Real Classes

Well today was my first day of real classes & after last week I didn’t expect anything. But before I went to class I had some errands to run. I rode the Metro like I do everyday to school. I guess a lot of the newness has worn off because I started to notice things like homeless people. They just get on the train & start playing the accordion & sending their kid around to collect the money. In case you didn’t know, the accordion is really loud on the train. It’s weird but at least they are trying to work for their money. The other day a lady just busted out singing. I don’t know if I’ll ever get used to it but there are a lot of weird people on the train. Yesterday I saw a bot that had red lip gloss on. He got on the train & counted the number of steps long the car was & then stood by the end of the car for a minute just checking the wall out. Then he walked by the door & started writing down notes. Then he got off the train where I had to switch & I saw him again on the other train. He did the same thing. Then he got off the train at the stops & watched all of the people get off & then he would get back on the train again. I would have taken a picture of him because he was worthy of it but I was afraid of him. He was weird. I am glad it stops running at midnight because I can’t image what it would be like.
I was on my way to school early because I wanted to see if I had made it into my Brand Management class. We had to write a motivation letter to the teacher. Well surprise surprise, my name wasn’t on the list. The teacher told the secretary that she accepted everybody that sent her an e-mal. I sent mine on Sept 1st. Apparently I sent it too early. Again I was too prepared for this place. Well class wasn’t until 5:30 so I had other things to do. Today was the day I was going to drop off my paperwork for some French Government Assistance it’s called the CAF. I went to the counselors at school to help me fill out all of the paperwork so I had it all ready when I went because it’s all in French. Well, after all of the continuous problems I have had I don’t know why I thought that was a good idea but that’s what happened. So I met Stephanie at school & we walked there. It wasn’t far but we didn’t really know where we were going but we made it. So we get in & there are tons of people everywhere. There was a big line by the door so we got in it. That’s what you do here is stand in line & pray that they don’t cut it off before you get up to the front. Well today was my day! We made it to the front of the line & gave the lady our documents & she gave us tickets for another line. There were 36 people in front of us in the 2nd line. That’s what our tickets said. It went by pretty quickly. It gave us a chance to people watch. The people there didn’t look all crazy like the social services office in Greensboro. We were praying for a nice person who spoke a little bit of English at the counter. They called my number first & my lady, #27 ROCKED!!! It turns out that I didn’t have all of the papers that I needed but she found what I was missing & filled them out for me. Then Stephanie came to my window because she didn’t have the right papers either but her lady just gave them to her & turned away. My lady helped her fill hers out too. Well apparently we both qualify & each of us is getting 164 Euros a month deposited into our French bank accounts courtesy of the French Government. MERCI! That was one of the best experiences I have had since I have been here in France! It’s about time. I celebrated with a McFlurry at McDonalds!
After all of that excitement it was time for class. It really must have been my day because class turned out to be a nice surprise. I am actually going to learn something & something useful at that! I will be working on a personal branding project for the end of the semester. There are many parts that are involved that we will find out during the semester. I am looking forward to it. The teacher speaks really good English too. Also helpful!