Deuxième semaine

Bonjour,

A lot has happened in the first weekend and second week! I finally have my webcam for skype (stephen.carnagua), and I'll probably buy a microphone tomorrow. I thought I was getting a mic with the camera, but I didn't. So after I get that, the last major step I'll have to take to finish getting settled is to be able to access the money I put in the bank a week ago! You see, French banks are quite different from American banks, I'm learning. And after you open an account, you have to wait a week to get your debit card, which is the only way to withdraw money. And after you get your debit card, you have to wait to get your PIN number, not to be confused with the "secret code" they give you that is only good for getting your information online and will cause the ATM machine to eat your card if you enter that instead of the right PIN three times. So, nine days after getting here, I have 10 (borrowed) Euro left and my Mastercard. I still can't get the money from my stipend I got a week ago. My advice to anyone staying in France is to bring a good credit card and take cash overseas. If you want to eat the first week you're there, don't put money in the bank.

I've been talking to too many Americans. Hopefully I'll do something fun (and cheap!) this weekend with a mix of people. Now that all the Germans know each other pretty well, they're speaking in German a lot. And then they talk in English. Occasionally, they'll speak in French, but I really need to make some more French friends and hang out with the people who are willing to commit. If I'm only speaking French 1/3 or 1/4 of the time I'm talking, I'm wasting my time. Don't get me wrong; I'm not worried yet. There's still plenty of time. I'm just a little concerned because people are speaking more English instead of less now that we've been here for a week.

Last weekend was Amiens' medieval festival. There was a big market (which I had no money for :( ), and a big fireworks show Saturday night set to techno music. That might be the best show I've ever seen, although I don't remember the fireworks I saw in Disney World six or seven years ago too well. It was a lot for a town this size. I keep thinking in terms of "what if Fort Wayne was like this?" because that's about what it's relative size is (there are about 100,000 people in Amiens). Also Saturday night was the lighting of the cathedral. It was amazing! I've never seen anything like it. I'll describe the cathedral later, when I spend a day there, but for now it's enough to know that there is incredible detail on the outside. Hundreds of human figures and other shapes are carved into the three arches at the front, and everything was lit up in individual colors from a projector about 40 yards away. Imagine a sculpture in color--it looked like every single shape on this cathedral had been painted in vibrant colors.

What else have I done? I bought French groceries. It was really fun to choose new things to try. I registered for insurance and had a lot of confusion about mutuelle until I realized that they were trying to get me to buy extra insurance so there was no co-pay, and it wasn't something I needed to do. I think I know how to register for classes now. I'm going to go to every single class I might be interested in next week, when courses start, and then I register. That's just what the exchange students are doing here. Oh, I'm getting money that Ball State owes me, instead of paying them $2700. That was an exciting discovery. I learned in class today that about 3/4 of students in Europe starts learning English when they're six or seven or eight years old (and often another language soon after). We Americans are at such a disadvantage! Oh well. I'm trying.

A bientot,
Stephen

P.S. Send me something!

M. Stephen Carnagua
Res. Du Bailly Ouest
Ch. 454, Bat. D
Av. Paul Claudel
Amiens, 80025
France