Free at last, free at last

Yes, my friends, as of 8 pm last night, it is officially winter break. My last day went pretty well. We made Christmas cards in all six of my classes which meant no work for me. Although it was a little difficult to get the kids to follow my instructions, even in French. But plenty of them figured it out. I also got some cookies from another kid, and two of them made their Christmas cards for me. Buttttt they're both 11 year old boys so I'm pretty sure it's because I'm wet dream fodder. Dear lord. I was a little sad for my last class because the little kids went on a field trip to St. Germain so I was left with the "special kids." Luckily there's only a few of them and they're pretty well behaved. But this one little girl, Gwendoline. Man, she doesn't even try. I understand she's got some major ADD but she just has no reasoning skills, even in French. I wrote instructions in French on the board to help them with their cards and she just copied them onto her card. For people who love meds so much, I wonder why the Ritalin isn't flowing. I'm going to miss work over break, even though some of those kids just piss me off. During my lunch break I went over to Champion to buy a card and some chocolate Santas to send Ali and Merix in San Francisco. They won't get there in time for Christmas, but that's part of my charm. I'm thoughtful even if I'm late. Unfortunately for Lauren I was really early with her gift so it will be sitting on the counter or her bed or something in San Diego until she gets home.
Anyway, after work I boarded the train to meet my doom at MICEFA. Lovely, lovely Nicolas decided to leave early for vacation (or something) and in his stead, left us an essay. Awesome. So we sat in the room like adults and made ourselves write an essay. It helped that there were cookies and chocolate. But still, he should have left us an educational video or something because obviously we were only there to make sure we put in our two hours. When I got home my door was locked a few times (it locks automatically behind you but you can turn the lock to the left however many times afterward) so someone was there while I was gone. I assume it was Matt using the internet. He's staying at Stephanie's but hers isn't set up yet.
This morning I woke up and realized I was out of milk. So I made myself get dressed and ready and I braved the cold. I went to the lavender store to return a dress I bought on Sunday, and the bitch asked me to come back on Sunday again. I assume so that I could make the exchange with the same sales girl I bought the dress from. Fung. I explained that I really wanted an exchange and not a refund, but to no avail. I would have débrouilléd but I was uncaffeinated and malnourished so I just let it go and went to the grocery store. I'll go on Sunday and talk to the other girl. I just want to get rid of this huge dress and buy another pair of leggings and a scarf or something. I really want and need a hat but my pointy head makes them look weird.
So now it is countdown to vacation. I've got all of our travel documents in order (save my Beauvais shuttle confirmation when I get back from Barcelona -- I really don't feel like printing it out for 2 euros downstairs and the internet was down at work yesterday). I've got a pretty solid idea of what I want to pack other than that. Must remember to bring my own towels though. The hostels only have them for hire, and in London we're staying at someone's house but it's still nice not to make people do my laundry. I really have no idea what to expect from this trip either, which is kind of nice. All my professors and teachers at work have said I'm going to be so tired after this vacation. They're probably right, but we have very little planned in each destination. So as long as we get to each flight and lodging, there are no other schedules or itineraries to follow. I plan to eat, drink and be merry. The end.