day 1 addendum

(don't worry, the amount i write will get less and less as the days go on, i promise.)

showering was an interesting experience. the bathroom (which contains just a sink and shower, since there is another room which contains only the toilet) IS SMALL. like 4x4. maybe. the shower is attached via a flexible gooseneck thing (like in AV) except there's no place to hang it up. so you just hold it over your head when you need to and put it on the floor when you don't.

i was initially a little dismayed that i can't leave any of my stuff in the bathroom ("comme il est très petit chez moi" dit madame), especially since she has about 20 bottles and jars that she's not even using on the counter, but obviously in this culture that's what's considered correct and that's how rights are distributed. since she lives there, she gets all the counter space. and it's really not a big deal to have to carry in my shower + toilette stuff every time. :p

my dad's family will be glad to know that she is jewish.
JSA minna (and obvi me) will be glad to know that she and her son appreciate japanese culture :) there's a couple japanese artifacts in the living room. her son studied japanese and lived there. i'm still jealous of the girls with the japanese host family though. :p

because i'm only on the second floor, i hear people passing in the street speaking french all the time. men, boys, girls, teenagers, old ladies, etc. it's cool. :) :) i'm glad it's a pretty quiet neighborhood.

the sound of the sirens is so quintessentially european. it reminds me that i'm here. sometimes it's a tritone but sometimes it's a more pleasing interval like a minor third, always slightly out of tune due to the doppler effect.

the washing machine is in the (teeny tiny) kitchen. everything is line-dried, so my towel was hard and had no scent. it was interesting. i'm glad she gave me a towel <3 cause i forgot one.

that's about all i can think of for now. orientation tomorrow! life is gonna GET CRAZY soon!