A Little Eccentric

Bon soir.

Bon soir.
Today has gone very badly and I am seriously wanting to come home. The French are the least helpful people on the planet. So far, of the two contact people I have here, one was taking a sick day and the other gave herself the week off. The only student here I know has yet to get in contact with me despite my repeated attempts. When I got the key for my dorm room, they required all these papers no one told me I needed to have, and I still have no clue what one of them was after about 45 minutes of a guy trying to explain it to me in English, and me tell him I had no clue what was going on in French. Eventually, they just gave me the key and said they'd mail me an explanation later. However, I got everything else handled today with people who didn't speak a word of English.
At UW, they give the exchange students orientations, contact numbers, introduce them to other students, etc. Here, they do absolutely nothing. If you aren't fluent, like me, it is extremely frustrating and confusing. I am starting to panic a little.
For the good news, I eventually got my room today and it is pretty nice. Its small, but I have my own closet, bed, desk, shower, and sink. Plus there is a kitchen on the floor. Also, I have to take a bus since my dorm is 20 minutes away from the center of town, and my mom and I figured it out and what bus I need to take, etc. Also, I got just got in touch with the International Coordinator here, and we have a meeting for Tuesday. Classes start Monday, but her attitude is, "If you miss a few classes, eh, you miss a few classes." Very french attitude. She also described the system here as "smudgy," which actually makes a lot of sense. This is a weird thing. France has always been a vacation spot for me, and now I have all this business stuff to do.
Also, I REALLY don't want to think about my mom leaving.
I'll try to be more positive later when the world doesn't suck.

posted by Molly Jo @ 9:33 AM