April 21st, 2007
It was a long trip to Lyon, but it went well. I bussed from Anmore to YVR (about 2 hours), wiated around for my flight for about an hour, flew for the 8 hours to London, waited at heathrow for about an hour, and then flew to Lyon in about an hour and a half. I left my house at about 4 in the afternoon, and got to Lyon at about 2 in the afternoon local time. I can't do the math, but basically it felt like I was up for a long time. I think this was a good thing though. I didn't get a lot of sleep on the plane, so when I slept really well that night, and as a result I wasn't jet-lagged much at all the next day. I adjusted pretty well.
Like I said, the trip went well in general too. I made a few mistakes (I forgot I had a bike tool in my carry-on, and so I had to run to a 7 11 in the mall to mail it back home--Mom, you can expect a package in the mail soon :)) And I walked around YVR for about 20 minutes looking for a washroom when it turned out there was one beside me when I started looking (that was a little embarassing) but there wasn't much else that happened. On the plane I sat beside a really nice woman named Maurine, who was going to visit her son in Copenhagen who was on exchange. On the other side of me was a man that said nothing the entire trip, declined his dinner (using hand gestures), and only read magazines titled "Mac User." Maybe it was best we didn't speak.
The first meal in france was excellent. Allen made couscous, and we had fresh salad, fresh bread, and amazing cheese. It turns out that most of the meals I would have in france would be similar (they would all have bread and cheese, and usually salad), which is excellent because the bread and cheese is amazing here. While we were washing the dishes, Allen's friend Nicholas (from Sweden) invited us to a party downstairs. Allen lives in a student residence, and so the rooms are very small. The party was in a room that was as small as Allen's room, but had about 30 people in it, so it was quite a trick to even get in the door. It was here I was introduced to the "Bisou" (the two kisses on the cheek thing). It was a little weird at first--I wasn't prepared for people you just met coming so close to my face. It was even more awkward because I didn't know which side you were supposed to do first, or where to look, or any of that. I'm much better at it now though, and I think it is something that should be imported to Canada.
I met a bunch of people at the party, most of whom I don't remember now. I did meet Carlos there though, Allen's roommate. I was tired so we left early.
That was pretty much my first day. I'll write some more soon, when I get aound to it :).
