(Georgia Tech Lorraine)
After lunch, Jeff and I headed back to the dorm to fix our broken internet, which is very difficult to live without. We then got a bus with all the students from the school and headed to downtown Metz to have a tour and do some exploring on our own. We arrived in a big lot next to a gorgeous cathedral, and from there went out to find the train station just to get our heads around the city. The group we were with was trying to get tickets to Brussels, and knowing no French and having no plan ahead of time, they weren't too successful. Good thing an old woman overheard them struggling and helped translate the transaction. Jeff and I watched this whole ordeal from a small cafe in the station as we sipped a delicious brew, tactically learning from their mistakes. We then left with the group and headed to an Asian restaurant called Noodle to meet the rest of the students for dinner (No idea why the school picked Asian food for our first dinner on the town...). There was a huge line, which we were luckily at the front of, and around 20 seats for well over a hundred people. Jeff was less fortunate than I in line positioning, so he stayed behind while me a couple Sigma Chis journeyed off in search of a beer before our tour. We were successful, as it seems most places in France under a roof sell beer, and then headed towards our tour. At this point there was still no sign of Jeff who was supposed to meet us at the bus drop off before the tour. Of course I couldn't call him because that shit costs $1.29/min. All hail Google Voice. Anyways, we loaded up on the mini train without him, and were taken around the city to view all the sights. The whole city is beautiful, but because of crappy weather I decided to hold my photography until we return on a prettier day. About halfway through the tour Jeff calls me, and I'm thinking, "Oh God, he's probably lost, I should answer." I do. He says, "You just drove past us, we're in the Irish Pub. Cheap beer and Hookah. Click." Perfect timing, just under a minute for the call. After the tour we went and met up with Jeff and Andrew, one of the Sigma Chis, and of course some cheap beer and hookah followed. At 8:00 there was a reception held by the Mayor of Metz to welcome us to the city. Immediately following, we headed a short way to a Comedie Club, a place suggested by one of our RA's. Apparently everyone's RA's told them about this place and it was like we were drinking in America again with all the GTL students. One wasted French guy even came up and said, "Welcome home!", and he threw up his glass for a toast. Totally mocking our flock of Americans. We then caught the 10:00 bus back to Metz and fell promptly asleep. All in all, a great first taste of a European city, minus the hail and over capacity restaurant.
Wednesday, May 16 : Today was our first day of classes. I started at 11:15 with Engineering Economics, and went straight through 3:15 with Statistics, Ethics, and French 1. After class I thought I'd find a shortcut back to the dorm to cut down what was 20 minute walk. Long story short, they build buildings right on top of each other with no gaps between them to cut through. I walked in a very large circle, and it took about an extra 30 minutes to get back to the dorm. Oops, lesson learned. Our milestone for the day was reserving our train tickets for the next 3 weekends at the station in Metz. Jeff and I did some planning last night, but met after class to draw up a tentative train schedule in French so we could hand it to the attendant and not stand at the counter with mouths agape, getting French spat in our face, while 15 angry Frenchmen behind us in line smirked at our buffoonery. Luckily, the combination of a very helpful attendant, Jeff's French speaking ability, and our cheat sheet, made the ordeal way less of one. We are now booked to travel to and from Paris, Munich, and Barcelona, for the next three weekends.
(Metz Train Station)
We used our bus passes, which we got a great deal on, to get to and from the station. Learning the routes and what not wasn't too hard. I think we've got the hang of it now. Now I think our only big bridges left to conquer are maybe riding the train, checking into a hostel, operating in a huge city, and crossing another border. Stories to come.
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