disappearing into the crowd

hey all

my birthday was well spent. i got myself a present--an interrail pass:

http://www.interrail.net/

this puppy will allow me unlimited travel around europe, eastern europe, and turkey by train for the 22 days! i end my intership in the laboratory on april 26th and shove off to an adventure that will sculpt itself. some prospective places that are on top of my priority list to go see:

florence, naples, athens, istanbul, the black sea, translyvania, budapest, krakow, bratislava, croatia, and geneva

this will be my final european hurrah before i come home! i dont know exactly how i feel about living in america again. it has been a LONG time, and i have blended into french culture very well, almost too well. when asked what our culture is like, i have trouble recapping anything original--always eluding to past news reports and french views of our culture...it is exactly how i viewed france before i came here, like a rivendell where nothing bad really happens. life does not get lived in america, it gets enjoyed! oh, i know i am wrong, but it is wierd understanding this whole grass-is-greener-on-the-other-side-old-man-reflecting-on-life melange into one big emotional smoothie, and i dont know who else could really relate.


after buying my interrail pass, i battled it out with france telecom on my rights as an international to have my contract not changed. somewhere in the past few months, probably after my cellphone/ipod/wallet got stolen, my contract soon got changed to the 180euro a month plan, with unlimited sms AND talking without my authorization. i go to my bank account and see the 180 missing, and, as normal, i froze my account and went straight to the source--France Telecom.

i fought, and fought, and fought for 2 hours, getting it across that they had no right to change my account. they kept eluding that in France, law practice is not like in america--that they were able to change contracts without the customer's signature or previous knowledge...i called the bullshit, and demanded my old contract back. they eventually caved in and gave me back the money and my old contract.

they say you are good at a language only when you are able to argue your way out of sticky situations. i am there. my dream has come true.

for dinner, i had 20 of my good friends at one long table in an italian restauraunt, eating, talking, having a great time. we then drank beer at our local belgium pub. it was classic.


my friends here are great, and i will miss them all. we have all been brought together under the same situation--wanting something different with their lives. we have been great support for eachother, and i feel as if i have found some life-long people with whom to keep in touch. if i ever want to travel around the world, i know who to call on!

well, thanks for listening

jeff