Will vs The French Washing Machine-Day 10-January 18th, 2017

This morning’s routine started off like any other. Wake up. Get changed. Pack bag. Eat Breakfast. Miss the bus. Run to the tram frantically. Somehow make it to school.

That’s right, somehow I managed to miss the bus for the second day in a row. I have a bad feeling this may occur a few more times in my future. On the bright side, I was forced to walk a bit more and got some more exercise.

I also made a shocking discovery this morning, My underwear and sock stock pile was getting dangerously low. I would have to face the terrifying French washing machine today. You thought the shower was bad? This is worse. I inspected the washing machine on the first day and it looked like nothing I had ever seen before. Not only was there no dryer,  but the bowl on top of the washer made it seem like I would have to manually fill the machine with water. This whole laundry situation was something of nightmares and has been scaring me since I arrived in France. In my head I can imagine the whole bathroom flooding and Anne-Marie beating with me a wooden spoon. Today was the day I would face my fears.

But first, math class.

Differential equations was just as confusing as ever today and really made me miss some of my former BU math professors. I am trying not to judge too early, but I don’t think I like the professor’s teaching style. This may be me holding a grudge, but he annoyed me today in class. He asked how we would solve a certain example, and I raised my hand to answer. Despite my confidence in my math skills, he said my method was wrong. After class, I did out the work and found out I was still right and got the same answer he did. Though to avoid being an asshole to the teacher or annoying to my classmates, I am just content with complaining about it on my blog. (Sorry I am petty)

French class was typical as well today. For homework, we had to describe somebody in the class and read it out loud, then everyone would guess the person. The phrase “Il est grand” ( he is large) must have seemed easy to everyone, because about half the class chose to describe me for the assignment. After a bunch of people went, I asked if I could do mine about someone outside the classroom to be original. Naturally, I chose Donald Trump. My classmates immediately figured it out after I described his skin being orange. This also led to us asking the professor how to say, “I did not vote for Trump” in French. This is a phrase that will likely prove to be useful as an American in Europe.

After class, I went to get my Universite Grenoble Alpes school ID. I went to one of the offices where they took my picture and made my ID. You can put money on the id and some school cafeterias only accept it as payment.

I know have an identity!

 

Afterwards, Nick and I went to get lunch at the sandwich shop on campus. I got a baguette with prosciutto, mozzarella and tomatoes. It was really good and only four euros.

This thing was bigger than my face.

I took the tram home after eating and made plans to go to meet Nick at the gym. I went home, changed into athletic clothes, and headed to the Moana Club (the name of my gym). Today was leg day and was a great success. I left the gym with my legs feeling like jelly.

As I was walking home, the fear of the washing machine came back to me. I knew that it had to be done when I got back. While I sat in the shower, I studied the washing machine in the corner, trying to figure out its mysterious ways. I didn’t see any water lines going in and decided filling it with a bowl would be necessary.

After I showered, I googled for a bit trying to find out how to use this machine and translated the instructions on top.

The Washing Machine.

After some serious planning, it was time to shoot my shot. You might think I am joking around in my blog, but this washing machine actually gave me stress. I took a deep breath and grabbed my laundry and off-brand tide pod (please don’t eat). I opened up the weird metal doors and threw everything in. I didn’t know how much water I would need, so I dumped two full bowls worth and hoped it would work. I plugged in the machine, put the draining hose in the sink, and started her up.

After a minute, the machine started making swishing noises and turned on. I observed for a few minutes, thenwent back to my desk. I kept both doors open so I could hear the machine. Everything was going perfectly.

Or I thought.

I heard someone walking up the stairs and it was no other than Anne-Marie herself. She heard the noise of the washing machine and headed into my bathroom, uncharted territory for her normally. I peered through the crack in my door and watched with fear. This could potentially be the end of me, my clothes and this blog.

. . .

After what seemed like an eternity, she left the bathroom and went downstairs. Success! I had done the impossible.

Another forty-five minutes later, the machine finally shut off and I collected my wet (and clean) clothes. There were two giant drying racks in the bathroom, so I moved one into my room to hang dry all my clothes. I usually don’t prefer to hang dry my socks, but when you don’t have a dryer it is necessary.

If strangers on the internet ever wanted to see my underwear, feast your eyes.

Shortly after hanging everything up, the dinner bell rang and I headed downstairs.

Every time I eat dinner with the family, I usually have a 10 second conversation with Jessica while going down the stairs beforehand.

Today’s Conversation:

W: “Bonsoir”

J: “Bonsoir”

W: “I  figured out how to use the washing machine”

J: “Oh I thought I heard it in the bathroom. I’ll have to do mine tomorrow”

It may not seem like it from this conversation, but I could sense the jealousy and rage in Jessica’s eyes that I had mastered the washing machine before her.

Today was a good day.

Dinner consisted of some salad, toasted bread with cheese and prosciutto melted on top, carrots, chicken cutlets, and the usual baguette and cheese. Dessert was a surprisingly good canned fruit cocktail. I was proud of my new French because when A-M asked “What you do aujourd’hui” (today), I was able to answer in French.

After dinner, I headed up stairs and like my clothing, hung out for a bit.

I typed up my this blog and called it an early night since I have class at 8 am tomorrow.