orientation/day off

ok let me start by saying the food here is amazing and i will probably be mentioning it in every post, so be prepared. they have bread at every meal and who doesn't love that! tonight, we had quiche. so good.
oh and for those of you were might have been concerned, and extra info for those of you who really couldn't care less, my last piece of luggage arrived! super excited about that.
now you may be wondering what i've been up to for the last couple days.. first off. yesterday we had an orientation to give us lots of information about the university of lyon. some of it i already knew because i'd read the booklet we were given. some of it didn't pertain to me. some of it was important. but mannnn that meeting was long. 4 hours! i was definitely not prepared for that. and of course it was all in french. and we only got a 15 minute break after like 3.5 hours. buttttt i did use that break to get an amazing tress a chocolat i believe it was called (kinda like a pain au chocolat aka chocolate croissant). so after that we were pretty tired. we walked around a tiny bit, i got to see where my friend kirstin is living (and her amazing view!) and then i headed home in time for a break before dinner.

today we had a day off. i slept in till 10 which was great, but was kind of confused when i woke up due to the lack of light (i will mention other differences i've run into in a minute). but anyways, my room is essentially like living in an attic (sort of), so i have a skylight instead of a real window. well this skylight has an amazing shade that seriously blocks out all light. well i didnt close it entirely the night before last, so when i woke up this morning i didn't get why it was so dark at first. well that's not entirely true. first i woke up before my alarm and saw light coming through my door. i had no idea what time it was so i was afraid i had accidentally left that light on overnight. a couple minutes later my alarm went off and i suddenly realized what was going on. but anyways. i just wasn't used to such a good shade because my blinds at home let in a lot of light. but moving on. today after lunch with my family i met up with friends at this gorgeous park, le parc de la tete d'or (golden head) (p.s im not putting accents in this blog, too much effort). there were deer that seriously looked like bambi. and we all decided it would be a great place to study if it's nice out. then i made it home for dinner which was fun because i also go to learn a couple words i shouldn't say.. well i didn't really learn them so much as marc-philippe sort of tried to tell me and veronique pointed out that these words were rude. it was great.
but yes. i LOVE it here. seriously.
and ok, i said i'd mention a few differences between here and home.
for one, as i've mentioned before i have to walk up 36 steps to get to my room. i am really not used to this. but also all french homes go up rather than out. but the second set of stairs, seriously, i fear for my life. i walk down them SUPER SLOWLY holding onto the rail at all times because, come on, it's me, and there's definitely that chance i could kill myself falling down the stairs.
next, the buses/trams/metros/whatever only run till about midnight, rather than the 2am that i'm used to in santa cruz. which means my friends and i have already taken a taxi once, and especially since i live further, i'm not sure what that's gonna mean for me in the future as far as going out at night.
finally, the shower is interesting. for one. the shower head doesn't mount to the wall. at least not at my house. for another, the glass doesn't go all the way around, so you just have to be careful not to spray water everywhere.. which isn't that hard, but still. and finally, this house seems to have lots of mirrors, especially in the bathroom. which means they have a wall size mirror (i believe it's a closet) which you get to stare at while you shower... which means i guess i'll really get to know when i lose my tan.
alright i think that's all i've got for now. tomorrow i have my placement test bright and early which means i should probably study a little bit... meh.

p.s. i've figured out how to post pictures, but i can't tell while i'm writing this if they're actually showing up where i want them too.. so just work with me.