Day One

So here we are on day one of my exciting trip to Paris! :D I guess I will just start at the beginning of my trip here. After saying goodbye to my family, Brandon took me to the airport. Brandon is my boyfriend for anyone who might not know. Here's a pic:
So, he took me to the airport in time for me to get through security and everything. However, I learned once I got there that my flight originally scheduled for 5:50 got bumped back to 8:40. Apparently this was largely due to a fuel strike that was taking place in Paris yesterday. We ended up not even boarding the plane till 10:00 due to some complication with the emergency lighting. Anyway, we finally left, and by then we were all very tired. After the (somewhat ghastly) airplane dinner, and a screening of Alice in Wonderland, we all slept for a good long while. I have trouble sleeping in a sitting position, so I didn't get too much sleep, plus the person behind me wasn't happy with my chair being tilted back at all and kept pushing at it. We were served breakfast whenever they chose that should be, I think it was about 4:00 AM in Atlanta. We landed shortly after.

Customs took all of 2 minutes, but baggage claim took a bit longer. Also, I learned a lesson today: Don't shirk on the quality of luggage, they will break in-flight and make it hard for you later. One of the wheels on my suitcase is completely missing now, makes it more of a drag than a roll.
We took a giant bus into Paris. I'm not sure how long it took since I fell asleep. When I woke up there were these beautiful Victorian-style buildings everywhere.
We checked into the MIJE, where we are staying and got a rundown of the place from Dr. Gall, one of our professors. We picked our rooms ourselves, there were two three-person ones and a 7-person one. A couple of us got lost in the maze of the MIJE (with our 70+ lbs of luggage no less) so we got last pick, but I think I got the best room. It's comfortable, and it has everything I need. But most important of all, it has INTERNET!!!!! :D I'm so grateful to all the cosmic forces that were working in my favor towards that end. It has made my existence here so much better!

So that's all I have for right now. Tomorrow we have our first day of class which I admit I'm not looking forward to 100%. But it should be fun nevertheless. Love to everybody out there!
Au revoir!
-Austin