my room

Hello to all people out there who are awaiting news of my adventures so far in France! I finally got internet access in my room just yesterday afternoon. I have a very slow connection, but it's still a connection! And I can check my email without having to walk to the Holiday Inn across the street (!!) So here are some pictures of my room: It's small, but comfortable and IT HAS A BATHROOM!! My room seems to be slightly smaller than the room I shared with Lucy and Ash, and still has a tv and fridge, so as they both could attest it's like having my own palace!! So I'm happy enough and very glad to have my own space. I live next to a girl from Nuremberg, Germany named Leonie. She is very nice and we have had a lot of fun together.. however she's moving to another apartment closer to the other school where she teaches. So I will be here alooone, which will be interesting, to say the least.
Metz is a great town - I really like it. There is a lot to do here even though it's not very big. The cathedral is gorgeous, and is known throughout Europe as one of the tallest. There is also a really cool museum that is built in one of the oldest parts of Metz, over the remains of a real Roman bath. It is pretty big and has some really neat artifacts that have been found in the area. You see, Metz has been here for a VERY long time (pre-Roman). The taxi driver that drove mom and I to our hotel when we first arrived told me that every time any new building is built here there must first be an archaeological dig because there are ancient artifacts buried everywhere! So I love living in such an old place. The river that runs through the center is also beautiful, and a great place to walk. The water is very clean and there are swans! Here is a picture, and that's the PROTESTANT church in the background that I plan on attending while I'm here. Other than that, not too much to report. I'm going to post on the teaching when I have some more experience. This past weekend I was in Paris with Jessica Phillips Tyson, Emilie Dayan, Kimberly Shoff, Leah Tucker, Lee Taylor, and Ann Atkinson. We had so much fun eating and celebrating JP's birthday. And it was SO GOOD to see some familiar faces! I also met the other English assistants today at our orientation session. Most are British, surprisingly. There were also two from South Africa and one Australian. But everyone seemed nice and I think we were all glad to meet some other foreigners. I also realized how lucky I am to have a school and fellow teachers who seem to really have it together. Many of the other assistants have been basically on their own to figure things like a bank account and even furniture for apartments out. Luckily all has been taken care of for me by some very nice, helpful people. I will post more soon.. just thought I'd give a quick overview of my situation with some pictures.