Kanwei, reporting for duty in Bordeaux France

My name is Kanwei and I'm an alcoholic.

Well, not really. Quite the opposite actually, but I'll talk about that another day. I'm writing at 9pm from the bench outside the cafeteria (closed) which is next to the library (also closed). Has Emory spoiled me to the point that I expect every university to provide food and shelter 24/7? Why is there no Internet in my dorm? How do French students get any work done? Am I really complaining on a blog that will be read by my benefactors? (benefactors: no, I'm not really complaining, and thanks for the support)

You see, I arrived at the dorms on Friday at around noon. The previous day was a national holiday, and they forgot to tell me that in France, when Thursday is a holiday, Friday is naturally a holiday too. Duh. I was supposed to speak with the RHD of the dorms (on holiday) and ended up having to convince them that oui, je suis American, non, je ne suis pas un idiote qui n'a pas ses papiers, et oui, j'aime le football. I got to my room and instinctively looked for the ethernet plug. Nope. So I was stuck in my room, no Internet, no phone, and everyone was on holiday. What did I do? Go downtown, of course.

Since I didn't feel like spending more euros on transportation (1.30€) because the exchange is now 0.7 €/USD, I walked along the tram tracks into the city. There, I found everyone that I had previously mentioned were on vacation. The streets were narrow and were absolutely packed. I had a good time looking at people I'd never met before (everyone) as I passed them. French people are taller than Americans on average, it seems. The city center was pretty nice, with an esplanade. I was pretty tired though so I left early. I'll come back with the camera another day.

When I got back to the dorms, I met some of my neighbors. Yassine (Moroccan) was one of them, and I played Pro Evolution Soccer 6 (best football game ever) with him and his friends. It's weird because I'd actually played this exact game back home (weird huh) and so I actually won a couple matches. We're still friends to this day.

So anyways, I start work tomorrow and I'm still outside the cafeteria. It's now 10pm and getting cold. Talk to you again soon, mon ami.