What? Tease!

Hey guys! I'm back from my bajillion day long vacation, feelin' all refreshed and lookin' all tan (read as, "darker than I've ever been in my life") and what not. I've been travelling for 2 weeks none stop, pretty much, and, needless to say, I've got a lot to talk about and even more pictures to show. I'm pretty sure I have upwards of 300 pictures from Greece and Germany, and since I definitely can't do all of those in one post here's what the plan's gonna be:

1. Easter post tomorrow
2. Germany post Monday or Tuesday
3. Greece post Wednesday or Friday

Here's a little teaser so you know what you're in for:


The Japanese Garden at Homburg


Oia, Santorini, Greece

Be jealous :p

Title change!

So, I've changed the title of this thang from Yours truly, xox to Gauffre-a-gogo because
1: I always thought "Yours truly, xox" was REALLY corny
2: My friend has decided that Belgium shall be referred to as "Waffle-a-gogo Land" (it's a long story), but in Belgium, waffles are called "gauffres" (gohfr) and "Gauffre-a-gogo" sounds better than "Waffle-a-gogo" because of the alliteration

So that's that! I might change the layout while I'm at it. Not really fond of the green birds, man.

I've finally gotten EVERYTHING in the mail to the Consulate General of Waffle-a-gogo Land (except the Almighty Background Check)! This is super exciting for me, because that business was my main cause of stress about all of this. I did a lot of running around on Friday; I went to the Study Abroad office (which is on the 4th floor and Clemson stairs are WICKED; srsly those things are VERTICAL) and the university post office, but they only accept cash or checks there and I never have cash, so I had to walk/run downtown to the city post office (which closes at 4) so I could express mail everything to Atlanta. I definitely had a nightmare last night that I left out my passport and found it in a sale bin in the mall, only it turned out that it wasn't my passport, it was somebody else's and then I was relieved. In the same dream, I bought a watch whose face looked like a record player. I really want to find that watch now and actually buy it, because it was really cool.

It's actual exam week, so I'm INFINITELY perkier than I was last post (can't you tell?) because the anticipation is ALWAYS worse than the actual event. Now if I only I could realize this about airplanes, we would be golden.

I'm starting to get nervous/excited about all this biznass. I'm nervous 1: because I hate airplanes, and 2: because I'm starting to worry about communication. Don't get me wrong, I speak French (rather well, I might add) and it's good that I have such a strong accent (so say my professors, anyway), but I've come to learn that my accent is a Parisian accent, and sometimes, like in English, I get REALLY southern because I put a lot of emphasis on the last syllable (yup; they have different accents just like we do!), and Parisian accent ≠ southern French accent ≠ Belgian accent. WHAT IF THEY CAN'T UNDERSTAND ME AND MY PARISIAN/SOUTH CAROLINIAN SELF?

And I know y'all are probably all thinking, "Fool, they speak ENGLISH in Europe too!" but I don't WANT to speak English. What's the point of me even going abroad if I'm going to speak English the whole time? I'm one of those weird Americans that actually sees a benefit in learning a language that isn't English, and that would actually like to use said language if I'm going to go through the trouble of learning it in the first place.

I'm sure I'm just being silly.

Owl humor, only I'm not laughing.

Technically this is my second post for today. That's intense.

The good news is, I got everything done last night that I needed done for today EXCEPT (of course there's an except) the kanji assessment for Japanese class, but compared to the econ test, oral exam, poli.sci quiz and cultural presentation, all of which also happened today, it's not such a big deal.

In "holy gracious I'm going to hurt someone" news, Clemson is 1 snarky email away from me walking over to the president's office, ripping out my brain and going "Here. You keep it. You've earned it." because these people are driving me loony tunes. Srsly. There was a misunderstanding about notarization, and no one has gotten back the all-important background check yet, but they're sending our visa requests off anyway. Wheredeydodatat? Apparently this is being done so that most of the work will be done already and when the bg checks come in all the school has to do is scan them and email them in, but seriously? What the heck, guys.

I just left the Study Abroad office talking to our SA advisor lady, and she goes, "Well, now we're starting to worry about getting everything back in time."





You guys have been doing this program for HOW MANY YEARS and you STILL haven't gotten it right yet? Slap yourself. Slap yourself and go home.

Honestly.

Pinky promise, I'll be happier after exams.

Phones and what not

Y'all, I am so sleepy right now it's not even funny. Tomorrow (today?) I have an oral exam in Japanese lab, an exam in econ, a quiz in political science, and a presentation in Japanese (the actual class). I've been awake since like 9 something, and I walked downtown today to get MORE passport photos made because CLEMSON STUDY ABROAD LOST MINE. Today has been very productive.

Anypoodles, the last pre-departure study abroad meeting was Monday! I missed it. I thought it was at 5, and it was definitely at 4, and by the time I realized that it was like 4:15. Ooops? Fortunately, Peebles (the program head) is my French teacher, so I talked to her about it today (yesterday?). I filled out forms for my metro pass and housing, got my international cell phone and international student ID, and Peebles even gave us all travel books about the area! Be jealous, architecture kids! (the arch. department isn't spoiling them nearly as much)

About this international cell phone biznass: my phone has a UK number (why a UK number if we'll be in Belgium? No comprende!), but I can also set it up to have a US number too, so you guys can call me without paying like $20/second for international calls! HOW AWESOME IS THAT?!

That was my last bit of enthusiasm for the day. I'm going to bed. Wish me luck! Tomorrow's gonna be rough.