A French Post

I would like to discuss something French in this post to give you a taste of what I'm immersed in. At a party while speaking with a French guy and girl, I asked what their favorite kinds of cheeses are. The guy answered Camembert. Not surprising as this cheese is delicious and world known. 
The girl answered Morbier for its soft texture, and mild yet delicious taste. The stripe of ash in the middle makes this cheese easily distinguishable when perusing the never-ending cheese aisle. Having never heard of or tasted this Morbier cheese, I was intrigued. At the first opportunity I got, I bought some Morbier (pronounced "more-byay) and fresh bread, of course. And yes, it is delicious. 


Please keep in mind, I like cheese. If you do not like cheese, or trying new things, you probably won't like Morbier. Here's a photo to give your taste buds an idea of what I'm talking about...


Mmm sweet cheesiness...

Thank you Robin @ Good for the Palate for this photo!


Ash in the cheese may sound un-appealing, but I assure you, French cheese makers got this craft down. 
For more information on Morbier, checkout this very helpful webpage.

Postal Frustrations, Amsterdam, Headphones?

I love to post on this blog. I don't know how many people actually follow me on a regular basis, but to those who do occasionally read this (such as family, friends, family friends) I'm truly sorry to not post more recently.

The truth is, I'm still waiting on a package sent to me almost a month ago. This package did not contain any medicine, or weapons of any kind of destruction, or anything harmful in general. In fact, my dear love sent me the computer cord to my camera phone, so that I could post all my pictures to the internet!

You see, typically in the States I can upload my photos from my phone to my online album. I neglected to reflect on this small detail before reaching the airport in Phoenix on my way to Paris. No problem, I thought. I can have Mark mail it to me. How romantic, receiving something in the mail from someone far away who loves you!

Not.

Still waiting. It's consistently frustrating and tearing at my travel-happy soul. I just want to share all my memories with you, is that so much to ask?! Apparently to the French postal system, it is. And so I wait.

And the other day I did receive a package, and I was so eagerly excited I was sure it had finally arrived!

Nope.

In fact, it was a pair of headphones a Dutch company had sent me from the Netherlands. This has a back story.

You see, during the first weekend of February I took a bus arranged by a student at my school for a mob of us to go to Amsterdam. We were the unfortunate souls who had not managed to get onto the list for the official school organized trip. Fortunately, the person who organized our trip was awesome and managed to organize it for less cost than the school trip! It was awesome, in case you didn't think so.

The weekend passed quickly as we arrived Saturday morning and left Sunday early evening. There were lots of people, lots of cafes, and even more wind. Oh dear lord the wind in Amsterdam is not a force to be reckoned with. Hah, it won the battle every time, forcing us to stop trying to walk and just wait it out.

And we did a lot of walking.

But my point to this back story is to say that while we were walking about I was approached by one woman and two men from Rocking Residence. They make lifestyle accessories; in this case, otherwise known as headphones. There wanted to take my photo with a pair of their headphones. How exciting, I thought!

So pictures were taken. Alina and Dave were the two friends with me kind enough to wait around while the Rocking Residence folks did their thing. I filled out a release form which had to be translated to me because it was all in Dutch (which is not readable even after 5 years of studying French) and was told if they decided to use my photo they would send me a free pair of headphones of my choice. Cool, huh?

So these were the headphones I received this week. Granted, the Netherlands is a lot closer than the United States, but still, I thought my camera-phone cord would be here now (insert saddest face ever).

But these headphones are super cool and Alina and the Rocking Residence folks could get their photos onto computers, so here you go, some photos! Yay!!! (And please pray with me that my cord arrives soon, in one piece.)

These first four are photos Alina took, thank you so much Alina!

These next two are from the Rocking Residence Crew.

At first I opted for the pair that I took photos with, called Miami, but then after examining these ones below, called Jock, I couldn't resist. Maybe it's a good way to remember Amsterdam, green and white? ;D

Hope you all enjoy, feel free to leave comments! :) And yes, the headphones are awesome.

A Post for The Past Monday

I didn't do much this past Monday aside from sleeping. I admit, I can be very lazy sometimes, especially when the weather outside is not that welcoming, and I have no class to attend :) Also, I had to catch up on all the sleep I missed when in Amsterdam this past weekend. (I promise to write more about Amsterdam and its ...ness, but I wanted to make this post more relevant.)


I always forget. Not to pin this specifically to the French government or its people, but the French really really value their time off. That said, when I went to the bank Monday afternoon to get my bank card and to make sure everything was in order, they were closed. Hah! Of course. No big deal as I went on Tuesday, but still. It's just one of those things as an American I don't think I'll ever get used to. It's not all businesses that are closed Mondays. But banks specifically are closed Mondays. Always. 


Oh, the French, so effortlessly frustrating sometimes.


And just for a photo update (still waiting on my phone cord to upload the rest) here's my group of friends and me in Amsterdam, just in front of the red light district!

Craigslist in France? Try "Petite Annonces"

This is perfect, honestly. These are the types of websites we can really use when living abroad for a bit.

PETITES ANNONCES GRATUITES Strasbourg. VivaStreet le N°1 de l'Annonce Gratuite Strasbourg

So Here's The Lowdown Folks...

My aunt Bente made a good suggestion to me: I should tell you all about my time at school! I'm so sorry everyone, I've gotten so caught up with living here and adjusting to student life in another country that I completely forgot to enlighten you all about l'Ecole de Management Strasbourg.

A Little Background

At my home university of Northern Arizona I study International Affairs. My courses here consist mainly of political science, a specific language as my required minor (French), and required electives in the areas of history, anthropology, geography, humanities, religion, and women&gender studies. That said, choosing to study for a semester at a business school was not primarily because of the classes. I chose to come to Strasbourg and EMS because the city hosts a ton of international students, it is centrally located in Europe, it houses many international organizations such as the European Parliament (which I have already had the chance to visit), and basically there's a lot going on.

EMS (Ecole de Management Strasbourg)

L'Ecole de Management is the business school of Universite de Strasbourg, which (according to Wikipedia) is the largest university in France. There is definitely a diverse mix of students at the school, all with interesting backgrounds and (for the most part) open minds towards new cultures and ideas. There are of course French students attending the university as well, but from what I've seen at EMS they are largely out-numbered by international students visiting from anywhere between three weeks and and three years. Literally, I've met a group of Australians here just for three weeks to take French courses during their summer break (as it's currently summer in the southern hemisphere). I've also met several Hatians, one of which is completing her entire medical program here, and has been living in Strasbourg for three years now. So hopefully I've painted a picture of what walking around school looks like. If not, here's two photos of the building where I go to for classes: (Please note, I did not take these photos, simply took them from a Google Image search)

1) The front entrance of l'Ecole de Management Strasbourg

2) What the inside looks like when you walk in. Normally this type of area would be known as a lobby, but here it is called the hallway.

I was not able to view classes the way other students do until I received my student card on the first day of school. That said, I was able to see what classes would be offered through a listing which is still available here:

http://intranet.em-strasbourg.eu/cgi/visi/guide_cours1v_ang.asp?langue=2

This gave me an idea of what courses I could take, but not when or where they were offered. So I browsed through the many choices, and in addition to French courses I knew I'd be taking, I selected a number of courses that sounded interesting. Some of these included: European Economy, International Entrepreneurship, Management of International Teams, Management of Non-Profit Organizations, and Cross-Cultural Management. Normally at NAU I would never be able to take these types of courses because they are strictly reserved for students in the College of Business. So I was actually sort of excited to get a taste of business courses taught in English (to my relief) at an internationally known university. I knew I wouldn't be able to enroll in these courses until the second day of school because that is just how the system works at EMS. I had no problem enrolling in these courses as I wrote down all the course codes and enrolled in them as quickly as possible when the time came. Five minutes later it was obvious many others had done the same as most of the classes had filled up upon looking through the selection a second time.

I was a bit stressed out coming to EMS because I was sure that I had to take ten courses. However, the staff for international students reassured us that we could take as many or as few courses as we wanted because since we were on a simple exchange we didn't have to meet the ten course requirement. This was a huge load off my mind, though after reviewing my choices with the time-tables at hand, I still ended up enrolling in nine courses. I am honestly interested in business even though it's not my major, so I wanted to take advantage of this opportunity. And something else good to note is that as an International Affairs major, most of these business courses will not carry over. They may transfer back to NAU as management courses or maybe political science if I'm lucky, but in the end they will probably only count as electives. Also, I've already met my French language requirement for my program too, so the French courses I'm enrolled in are purely for personal enrichment. Say it with me now, "Mmm, personal enrichment." :)

Classes

The easiest way I can state this is that classes at EMS are so drastically different than what I'm used to. At NAU, you may be enrolled in four to eight classes a term, but typically you attend each class at least once a week for the whole term, or maybe just half of the term. At EMS, some of my classes haven't even started yet, and when they do, they will only run for three or four days, and then finish. This means that if you are taking an entire course in one week, expect to be in class from 8am to 12pm, take a break for lunch and a rest, and then continue from 4pm-8pm. Sometimes it's just the morning session, and sometimes that morning session is also on Saturday. I don't know what the logic is in this, but like I said in an earlier post, I stopped trying to figure out French logic a long time ago.

So right now my class schedule is pretty simple: Cross Cultural Management Mondays 8am-12pm, European Economy Tuesdays 4-6pm, French Civilization and Culture Wednesdays 1-3pm, and two courses on Thursdays, Management of Non-Profits 10am-12pm and Remise à Niveau II (my intermediate French course) from 4-6pm. The weird part is, my cross-cultural management course only meets five times. We've already met four times (since this is the fourth week) but we don't have class again until the 21st. This last session will consist of a two hour review, and then two hours for the final exam. This sounds good, but why the two week break? I could understand if the course had been longer or more intense, but it wasn't. It wasn't even mildly stressful, except for getting up at 7am on a Monday and staying awake throughout class. In my opinion, the two week break is perfect for forgetting everything we've learned, really.

The other two courses taught in English are okay, but in general (so far) all of these courses taught in English are fairly dull. The power points sometimes are just completely plain, as if they had written them that morning with no thought for aesthetics. And they typically have too many words on them, so that they are essentially teaching from the power point slides, or they go completely off-topic and the slides don't relate at all. The instructors' English are good enough to teach, but there are times when they struggle for the right word, and we have to help them. I have no problem understanding them since I'm fairly adaptable to accents and English is my first language, but I can only imagine that other students who don't know English as well are having a harder time. For example, my Quebecian roommate sometimes asks me what certain words from presentations or hand-outs mean. Explaining them is not always easy either, since I have to interpret the context of the word and then relate it in understandable terms. In addition, sometimes the things on the slides are repetitive or there's just no point in writing it down because it's common sense. If they employed English-speaking students to help instructors with grammar and presentations, I feel like the quality of class would go up for everyone. Thankfully though, instructors can tell when the class is dozing off, and will readily call for a ten minute break so we can all go get some coffee from the student cafe and cafeteria.

One thing that really bothered me the first week was that most professors show up late. Five minutes late when the class starts at 8am? Okay, I can forgive that. But twenty minutes late for the first session and every one thereafter? So infuriating. I want to say to them, "If I bothered to show up on time, why can't you, who's supposed to be teaching us how to think and be respectable people?" But my roommate told me that the French are often late, so I've grown a custom to this by also showing up late, and being happy when the class is typically let out early. I don't how French instructors keep their students' respect because punctuality is one of the biggest factors to me. But like I've said on occasion, "When in France, do like the French (and show up 30 minutes late)."

The French courses I'm taking are actually pretty interesting and challenging. Interesting because the first one covers culture while the second one helps my language skills, and challenging because the instructors speak completely in French, and not slowly. There is no second explanation in English, so I typically only catch half of what one instructor is saying. My French grammar professor thankfully understands we are still learning the language, so she talks in a way that most of us can understand, though still not all the time. I've talked to the other instructor to let him know that I really am not catching all of the lesson, so at least I know that the instructors are there and willing to work with us. 

Also, there is a center for language resources at EMS that allows us to borrow books for reading and listening, watch movies on the computers for free, and work on other exercises offered on specific websites. There are also newspapers and other journals offered, so everyone is welcome to go there to improve their language skills for a wide variety of languages. This is something I find really cool and helpful, and I look forward to using it more in my time at EM-Strasbourg.

The staff at EMS can be very helpful, but not everyone there speaks English fluently, which can be frustrating in times of miscommunication. Also, the French value their lunchtime like no other. Many of the offices are closed for one or two hours so all can go to lunch. This includes many businesses around town as well, which can be frustrating when trying to take care of logistical matters.

I attend all of my classes regardless of how late or incredibly boring the lesson/instructor is. I still value education highly, and I'm really glad I got this opportunity to study abroad. I'd already taken five years of French when I came to Strasbourg, but I quickly realized that it only felt like two or three years and I'm glad I have this time to really become fluent. There is not much (if any) homework; this is typical with most European universities from what I've heard. What homework I've been assigned so far consists of reading an article, studying vocabulary, or making preparations for a final project. That said, I haven't really had homework in French, besides grammar work. I realize I could've taken some of the business courses in French, but I feel it would be much harder to keep up with all the new terms, the instructor's lectures, and any readings that may have also been in French.

Student Life

To me, the best part of EMS and studying internationally is student life. The organizations range from sports to arts to humanitarian-oriented, with the bureau d'international (BDI) being at the top of my list. One group or another is always organizing some kind of event for fun or socializing, which is great because it's not always easy to meet students from other countries, even when they are in many of your classes. Each week there is usually a party or pub-crawl of some kind, and there are even trips organized, such as this weekend to Amsterdam! For the most part these events seemed to be organized pretty well, with a cover charge allowing for the organizations to profit and provide the necessary party favors. This is really my favorite part of EMS because I get to meet other students who may be local or international. Practicing my French with a Columbian or Alsacian? Not always easy, but always fun :)

I promise to get my photos up as soon as possible, so please be patient and send me your thoughts!

There's Always So Much To Write About...

It's almost February; this caught me by surprise today. This past month has definitely seemed like a month, yet it's still gone by as a blur of images, aromas, sounds and faces. At this point I feel I've settled into my life here in Strasbourg. I'm used to the weather, paying for water, and only understanding half of what most people say in French. This past weekend I even took a trip to Munich with my friends. We were there for less than 48 hours, and we had a great time. My first real European adventure apart from my travels to Strasbourg. 
It was full of late nights, loud Germans, cheap food and beer. We saw a lot of great things that Munich had to offer as well, such as the zoo, the Munich residence, two of the well-known churches, some interesting bars and clubs, and of course, some great restaurants/breweries. Without planning it, we found our way to Hofbrauhaus, the oldest and largest brewery in Munich (and all of Bavaria I believe). The food was great, the beer was cheap and plentiful, and the ambiance was awesome in general. I have many a photo that I can't wait to show you all, but in the meantime please allow this one photo to sum it up :) Thanks Arriane!

Doner Kebaps

No, there is not a lot of late night food stands open in Strasbourg. However, on every other corner or so, there is a doner kebap shop. And it's great :)


I'm finishing the last of tonight's doner kebap, purchased shortly after departing an awesome Irish pub. It's delicious, and at less than 5 Euro a pop, it's totally worth it. I'll get a picture up as soon as possible, but if you've ever had a pita, it's sort of like that, except taco style and the bread is much thicker. And the fact that they put meat on the very bottom and very top? Parfait. It's actually quite different than a pita as well because they shave the meat off a huge piece that's rotating on a skewer in front of you.  It really adds to the experience. And from what the man said who ran the establishment, it's the best doner kebap in all of Alsace and Germany (of course). How did he know? I asked; well of course, he's a professional.

It's really the only food I can recommend eating after midnight in this area of France. And eating this particular kebap with an awesome Aussi on Australia Day? Even better :) We both stuffed our faces, laughed at the whole thought of the situation, and then found our way home through the fog descending on Strasbourg.

The Internet

Of course, when I make the commitment to post everyday, the internet connection in my room decides to take a crap. So last night my roommate and I both suffered without internet, relying on archaic things like books and music to keep us entertained. Thankfully though there was a latina fiesta hosted by one of the school's student organizations, so we were able to leave our woes at home and go to a bar to enjoy latin food and music.

The thing I'd like to remember yesterday's post with is: the internet. It's so ubiquitous nowadays that we all take it for granted. In fact, I used to think free wi-fi in McDonald's and Subway was the most capitalistic idea out there. But now I realize: these things are really awesome because you can sit in the restaurant without buying anything, and just mooch off the connection in order to answer emails and hang out on facebook. To be honest, internet was not on my list of priorities when I got to France. But once I was all setup in my room, I realized things would be a lot harder without it. In fact, all the plugs in my room are on only one wall, so all my electronics plus my internet cable have to be long enough to stretch from behind my roommate's bed to my desk. Great engineering, builders of Gallia. And, they are just barely long enough. But the fact that there isn't even a wi-fi connection in the entire building really sucks. And I'm not whining, just saying that it really makes me reflect on free (wi-fi) internet in the dorms at NAU, as I'm pretty sure I'll have to pay 10 Euro a month for internet.

It's all very frustrating sometimes. But it's not too bad. I've at least got internet here. And, thankfully, there are internet cafes which are very reasonable, so the modern world does exist in Europe ;)

Photos and More to Come...

In an attempt to post something everyday, even if it's just a small thought, I will try to keep it interesting. But I'm going to need your help. So please, give me input on what things you're curious about, and I promise to respond back with what I've experienced.


Example 1) Banks Insure


Banks in France also sell insurance. Therefore, when you go to a bank with the intention of buying insurance elsewhere, explain this to them explicitly. Otherwise, even if you think you know the language (like I did) you may end up buying insurance from the bank, and not knowing until weeks later when someone who actually speaks fluent French reads through your paperwork. And yes, contracts are still contracts, even if you try and plead with them that you didn't really understand what you were signing. So for now, I am doubly insured for the little bedroom I share with someone else who is also insured. We're insured now, of this much I am sure.
So tomorrow I will go back to the second place I insured myself with, and explain the pickle I got myself, AND my other American friend into. But this is why we're here, to learn French.

My Journey Here

I know it's been two weeks now that I've been here. I'd like to explain it all and wish I could, but there's just too much to say. So below is the story of my journey here. It's much longer than I thought it would be, but considering all that I went through, I thought the detail was needed. I do plan on posting every day about my experience and discoveries, so please continue to follow me and for now enjoy what I have to say.

My first day in Europe was last Monday, January 3^rd. I arrived to Paris at about 8am after which I waited around 30 minutes until both my bags appeared on the conveyer belt. I had originally planned on only checking one of the bags, however upon my departure from Phoenix, Arizona they asked if anyone wanted to check their carry-on luggage for free since the flight was full and there was not much room in the over-head compartments. Seeing as my backpacking-backpack weighed in close to 40 pounds (which was obvious by its size), I chose to check this one in as well. Thankfully I had taken my computer, money, and cell phone (the essentials) out of it, because I did not see this bag again until Paris! So when both of them were again in my possession, I was relieved, even though I now had the burden of carrying (essentially) my life with me all the way to Strasbourg.

*The above may not seem like a big deal to those who travel, but I’d like to make a side note here that is very important. The only other student from my university NAU who is doing this same program at the same school as me had flight delays which resulted in his luggage being lost, literally. It had caused him quite a bit of frustration and heartache, and I feel for him because he arrived with only one pair of clothes, and not even a converter with which to charge his computer. Tanner, my heart goes out to you.

After arriving at the main part of the Paris CDG (Charles de Gaulle) Airport, I eventually made my way down to the area where one can take trains and the like to the main parts of Paris or other parts of Europe. Thanks to a very helpful clerk, he instructed me to take the RER (local Paris trams) to the Gare du Nord, transfer to Gare d’Est, and from there hop on the TGV (Really Fast Train) to Strasbourg. After all the restless hours spent in the air this seemed like another strenuous journey of its own. But he assured me this would be easier than waiting at the airport until much later that afternoon when a TGV could take me directly from the airport to Strasbourg. Cautiously accepting and (for the first time) running my bank cards in France, I paid the 135-some Euro, took my tickets, and headed in the direction he directed me with the map he had given me.

It was the Monday after the holidays, so everyone seemed to be busy starting their weekly ritual with little room for manners as we all tried to get where we were going without running into each other too much. That said, I probably stepped on a lot of toes (literally), or at least ran tem over with the wheels on my luggage. My train for Strasbourg was scheduled to leave Gare d’Est (the East train station) at 11:24, and from what I remember I got there just after 11am. I had to sit for a moment as when I came out from the underground trams, all the train lines appeared in front of me, and (of course) there were no large signs to direct me in any particular direction. After taking it all in for a second (this train station had many restaurants as well as clothing boutiques) a helpful woman behind an information counter told me that platform 6 was where I should go.

I remember the helpful clerk had told me I’d be in first class which was a nice surprise, and when I got to the right platform I saw that my ticket said I’d be in (train) car 11. 

The first car I saw was numbered something under 10, so I kept walking and lugging my luggage as well as carrying it on my back. At some point I got to car number 2, and wondered where car 11 could be. I was only halfway down the train (or so I thought), and I hadn’t passed it; this was weird, I thought, for those in first class. After romping back and forth for a bit with luggage in tow, I finally gave up and asked the man at an information kiosk on the platform. He instructed me it was further down; that I had not reach it yet. Again, this did not make sense as I’m used to things being in numerical order, but I started again and hoped that the muscles in my arm would not seize up as I pulled my belongings behind me hurriedly. After I passed car two this time I noticed the next car was 17.

What the hell?! I thought and continued walking quickly. At this point it was almost 11:20 on the platform clocks and I realized that I might actually watch this train leave without me! So, while trying to handle the extreme fatigue I faced from the flights, the winter illness I had procured from New Year’s in Flagstaff, and the 80+ pounds of luggage in my possession, I continued along the platform, checking the number on each train car as I passed it. I realized as I was about ¾ of the way there, car 11 was actually the VERY LAST car on this train, even though other cars were numbered 16 and 17. And by very last I mean very first because the conductor’s car was just beyond that, but still, it was a huge pain. I managed to throw myself and my stuff on there, and find my seat before the train took off. Again, the seats were not in numerical order, and at this point I didn’t even try to figure out what order they thought it was. Thankfully a very nice young man helped me to get my luggage into the compartment above my seat, and to my relief he also spoke English. I very soon found out he was also an American studying at l’Ecole de Management in Strasbourg, though he came from Washington D.C. He was one of the first students from his school to do this program; therefore he would be the guinea pig for others at Howard University. Sean and I made good conversation for a little bit, in which time I was surprised to find out he did not speak nor had studied any French what-so-ever. How he got this far I was quite amazed as my 5 years of French had proven pathetic on this trip so far, at least by my standards.

When we arrived in Strasbourg he helped me get my things down, and I told him someone from the university should be at the station to help us from there. We paired up and looked for someone, a sign, anything, though there was nothing to our (sarcastic) surprise. We made our way to the information area at the Train Station, who essentially directed us to the Tourist Center (Ha!). They helped us get to the tram and bus we each needed to take to our respective dorm residences. After tooling around the station a bit we said our goodbyes, and I bought a sandwich to break some bills, paid for a tram pass with the coins I had left, and hopped tram C to my residence Gallia without even realizing I hadn’t validated my tram ticket, nor did I know how to or really care to at this point. When I got there, I went to the wrong place, of course. The building was labeled Gallia, so I just went in the first door because it was a place for students. My residence turned out to be the next door down, and by this time I couldn’t really care what I had to sign so that I could just get to a bed and pass out. I took the packet, paid the money that was demanded, and took my key and all my stuff up to room 327.

Another important note to Americans here is that in most of Europe, the first floor does not count as one, it’s really more like 0, or ground floor. So I thought I’d be on the 4^th floor, but after getting to the 2^nd floor I realized I was wrong again. There were a few kind gentlemen who asked to help but I refused stupidly, not knowing the eternally long ascent that lay ahead of me. So, with a huge backpack and suitcase on wheels in tow, I dragged myself and all this stuff up to what Americans would consider the fifth floor; awesome. Oh yeah, I had asked about an elevator in the fatigued, under-practiced French that I knew, and it turns out there is an elevator, but not for students. So, to this day, I climb and descend the stairs that seem to go on forever. I don’t even want to know the fight that handicapped students have to put up in order to get an elevator key…

And I don’t mind the stairs because I’m young and can use the exercise, but jeez, with all the luggage you’d think they’d have some mercy. 

So finding my room was yet another adventure, because again, French people have a weird sense for numerical ordering. I was hoping for a window with a nice view of the street or river, but no. My room turned out to be down one of the many random turn-offs from the main hallway, so that you could wonder around all night looking for your bed if you were drunk enough. Thankfully, the toilet, shower, and kitchen are right across and next to the room, so it makes up for a pathetic view of other people’s windows. Needless to say, once I got into the room, took some photos of everything with my camera phone, and made the bed with the blankets provided in the armoire, I passed out like I hadn’t passed out in a long time. And I slept from 4:30pm to 2am. And then I woke up and couldn’t go back to sleep. Of course.