On the flight from Memphis to Chicago, I slept most of the way; once we landed, we had to rush to our connecting flight to Brussels. The Chicago airport was really cool- there was a long hall of multicolored lights. We got on the plane, and while Daniel, Michele, and Margaret were in a row in front of me, I had to sit by an older guy who turned out to be drunk and continued to drink throughout the flight. Which was fantastic because our plane was stuck on the runway for an hour, and he kept talking and talking (and saying socially inappropriate things too.) But Obama was in Chicago that day, and we all got to see Air Force One outside. Once we took off, I studied my grammar some, but mostly I watched the Rachel Zoe Project- the same four episodes over and over and over again. There was something comforting about it, and it didn't require my full concentration as I studied. I slept for maybe 45 minutes top. My blanket was in drunk old man's space, and I wasn't about to wake him up (so happy he fell asleep) to retrieve it. But I was freezing, and finally asked for another one. The food wasn't bad at all. I had the chicken. The last few hours of the flight, I read my Bible and prayed. I had bought a cheap ESV and wrote in the back all the things I was praying about, the things going on in my life. I hope throughout this trip to keep writing in it so I can look back and see how God acted throughout this month.
We finally arrived at Brussels at about 10 am, and after I got my passport stamped, it was time to retrieve my barely under the weight limit suitcase. I had been dreading carrying my backpack, purse, and suitcase, and that dread was confirmed once I had to lift it into the two trains necessary to get to Lille. It was so, so heavy, and I almost fell every time (plus my foot cramped always cramped up at just that moment; so painful). The second train was the TGV, which was super confusing. Even Dr. Thompson wasn't sure we were in the right place, and worse, Michele, Daniel, and I were in a car separate from the rest, and we had the hardest time finding our seat. I worried the whole 45 min ride that I had gotten on the wrong train. Daniel somehow got separated from us, and it wasn't until the Lille station and about 20 minutes of searching for him that we finally found him. A person from the summer program met us at the train station, and we took the bus to campus. Once at the campus, we got our room keys, and again, I had to pull my suitcase across gravel and up staircases- SO painful. An intern- Guillemette (who is a premed student who lives in our building) took us to the Albert LeGrand building. I have my own room, and as soon as I got settled, I tried to make it feel more homey by carefully unpacking everything so I wouldn't live out of a suitcase. The bathroom situation is...interesting. It's communal, unisex, with toilet stalls on one side and shower stalls on the other. Luckily it is a largely female floor, but I'm still gonna have to get used to it.
We all struggled to stay awake for dinner, which was in the university dining hall. It was surprisingly good (I got quiche and a brownie), and then I rushed home and showered (I was so happy to be wash off). The problem has been sleep. I haven't had any. Even though I'm exhausted, my body will just not shut down. I woke up at 4 am the first day, and I don't know what I would do without internet connection. It's been surprisingly- I could call my mom through an app on my phone; we even video chatted! I also messaged several of my friends, who have been so good to keep checking on me. As I write, homesickness has crept in a little (or a lil bit as we would say at church), but that I have people facebook messaging me and texting me, makes me feel so, so much less lonely. Thank God for technology and family and friends.
Yesterday, we had orientation in the morning, and in the afternoon we had our placement exam. I bombed the listening part; I was still so tired and was not prepared for such quick dialogue. But I felt much better about the grammar and writing section, and surprisingly, the oral exam went very well. The man who tested me said I belonged in the highest group- made me feel much better after such a stressful beginning of the test. It seems most of the students here are just beginners, so I'll be interested to see who else is in my group. After the exam, I did nothing but walk- FOR HOURS. Exploring the city with Michele, getting lost, finding the beautiful park, getting lost again...luckily the sun came out yesterday, which made everything seem more hopeful. The day we arrived it was really gray and cold.
We ate dinner at the university again, and after that, Dr. Thompson asked me to walk with him to the Lille train station to pick up Josh (who is a philosophy grad student from Memphis whose flight got delayed several times). It was about a 20 minute walk, and once we got there, Josh was nowhere to be found. I'm still not sure if anybody has heard from him, but the walk did allow me to see downtown Lille in person. It's gorgeous. I really love this city, and after getting lost so many times, I feel I'm starting to make sense of the layout. Even though I had maybe 5 hours of sleep for like three days, I STILL could not sleep last night (the time difference allowed me to text friends to keep me company- so happy about that!). I finally fell asleep at around 3 am and woke up at 9:30. Ok, now it's time to start the day.
