Taxes and Soldes

This has really been quite the eventful week, considering how uneventful things can be around here. Last Monday I didn't work. The only group of students I'm supposed to see every other Monday doesn't have class for the whole month of January and halfway through February because they're out doing internship-type things. So I spent the whole day trying to do my taxes. The night before I spent over two hours on the phone with my mom while she read me all the numbers from my W-2 forms and helped me make sense of the calculations. Because of my foreign income, Turbo Tax won't let me file my federal taxes for free this year, so I actually had to THINK. I refuse to pay a person or program to tell me how much money I deserve fair and square. It's stupid to do when my taxes are simple like they are. All it takes is a little extra time and concentration. I'm sure one day when I "grow up" my taxes will be more complicated. That's when it might be appropriate to pay someone to do them. But for now, I'll do them on my own, thank you. So anyway, I spent my entire Monday afternoon at school (since I can print there) doing my taxes, only to come up with a number I really didn't think was right. More on this later...

Wednesday Mario, Kaitlin and left at about 8:30 to go to Dijon, which is relatively close to here in comparison with the rest of France. Mario drove. I love listening to his GPS because it's in German. I can't tell exactly what it's saying every time, but it's pretty easy to understand a lot of the time, given that I know it's a GPS and we're driving. The drive  there was through fields and fields, no major highways or anything, and we arrived a bit after 10:30. First stop: IKEA. It was Kaitlin's idea; she'd never been to one and really wanted to see it! We spent nearly three hours in IKEA. Mario assured us that he would definitely buy something. Didn't know what, but he knew he'd find something because that's just what happens when you go to IKEA! As it turns out, he bought nothing! I found myself a book for 1euro, which I was psyched about. Kaitlin got lots of stuff, but the most notable are her clothing rack (because her closet is crazy small), her full-length mirror, and her table. She also acquired a bag full of tiny gadgets like bowls, kitchen supplies, soap, etc. After bringing everything out to the car, we went back in for lunch! I've always heard that IKEA has good food. So we ate there, which took forever. We probably spent more time waiting in line than we did eating. But anyway, it was good. Not as amazing as people make it sound, but I'd definitely do it again. Plus, it's cheap! It's IKEA!

After IKEA we headed into the city. Spent forever in the parking ramp looking for a spot, and then once we found one, trying to fit into it. But we managed. Above ground was the hustling and bustling city of Dijon. Usually when I go somewhere, I can feel right away if I'm going to like it or not. Maybe that's jumping to conclusions, but I just get a feeling. I know in the past I've said if you've seen one French city, you've seen them all. I still stand by that, but there's still a different aura in each city. And I liked Dijon's aura. Maybe it's because the main street we walked down had lots of shopping on it! And that it did. We spent some time in stores. And even though the sales are still going on, I haven't managed to buy many clothes this time around in France. (There was even a 75% off sale at the GAP! And I bought nothing.) We went and saw the Opéra and walked by a bunch of churches. Eventually we parked it in a café and had coffee and dessert. For me it was a sugared crêpe. Plain, simple, but oh-so delicious. Yum. After maybe an hour in there, we went back outside, walked a little, shopped some more stores (where I did buy a DVD) and decided it would get dark soon, so we left! It was definitly a quick day in Dijon, but totally worth it. It felt so good to get out and do something.

When we got home, Mario and I stopped at Kaitlin, Chris, and Corinne's place to drop Kaitlin's stuff off. I assembled her table and clothing rack for her, which made me really happy. I love how simple IKEA's instructions are and how easy their things are to assemle. It was also fun to see the whole crew for a little bit.

Thursday after school, I smiled because it was the weekend. Then later that night, I remembered one of the teachers had re-scheduled his remaining classes with me for every other Friday. So it wasn't the weekend yet. Bummer. But whatt do I have to be upset about, really? I don't do much on the weekends anyway. Friday morning I went to the class. I'd never met them before, and I really loved them. It's a group of kids in their last year of high school and who will make a lot more use out of me than the class I was seeing before. They're super good at English and understood pretty much everything I said and asked me great questions. One student asked me what I do in my free time in Lure. I laughed and replied that I don't do much because Lure is so small. They laughed in agreement. I asked which of them lived in Lure, and about a third of the class raised their hands. So then I asked those students to tell me what they do on the weekends in Lure. They shook their heads and said there's nothing to do in Lure. They said they stay home, watch tv, play on the computer, but never anything out in the city. One student said that during school breaks he might go to a big city closeby, but not during normal weekends. GREAT! So it's not just me. It's not like I don't know where to look. I really did get placed in a small town. (However, the drive to and from Dijon proved that there are definitely much smaller cities in Franche-Comté than Lure!)

Friday after class I took a looong nap. I started feeling a cold coming on in the morning, so a nap was just what I needed. Afterwards, I got a bunch of errands done and went to bed "early."

Saturday morning I woke up to someone saying my name. It was so weird. You see, my alarm clock is set to the radio. It turns on about 30 minutes before I even want to get out of bed. It had been on for a while and I'd gone back to sleep. The woman on the radio was taking phone calls from people, and apparently one of the callers' name was Betsy, because I kept hearing my name, loud and clear, coming from my radio. "Betsy. Allo? Betsy. Betsy? Allo Betsy?" And so I woke up. And it was definitely not some other name that just sounded like mine. I've never heard of a French person with my name, but it was definitely Betsy. What a great way to start my day.

Despite my sort-of-sore throat, I still made my way to Belfort yesterday. I needed to get out and do something. So I went to Belfort by myself and couldn't have been more pleased. I was a short 30 minute train ride east of here. Every time in my life I've traveled anywhere by myself, I've loved it. (There have been few times, but I'm never disappointed.) It's so nice to do what I want when I want for as long as I want. I mostly went to Belfort for one thing, but first I went up to the citadelle and saw the Lion de Belfort. It was quite a hike up to the top, but fun nonetheless. When I made it to the top, I was surprised at what I saw. I didn't know what it would look like, but here it is! It was really really windy up there. Not many other people either. I decided Lure needs something like this. A high point to see the city from. But then again, there wouldn't be much to see! I really like Belfort. I mean it's not the greatest tourist destination, but it's a big enough city to find things to do, but small enough to still feel like home. And no, it doesn't feel like home to me because it's not. But anyway, it's just the perfect size city I think.

 

After climbing back down, I went shopping. I'll tell you, it felt really good to spend some money on something I wanted, not rent or food or something I had to pay for. I'm just having fun collecting French things that I know I won't be able to get my hands on once I'm back in the U.S. We'll just say I'll have plenty to keep myself entertained for the next four months, and lots of stuff to send home.

After shopping my face off, I had a kebab for dinner. I'm loving kebabs. I still think the first one I had in Besançon was the best, and I haven't had one quite as good since then. I sat in a bar watching soccer on tv eating my kebab until it was time to catch my train back to Lure. I think another day trip is in store very soon. I'm starting to love them. (And it's so nice not to have any luggage on the train!)

When I got home, Erin (my sister, if you don't know) helped me finish my taxes, and we got it all squared away. Yes! At first, Turbo Tax, Erin, and I had all come up with three different totals. Turns out in the end that Turbo Tax was right. I'll trust them from now on... but they're still not getting my money. This is the third year now doing my own taxes without my dad's help. It makes me feel all grown up, like I can live life on my own now. Hear me out, kids. Learn to do you taxes now! You never know when you'll have to do them on your own!

And you know what? I think with all the Vitamin C, honey, and juices I've been consuming, I've managed to kick this cold out of my system before it even accumulated into anything. This is fantastic! (I hope I'm not counting my chickens before they hatch.)