Laser Tag, Bar Hopping, Teaching Foreigners "That's What She Said" Jokes, and a Blizzard

The past few days have mostly consisted of class, trip-planning, and conversation at cafés, coffee shops, etc. Shana and I found this one coffee shop (appropriately named French Coffee Shop) that I think will be where I spend a lot of time and money over the next few months; they had a drink called a Chocotella (chocolate + Nutella), which I think should justify things completely. And unlike the majority of the last couple of weeks we've been here, the weather lately has been consistently cloudy and colder; most days have been snowy, but it hasn't stuck to the ground. Until yesterday. Shana and I met at another favorite restaurant, Pain et Cie, for what turned into breakfast and lunch haha we got coffee and croissants for breakfast but realized that we would need more food and more warmth to brave the cold for class, so we ate soup and bread until we were both about to explode. It had already been snowing for most of the day and was starting to stick, so we knew to expect at least some accumulation. By the time we got out of class at 4:30, it was starting to snow harder and was, I think, actually colder. We had to meet at one of the tram stops for our "Laser Game" at 5:45, so that didn't give us time to go home first. Shana, Kelly, and I got to the stop, which was more in the center of town than the university, and it was coming down really hard and the wind was blowing like crazy; Samantha had said to Ashley that it was a blizzard, and at that point we believed her. It was far too cold to wait outside (especially since I hadn't brought gloves or a scarf in my hurry out the door and was also wearing Converses instead of boots because I knew we were playing laser tag) so we found the nearest café, and sat in the warmth for as long as possible. We met some other kids at the stop and went to the laser tag place to wait for Marie; eventually there was a pretty good group of us, despite some people getting stuck on trams and in traffic because of the snow. Laser tag was awesome, of course, and running around for 45 minutes thawed out my toes. I came in 3rd overall, which was pretty awesome, but I think everyone had a good time (Shana quote of the day: "This is the most fun I've ever had!"). We were all hungry so were going to go with some of the Language and Culture kids to get pizza, but instead Lexi, Ashley, Sam, Shana, and I went to this café right near Place Notre Dame. Getting there was pretty bad; we had to wait in the snow for the tram, cram like sardines onto the tram, walk through the snow and slush (still wearing crappy shoes), and decide where to go. This place ended up being totally delicious and worth it; we all got their "menu," which was a ham, egg, and cheese crêpe, a salad, and some kind of alcoholic cider drink for like 10 euros. After dinner, we went to the first bar, London Pub, which I had heard good things about and been wanting to go to. It's such a cool place; good music, all of this tacky but awesome British shit on the walls, the people speak English, which comes in handy certain times, there were a lot of cute guys, AND I got a glowstick in my drink! Sam's friends from class Kuba(no way I spelled that right), who's Polish, and Maui(again, probably wrong), who's Spanish; we all talked and explained to them what a "That's what she said" joke is haha it was a lot of fun. We then wandered for a while trying to find Darrell's bar (this guy who used to be in API and stayed here on his own but still hangs out with API people lol), Le Couche-Tard; meanwhile it was still snowing, and I was having more issues than normal with coordination (we were on a sidewalk that was in between a car and a wall and there was a lightpole in the middle of the sidewalk; I misjudged my width and thought I could fit through but got caught right at my hips, which did leave multiple marks haha). We got to Le Couche-Tard (which is the French phrase for someone who consistently stays up late), which wasn't as awesome as the London Pub, but at least Darrell got us free shots. We crammed everyone to a table, but I was sitting on Shana's lap, so when someone at the table next to us left, I scooted over thinking the bench kept going...and ended up on the floor with yet another bruise down my back. I promise I hadn't been drinking that much; I'm just not a graceful person under any circumstances. Ashley, Maui, and I had to leave to catch the last Noctibus back to the dorm, but I would still call it a successful night out, especially since we braved the most snow Grenoble's seen in a while (according to "Mama Goose" Marie).