I’ll start with the good stuff first.

Although we may not have been the first to bring beer pong to Europe, we did teach everyone here how to play. It was a good night to say the least. I had a pretty good time in Avignon and Cannes. It was a lot of fun, it was nice to get back on the beach. It reminded me a lot of Miami Beach in Florida and how much I miss the ocean. We ate near the sea and the food was really amazing. We had a few bottles of Chardonnay that went great with my dinner. We saw a ton of amazing yachts since there was a boat show going on. I had more time to bond with everyone in the group, and although it’s harder to do everything as a group I still think we were able to split up and still spend time with everyone. There were a lot of pictures taken and I’m sure they will make it up online once I get a chance. The classes we are taking now are pretty easy and that helps the stress level.

Now with the bad stuff.

I love the French, 2+ hour lunches, laid back and relaxed, but I absolutely hate the way they do things. It seems like everything that is “taken care of” is incomplete or half ass’ed. I like to know what is going on, but there are major communication issues. Not only a language barrier but also in process. For example, we aren’t told before hand how much something is going to cost and we are expected to pay for it. In the U.S. you are always told ahead of time how much something is going to cost and if it is mandatory. If we had been told ahead of time what this is all going to cost, and what is required of us, then we would be able to transition more comfortably. This applies to everything from our apartments, bank accounts, metro cards, other transportation options, and our little weekend trips. I’m not sure exactly where the breakdown happens in how and when it gets to us, but there is a major problem here. One of the things that I’m learning is to stay away from doing business with the French. It takes a really long time to do anything, the level of service has always been lower then what we expected, and it seems like they undercut us on all of our requirements. 20+ people using one bathroom is pretty tight, and at that same hostel l I don’t think they had enough beds to house all of us. I’m not sure though, it’s still really early in the program. After seeing the parties and boat show, I know the French are capable of putting out. Maybe it is our administration? Maybe it’s bad luck and we just keep getting screwed? Maybe it’s something else? If we switched roles and I was the host I would be extremely embarrassed. I mean you would think with all the problems we are having they would be worried about making such a bad impression. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not blaming anyone specifically because I don’t know who’s at fault or if anyone is at all. For the French guys in the program, they are awesome. They have done more then some of my better friends to make my stay livable. In any case France has until December to change my mind.

I STILL don’t have hot water, and it’s been a good two weeks so far. I’ve told everyone I could about it and it somehow just seems to be slipping through the cracks or something. I could tell someone was in over the weekend because my bathroom was a mess when I got back from Cannes. I should have taken some pictures but I wasn’t expecting it and that made it stressful. I have everything valuable secured or hidden pretty well but it’s still a little unnerving.

There are several more problems here that I will go into more detail later, but it’s late and I’m depressed about the passing of Colin Mcrae. I also have class in the morning. Good thing the classes here are a joke or I might actually have to do some work.