Locked In & Locked Out

March 15-28
School, Library, Lauren’s Apt. 

Let me start this by saying: I had it coming. I knew eventually I would have to do some schoolwork. The two weeks after my mom and Liz left I spent grinding. I know you don’t want to hear how hard it is to work on a project and do some readings while living in Europe, so I’ll save you. BUT… I did have a 3-day intensive class and got locked out of my apartment (I have every right to complain about that).

In Europe, they have intensive classes where the whole course takes place in the span of a few days rather than the whole semester. I had to take one because I was very limited on what marketing classes I could take here that would count. It was last Thursday, Friday, and Saturday from 8:30 to 5:30 (Friday it was 6:30). We were assigned groups and played a simulation that was supposed to mirror running a company over a few years. We had products that we had to research, design/redesign, launch, market, and more. The instructions were 69 pages if that tells you anything. To add pressure, we were competing against other groups and ranked by our financial results. There really wasn’t any lecture, just fast-paced grinding. We were kinda thrown into the wind and did our best. I’ve had better weekends here.

We Were Team S
RIP

On Saturday morning, we finished the simulation and then had to work on a presentation. It was due at noon and then my group presented at 2:30, so I went back to my apartment for lunch. When I leave in the morning for class, I always put my keys in my purse before and then grab and go, but when I come back I always put them down. So when I arrived, I put them down and when I left, I thought they were in my purse. This wouldn’t be a problem, except for the fact that my door (along with every European door) locks automatically. As soon as I closed the door, I realized my mistake. I headed back to class and quickly texted the apartment people because when I moved in they told me there was an extra key. Class got done at 5 which was great, but the apartment people hadn’t texted me back. The French don’t answer anything past work hours and no one works on Sundays, so I thought I was screwed till Monday morning.

My Makeshift Bed
(Blanket not Featured)

Lauren (my A&M friend for those who need a refresher or haven’t read my previous blogs), kindly offered me shelter and food in her apartment. At some point during the 50-minute walk over (because I act like the tram doesn’t exist), it started raining and I almost booked a flight back home. At Laurens, I was treated to ramen, wifi, her clothes, and a spot on the floor. In return, she got free entertainment. At some point in the night, I was showing her OJ Simpson's TikTok account because when are sleepovers ever normal. Shortly after, I started watching YouTube videos on how to break into an apartment and was making makeshift tools out of my plastic water bottle to break in. After practicing on Lauren's bathroom door, I finally utilized the tram and tried breaking in. As soon as I saw the door, I knew it wasn’t going to work. After some failed attempts and only minor damages to my university ID card and water bottle tool, I gave up.

Sunday morning I got a call and picked up the spare keys. At 12:30 on Sunday, I finally got to enjoy my weekend.

Au revoir!

PS: We got 2nd to last in the simulation game after being last the whole time