WHERE DO I BEGIN???

last update was october 14th, i'll try to remember everything in order. but here is a basic update:

the negative:
i wrote myself a very large check from my american account to my french account which was received on the 15th of october in the paris center of my bank. on the 19th of october, the money was withdrawn from my US account. fun story, the money is STILL not in my french account. when i spoke with my bank about it, they seemed a little shocked that a) the check went to the pairs center, not orleans, and b) that my money still isn't here. so they said beginning of the upcoming week it should be here. since i am now broke because i've had to pay for EVERYTHING (internet, phone, and rent) from my french account (which was not the original plan for these first few months) i am walking in there on monday and letting them know that hey-o, i need my effing money. now.
also, someone by the name of troy jones got a hold of my routing number and checking account number and was using my US account to pay his t-mobile phone bills. thanks, troy. now i have to close my account from overseas. it is difficult enough to do banking over the phone nonetheless try to do it over the atlantic with a time difference of 6 hours. although, they did put me on the phone with one of the head service people of bank of america because i was like you don't understand. i want my account canceled and a new one opened within the next week because i don't live in the us and i need to know that my money is safe while it is there. so yeah. now we're waiting on that, and i will probably have to call them on monday too. greaaaaat.
i think that's the main negative. well also the work life is a bit stressful because i have my bosses from the education department and the teachers of my students all telling me different stories, and i'm not sure what to do. in addition, the progressions that my bosses sent me are all conflicting. the ones online do not match the ones given to us in person, so i have not done the work they said should be done online, only the stuff in paper.
all in all i'm learning that the organization of this country is quite different from my motherland, and it's taking some serious adjusting to get used to it all.

BUT THE POSITIVE!
alyson and i have been taking trips to castles, foot tours around the cities, and trying to make the most of our vacations and our time here, even if we are broke at the moment. i'll insert a link for my albums on facebook for the castles and whatnot at the end of this post.

my students are all great, enthusiastic, and ready to learn, most of the time. these are all good things.

i have yet to meet another person like the london girl who i so badly wanted to strangle. i've actually started making some very good friends, and reconnected with a friend my host family introduced me to who has been showing me how fun and accepting the city really is once you move away from the pretentious people and towards the good ones. so that's all been really nice.

christine came to visit for the week, which was wonderful because i hadn't seen a close friend like that in a very long time. it was nice to share stories with someone who had been there and laugh at inside jokes. i had forgotten how much i missed that.

although this time of year is making me miss home quite a bit, it's one of my favorite times to be in new england. october-january, when the leaves change and fall to the ground and the air is crisp and biting and you get those first few snowfalls that are practically magical. there isn't much snow here according to the locals, i don't think the ground stays frozen so all the snow just melts. very sad.

i think that's about all i have for now.
here are some links to pictures:

http://mtholyoke.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2031501&l=88506&id=10400438 is the link to blois, with me, alyson, whitney, roman and philipp. the last two are a russian and a german, the first three of us are american girls.

http://mtholyoke.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2031953&l=73e03&id=10400438 is the link to amboise, it was a gorgeous day and all in all a wonderful time.


more to be posted later.
i almost forgot!
SEND ME CARE PACKAGES!!!

Hilary Park
55 Boulevard Heurteloup
Tours, 37000, France.

:)