Création d'une Maison à Nice

I've been in Nice for about a week now, but it honestly has felt more like a month. When Dave and I (the other student from SUNY Oswego) arrived, a French student from our school picked us up. He spoke a little English, but it was difficult to hold a conversation with him. I was still extremely nervous to speak French to anyone. Once we got settled into our hotel room we noticed that there was no shower curtain, that started the list of Things We Didn't Expect in Nice. Later that night Carley, one of the students from Cornell arrived and the three of us decided to go exploring and find dinner. That was easier said than done. We ended up getting salads at a To-Go pizzeria and got lost on our way back to the hotel. When we made it there we realized we didn't have and forks, so Carley went down to the front desk to ask for some. The girl at the desk kindly said she would bring some up to our room. About five minutes later, she showed up at our door with three blankets. . . . I graciously accepted them, but we were all very confused. Later we found out that in french the words "fork" and "blanket" are quite similar. Our search for an apartment started the of Orientation at Ipag (the school we are attending). The first apartment we looked at was perfect, but we found out later that it was too expensive with all the charges they add on. We eventually found an apartment    that was much cheaper and in a good location. We live in an neighborhood were many of the streets and hotels are named after famous musicians and when I say we I mean me, Dave and Carley. It has been extremely difficult to get to a point where we just felt like we could just live. Everything has been more complicated then we thought it should be. From getting internet (which you have to open a French bank account to do), to purchasing phones and even buying groceries, life has been busy. We have started classes and they are not too bad, but the schedule changes every week so it is hard to keep up with when your classes are scheduled for. It's strange, but I'm sure we'll get the hang of it.We have made some amazing friends from all over the world and together we have all started to figure things out. We tend to call each other by the country or state that we come from, which is actually really fun. Our first friend was from Ireland and her name is Mairead. Then there is James and Liz from Australia, Rachel who is also from Cornell, the amazing Russian clan, the Mexicans, a bunch of other Americans, a French girl who has helped us out a lot, and so many more! I bought my first drink at a pub in the Old City. It was a White Russian, because my mom has always said they were really good and she hasn't been able to buy either of her daughters their first drink. This Friday we are going to a candy factory with a big group from Ipag and then Saturday we are going to explore Monaco. Sometimes I wake up in the morning shocked that I'm here in such a beautiful city. The fact that I can look out my window right now and see a palm tree is surreal. Life in Nice thus far has been a challenge, but one that I wouldn't trade for anything.