So Apparently . . .

I am a novelty. A real life American, right here in Bruges! Whatever will anyone do? It has been a bit strange meeting people because a lot of them seem to have heard of me already. There are four Americans this year and no one can understand why on earth we would come here to study Europe. I did not realize how difference this would be from my experience in France, although I should have. In France, no one knew I was American because, as a general rule in Paris and beyond, one does not make eye contact, speak to, or sneeze in the general direction of someone one does not already know. But here, the top four questions are : 1. What is your name? 2. What country are you from? 3. What program are you in? and 4. What residence are you staying in? So from the beginning, it is obvious that I am not even close to being European. I LOVE IT. Although I am a bit disappointing to those who want a rousingly positive report on President Obama and his "European" healthcare plan. Fear not, I have never been and will never be ashamed to be a republican. It just makes for more interesting conversations with new friends. Ah, ok, onto a little less of a hot topic. I am certain I will have the opportunity to continually explain my extremely foreign political views to my fellow students throughout the year. Should be fun. :)

In other news, today was the first day of class. And I must say, after 6 hours of lecture, I can tell that being back in school is going to be an adjustment. I believe I took 15 pages of notes today. I can promise I will be needing a few more pens and notebooks. But Professor Lord was highly energetic and the course was a great review.

I am still settling in to my new home. I can finally get here without getting lost; and have discovered that Biskajer (my residence), although smoke ridden, is by far the best when it comes to location and socializing. I do believe it will be the place to be this year.

I went to Fnac today to buy a printer. I had seen one there last week for 35 Euros. I should have kept my big mouth shut about it because when I got there, the last two were going home with Mario and Nasia. It was ok because they sold me the display. The only problem is, when they boxed it up for me, they failed to include that tiny insignificant power cord that was supposed to come with it. So I have just begun to set it up to print out my readings for tomorrow and I cannot print a darn thing. I suppose it is back to Fnac tomorrow to see if they can dig one out of the back for me. So cross your fingers please! I really do not want to have to pay .05 centimes to print every page I need. This will be a wise investment as long as I can acquire all necessary parts in the near future.

Sorry this post is so long, I will try and wrap it up. I am looking forward to a relaxing weekend full of a lot of sleep, reading, and more sleep. It has been the longest week of my life, but I finally have a good feeling about the year ahead. Cheers!