ANGEL ARMS SAYS BIENVENUE A FRANCE!

translation: Angel Arms says "Welcome to France"!
ok where do i start?... hmmm technically my adventures started back there in NAIA Terminal I coz i had a bit of a problem with my excess baggage (hehe kasi andaming dalang libro! Total ko 29Kg; allowed 20Kg. Fee per excess Kg = P1900!!! so that wud translate to a whopping P18000.00!!!! grabe taga ng AirFrance). Buti nalang I was there 5 hours early so I got to measure it myself way before check-in time. Hehe grabe kinabahan ako nun so I befriended a fellow passenger, a really nice lady en route to Bangkok and she suggested na cya magdadala ng mga libro ko (2 huge programming books na nakabalot pa sa natio na supot!) through check-in para kunwari sa kanya yun. Ok that was 3Kg less, 6Kg to go! Tapos todo rearrange ng backpack ko,yung yellow na Adidas para maglipat pa ng at least 3K more. Would you believe na nagkasya dun almost 10Kg worth of books and personal items all in all! Hehe todo pilit talga. So i was left with 3Kg excess and sabi ng porter dun na tumutulong sakin (grabe dami tumulong sakin) Ok na daw un na excess pwede na yun palusutin. So there. I got away without having to pay anything. Yung nasa unahan ko kawawa pinabayad di ko alam magkano pero I'm sure kawawa siya. Then off to the plane...
The plane trip was pretty uneventful except for the nice On-Board Movies. I got to watch 13 Going On 30 ba yun hehe tis was nice. And oo nga pala yung food super sarap full-course meals complete with appetizer, main meal, apple pie, fruits, juice, chocolates, and candies. Although wierd kasi pabaliktad yung pagserve, nauna yung dinner, tapos after 5 hrs serve ng lunch tapos after another 5 hours serve ng breakfast. Although di makita yung dinadaanan namin kasi nasa night cycle kami the entire 16 hours of transit, sobrang cool kasi puno ng lights and buong India, Middle East and especially mainland Europe. Then we arrived CDG Paris. Hehe Dito sobrang kinabahan ako kasi waaaaa kelangan ko na magfrench, lalo na sa customs check. Pero to my absolute surprise, the customs check only lasted 30 seconds, and the only questions asked of me was "So you're a student?" and "Your transcript please", pero in french malamang. And that was it. Oui lang ako ng oui hehe tapos labas na ko to the waiting bus to central Paris. Grabe a whole new world talaga, airport palang. Everything was clean and super efficient yung lahat ng service nila, from Information to Bus Transit. Batsa mapapaiyak talga tayo kung bakit, BAKIT wala niyan sa Pinas, kahit yung ganung bus lang na malinis (not to mention High tech) masaya na ako.
Then WHOA Paris was a shock. Grabe, basta grabe, absolutely no traffic (at least wala akong nakita). Batsa ang sarap sa mata nakakarelax parang walang hassle sa mga buhay nila. Batsa basta ewan. Then baba ako sa first bus stop (di pwede basta basta lang magpara sa kahit saan hehe), made a phone call to my host agency to tell them where to pick me up. Hehe sundo sa mga scholars special taxi na MB grabe angas kasi may GPS and all. Tapos yun I got my stipend for my first month, endorsement papers, free train ticket to Lille, got directions on how to go to my hostel, dropped my stuff, and I was off to explore Paris!!!!!! hehe whew nakakapagod next part na yung the Grand Tour of the City of Lights...
click this link for the MISC PICS I got... comment kayo ha

This is my host school in Lille. It's Institut Catholique D'Arts et Metiers (ICAM-Lille).

With some of my classmates...really nice and totally friendly guys

My room! Regarde, il y a un ATENEO banner!