I drove up into the SB mountains. It is a warm summer night and I am surrounded by three or four of my closest friends. We are sitting at a look out spot along the road. I look out and on this clear night I can see from Montecito to Goleta, the oil rigs looking light sailboats shining on the ocean. The air is no colder than 75 degrees with a gentle breeze rising from the valley before us. We start talking about everything that we've done in the last four years and all I can think about is my experiences last year in Paris. How much my life changed in that time abroad.
Every time I close my eyes, I go to that place. It is next summer, I am with my friends. I am back in Santa Barbara with France behind me. I did it. I conquered this seemingly unconquerable year. I survived and I am back where I know. As for now, my reality is very much different than my idealized future. As I sit here writing this, I am still at chez Michele. I can hear cars go up rue Lacède every few minutes. I know that if I was hungry I could go outside and get a homemade crepe and eat it on my bed.
And I know that in three days I will be in a different part of this city living with a different host family. The de Fleurieu's are taking me in for the next week. Assuming everything goes well with the wire transfers and we can move into our apartment, I'll be in on a week from this Saturday. And my life will change yet again.
It seems that during my time abroad, the only constant thing is change. I know, I know, its corny and cliché, but clichés exist for a reason. I have been in France for a month and a day and in that time my world has been turned upside down. In that time I have gotten to know a French family, made friends with kids from Europe, the South Pacific, Asia, North America and South America. I have given a presentaion on France's Military Footprint in Africa to a policy advisor for the French Ministry of Defense. I have traveled to a foreign country by myself where I stayed with a friend from high school. I have made plans to go to Scotland with a friend to visit another friend (both from UCSB), bought concert tickets to see Michael Bublé here in Paris and made plans to have my brother come over and visit me for thanksgiving. I have become an english tutor for two preteens and a gentleman in this thirties. I went from barely understanding spoken French to being able to watch movies in French sans subtitles.
My life has changed so much and I have only been here for four and a half weeks. With seventy five days left until I return to the United States I can only imagine what will happen. I know that I have to give five more presentations in French between now and then. I know I have to write a twenty page memoir in French comparing two law systems and defend it in front of a jury of three people. And above all I know that I will survive this. That is the one thing that helps me.
I'm not quite sure why, but this week has been super difficult for me. I haven't been able to make it one day without an anxiety attack. Not a major one mind you, but a good freak out. And talking with my family has helped. Thank god for skype. But the one thing that I helps me at this point is the fact that with every breath I take, I am that much closer to being with them again. Every second that passes is a second I survived here. And I am looking forward to the day when my favorite part of it isn't crossing another x off my calendar.
But as for now, the visions of next summer, of traveling with Nana, of my Dad and JoAnn coming over in Spring, of Nick coming over in November and of Mom coming in May are what get me through this.
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
Mon dernier dîner
Tonight I had my last home cooked meal from Michele Bonhomme. Tomorrow I am going out with my friends and Friday she is going out. And I am out of here on Saturday.
I don't think it is possible to express in words how amazing Michele and her family have been to me. They welcomed me in with open arms from day one. I first got in contact with her about a week before I left the US and she was nice then. When I got here, she met me down at the door to her stairs. She helped me with my bags up to my room.
And my room! What a room! It is probably 17sq meters (for you Americans, that is 183sq feet). This room is bigger than apartments I have visited. And it has a view of the Panthéon from my window, not to mention my own private entrance.
I know I've talked a lot about the food, but here is just a short list of what Michele has made for me: escargots (twice), duck, beef cheeks, potatoes au gratin, lamb, beef, ham, a lot of purées of veggies (usually carrots and potatoes), eggplant, and a lot of food she explained to me but I didn't know what it was.... And her desserts! Oh my god. She was trying to loose some weight, so most of the time when she made a dessert and it was just us eating, I was the only one eating the dessert. And I'm talking home made tarts with home grown fruit filling, chocolate cake with coffee creme filling, and from time to time Georgiana would cook. She is FANTASTIC. She made a chocolate cake with chocolate icing. I don't think I've ever tasted something that good in a restaurant.
I am really going to miss this part of Paris. The 5th arrondissement is probably the best. I literally walk by where Des Cartes, Hemmingway and Joyce all lived when they were in Paris. I am three minutes from a metro, about five from an ancient roman arena (Les Arenes de Lutece), and fifteen minutes (if you are like me and walk slowly) from Notre Dame. I could look at that church all day and not get tired of it.
How many host families take their tenant out, show them how to use the metro, and take them up the Eiffel Tower all on the first day?
I don't think it is possible to express in words how amazing Michele and her family have been to me. They welcomed me in with open arms from day one. I first got in contact with her about a week before I left the US and she was nice then. When I got here, she met me down at the door to her stairs. She helped me with my bags up to my room.
And my room! What a room! It is probably 17sq meters (for you Americans, that is 183sq feet). This room is bigger than apartments I have visited. And it has a view of the Panthéon from my window, not to mention my own private entrance.
I know I've talked a lot about the food, but here is just a short list of what Michele has made for me: escargots (twice), duck, beef cheeks, potatoes au gratin, lamb, beef, ham, a lot of purées of veggies (usually carrots and potatoes), eggplant, and a lot of food she explained to me but I didn't know what it was.... And her desserts! Oh my god. She was trying to loose some weight, so most of the time when she made a dessert and it was just us eating, I was the only one eating the dessert. And I'm talking home made tarts with home grown fruit filling, chocolate cake with coffee creme filling, and from time to time Georgiana would cook. She is FANTASTIC. She made a chocolate cake with chocolate icing. I don't think I've ever tasted something that good in a restaurant.
I am really going to miss this part of Paris. The 5th arrondissement is probably the best. I literally walk by where Des Cartes, Hemmingway and Joyce all lived when they were in Paris. I am three minutes from a metro, about five from an ancient roman arena (Les Arenes de Lutece), and fifteen minutes (if you are like me and walk slowly) from Notre Dame. I could look at that church all day and not get tired of it.
How many host families take their tenant out, show them how to use the metro, and take them up the Eiffel Tower all on the first day?
Dans mes rêves
I have always been a very vivid dreamer. I can't imagine how many times growing up when my mom would wake me up that I would say, "I had the (insert adjective here) dream last night!" For the last couple of days I have been having some amazing dreams here.
There is one dream that stands out the most to me. In describing it, it won't make any sense, but I need to try anyway. I am somewhere near a lake. It seems like it is the dock of the houseboat we rented for one of our family reunions a few years ago. Except instead of being a boat, it is the FVC. Somehow the surrounding area has changed to the faculty lawn at UCSB. I see my coworkers from this summer walking with vacationers away from the beach. The sun is out, but it setting. Brilliant purples and oranges and yellows paint the sky the color of a cowboy cliché (yes, I stole that from John Mayer). Then we are at the beach. I have never felt more comfortable and at peace than I did in my dream. I looked around and I knew where I was, who I was with, and what was going to happen.
Then I woke up.
I feel like living in this city there are times when everything seems to be familiar, walking by buildings I've seen for the last four weeks, knowing I am almost home. Then there are other times when I walk down roads I know I've been down before, but everything seems different, like it has changed since this morning. I know it is just my mind playing a trick on me.
As for the apartment, Alyia and I went and signed the contract yesterday. However, like everything else in this country, nothing has gone quite like it was supposed to. Because we weren't sure of how much we needed for the payments and all of that, we hadn't wired any money to France yet. It takes about two or three days for a wire transfer to come through. The contract doesn't become a binding legal document until they receive all of the money. So I can't say that I have an apartment yet.
To compound the issue, Alyia is heading to London tomorrow and coming back next Wednesday. In the mean time, I don't have anywhere to live... I think I am going to have to find a hostel/hotel close to school I can shack up in until she gets back and we can officially move into our apartment.
And my presentations are coming up. They make me sick to my stomach. Today I tried a french hot-dog (baguette with cheese and hot-dog in it) and could only get through about half of it. It may have been the fact they put mustard in it though. Why anyone would voluntarily eat that stuff is beyond me...
It is embarrassing though. Close to my house there is Rue Moufftard which has all these cool shops and boutiques not to mention crepe stands. I have been to four different ones there. And by this point, every one of the guys who works there knows my order. It is always either a crepe with ham and cheese or a panini with tomato, mozzarella and ham. And that Ben and Jerry's I wrote about a while ago? Yeah, they know me there too. I have always taken comfort in food and since I couldn't really eat my hot-dog today at lunch, I treated myself to two scoops of Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough (my host family has NEVER tried that! I am going to surprise them with a pint on friday).
So aside from not having a place to live next week, three presentations in the next two weeks in French and at times feeling to nauseous (btw, I, for the life of me, cannot spell nauseous without spell check) to eat, everything else here is going fine. I really like Thursdays. Thursday is the day when I have my English classes. My French defense policy class is great because I've already done my presentation so I have nothing to worry about. My Social History of the US in the 20th Century class is soooooo easy. We literally talked about what Jim Crow laws are for about twenty-five minutes last week. Thursdays are definitely good days.
Maybe I'll take a nap and dream again.
There is one dream that stands out the most to me. In describing it, it won't make any sense, but I need to try anyway. I am somewhere near a lake. It seems like it is the dock of the houseboat we rented for one of our family reunions a few years ago. Except instead of being a boat, it is the FVC. Somehow the surrounding area has changed to the faculty lawn at UCSB. I see my coworkers from this summer walking with vacationers away from the beach. The sun is out, but it setting. Brilliant purples and oranges and yellows paint the sky the color of a cowboy cliché (yes, I stole that from John Mayer). Then we are at the beach. I have never felt more comfortable and at peace than I did in my dream. I looked around and I knew where I was, who I was with, and what was going to happen.
Then I woke up.
I feel like living in this city there are times when everything seems to be familiar, walking by buildings I've seen for the last four weeks, knowing I am almost home. Then there are other times when I walk down roads I know I've been down before, but everything seems different, like it has changed since this morning. I know it is just my mind playing a trick on me.
As for the apartment, Alyia and I went and signed the contract yesterday. However, like everything else in this country, nothing has gone quite like it was supposed to. Because we weren't sure of how much we needed for the payments and all of that, we hadn't wired any money to France yet. It takes about two or three days for a wire transfer to come through. The contract doesn't become a binding legal document until they receive all of the money. So I can't say that I have an apartment yet.
To compound the issue, Alyia is heading to London tomorrow and coming back next Wednesday. In the mean time, I don't have anywhere to live... I think I am going to have to find a hostel/hotel close to school I can shack up in until she gets back and we can officially move into our apartment.
And my presentations are coming up. They make me sick to my stomach. Today I tried a french hot-dog (baguette with cheese and hot-dog in it) and could only get through about half of it. It may have been the fact they put mustard in it though. Why anyone would voluntarily eat that stuff is beyond me...
It is embarrassing though. Close to my house there is Rue Moufftard which has all these cool shops and boutiques not to mention crepe stands. I have been to four different ones there. And by this point, every one of the guys who works there knows my order. It is always either a crepe with ham and cheese or a panini with tomato, mozzarella and ham. And that Ben and Jerry's I wrote about a while ago? Yeah, they know me there too. I have always taken comfort in food and since I couldn't really eat my hot-dog today at lunch, I treated myself to two scoops of Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough (my host family has NEVER tried that! I am going to surprise them with a pint on friday).
So aside from not having a place to live next week, three presentations in the next two weeks in French and at times feeling to nauseous (btw, I, for the life of me, cannot spell nauseous without spell check) to eat, everything else here is going fine. I really like Thursdays. Thursday is the day when I have my English classes. My French defense policy class is great because I've already done my presentation so I have nothing to worry about. My Social History of the US in the 20th Century class is soooooo easy. We literally talked about what Jim Crow laws are for about twenty-five minutes last week. Thursdays are definitely good days.
Maybe I'll take a nap and dream again.
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
Je veux pas mentir
This is hard. I should be doing my homework right now but I need to write this post. I am actually really surprised at how much I like writing this. Every time one of my friends tells me they read it, I feel really good. It's nice to know that people are taking the time and reading what I wrote. Which has also made it really hard to say exactly what I am feeling at times because I don't want to sound like I am just whining and complaining. However, I need to remember that this blog is for future A.J., and while it isn't likely that he'll forget how he felt at the beginning of his study abroad, I feel like he needs to hear what I have to say.
Like I said, this is hard. In fact this is probably the hardest thing I have ever done in my life. I am on my own in a foreign country thousands of miles away from my family. I don't have anyone I can go to and really just feel safe and taken care of. For me, that feeling of security is the greatest feeling I could feel. After high school, moving to Colorado and Texas I felt really alone, but I knew I was safe because I had family with me. Even if I didn't have any friends, I had a house and loved ones I could be with.
Not here. I don't have anyone that I can really just feel safe with. There is a line in one of my favorite songs that says "Have you ever felt alone in a crowded room?" and I think I can honestly say yes. That's why I think that its a great thing that I am going to live with another person. I was thinking about it and living alone in this city would probably just compound the problem. Today, Aliya and I are going to sign the contract for the apartment I talked about in an earlier post. Thank god for her. She lets me know that I'm not going through this alone. That there are other people with the same problems as me.
However, despite how much that helps me, it still doesn't take away the fact that I have twelve more weeks without seeing my family and truly being home. That is the longest I've gone in my life without seeing my family.
I talked to Kate yesterday. She spent her junior year in Bologna, Italy. I was really surprised to hear from her but she gchatted me and asked how I liked France. I told her it was good but I was really homesick. She told me that she was exactly where I am. I know that people have told me that what I am going through is normal, but hearing it from Kate, someone who did what I am (she spent a year abroad from UCSB) really made me feel better.
Last night helped a lot too. Dinners with the family here give me that sense of security, if only for a little while. The problem is that I know I am leaving here this weekend. I finally just got comfortable and it is time to change my world again. I'll be moving to a different part of the city, one I haven't spent much time in.
I am sick to my stomach. I don't really have an appetite. I guess the good thing is that I'll still lose weight! I actually was talking with Nick, and he and I have the same waist size, despite the fact that he does all this crazy military PT and goes running and all that. It kinda is a good feeling. But the nausea, not so much.
I hate feeling regret. I don't regret coming to Paris at all. I am glad that I am in Paris. But I do regret taking my comparative law class in French. I honestly think that if I wasn't in that class but in one in English, I wouldn't be feeling like this. And I hate the fact that I am always thinking "What if?" I can't stand it, but I can't stop it. What if I wasn't in this course? What if I was at UC Paris, or studying in Lyon or Bordeaux. What if I was back in SB for the first quarter and then went abroad starting in the winter? What if I came abroad with a close friend? What if I don't have a place to live next year? What if my friends find a house without me? All of these stupid questions are swirling in my brain and upsetting my stomach.
I find it interesting that there was a direct correlation to my homesickness feelings and school starting and the weather changing. For the first three weeks I didn't mind being in Paris. It was still summer, people were still on vacation, and I was only in my orientation classes. Now that what I do has actual consequences I feel the pressure. And it is pressure I put on myself. I don't want this pressure, but I know that it is this pressure that got me to study abroad in the first place. I don't want to be just another person. This pressure to be someone out of the ordinary has led me to some pretty cool places. The latest being here. But it is also blinding me from truly enjoying this place.
All I know is I have never looked forward to a flight more in my life than I am now for the one taking me back to the US at winter break.
Btw, sorry that this post doesn't really follow any logical order. Sometimes stream of consciousness is the best way for me to get what I want to say out.
Like I said, this is hard. In fact this is probably the hardest thing I have ever done in my life. I am on my own in a foreign country thousands of miles away from my family. I don't have anyone I can go to and really just feel safe and taken care of. For me, that feeling of security is the greatest feeling I could feel. After high school, moving to Colorado and Texas I felt really alone, but I knew I was safe because I had family with me. Even if I didn't have any friends, I had a house and loved ones I could be with.
Not here. I don't have anyone that I can really just feel safe with. There is a line in one of my favorite songs that says "Have you ever felt alone in a crowded room?" and I think I can honestly say yes. That's why I think that its a great thing that I am going to live with another person. I was thinking about it and living alone in this city would probably just compound the problem. Today, Aliya and I are going to sign the contract for the apartment I talked about in an earlier post. Thank god for her. She lets me know that I'm not going through this alone. That there are other people with the same problems as me.
However, despite how much that helps me, it still doesn't take away the fact that I have twelve more weeks without seeing my family and truly being home. That is the longest I've gone in my life without seeing my family.
I talked to Kate yesterday. She spent her junior year in Bologna, Italy. I was really surprised to hear from her but she gchatted me and asked how I liked France. I told her it was good but I was really homesick. She told me that she was exactly where I am. I know that people have told me that what I am going through is normal, but hearing it from Kate, someone who did what I am (she spent a year abroad from UCSB) really made me feel better.
Last night helped a lot too. Dinners with the family here give me that sense of security, if only for a little while. The problem is that I know I am leaving here this weekend. I finally just got comfortable and it is time to change my world again. I'll be moving to a different part of the city, one I haven't spent much time in.
I am sick to my stomach. I don't really have an appetite. I guess the good thing is that I'll still lose weight! I actually was talking with Nick, and he and I have the same waist size, despite the fact that he does all this crazy military PT and goes running and all that. It kinda is a good feeling. But the nausea, not so much.
I hate feeling regret. I don't regret coming to Paris at all. I am glad that I am in Paris. But I do regret taking my comparative law class in French. I honestly think that if I wasn't in that class but in one in English, I wouldn't be feeling like this. And I hate the fact that I am always thinking "What if?" I can't stand it, but I can't stop it. What if I wasn't in this course? What if I was at UC Paris, or studying in Lyon or Bordeaux. What if I was back in SB for the first quarter and then went abroad starting in the winter? What if I came abroad with a close friend? What if I don't have a place to live next year? What if my friends find a house without me? All of these stupid questions are swirling in my brain and upsetting my stomach.
I find it interesting that there was a direct correlation to my homesickness feelings and school starting and the weather changing. For the first three weeks I didn't mind being in Paris. It was still summer, people were still on vacation, and I was only in my orientation classes. Now that what I do has actual consequences I feel the pressure. And it is pressure I put on myself. I don't want this pressure, but I know that it is this pressure that got me to study abroad in the first place. I don't want to be just another person. This pressure to be someone out of the ordinary has led me to some pretty cool places. The latest being here. But it is also blinding me from truly enjoying this place.
All I know is I have never looked forward to a flight more in my life than I am now for the one taking me back to the US at winter break.
Btw, sorry that this post doesn't really follow any logical order. Sometimes stream of consciousness is the best way for me to get what I want to say out.
Sunday, September 26, 2010
Quatre semaines
I have been in Paris for four weeks. In that four weeks I have probably had every emotion known to man. When I was coming over here, I was nervous but I swore I would absolutely love it. I was going to be different that everyone I knew who had studied before. I mean, come on, I was going to Paris! I had taken French for six years and had studied abroad before in High School in France. I can do this no problem.
I was wrong. This is by far the hardest thing I have ever done. Nothing in my life can compare to leaving everyone I know and love behind and starting fresh in a new country where I don't know the customs or traditions and have barely functional conversational French. When I got here I had no contacts in Paris, no leads on finding an apartment and if it wasn't for ParisAccomdation.com I would have either been living in a hotel/hostel or on the street.
Since I started classes, there hasn't been one day where I don't wonder what my friends back in SB are doing. How are global classes going to be this quarter? I wonder who is going to hook up with whom? What is going on back in Suite 6111? I wonder what I would be doing right now if I were in SB.
And it is so easy for me to get trapped in this alternate reality in my mind. I can just close my eyes and live in my memories. I can create a world where I am where I want to be and nothing exists but what I want to exist. It is easy, it is comfortable, it is safe.
And then I think about my reality. I still don't have an apartment, I still don't know anyone super well, I still can't speak French, and it is ok. This is what is going to make me who I will be in a year. These last four weeks are going to be the hardest part of my year abroad. It is impossible for me to become more unfamiliar with France. I can only get to know it better. It can only become more comfortable for me. My french can only improve. I can only become better friends with the people I already know.
And I need to talk about dinner tonight. I have written about dinners here a lot. Tonight I was freaking out because I have to turn in a paper tomorrow in my vomit-inducing, cold-sweat prompting, please-for-the-love-of-god-get-me-home, steaming pile of international law systems class. I hadn't finished reading the articles for it. One was eighteen pages and the other was six. All in French. Anyway, I know how long dinners in the Bonhomme household last (not that its a bad thing at all!), so I was stressing to make sure I had enough time to finish and print out the paper.
Getting back to dinner, Sunday is family dinner night. I always look forward to it, not because I don't have anything to say to Michele, but because it is a lot of fun talking with Jerome and Georgina. They are closer to my age and a lot of fun to be around. Tonight Georgiana told me she read my blog. After that, we all started talking about homesickness. It was really nice that they didn't look at me weird for every once in a while wanting to go home. Georgiana actually put it in perspective for me. She has been away from her comfort zone for three years, leaving behind family, friends, and all she has been familiar with to start a family here in France.
If she can do that, I can at least do this. I have to say though, that was our last Sunday dinner. I am leaving here on October 1. As of 23:51 on Sept 26, 2010 I do not know 100% where I will be living in one week. But I do know I will miss the meals and the sounds and smells and everything about this household. The feeling of being part of a family when I miss mine and haven't been home in a long time. But this is making me a better person. And in the grand scope of things, studying abroad in Paris isn't really something that anyone should complain about. How many people are lucky enough to do this?
I just need to take my blinders off and look at the bigger picture. Remind me of that, ok?
I was wrong. This is by far the hardest thing I have ever done. Nothing in my life can compare to leaving everyone I know and love behind and starting fresh in a new country where I don't know the customs or traditions and have barely functional conversational French. When I got here I had no contacts in Paris, no leads on finding an apartment and if it wasn't for ParisAccomdation.com I would have either been living in a hotel/hostel or on the street.
Since I started classes, there hasn't been one day where I don't wonder what my friends back in SB are doing. How are global classes going to be this quarter? I wonder who is going to hook up with whom? What is going on back in Suite 6111? I wonder what I would be doing right now if I were in SB.
And it is so easy for me to get trapped in this alternate reality in my mind. I can just close my eyes and live in my memories. I can create a world where I am where I want to be and nothing exists but what I want to exist. It is easy, it is comfortable, it is safe.
And then I think about my reality. I still don't have an apartment, I still don't know anyone super well, I still can't speak French, and it is ok. This is what is going to make me who I will be in a year. These last four weeks are going to be the hardest part of my year abroad. It is impossible for me to become more unfamiliar with France. I can only get to know it better. It can only become more comfortable for me. My french can only improve. I can only become better friends with the people I already know.
And I need to talk about dinner tonight. I have written about dinners here a lot. Tonight I was freaking out because I have to turn in a paper tomorrow in my vomit-inducing, cold-sweat prompting, please-for-the-love-of-god-get-me-home, steaming pile of international law systems class. I hadn't finished reading the articles for it. One was eighteen pages and the other was six. All in French. Anyway, I know how long dinners in the Bonhomme household last (not that its a bad thing at all!), so I was stressing to make sure I had enough time to finish and print out the paper.
Getting back to dinner, Sunday is family dinner night. I always look forward to it, not because I don't have anything to say to Michele, but because it is a lot of fun talking with Jerome and Georgina. They are closer to my age and a lot of fun to be around. Tonight Georgiana told me she read my blog. After that, we all started talking about homesickness. It was really nice that they didn't look at me weird for every once in a while wanting to go home. Georgiana actually put it in perspective for me. She has been away from her comfort zone for three years, leaving behind family, friends, and all she has been familiar with to start a family here in France.
If she can do that, I can at least do this. I have to say though, that was our last Sunday dinner. I am leaving here on October 1. As of 23:51 on Sept 26, 2010 I do not know 100% where I will be living in one week. But I do know I will miss the meals and the sounds and smells and everything about this household. The feeling of being part of a family when I miss mine and haven't been home in a long time. But this is making me a better person. And in the grand scope of things, studying abroad in Paris isn't really something that anyone should complain about. How many people are lucky enough to do this?
I just need to take my blinders off and look at the bigger picture. Remind me of that, ok?
Saturday, September 25, 2010
Il fait froid
It's that time in Paris when the weather turns cold and rainy. Today marked the third day of fall, and boy, if this is any indication of what winter is going to be like...
Today was a lot of fun actually though, despite the bitter chill in the air. Really it only got down to the high forties, if that. You know us Southern Californians... We are wimps when it comes to the weather. Nevertheless, I still triple layered (shirt, sweater, jacket). I did realize though, that I need a good pair of gloves. That is going to be my mission for next weekend. A nice pair of leather gloves I can wear here.
Paige is visiting Paris with her friend Mary. I felt bad because I was supposed to get together with them this morning, but I didn't really get out of bed until 11:30AM. By the time I got out of bed, showered, shaved and was ready it was noon. And Aliya and I had another apartment to look at at 2:00PM.
That apartment was GORGEOUS! It had 3 bedrooms, an amazing kitchen, large dining room, HUGE living room and it was on a direct line to SciencesPo. Plus, the rent was less than 1,000 Euros each a month. The only problem would be getting the rest of the start up money. Becuase we are foreigners, they needed the caution bancaire which would be 1 years rent. That means that the first months rent would be actually around 15,000 Euros, most of which we would get back at the end of the year. But who can get 15,000 Euros together in a matter of days?
So it looks like we are going to be taking the apt. in the 18th. Which is really nice. Not 100% done deal yet, but we have another viewing on Monday.
So after the viewing I met up with Paige and Mary. We walked around, went to that park I feel asleep in (see the pictures I posted a few days ago) and then walked from there up to my area. By that time we had killed about three or four hours so we wanted to eat. Just up the street from my host family's apartment is this awesome little square with maybe ten different restaurants and a few bars. I hadn't eaten at any of them but I wanted to try before I left this area.
After dinner at this great Italian restaurant, the three of us headed down to the Champs de Mars to meet up with my orientation group. They said to be there around 8, and for some reason I am ALWAYS on time so we were there then. We ran into Hugo, our French host student, but no one else was there. After about ten minutes of talking and taking pictures a few others turned up. The only problem is that the grass made it even colder. We couldn't really stay that long.
After searching the St. Germain area for a cool place to get a drink, we ended up coming back to my area. This place was poppin' tonight! It almost made me wish I drank so I could go and see all these cool bars and restaurants. But being here has made me more and more excited for my birthday. I know I want to do something big for my 21st, but I don't know what yet.
I guess I still have a few months to figure out what I should do...
Today was a lot of fun actually though, despite the bitter chill in the air. Really it only got down to the high forties, if that. You know us Southern Californians... We are wimps when it comes to the weather. Nevertheless, I still triple layered (shirt, sweater, jacket). I did realize though, that I need a good pair of gloves. That is going to be my mission for next weekend. A nice pair of leather gloves I can wear here.
Paige is visiting Paris with her friend Mary. I felt bad because I was supposed to get together with them this morning, but I didn't really get out of bed until 11:30AM. By the time I got out of bed, showered, shaved and was ready it was noon. And Aliya and I had another apartment to look at at 2:00PM.
That apartment was GORGEOUS! It had 3 bedrooms, an amazing kitchen, large dining room, HUGE living room and it was on a direct line to SciencesPo. Plus, the rent was less than 1,000 Euros each a month. The only problem would be getting the rest of the start up money. Becuase we are foreigners, they needed the caution bancaire which would be 1 years rent. That means that the first months rent would be actually around 15,000 Euros, most of which we would get back at the end of the year. But who can get 15,000 Euros together in a matter of days?
So it looks like we are going to be taking the apt. in the 18th. Which is really nice. Not 100% done deal yet, but we have another viewing on Monday.
So after the viewing I met up with Paige and Mary. We walked around, went to that park I feel asleep in (see the pictures I posted a few days ago) and then walked from there up to my area. By that time we had killed about three or four hours so we wanted to eat. Just up the street from my host family's apartment is this awesome little square with maybe ten different restaurants and a few bars. I hadn't eaten at any of them but I wanted to try before I left this area.
After dinner at this great Italian restaurant, the three of us headed down to the Champs de Mars to meet up with my orientation group. They said to be there around 8, and for some reason I am ALWAYS on time so we were there then. We ran into Hugo, our French host student, but no one else was there. After about ten minutes of talking and taking pictures a few others turned up. The only problem is that the grass made it even colder. We couldn't really stay that long.
After searching the St. Germain area for a cool place to get a drink, we ended up coming back to my area. This place was poppin' tonight! It almost made me wish I drank so I could go and see all these cool bars and restaurants. But being here has made me more and more excited for my birthday. I know I want to do something big for my 21st, but I don't know what yet.
I guess I still have a few months to figure out what I should do...
Friday, September 24, 2010
Je suis un prof?
So I had my second tutoring session today. Well I guess I had my first and my second session. The incredibly nice woman who interviewed me hired me to help both her son and her husband learn/work on their english. I had my first lesson with he husband today and the second with her son and his friend.
I'll talk about her husband's lesson first. Today, Aliya and I had an appointment to see a flat in the 2nd. We were both about 10 min late and by the time we got there the real-estate agent had left. This was at 11. I had the lesson at 1 in an area I didn't really know and still had to run home, get lunch, grab my computer and find the place. Only problem was that it took me a lot longer to get home than I thought. I scarfed down my crepe and headed out. I knew which metro stop I needed so that wasn't bad.
I got off at Chateau D'Eau and walked down Rue Strasbourg. That was the wrong street. And also, I think I've found out where all of the French Africans live. Literally every other store was a black beauty salon. My favorite store was Afro Afrique. Anyway, I had to go into one of said shops and ask directions because I was hopelessly lost. Luckily the lady was super nice and she told me where to go.
Once I found the building, I realized I had another problem. I had no way of contacting Philippe. I didn't have his cell number. All I knew was his office address, but not where in the building it was. Luckily his e-mail was on my comp, which I had with me. I saw the name of his company and found it on the marquis. StuidoBleu. I walk up to the first floor and ask them if Philippe is there.
Turns out Philippe works in a recording studio. From what I gathered he is in charge of the sound proofing of the studio. It was awesome! We had the lesson in a recording studio! With microphones and all! It was sooo cool. I heard people singing and instruments and all!
Anyway, in the lesson, we talked about what he wanted to get out of the lessons and then we talked about Paris. His english is really good, but he sounds like those foreign guys on family guy that have been in the US just long enough to almost sound American. I made some little corrections like, railroad tracks are 200 meters wide, not that they make 200 meters. Little things.
In the lesson this afternoon with the kids, I had them write a story. I told them to use as many adjectives as possible. I think from this point on I need to give them a vocab sheet. And have a theme for the lesson. But then I dictated the words to John Mayer's "Waiting on the World to Change" and had them underline all of the adjectives and circle all of the contractions. I probably should have made sure he used adjectives... At least I know what I can do next week!
I'll talk about her husband's lesson first. Today, Aliya and I had an appointment to see a flat in the 2nd. We were both about 10 min late and by the time we got there the real-estate agent had left. This was at 11. I had the lesson at 1 in an area I didn't really know and still had to run home, get lunch, grab my computer and find the place. Only problem was that it took me a lot longer to get home than I thought. I scarfed down my crepe and headed out. I knew which metro stop I needed so that wasn't bad.
I got off at Chateau D'Eau and walked down Rue Strasbourg. That was the wrong street. And also, I think I've found out where all of the French Africans live. Literally every other store was a black beauty salon. My favorite store was Afro Afrique. Anyway, I had to go into one of said shops and ask directions because I was hopelessly lost. Luckily the lady was super nice and she told me where to go.
Once I found the building, I realized I had another problem. I had no way of contacting Philippe. I didn't have his cell number. All I knew was his office address, but not where in the building it was. Luckily his e-mail was on my comp, which I had with me. I saw the name of his company and found it on the marquis. StuidoBleu. I walk up to the first floor and ask them if Philippe is there.
Turns out Philippe works in a recording studio. From what I gathered he is in charge of the sound proofing of the studio. It was awesome! We had the lesson in a recording studio! With microphones and all! It was sooo cool. I heard people singing and instruments and all!
Anyway, in the lesson, we talked about what he wanted to get out of the lessons and then we talked about Paris. His english is really good, but he sounds like those foreign guys on family guy that have been in the US just long enough to almost sound American. I made some little corrections like, railroad tracks are 200 meters wide, not that they make 200 meters. Little things.
In the lesson this afternoon with the kids, I had them write a story. I told them to use as many adjectives as possible. I think from this point on I need to give them a vocab sheet. And have a theme for the lesson. But then I dictated the words to John Mayer's "Waiting on the World to Change" and had them underline all of the adjectives and circle all of the contractions. I probably should have made sure he used adjectives... At least I know what I can do next week!
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