September 21st, 2009

Yes, I know. Didn’t I already write an entry for this date? Well, there was much more that happened after I made it to Lyon.

Guillaume drives us back into the city to his apartment. On the way he begins to tell me that he had met a girl from California who I knew. I had no idea who he could possibly be talking about. Turns out that a girl I knew in high school, who was actually in my French class, is studying in Lyon for the year (I think). Again, small world. I say small world because the week before I left, I hosted a student from Lyon who is going to UCR for the year – from the same school Guillaume came from.

Also, Guillaume asked me how tired I am since there was a soirée taking place at a bar for the 1st year students in l’IEP (Institute d’Études Politiques). I figured, why not? I had nothing to lose – except sleep, but I’m sure you all know the saying to counter that.

So, we get to his apartment and start to get ready. After showering and getting dressed, we decide to go find a place to eat. Funny thing was that I was expecting to go out and get some French cuisine (since I am in France) but instead we try this small Chinese restaurant. The place was good and cheap – our bill came out to be 10 euro.

We then start our trek to the bar. We walked all along the Rhone (one of the 2 rivers in Lyon) accompanied by each other and our Amsterdam Maximators (11.6 % Alc Beers = 2,5 euros). I forgot that you could drink on the street in France, and in Europe for the most part. At first, I was a little paranoid, but I got over it quick. I knew I was back in France but this was probably the moment when I realized, I am not in the States anymore and about to try to get accustomed to the French lifestyle. Actually, there were plenty of moments that only added to this feeling.

We get to the bar and all the introductions begin. I can’t tell you who was who since there were way too many names to remember in such a small amount of time. I was able, however, to carry on short and simple conversations with people, which was a big deal for me. Considering I had been in the country for less than 5 hours, I was able to talk to the natives. It was good to start meeting the people since I knew I would be seeing them a lot. Guillaume continues to be the social butterfly – just like in Riverside only more “au natural” being in his home country. There were a couple of times when he disappeared and left me alone with his friends, but it was cool. One of his friends, Maxime, who I had already talked to once in Riverside on Skype, bought us drinks and then “taught” me a French game. I wouldn’t call it a game since it involved taking the cylindrical ice cubes from the bucket holding the rosé bottle, placing it on the table, and smashing it with your forehead. Humor and fun are not the same in France. I couldn’t refuse to do it, as stupid as it was, because I figured: “if this is what they do for fun, then why not?”. It wasn’t like I had not done anything as stupid in Riverside. Only now, I’m typing this with a sore forehead.

So the night went on and we leave the bar at midnight. We decide to walk a girl home, so we proceed to the metro to catch the last one. I knew very well that I had to buy a ticket, but Guillaume insisted on me running through the gates with someone else and pushes me through. I was afraid. I knew that I would be fined if they checked for tickets and I can’t afford to be paying tickets for stupid things. But, I made it on the metro ride without being checked. We leave the metro and then get on the tram, again, without a ticket. Only this time, as the doors were closing, we see the controllers hop on and begin checking for tickets. We were on the other end of the tram so we had time to figure something out. All I was ready to do was to not speak French and apologize for not understanding what to do – I was ready to pull the American card. Luckily, Guillaume had 2 unused tickets of which he was able to hand me one before the controller got to me. I didn’t say a word while Guillaume explained that I was an American and didn’t know what to do. I validated the ticket and was home free. Phew!

We exit the tram and finally get back to Guillaume’s apartment at 1 am. We get ready for bed and pass out. Or at least, I did since I could not believe I had already gone out on my first night.

Overall, it has been a great start. I’m at Guillaume’s waiting for him to come back from class so that I can start looking for an apartment, get a cell phone, turn in my paper work, etc, etc.

There is much to do, but I’m sure I’ll take care of it all.