This is Bridgett. She's a french cat. Her and Sheffield like to sleep on my pillow when im not there, sit in the sink when i brush my teeth and claw at my door like little monsters when im sleeping. She's named after bridgett jones.

Today is the start of my third day here in dunkerque and so far it is wonderful. I am down to no more clean clothes and will faire the linge later on today. I haven't had any good news about my bag yet, but am still trying to stay positive and keep my fingers crossed that they will find it. We can put a man on the moon and do tons of "impossible" things but we can't keep track of bags? oh merde.

Virginie is the teacher that Im staying with and she's absolutely great. Her and her friends have been so welcoming to me, it is very touching. I arrived with so little and even before I got here, she had found so much stuff for my apartment. Like a stove. and a fridge...because it didnt even have that. And through all the teachers and friends i am pretty much set. pillows blankets sofas tables chairs dishes towels moroccan poufs! for being so worried about having to furnish my own apartment, i really have yet to do anything for it. i did get to see it yesterday. and its huge. but old. the german assistants from a few years back completely covered the walls and ceiling of the bathroom (which is just the toilet in a little closet...the rest is separate) with pages ripped from fashion magazines. the kitchen is small, the living room huge, and i even have a spare room. for an office. or guests! because they found me a pull out couch. it is not the perfect situation, but it will be perfect for the next 9 months.

all the teachers are very nice, they have planned to help me move in on wednesday afternoon and want to make a little party out of it. they are going to clean it and help me move things and set up.

just in a few days here i feel like my french has improved immensely! i understand much more than i thought i would and can respond and talk just like a normal person for the most part. there are some times when i have no idea how to say it in french, and i just switch to english. They all understand why i am here, to learn french. So they try to speak to me in french as much as possible. but as much as i am a francophile, a lot of them are even bigger anglophiles. so they test out their english on me and we have an agreement to correct eachother if we say anything stupid or wrong. i already taught them about the meaning of the word "tipsy" and what SADD is. And puget sound.

oh la la

arrived in Paris after a long day of travel and open mouth sleeping on the plane. After yet another maybe mishap (no one to pick me up at the train station when i arrive in st pol, and no furniture in my appartment but half of that taken care of) we finally left yesterday afternoon. After a short lay-over in Iceland (im pretty sure I should learn icelandic) we arrived at l'aeroport Charles de Gaulle this afternoon. Waited for our baggage. Three of our bags came right in a row followed by....not my last bag. Waited around. No more bags came after a while. Went to the baggage counter. Waited for the "oversized" bag trolly to be brought around but it wasnt there either. So, we have concluded that my bag stayed in iceland, that it didnt make the connection and that i will have to wait until tomorrow afternoon when the next flight from iceland comes in. zut zut zut. If it doesn't, then i will have 4 pairs of undies to last me 8 months. and 5 shirts. and no socks.

trying to stay on the bright side of things, many people have assured me that my bag will catch up to me. i can only hope. for now, i am in paris. sitting by the canal on the deck of my hostel. the sun is setting and the bell is tolling 7:30. people are playing petanque along the canal. and i am in paris. our hostel smells like disinfectant and the street reeks of pee, but it is absolutely beautiful.

more prête than before

2 days away from my departure and I am almost ready. Bags are just about packed and I am working on fitting the past 22 years of my life into my childhood closet. Its like real-life tetris. A sample of things that I have packed: wine opener, two jars of peanutbutter, 40+ pairs of undies and my favorite tea mug. After a small wrench getting thrown into my plans (my travelling partner had a bag stolen, and therefore had no more passport or visa...) I am well on my way to France.

I will miss my family, my friends and my home. But know that it is not a permanent good-bye, but just a see you later.

So as the french say:

à bientôt! (that means see you later)
katie