We're not in London any more Toto...

I've never even seen that stupid film.

Anyway, bonjour again, I'm in an internet café especially so I can update this - it's THREE ENTIRE EUROS an hour here (can you believe it?) and there are world of warcraft cards all over the walls - what planet am I on here??

So, since we last spoke, I emailed the Erasmus coordinator at the art school over here and explained the situation to her, emphasising the fact that I didn't want to have to leave this soon, and she's helped me out loads.  In fact, loads of people have helped me out loads, and boy am I grateful!  Since Thursday I've been staying with a student from the art school, Mariem, and her family in central Marseille, which is amazing as they agreed to take me in without even having met me - woah!  And the plan was that I stay with them until school starts (on the 12th) and I meet some other students to move in with, which was great, because I was out of the halls, but a bit mental as I'm staying with a very busy family and even though they're being really nice, I am quite badly in their way - eep!  The lady from the college also arranged for me to meet up with a girl called Nina, who was looking for someone to live with her and a couple of friends, and things there went pretty well so fingers crossed I should be moving in with them as soon as they find an appartment.  Hopefully that'll be very soon as I just found out I need to leave Mariem's on Tuesday as her sister's coming back from Morocco and there won't be enough space for everyone - I think I'll be calling the art school again tomorrow to see if they can help me find some more temporary accommodation!

At least this has turned into a proper adventure now.  As in a more exciting, less suffocating one.  Loads of people have responded to the stuff I posted and have sent me really nice messages and stuff; and OF COURSE I don't have to stay here but OF COURSE I'm going to.  I cannot pass up this opportunity, even if it's a bit intense in places.  If I can survive in Peckham, I can survive anywhere, and if I'm brave enough to wear half of my wardrobe I'm brave enough to do anything.  That's it!  And I know maybe it was a bit sad to post all over the Internet that I was having a crap time, and look a bit like I was making a cry for attention, but you know, I really just needed to be told Come on Kate, you can do it.  And I 100% can.

So that's that - I'm staying, and soon I'll be living somewhere more permanent.  I think I'm going to get a lot more out of living in the city centre with French people rather than in my room out in the sticks.  Yeah, it's going to be a long commute, but after a year at Winstanley it's not exactly like I'm a stranger to that kind of thing, is it?

Let's talk about Marseille...  Uhm, it's crazy!  I think I like it though, from what I've seen so far.  There's some seriously stunning architecture - the fine art museum is the most tasteful wedding cake of a palace I've ever seen, and typically it's closed for renovation for the next year - gutted!  There's a big giraffe made out of books, an arthouse-original-language cinema (went to see Taking Woodstock today - not bad!), a fashion museum, various parks, les calanques (cliffs and coves and mini beaches and woodland apparently), AND a vintage shop called spACE.  spACE, like Space Ace - do you reckon the proprietor is a Brett Smiley fan???

Oh no, I've got to go, I've just found some more clips of myself of the plinth - I definitely have to sit and watch these for a couple of euros!  But don't worry, art ideas are already flooding in and this morning I went to sit by the sea.  Things are looking up, pretty much vertically.

Love and peace, in a bit xx