Rose from Andy after making it to DC
Cute story that depicts the beginning of my travels on this trip. After staying with me until midnight my last night in the states, Andy left a rose on my Mum’s van at 4 am so I could take it with me and have something nice to look at while I traveled. This poor rose survived the flight to DC, an international flight to Iceland and poked its head from my backpack as I went through securities, lines for everything and a third flight into Paris. From there there was the train ride and walking around the city completely lost. It survived! Resilient little thing. It was very comforting to look at and it was a good topic of conversation. Primarily women, but on one international flight a man sitting next to his wife stopped me when I was getting my bag from the overhead to ask me if it was from someone special and he was impressed when I told him it came all the way from Oregon.
So it made it to the hotel room in France, mostly together and it had even retained its scent. From
First Night in Frace View from the Hotel Room
that hotel room on, it stayed next to my bed as a symbol of home. So things have calmed down from the excitement of not knowing I had a second school and them not knowing they had an assistant- surprise! And now, beginning of my third week living in France, I have a place to live so I can finally stop living out of my suitcase. I spent week #2 staying with two lovely girls about my age in a town called Roubaix outside of Lille. They were lots of fun and I’ve gained two new friends 
Prayers were definitely answered in staying with them and again with having a room in a house in Tourcoing.
It’s been a week since writing that much and I’m coming back to my blog. I’m about to start week 4 and I very much like my new living situation. The rose was my very first decoration in the room and it’s next home will be back in the states- I’m going to have Andy safely bring it back with him when he visits in December.
Final Shot, next stop back to the US
I was really sick for over a week but I’m back on my feet and this past Wednesday I had a really fun outing with some new friends to get this ball coverings for lights. They are very cool. The colors I selected are based off Monet’s waterlilies (when I get back to the states that’s going to be the theme of my room). Below, that’s my room and I’ll be cozy here until the end of April when I get spring break for two weeks and then head home. In case you’re wondering what’s next to my pillows and below the pictures, those would be French verb conjugations 
My French Room (look how cool those ball lights are!)
There are three French university students who live here too and they are good flatmates. I’m very much looking forward to getting to know them better. From the little time I’ve had to spend with them they were very welcoming, kind and patient with me as I expand my vocabulary and work on my pronunciation so we can communicate. I only speak French with them and my landlord so 10 out of 10 on immersion; this is great for me to make improvement. One of my flatmates speaks some English, my first night here she mentioned that she had visited the US once before and wants to study abroad her junior year at the university (yeah!!). When she does I’m going to be on a mission to convince her the wine in the west coast of the US is equal to that in France (for example, I prefer red wine in the Loire Valley, and white wine in the Willamette Valley).
The flat is a 5 minute walk from the metro/tram which I take whenever I want to go to Lille (Tourcoing is 30 minutes north by metro), a 10 minute walk to Marie Curie (one of my schools) and a 40 minute walk (I timed it on Friday, it was such a beautiful day) to my other school, Lucie Aubrac. For the latter I will typically use the bus. I’m going to start going to service in the beautiful
View from my bathroom, it's just above the garden
cathedral in town to hear the acoustics and listen to the language, but writing about the cathedral, that’s a different post to come. I watched my first French movie in a French cinema yesterday. I loved it!! It was super cute. I’m hooked on the music now. “Un monstre à Paris,” you can see a clip here.
Garden View from Outside Bathroom Window
