"You don't accept Visa? That's ironic." January 7th, 2012

My mother and I took a mini trip to Chicago last week so I could apply for my visa. We decided to do it in one day so we wouldn’t have to worry about a hotel and all of that stuff. I found a pretty cheap flight (only $75 round trip), so we flew out of Detroit at 7:30am and back home at 8:30pm. It was a fun day, but very, very tiring!

We flew in to O’Hare and took the L downtown. We walked around for a bit, until it was time for my appointment at noon. My mom was hoping that the French consulate would be some pretty European building adorned with the French flag so that she could a picture of me awkwardly standing in front of it. To her dismay, it was simply a floor on the 37^th level of a skyscraper. I felt so cool when I checked in to the desk on the first floor. They issued me this secret agent pass that I had to scan in order to get access to the elevators.

Once I got to the 37^th floor, I experienced my first taste of French chauvinism. The conversation went a little like this:

Me: Hi!

Man at desk: Bonjour

Me: I’m here for my visa appointment

Man: quoi?

Me: Visa? I’m here to apply for my visa

Man: Ah! Veez-ah! Oui! Demi-tour et passer devant les doubles portes. Tournez à gauche et c'est la première salle à droite

Me : Thanks…

Man : De rien.

 He’s lucky I understand French.  What if I didn’t know what he was saying!?


Anyway, I checked in for my appointment and waited for my name to be called. While I waited, this crazy French show was on. From what I could understand, it was a show about a baby doll that poops and farts, and some dude wearing women's clothing was taking care of it and causing all sorts of mishaps. I hope my host family watches that show- it was CRAZY. 


Once I heard the consul thickly call out "Kath-reen", I approached a desk with an angry French lady behind a wall of plexiglass. Apparently they don't want to get too close to me and my American cooties. I paid the fee for my visa. When I asked what type of card they accept, she replied, "Mastercard, Discover, and AMEX." I said "You don't accept Visa? That's ironic!" She didn't think it was as funny as I did. She coldly said, "Kath-reen, give me your papers". I gave her the papers I'd thrown together the night before (Bad idea. I realized at 9pm that I needed an extra set of passport photos. My mother wasn't pleased) and she checked to see if they were all there.


That was it. Yep. I trekked all the way to Chicago to hand some papers to a disgruntled French woman. I also gave her my passport, which should be mailed back to me with my visa inside any day now.

After that, my mom and I spent the remainder of the day walking, shopping, and eating along the Magnificent Mile. We got a snack from this place called Wow Bao. We got potstickers and bao, which is kind of like a mix between a noodle and gnocchi, stuffed with whichever item you choose (I got teriyaki chicken, my mom got kung pao chicken). It was a neat little place that was slammed at lunchtime.

Since then, I've been sitting on my butt at home. I got my wisdom teeth pulled on Monday, which wasn't nearly as bad as people make it out to be. I've been sleeping 12+ hours a day, eating pudding, applesauce, and soup. I tell myself every day that I'll get around to doing something of importance. But hey, that's what tomorrow's for, right?

Affecteusement,
Katie  

Home for the Holidays (and then some)- Dec 27, 2011

Well, I'm done with first semester! I'm living at home until I leave in February. At first, I wanted to find a job for the couple months I'll be home, but the more I think about it, the better it is that I don't have one. Well, technically, I do have a job. The catering company that my aunt works for was kind enough to agree to schedule me for events, so they call me once in a while asking if I'd like to work certain days. I have the luxury of being able to say yes/no to events, though, so I don't count it as the type of job I had in mind. Without the time commitment of a full-time job, I'll be able to do things that I don't have time for during the school year (get my wisdom teeth out, go to physical therapy, etc.). I'll also be able to go visit my friends at school more often :)

I had my meeting in November with all of the other kids going on my program. The two hours were loaded with basically everything we need to know through June. They invited a girl who went on the same program last year, and she had tons of useful information to tell us. She gave us a lot of cultural tips, a list of places and restaurants we should go to, and plenty of other bits of information that will definitely come in handy. There are about 14 kids on my program. From what I could see, it looks like there will be roughly 11 girls and 3 boys.

I found out at the meeting that since I'll be gone for so long, I need a long-stay visa, which I have to go all the way to Chicago for. I booked a small trip to Chicago the first week of January (yet another instance where I'm glad I don't have a job!).

Host Family
I filled out my host family application and submitted it to the study abroad office. They give you a questionnaire, similar to the one you get when you fill out a housing application in college. I indicated that I'd prefer a family that would like to interact a lot with me (as opposed to a family where I'm more independent), preferably one with kids. I think I'd feel more comfortable in a house with kids instead of an old couple or single person. Additionally, having kids to interact with would probably really help my language skills!

At the meeting they told us that we should be getting our host family information in the first couple weeks of December. After checking my email multiple times a day, hoping to get something, I finally got an e-mail titled "Host Family Information" at the end of December. To my dismay, the e-mail informed me that they are still housing people, and won't be able to tell me where and whom I'll be living with until 7 days before I get there. 7 days!?!? The anticipation alone will drive me crazy. The girl who came to our meeting told us that she got her host family info in early December, and spent the next 2 months e-mailing them back and forth, so by the time she got there, she felt like she already knew them. That would've been nice, but I guess there's nothing I can do but wait.

On a brighter note, I bought myself a new iPod for Christmas. My iPod has facetime / iMessage capabilities, so if you have an iPhone, I'll be able to facetime / text you from France! I'm so excited about it!! Be sure to let me know if you have iMessage, so I can text you while I'm away.

Until then, I'll be here in Troy, bumming around until February.

Affectueusement,
Katie