At least it's not snowing!

Hola people!

Once again, it's been a few days, ok a week...sorry!

Today has been a little bizarre. Every Wednesday morning i have class at 9, so i take the bus at 8:29 from my stop. HOWEVER, the last two weeks i have gotten to the bus stop at like 8:25 and the bus has already come and gone...so then i have to wait for the next bus, which is always late, which ends up making me late for class. Ughhhh. I miss the Camry and having class right outside of my dorm.

So class at IES this morning, fine, whatever. But afterwards i have to go to the University right away to catch an 11:00 sociology class. Well, there is apparently some sort of strike going on at the University, thus meaning that class may or may not be cancelled. So we get there and wait around, and then the prof comes, but it's seriously only the exchange students who actually came to class (3 Americans and 2 Polish girls). And he takes like 10 minutes to explain to us what's going on, and it's all kind of iffy and confusing to us, but in the end there was no class!

Then i went to lunch at the University caf, which is generally pretty good. But today i basically had a little salad and a plate full of french fries...haha. I thought i had the system worked out, but apparently not. Oh and there was supposed to be some sausage pieces with my french fries too, but the lady who served me just threw them on top of the french fries and when she handed me my plate, they flew off the plate, onto the floor, and that was the end of the sausage...

We'll see where the rest of my day goes...

A couple of observations from the last week...
1) There is dog poop every 5 steps on the sidewalks here. And not just a little bit, a lot.

2) My host brother loves to sing. And he's really good. And he sings all the time...ALL the time.

3) Some of my professors are absolutely amazed that we Americans don't know more about our country or the rest of the world. The French watch the news or read the newspaper here as if it's a new Harry Potter book. I understand the importance of keeping up on current events, but for most Americans, the news is not the show of choice. Thus, there are many points throughout each day, where i and the rest of the Americans here, end up feeling a little ashamed that we don't know more about the world. However, the news here mostly focuses on international issues/events, where in the U.S., we have both local and national/international news. The spectrum of information is just different in each place. I'm just continually amazed by the amount of detail everyone here seems to know about everything going on.

This past weekend was Les folles journees...kind of like crazy days. It's a classical music festival held each year in Nantes and it always focuses around a composer. This year was Bach, so every artist or group performed one or several of his works. I went to two different piano concerts, the first being a really young french guy, barely two years older than me, a complete piano genius. For real. The second had a small orchestra and then two pianos. I love watching the pianists hands. They just move so quickly and gracefully, almost as if they're dancing on the keys. I wish i could play like that! However, as good as these performers were, I can't say i'm a fan of Bach... Apparently next year is Chopin. Here is a picture of the Harp chorus i listened to afterwards. I don't think i've ever seen so many harps in one place!

I also got a kick out of this...

Restaurant/Cafe Zimmermann!

There was also a nationwide strike last Thursday. Public transportation shut down by noon, University classes were canceled, and thousands of people walked through the streets of Nantes, carrying signs and flags, singing, and drinking... I don't even know what it was specifically for, but i do know that strikes are common here, and are a reflection of the traditionally socialist society they have going on here.

Ok well, that's all i really have for now. Malta in 10 days!! Miss you all!

K :)