboard. I wanted everything there. Oh the Swedes, gotta love 'em! Finally after a week our place finally felt like home!
Mindy is my roommate here in France. She is an assistant just like me and is also in the Grenoble Academy but decided to live in Lyon. Now, she is ALSO from Illinois and went to ISU! What are the odds? We both posted on Grenoble Academy wall on Facebook about how we want to live in Lyon, and decided to live together if possible. We both didn't want to live alone, that is for sure. She was a life savior because she got here a week and a half before me, meaning she did all the apartment hunting on her own. i felt horrible not being there to help her :( but glad I had somewhere to live when I got here!
Now, the getting to this apartment part. It was a difficult process... after the cafe we had to hop on the metro to get to our landlord's place. He lives outside of Lyon. Remember, I have to big suitcases and a carry-on AND one of the big suitcases is broken. Getting those bags down stairs and onto the metro was crazy. My suitcases kept flipping over because it was broken. We then had to get on a bus but there was literally 100 people on this tiny bus. It was 80 degrees, I am sweating, I am trying to fit these bags onto a bus with 100 other people who are sweating. it was a nightmare. We were on the bus for a good 20 minutes and then we got off at the bottom of a hill. This is where my bag completely broke and I left a big metal tub lying on the ground -oops. At the point I just didn't care. So I drag my suitcases up the hill, and by now I know I probably reek, I am sweating, my make-up is half off my face from travelling and I get to meet my landlord. What a great first impression.
I thought I was probably cranky but mand does my landlord take the cake. He is a majorrrr grouch-monster. He was extremely sick and coughing up a lung so I can understand it somewhat, but I was just not ready for it. And the fact that he made us put down 1300 EURO (yes THIRTEEN-HUNDRED) I wasn't in the greatest sympathy mood. After a half hour of paperwork (I was so weary at this point I could not understand a thing. Poor Mindy had to do all of the talking) he tells us to follow him. He makes us clean out his car and tells us to get in - he doesn't tell us where we are going. So naturally we load my stuff and get in the car. Don't worry it was fine, well we had to shell out more money because we had to pay for homeowners insurance - so another 193 euro down the drain.
When we left the insurance place our landlord called the previous owner of this apartment and got into this big yelling match with her. Apparently, she had to work and he "had no key" for us to get into our new apartment, therefore he dropped us off into the courtyard area of the apartment complex and we waited there....in the dark....of 3 hours. Three hours. See the French are all about conserving energy, which is great, but we literally had to press this light button every 30 seconds or so, so we could see what we were doing. It was great. At this time I am exhausted, hungry, still smelly and just wanted to go to bed. Finally near 11, we got the keys and got to enter our new apartment!! Yay!!!
It is super colorful with pale lime green trims in the kitchen/living room, light blue in the bedroom, purple in the entryway and water closet (a room with just a toilet) and our bathroom is yellow. It is super cute! There is only 1 bedroom, but it
is a large bedroom so it is like freshman year in the dorm again, but hey we are making it work. The downside of the apartment was - it wasn't furnished. There was a table and chairs, a fridge, 2 stove-tops and a futon and that is it. No beds. No closet/shelves. etc So Mindy and I really got to know each other because we shared the futon haha but we slept the opposite way so our feet were on the ground and there was much more room.
At one point there were three of us on the futon because Tina, another Grenoble Assistant living in Lyon hadn't found a place and our floor is not comfortable at all. But all worked out in the end! We went to this Irish pub in Old Lyon and this British guy started talking to Tina and asked her how she is. She answered truthfully, that she was awful because she had no place to live, and low and behold
one of his roommates moved out that day! So now she is living in a swanky place in a really nice neighborhood - sometimes it pays off to be honest! We couldn't believe her luck, especially after hearing how many assistants still did not have any housing whatsoever. It is verrrry difficult to find housing, especially in big cities and our little guidebook does NOT help us at all, nor tell us it will be as difficult as it was. Again, I am thankful Mindy was here a week early and found a place otherwise I possible would be living in a cardboard box on the street rather than this cute apartment. 
Luckily, Mindy's friend Katie, who was a Grenoble assistant last year, came to visit us and she had a car - MEANING IKEA!!!! She graciously took us there to get our beds, clothing shelves, plates, containers, bedding etc. It was great and I might have gone a little overboard. I wanted everything there. Oh the Swedes, gotta love 'em! Finally after a week our place finally felt like home!
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
My arrival to France is always a doozy...
Well nothing like being 4 weeks late on writing my blog - sounds typical doesn't it? It is hard to believe - I have been in Lyon for 4 weeks TODAY!!! and let me tell you has it been an interesting 4 weeks.
Why it is a pet that turns into a pillow!
Yep I am 22 years old and I own a pillow pet. People kept staring at me during the security line like I was a weirdo but I didn't care. I even got asked if I was a recruiter for U of I. If only! But that pillow pet has been a godsend along with my Illini snuggie. Yep, I have a snuggie too. You will see later why they have been so important to me later.
Beth, who I studied abroad with and you might remember if yousuffered through read my other blog, is also an English Assistant this school year! However she is in a different region, but we decided to take the plane together, but unfortunately didn't get to sit together. I did however, get to sit right next to another assistant, Nicole, and across from another assistant Raudel! The plane ride flew by because we were talking and sharing stories. This is the first time my flight to France has been great! The first time I had a broken seat and couldn't watch movies or anything as all of my friends got to. The second time I got food poisoning. This time it was great. I made it to Paris without a hinge! It was getting out of Paris that was the problem. Little did I know there was a train station ATTACHED to the airport. I only lived in Paris for 5 months and didn't know that. Oops. So I followed some of the assistants to go get a train ticket to Lyon.
I finally get up to the SNCF ticket counter and my French comes back to me and I am able to order a ticket and my 12-25 years old reduction card in French - woo! I go to pay and it will not accept my card because his machine is broken. Great. Thank goodness I had some money on me. I leave the line and look at what time the train leaves. It was 10:45 and the train left at 11. Commence panic mode. So I run to the elevator and get down onto the tracks only to find out I went to the wrong track. So it is either wait for the elevator that takes 7 minutes or take my 2 huge suitcases, computer bag, and carry-on suitcase up 2 flights of stairs. I chose the elevator obviously. I finally get to the right platform only to find out I must go down an escalator to actually get to the platform. WHO DESIGNS THESE THINGS?! So people are watching me frantically try to pull my luggage onto the escalator while one is moving and one gets stuck on the landing (a.k.a the part that isn't moving) and I am basically doing the splits on the escalator. All while it is 2 minutes until my train leaves. This seriously was a scene from a movie. I finally get to my train car and I am trying to heave my luggage over the stupid gap when suddenly my luggage breaks. Yep, pulled the handle right out of the suitcase. Luckily, a very attractive French guy helped me. I am sweating. I smell. I am frantic. I haven't slept in over 24 hours. Of course very handsome guy would help me.
I get onto the train just as the doors close to depart. I look at my ticket at see that I am placed on the second floor of the train (they have double decker trains) The staircase to the top barely can fit a backpack - there was no way I could get my luggage up there. So I was forced to reside in the loading area with my luggage for 2 hours just sitting on the steps because I was so paranoid to leave my stuff just sitting there in the open. It was wonderful. And then the cute French guy kept coming out to get something from is stuff and cracking jokes to me - but I couldn't understand a thing.
This video sums it up perfectly:
Joey learning/speaking French
This was my first dose in the Lyonais French accent. People from this area have a very different accent than in Paris. They speak MUCH quicker, they slur their words more together etc. I felt like I had landed in Germany because I couldn't understand a word. I just nodded and laughed when I thought it was appropriate. Oh mon Dieu.
Another surprise was the fact that my phone did not work AT ALL. Stupid AT&T was supposed to activate an international plan for me but they did not. So I had no way of contacting my parents who I knew at this point would be freaking out. I also had no way of contacting the girl who I was going to be living with. Originally I thought I was going to be arrive at 3:50 something, but I took an earlier train meaning I would arrive at 1. I needed to tell her to come find me earlier otherwise I would be stuck in the train station for a couple of hours.
We arrive in Lyon and I am the last one off the train because of my broken luggage. let me tell you is it hard to navigate 2 big suitcases and a carry-on when one handle is broken. The suitcases kept flipping over, they kept falling over, I couldn't move - and again people were staring at me. I locate a pay phone and I found my only 2 euro coin I had. What happened? The dang machine ate my money! I had no other coins left to try and call Mindy, my new roommate. I walked from store to store in the train station seeing if any of them sold pay-as-you-go phones - not a single one did. I am so flustered at this point that I walk towards the entrance and here someone yell "Erin!" To my surprise there was Mindy! Thank god she had thought my train arrived at 1:50 not 3:50 so she had come! Hallelujah! We went to a cafe that had internet so I could contact my parents and get something to eat and we sat there for a couple hours getting to know each other. I was exhausted at this point but we still had a longggg night ahead of us, which I will post in the next blog post! I am boring you enough as it is :)
I flew out of good ol' O'Hare on Monday, September 26th. My amazing parents took me to the airport and to my surprise my best friend Brittany showed up to surprise me and say goodbye! It was already an emotional day, so I started to cry like a baby. Typical me. She brought me this AWESOME Illinois Pillow Pet that I use every single day. What's an Illini Pillow pet you ask?
Yep I am 22 years old and I own a pillow pet. People kept staring at me during the security line like I was a weirdo but I didn't care. I even got asked if I was a recruiter for U of I. If only! But that pillow pet has been a godsend along with my Illini snuggie. Yep, I have a snuggie too. You will see later why they have been so important to me later.
Beth, who I studied abroad with and you might remember if you
I finally get up to the SNCF ticket counter and my French comes back to me and I am able to order a ticket and my 12-25 years old reduction card in French - woo! I go to pay and it will not accept my card because his machine is broken. Great. Thank goodness I had some money on me. I leave the line and look at what time the train leaves. It was 10:45 and the train left at 11. Commence panic mode. So I run to the elevator and get down onto the tracks only to find out I went to the wrong track. So it is either wait for the elevator that takes 7 minutes or take my 2 huge suitcases, computer bag, and carry-on suitcase up 2 flights of stairs. I chose the elevator obviously. I finally get to the right platform only to find out I must go down an escalator to actually get to the platform. WHO DESIGNS THESE THINGS?! So people are watching me frantically try to pull my luggage onto the escalator while one is moving and one gets stuck on the landing (a.k.a the part that isn't moving) and I am basically doing the splits on the escalator. All while it is 2 minutes until my train leaves. This seriously was a scene from a movie. I finally get to my train car and I am trying to heave my luggage over the stupid gap when suddenly my luggage breaks. Yep, pulled the handle right out of the suitcase. Luckily, a very attractive French guy helped me. I am sweating. I smell. I am frantic. I haven't slept in over 24 hours. Of course very handsome guy would help me.
I get onto the train just as the doors close to depart. I look at my ticket at see that I am placed on the second floor of the train (they have double decker trains) The staircase to the top barely can fit a backpack - there was no way I could get my luggage up there. So I was forced to reside in the loading area with my luggage for 2 hours just sitting on the steps because I was so paranoid to leave my stuff just sitting there in the open. It was wonderful. And then the cute French guy kept coming out to get something from is stuff and cracking jokes to me - but I couldn't understand a thing.
This video sums it up perfectly:
Joey learning/speaking French
This was my first dose in the Lyonais French accent. People from this area have a very different accent than in Paris. They speak MUCH quicker, they slur their words more together etc. I felt like I had landed in Germany because I couldn't understand a word. I just nodded and laughed when I thought it was appropriate. Oh mon Dieu.
Another surprise was the fact that my phone did not work AT ALL. Stupid AT&T was supposed to activate an international plan for me but they did not. So I had no way of contacting my parents who I knew at this point would be freaking out. I also had no way of contacting the girl who I was going to be living with. Originally I thought I was going to be arrive at 3:50 something, but I took an earlier train meaning I would arrive at 1. I needed to tell her to come find me earlier otherwise I would be stuck in the train station for a couple of hours.
We arrive in Lyon and I am the last one off the train because of my broken luggage. let me tell you is it hard to navigate 2 big suitcases and a carry-on when one handle is broken. The suitcases kept flipping over, they kept falling over, I couldn't move - and again people were staring at me. I locate a pay phone and I found my only 2 euro coin I had. What happened? The dang machine ate my money! I had no other coins left to try and call Mindy, my new roommate. I walked from store to store in the train station seeing if any of them sold pay-as-you-go phones - not a single one did. I am so flustered at this point that I walk towards the entrance and here someone yell "Erin!" To my surprise there was Mindy! Thank god she had thought my train arrived at 1:50 not 3:50 so she had come! Hallelujah! We went to a cafe that had internet so I could contact my parents and get something to eat and we sat there for a couple hours getting to know each other. I was exhausted at this point but we still had a longggg night ahead of us, which I will post in the next blog post! I am boring you enough as it is :)
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