God's mercy surrounds me

Too many things happened. Too many challenges have come up.
I did have an unimaginably hard time for last 3 days, but with God's blessing I think it's gonna be fine!

Please don't be annoyed with my long story.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I've spent 30 hours from HK to Toulon. So terrible!

My itinerary:
2 hours from HK to Hanoi (Vietnam Airline)
--> stayed in the Hanoi airport for 9.5 hours
--> another 12 hours from Hanoi to Paris
--> take a shuttle bus from airport to TGV station for 1 hour
--> take the TGV fomr Paris to Toulon for 4 hours

Departed at 2:55pm in HK and arrived at 8:20pm on the next day in Toulon (Fr time = 2:20p.m.) It was exhausting but I had just spent HKD 3500 for the whole journey!


26/9 Before departure
I've just slept for 2 hours for packing my lugguage. My checked lugguage was weighed 38.5kg... Finally I stuffed my backpacks and it became 32kg, the staff let me go after attaching my lugguage with a "HEAVY" tag... but then I had to carry 8kg backpacks for the following 30 hours on my own... a very tough job. My Dad saw me off at the airport, we had a 10-min lunch and it was my first moment to cry. I am not that strong.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

27/9 Day 1 - On Arrival
The flight to Paris was delayed for 1.5 hours. I stayed in the hard and cold seat in Hanoi airport for 9.5 hours. Never forget how lonely and exhausted I was. Finally I departed again at 1:55a.m. Thanks God I could sleep on the flight. It was terrible to have breakfast at 5:30a.m. (france's time) on the flight to Paris, I think it was the earliest breakfast I've ever had! Since the flight was delayed, I was extremely nervous if I would miss the TGV scheduled at 10:20a.m. After grasping my heavy lugguage, I took the shuttle bus and kept praying & praying for being on time...It was already 10:15a.m. when I got off the bus... You can't imagaine how the feeling was when I rushed for the TGV with at least 40kg lugguage! It was really quite impossible to be on time as I didn't know which platform my train would depart from... and you can guess, the electric announcement board was in French only! But God's grace were with me, I rushed to the information centre and finally got it...(I believed the assistant was speaking english...) I utilized all my energy to go to the platform, showed the e-ticket to the attendent, and the door closed 1 minute after I boarded the train! Thanks God!

Worries still bothered me. I was not sure whether the e-ticket was valid...I just printed it from the internet... it looked fake! Finally, passed! But then, 2 questions came up in my mind: Will someone remember to pick me up? Where will I live?

Here comes the worst. One of my classmates, Edwigh, came to pick me up at the train station. She brought me to the accommodation... the lift was like HK's 50's one, could just occupy about 3 people! The flat was also terrible... a primitive and rough bedroom with broken windows, only a very small bed, desk and wardrobe in it... and the shared kitchen and living room were both in a mess... I couldn't imagine how the flatmates were like. "Oh how could I stay here for one year??" I shouted in my mind. But it seemed that I had no choice, as the student hostel in campus had been full, and the owner said I was already lucky to have such a room at 375 euros/month. I thought of living here for 3 months at the beginning, but I discovered that I didn't have enough money to pay for the deposit (totally 1K euros). They told me that my HSBC ATM card didn't work here as all card in France were with a chip implemented.... Even the teller in a bank told me the same thing...how come! Edwigh then drove me to the campus to ask if it was possible to add one extra bed in a double bedroom (horrible, how could 3 people share a single bedroom?) ... we walked around and Edwigh was so patient to ask for other's help ... but people just showed sympathy... eventually Edwigh picked me to a cheap hotel to stay temporarily until I could find an accommodation.

One trouble follows another. I found that the adaptors I brought didn't fit the socket here... and even Edwigh didn't know where I could buy one... at that moment I was hopeless as my mobile was out of battery... then we went to a shopping centre and got it, I was very happy even though it cost 7.5 euros... after that I quickly grasped some food in Carrfour (supermarket) before going to hotel.

It was already around 7p.m. when I arrived at the hotel, I was extremely exhausted when I moved my lugguage into the small room... and I didn't eat anything since the breakfast at 5:30a.m.... I was desperate for accessing the internet, luckily the guy at the reception fixed it for me... Thanks Edwigh, I could do nothing without her, as I'm just like a mute here! All people speak in French!

After drinking a bottle of milk and had some bread, I said goodbye with tears to this terrible day.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

28/9 Day 2
I got up at 7a.m., headed for the bus stop to the campus with a map. It was cool in the morning, the sun just rose. The bus's schedule is much more terrible than that in ParkIsland! There are only 3 buses to the campus in the morning! And only 1 bus per hour in the afternoon! But it's ok, as I've got used to it!

Had my french lesson... huh... alien words to me...
After the lesson, Edwigh picked me to a bank to open an account here. I understood none of the words they said except Bonjour and Merci... anyway, I just hope that brother could transfer money to me asap. Edwigh was too busy to help me to find accommodation, so I went back to hotel by bus... and surfed the internet for the rest of the day. I'm tired of web design, but I couldn't live without Internet... how ridiculous it is.

I discovered that my knees and legs are full of bruises (around 30), so horrible!!!
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

29/9 Day 3
Met my classmates in a welcome breakfast today. It seems that only a few of us study for the master of design management. Others are for degree of business only. Students come from Poland, Belgium, Slovenia, German, Netherland, Taiwan and Russia... seems interesting.

Edwigh and I tried to use the ATM card at HSBC@Toulon, but failed as expected.
Then I brought a SIM card for my mobile. I've got a new phone no.!
Bought a fork, coz I had tuna with a can's lid and had salad with hand!
Then I treated Edwigh a lunch at a french restaurant to thank for her help. It was my first decent meal here. The Chevre cheese was delicious!

After that we went to see an accommodation. Thanks God, I love it! Even it's just a small room, but much better than the one I visited before! At least it's clean and tidy! The price is reasonable too (325 euros including electricity, heating and water). I will have 3 flatmates sharing the house, hope they are friendly! I could just reserve the room as I am still waiting for the bank transfer, hope I could get it by next tuesday. Next problem is... the accommodation doesn't provide internet connection... -_-

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

29/9 Day 4
Today I discovered that the ATM card really works! It failed just becoz the ATM here couldn't show all the accounts included in the card! (I have $0 for the default account) But still, I have to wait, as it's sat and sun...

I have to spend at least 160 euros for the hotel, very expensive!
So boring in this 2 days!! Just alone in the hotel...

wowowoowowowwo!

< Link to my photos >