Weather update...still 80 degrees and gorgeous here! Cools down a bit at night but I am wondering when and if the weather will cool down for good. I've gotten mixed opinions from the locals but from what I'm understanding it doesn't get much colder than 60 degrees in the winter. But anyways some updates on what I've been up to lately...
This weekend we travelled into Italy! On Fridays there is a giant market in Ventimiglia where you can but everything from clothes to shoes to cheeses and sausages. It is only an hour and twenty minute train ride away from us (at the end of our train line) so we decided it would be a good day trip to take as everyone talks about the market. We left around 9 am and got back around 3. Not bad for travelling between countries! The market was really cool and the town is right on the Italian coast. Ventimiglia was very cute and pittoresque, not unlike the area I am in right now in France. Got some interesting items, a couple of things for Nick and a bag for me (loveee italian leather). I hope I have the chance to go back because there was so much there and some great gifts to bring home to people. Anyways once we finished up at the market we went to a yummy place for lunch, I got gnocchi and the girls got pizza and on the way back to the train we all got cannoli's. We were able to cram some of the best things about Italy into one day; leather, pizza, gnocchi's and cannoli's!
Classes have been going decently. Three hours is a long time to sit through a class, especially one entitled "Production and Operations Management", it just sounds dry doesn't it? I have Midterms over the next three weeks, two this tuesday, one next week and another the week after that. Hopefully they should all go well. I had a bad experience with my first Finance Quiz. The teacher only gave us 30 minutes to complete this very complicated quiz. All four American's in the class did not get a chance to finish, but we weren't worried because there was no way anyone in the class could have in the time restrictions. WRONG...all the European students had been given the answers by friends in a previous class (as we found out by one of them later) and had not only finished but all had 100's. Now the teacher should have been suspicous because as I referred to in my earlier post we are the ONLY ones who pay attention, he basically only teaches to us. He said we didn't do well because the other students were used to his quizzes and teaching style but in the next minute or so he was telling us how his USB drive with our Midterm exam on it had been stolen from his office (apparently it happens all the time by students looking to gain an edge on the exam) sigh. In the US there are such extreme measures to prevent against cheating that none of us can comprehend this situation but apparently it is very common. Hopefully the midterm will go better in which the students are required to show the workings for each problem. Cross your fingers for me.
My 21st birthday has come and gone here in France. My friends were very sweet and got me pastries and some flowers but it was hard thinking about the 21st birthday I would have had in the States with all of my closest friends and being able to talk to my family. I've had such a great time here but my birthday was a little lonely. Also I have a little bit of a cold which has been plaguing me for a few days so really wasn't up for any adventures. However next weekend I am going to Geneva Switzerland so that should be a great time. There are six girls going and I'm sure I'll have more stories to tell next week. Lots of trips planned, Florence, Venice, Milan, Cinqueterre, London, Paris, Avignon, Lyon and hopefully one more to be disclosed at a later date. Thats all for now...
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