Bonnes nouvelles... mauvaises nouvelles... bonnes nouvelles!

More good news! I was chosen, based on a letter of candidature (my first formal letter in French, aah!), to represent IES Nantes in the Model European Union in Frieburg, Germany the first weekend of December. I will be the Finance Minister from Belgium, something that has made my French friends laugh. France makes fun of Belgians like Americans tease Canadians. The stereotype is that all they do is eat french fries and drink beer. When I told FX that 'chips' - the word he learned in his British english class - are called french fries in America, he laughed, because they're hardly French. It would make more sense if they were called Belgian fries. Or maybe Congress had the right idea with the Freedom fries thing... ha ha. Anyway, more work for me, but I get a free trip to Germany, and I'm excited because I have always enjoyed such political situations in the past (Model UN, etc.).

Now for the disappointing news. My hoped-for internship with the Conseil Regional didn't work out. I can't say I'm surprised, and neither was our director, Mr. de Berranger, even though he made at least 6 calls and wrote a nice letter on my behalf. (As he wrote in his note to me, "I am, alas, little surprised at the comportment of French public administration..." - that's my bad translation, by the way, as he wrote it in French...) Anyhoo, that's a no-go, so it remains to be seen if I'll find another position or what. I haven't got that much extra time these days, since I'm taking the maximum number of credits and doing sports, etc. so maybe I'll just have to let that idea go...

... And I have some more good news, to offset that disappointment. It has nothing to do with France, but I just got an email telling me that back at Whitman, I won a Hosokawa Award for Outstanding Journalism based on an article I wrote last semester! Yay! The money can maybe help balance out my outrageous (but necessary) spending here in Europe. It's not a ton, but every little bit helps. Plus I have to be a little proud that my article was picked. :)

Otherwise, I'm headed off to Saumer for a day trip tomorrow, so that should be neat - I'll be sure to describe it next chance I get to add to my blog. And I just bought tickets to Grenoble to go skiing in the Alps and to Montpelier to see the South of France, for various upcoming weekends. So, my travel plans are falling into place and I'm a happy camper! Until next time!