When you're a student and you live on campus, at the corner of a corridor you always hear stories quite crispy... :)

After dragging my left ear around and after gathering evidence (such as a reporter) I put together for you a little surprising chronicle. This week, I'am going to tell you about the places and ways of flirting cheerfully with your sweetheart ... without anybody noticing.

Here, most of students imagine all things to have fun. Here, we almost all live with roommates and have the empty room is not easy ... So, we have to think... Through many stories, so we will see how to avoid prying eyes:

Lesson No. 1:
The United States is affected by the madness of cameras in public places. It's not the same thing as London, but their presence is massive. So, when it comes to spending quality time in the rooms at our disposal, not about getting lost! For indeed, neither one nor two, you're in the box! Unless you want to play exhibs worthy of a bad reality shows, we must find a solution! And for you, B stands for: "With my boyfriend, we were there and everything went well. Then, we wanted to go further. Our roommates were in our rooms and we did not do the show because of the cameras. So we decided to do in the bathroom next door. In the bathroom, there are no cameras and no one to bother you. From a romantic point of view is not great, but it works !"

Lesson No. 2:
In the rooms, we are two or three per room. Everyone has a different schedule. So, to have moments alone is a real privilege. When it comes to having moments of villains with his girlfriend or boyfriend, is organized knowledge. And for that, H has the perfect solution: "I warn my roommates. I ask them not to come before an hour. There is no need for explanation ... We are three boys, we're all between 19 and 20 years, these are things we know"...

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After two months in The United States, I think it's time to talk about relationships.

The reason of my topic is not because I found the love of my life here but because relationships here, are very different. I've already talked about my cultural shock (attires, dancing styles, American culture…). Its time to talk about that monster that many people ran away from : LOVE ! Of course, I'm going to use my friend's stories and my experiences to portrayed my vision.

Relationships and love stories are different of what we know in France.

One example will be that here in the USA you can meet someone, spend your time, kiss, sleep with that person but it doesn't mean you are "a couple" ! Here, you have to wait until the guy asks you officially to become his girlfriend. If this doesn't happen you are only a "booty call". This American tradition really surprised us specially when we discovered that one of our friend see 3 guys at the same time… French are they more conservative ? Anyway… It has been the subject of many of our conversations.

Another very american tradition will be the usage of Facebook. Facebook is an easy friend site where everybody "adds" and "confirms" strangers really easily. But be careful : being accepted by someone you like doesn't mean that you will date that person after. You can maybe eat lunch and spend time with that person but again it doesn't mean anything. Suddenly, that person can disapear without a trace…

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This week my column will not talk about my new american activities, I will talk about a place!

But don’t get me wrong, I will not talk about an important building or a historical place here in San Antonio. I will talk about a place that comes to life after 11:00 pm, we’re going to talk about 6th street in Austin, Texas!!! Why did I choose 6th street? What is the phenomenon that caught my attention?

About a month ago I discovered 6th street during my first visit to Austin. I fell in love with 6th street. The bars, restaurants, and many night clubs surrounded the famous street.  Is this the Texan den for inequity?  Ha! I don’t think so, 6th street is just a place where people meet each other, chat, dance, and have fun. It’s just the perfect place for an European boy like me. The best opportunity to go out and meet new people ;)

But wait that’s not all. Fun is not just fun at 6th street… it’s a real show where people let loose their wildest instincts. The streets turn into pedestrian areas where an amazing runway starts as the night begins. Wild dresses, mini-skirts, low-necklines, tight-fitting clothes are abundant in 6th street’s fashion collection. The temperature is not relevant, the goal of the night is to be “well dressed” and maybe to take somebody home with you…
However, this runway turns into a “fallway.” 6th street girls try to act like top-models. Or I must say they try to act like the 2008 Miss America? Haha. It wasn’t rare to see them falling. The reason of the tragic event is 6th street girls cannot walk in hills. Shame on them!

Sixth street houses many wild celebration. One of these celebrations, to which I was fortunate to attend was « Mardi Gras ». The goal of « Mardi Gras » is to collect as many beads as you can.  The collection process is not important; you can find them on the floor, you can steal it, or you can kiss somebody. However the most efficient way to get these precious beads is to show off your boobs.

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For the fourth week, exit Texas. Direction: Mexico! New country? So ... new name! So, here, I renamed Pepe (pronounced Pépé), the time some adventures.

These days were (again) very good. I was really excited to set a foot on Mexican soil for the first time. Result: I was not disappointed! The qualities of this country, which I had heard so much, were to rendezvous.

This Mexican adventure began with crossing the border was a real epic. At midnight in the dark, we started to cross the bridge separating us from Mexico, such as illegal ... Once on the other side of the bank, after walking on Mexican soil, the atmosphere was at all the same: an untold number of military and police officers were there. An atmosphere of war? No. Just a well protected border.

Like any frontier town that respects here, there was no question of stopping to do some sightseeing. So we quickly engulfed in a taxi to reach the bus station as quickly as possible.

After more than 3 hours of travel in a comfortable bus, we arrived here, in Monterey. It is 4 o'clock in the morning and the adventure can finally begin.

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I'm now completely immersed in American culture and the days are not alike at all!

This week was far from being very studious ... Yet everything had started so well! The balance of the cultural week is rather negative, the balance is positive and professional balance feeling / emotional displays records of positivity!

In short, to understand, back to Monday.

New experience for me: I now work for the campus TV! Far from being the new Larry King or Oprah Winfrey on campus, I went behind the camera. Even if I'm still far from competing with James Cameron's, filming is a pleasure. Also, I want to work in television so knowing look 'technical' is essential if we want to deliver a successful team during a TV show.
It's with joy that I spent all my Monday (from 2pm to 10pm) behind a camera to understand how it works and especially to film the game of college basketball. I also observed how a 'director' works. Far means that I have discovered when I was an intern at France 2 (the second French channel), the campus television side remains effective learning. The studios were not ashamed to face the major networks, and equipment is perfect for beginners! The results of this new experience is more than positive! Also for the second time in my life, I've had my name in a generic! Not bad?

The other experience that has illuminated my week is my contribution to the university newspaper. I'll write a column for the campus newspaper in which I will discuss the socio-cultural differences I perceive between France and the USA!

The first half of the week had started on the hats of wheels, but everything has calmed down very quickly (well so to speak).

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After more than a week in my new home, i can say it now : i feel at home.

San Antonio became my city, and Ollu became my university. It finally took me little time to feel at ease on campus. So it's no great surprise that this second week was rather loaded in business ... not always very studious.

The week started off well. Monday, 18, was the Martin Luther King Day, a very important day in the USA. That celebration, which takes place annually on the third Monday in January, aims to commemorate the memory of MLK. In the 60s, Martin Luther King had actively worked for the equality of all and particularly for the rights of African-Americans. During this march I attended, I had the chance to approach the American people closer to their values. This peaceful demonstration allowed me to see faces, to rub minds of people involved in this fight, as evidenced by some of my photos. The march, which brought together tens of thousands of participants from all generations and all cultures, reflected a real message of peace, tolerance and hope.

Unfortunately, my patriotism lasted only a short time. Indeed, this week I was quickly overtaken by my habits of European students: celebration, decadence and compulsive consumers. Now accompanied by friends with cars, the rest of my week I scoured the malls, boutiques, restaurants, cinemas and other bars.

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During these small shopping sprees, and I have a ride to the famous 5th Avenue, not to mention the more traditional, but nonetheless very American, Abercrombie & Fitch. One of these trips also helped get me to pose next to the largest cowboy boots in the world-look at the photo-it was very fun!

Transferred in addition to the malls, the second "high output" of the week was that the ... Bowling! Place of pilgrimage almost compulsory for any self-respecting tourist, so I donned the shoes and walked the floor trying to get the strikes without much success ... But anyway, to see the pictures, you might think that I'm not gifted?

My week-hyper-American continued Friday night with the Spurs game! the game was just ... hallucinating. For me, a little French, not especially a fan of basketball, I can tell you that I took full view. The room was huge and the show was going so well on the floor of the Spurs in the stands. Everything was like in the movies and televisions series: the kiss-cam, from the clap-claps, hot dogs, mascots, cheerleaders and of course basketball!

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The first week was full of emotions: first steps in college, first nights, first meals, first encounters ... and initial doubts. How to acclimatise? The issue early scares, but you realize very quickly that ties bind much faster than you think.

This first week was marked by a small obsession: January 16, the date of my birthday. Worthily celebrate my 20 years was therefore my priority. The mission of the week was thus to a birthday party so much fun to begin this journey ... Although faster than anyone would have thought, Helen, Eleanor and I have met students who allowed me to celebrate my 20 years! Who are they? Members of a fraternity!

Far from the stereotypes I had, there a definitly not dumbasses like a saw in the past in american tv series ! That first evening, typically American, was really fun and I was able to make my first Ethnic Studies:
- the American (girls & boys) drink a lot, and very quickly! At 23:30, more than half the guests were already drunk,
- a lot of girls moved and dansed like in the video clips with mini-shorts, little tops, lap dance, pole dance and other attitudes tease ...
- Last observation: at 2 o'clock in the morning, everything is finished! Lights on, music and cut household done quickly! A scene worthy of the french TV show "C'est du propre !".

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