Winter is here!

Looking back, I have decided to change my mind about some of the opinions/feelings I have had since being in France.

For one, after yesterday, my first real day of snow in Lyon, I decided that I did indeed like snow and would love to have a white winter. I take this back a little bit. Not entirely. But a little bit. If there shall be snow, then it means it needs to be really cold.. and it's not even December yet... so I am thinking I made my decision about loving snow a little prematurely. On the other hand, I prefer snow to rain. With rain, not only am I cold, but I am wet too. I have to carry my umbrella everywhere, and my arm starts to get tired from holding it up all day. With snow at least, you are dry! .. or at least mostly dry. Plus it is a whole new experience for me, which makes it exciting as well. Rain is just annoying.
But welcome to winter! The snow has barely started, and I am curious how much Lyon will really get.

oh and here are a few pictures to show my friends and me enjoying our first bit of snow! (I swear it is snowing in the pictures, you just can't entirely tell :/)

that would be a snowflake. i was surprised by the detail you could see in some of them!

and i'm not sure if everyone can see it, but there is also a video of me tagged on facebook.

What else has changed? A couple weekends ago (I think..), my host parents hosted a dinner party that I wasn't really invited to. Instead, they made sure I ate before the guests arrived, and I hung out in my room for the rest of the night doing who knows what because I didn't have any plans with friends and was pretty tired. At the time, I was a little hurt that I hadn't been included. But now, I realize (and I could be making this up entirely.. but hey, it makes me feel better), my host parents might have been protecting me. Tonight, they had their neighbors over for aperitifs because at least one of them is newish to the neighborhood. Again, I wasn't really invited. I was less bothered this time to start off though because I was actually focusing on studying, so I didn't really mind staying in my room (if I am able to focus on studying, it's a pretty good idea that I just keep at it for awhile until the focus wears off.. because it doesn't happen often). I did get called downstairs eventually to make sure I ate though. I said hi to the guests and then went to eat in the kitchen. They all continued their conversations. It was at this point that I realized I was kind of glad to have been relieved from this party. Everyone was talking on top of each other and speaking really fast (which is I'm sure is what dinner/aperitif parties at home sound like) and even though I was in the other room, I could tell that if I had been with them, I would never have been able to keep up with the conversation. Sure, I would have been fine if someone chose to speak to me one on one, but what probably would have happened is that I would have been sitting downstairs smiling wishing I could just go upstairs anyways.

And I almost forgot! I promised I would tell you about Harry Potter. After seeing the first part of book seven on screen, I really want to reread it again before I see the final installment. I had forgotten a lot, but upon seeing certain scenes remembered aspects of the book. I have to say it was a MAJOR improvement on the sixth movie which I really hated. It might possibly be the only movie I see in theaters while I am in Lyon (I would rather spend my money plane/train tickets than see a bunch of movies I could rent for cheaper when I get home), but I was definitely glad I chose to go. I mean, come on, I may not like all of the Harry Potter movies, but it will see EVERY SINGLE one in theaters. Also, the movie theater in Lyon was super nice. The seats were comfy, and the theater was warm. And apparently all of them are like that! I was very impressed.

I also realized I have been here for a little over 3 months now. It sounds kind of wierd to say it to be honest. And some of my friends will be heading home a month(ish) from now. Time passes pretty fast here, but I think this next month is going to pass fastest of all. What with the stress of some finals,  the sad thought of some people leaving Lyon, and the excitement for my winter travels, the new year is going to be here before I know it.