August 25

In the morning I visited the well-known Luxemburg Garden near the RER B station Luxemburg. It was cloudy and windy. Some were jogging with their MP3 player, some passing by with brisk steps, some sitting on the bench talking, and a male and female elementary school teachers taking care of their students around 8-10. Later I had lunch with two other NCCU students at university restaurant. No bank nor shops accept 500 euro here, so Alice paid for my lunch. One can only get the circulable money by saving into the account and then withdral the bills with smaller denomination or exchange the bills in some specific institution such as Bank of France.

Then I took the metro to Bastille for handing in my OFII (Office francaise de l'integration and l'immigration) form and documents. The clerks were a man and a woman, who both looked relaxed and carefree, they are actually really nice and the process went smoothly. After the OFII, I strolled around the Bastille plaza and into the discreet streets, there is a plaza featuring sculptures and shining green lawn near Maison de Victor Hugo, and then it rained. Seeing the couple fundling on the lawn was a pleasant scene to see just like in the films.

One thing I am really happy is that after two days of adaptation, I finally could write my journal on the train. The seat is comfortable, and the solitude within the crowd provides me with the best concentration I need. The passengers around me were all very curious because I wrote in Chinese but not in French nor English. However, I would like to keep my blog in English and write it every day.