Je suis FINIT!

So I'M DONE. With courses for the year, that is. And it's been fun while it lasted, but like my last post indicates.. now the real work begins. I have to find a masters program. But the vacation could not come at a better time, because I am going to read 2 books on sustainable development for inspiration and I plan to have my first applications finished by the end of the vacation.

And I leave on Saturday!! Craziness. The only thing I have left to do is watch Margot tomorrow for a few hours, and maybe give one or two more English classes. But in the meantime, Alix and I are going out tonight with friends, and tomorrow night we have a movie premiere to see.

Woohoo!! I couldn't be more excited for the break. And to see my family. And to.. I was going to say rest, but that's not true. At least it's a change ;)

Sustainable Development: a Development I can sustain?

im faced with the immediacy of my future. i want to work in sustainable development because i want to positively contribute to this planet. but HOW? and WHERE? and WHAT THE HELL?

that third one is sentiment... but it works. so im searching schools, and searching my soul, and reading like a madman. it begs the question, is my goal to work in SD a realistic one? are there too many people studying in that field for the # of jobs available? is another 2 years of school feasible at my age / with my historical profile?

this is BIG. like bigger than the past 3 months of french studies. bigger than moving to france. bigger than quiting my job. bigger than syracuse. bigger than anything before.

As you (who?) can see, I'm a bit lost. help!

The power of the dollar

I seem to be having revelations on the daily, albeit small ones. I've realized today that I've lost a certain something in my move to Paris: my desire, need, and will to buy things. Before I left home (and truly for the past 8 months) I took an inventory of my life, of the things that own me (or that I own), and the things that I truly need - and I pared it down. I had a habit when I lived in the states to look at discount websites like bensbargains.net or passwird.com, or the better known woot.com just to see what geeky gadgets were on sale. And as is normal when one develops the habit of looking at merchandise, one also develops the habit to rationalize more purchases than necessary. So I would buy things if they were a good deal, because hell, after all, I couldn't afford NOT to buy it! (that one's for you, Joe). But now, in Paris, I have all my basics.. clothing, food, my computer, some books, and a few video games / movies. Past that, I don't really "want" for anything, so I don't really buy anything.

In fact, I've lost the urge to buy altogether. Now that I don't work, don't earn a twice monthly paycheck, I guard my bank account a little more closely. I earn a bit of money with my part time work, but that's to pay the rent and pay for my activities. The money I have in the bank is my only real savings, and I don't want to see it depleted. Maybe this is a sign of responsibility? I'm not entirely sure... but in any case when you don't earn, when you simply deplete, you begin to regard things in a different way. I still look at my websites, but not on a daily basis, and more for amusement and to keep "current" with the price of things.. but I rarely buy.

Well that's it, nothing too deep, but it's a change I've noticed in myself. And that's why you're reading this blog, isn't it? ;)

Presentation

I've realized something. After giving nearly 4 or 5 presentations in French, I've become a better public speaker... in English. What I mean to say is that I thought it was hard to give presentations in English before I came to France, but after having struggled with a non-native language and adding an additional layer of complexity to the process, I'm fine with presenting in English. I'll take a giant hall filled with uninterested people in front of whom I can speak nervously any day of the week, as long as it's in English. Because there's nothing worse than trying to improvise in a language where you have no words. When you arrive at a dead end, there's no bullshitting, it's just shitting, and that doesn't please anyone, including yourself.

Resident Evil

I almost forgot! I had another brush with French Administration this week, but I can happily report that it was far less painful than usual. And the result... (drum roll please), I have my Carte de Sejour! Probably anticlimactic to most, because the words Carte de Sejour don't evoke much to the English speaking community, but it means that I have my residency card and I can legally live and work in France until the end of my VISA.

Yay! I know. It's a minor technicality, but I'm cheering the fact that I had an appointment on Thursday with the immigration office at 2pm, I arrived, took my shirt off (it was a physical), coughed a few times, spoke french, and left by 3:30pm. 1 hour and 30 minutes is unheard of in France for accomplishing.. well anything really. But especially unheard of with a government agency. I was rather impressed.

Procrastination

So yes, it's been a month without updates. I hope I haven't upset the fan base or convinced anyone that this blog isn't worth reading (when it obviously IS worth reading). Now that I've gotten that out of the way I'm pretty sure I owe the world a little bit of catch-up. So let's begin.

Yes I am a part time nanny, sort of. That line was just a teaser thrown out to inspire wild ideas and images about my sordid lifestyle in Paris, but the reality is much less glamorous. The good news, I'm watching a 3-year old for 10 hours per week and earning enough to pay my rent and earn some spending money, therefore not dipping into my savings - the bad news, I'm watching a 3-year old for 10 hours per week. It's not all bad, per say, since the mother wants me to speak English and simply play with her daughter to instill an English vocabulary in her sponge-like infant mind, but I'm realizing how glad I am that she's not my kid. Part time nanny? No problem. Full time father? No thanks, not yet anyway.

I've also been graced with a great opportunity this week - to learn all about the French healthcare system as an active participant! In other words, I was incredibly sick for the entire week, and like much of the paranoid world I thought it was the dreaded swine flu! AAHH! Run! (those damn porks) Meanwhile, back on planet earth it was a cold, a bad cold, but just a cold. But here's the interesting part (you were hoping for one, I'm sure) - in France, healthcare works. Can you imagine that?? A social system working?! Surely every Republican mind in the US just exploded after hearing an American say that. Because we all know that social systems = socialism = nazis = concentration camps. And my having a cold and visiting a western doctor and purchasing prescription drugs and therefore contributing to the consumerist society I live in definitely qualifies as a donation to terrorism. Well, Mr. Republican, get ready to choke on your chicken bone, my entire experience cost $60, uninsured. That's right, a visit to chez-le-docteur and 4 prescription medications cost in total less than $60. To my American "you must be insured before you can even think about getting sick" mentality, this was a major punch to the gut.

Anyway, I'm not bitter. But please, America, land of the greed - oops, free - please pick up the pace on this health care thing. It's not marxist flag burning, it's universal health care and we're living in the stone age (exaggeration).

So those two paragraphs sum up a month, right? What? No? What was I doing the other 25 days in between? Well let's see. My mom and aunt came to visit which was delightful. It reminded me that yes I can love to see my family but be incredibly stressed to balance my work life, my personal life with Alix, and my family life. I had forgotten about that juggling act. We spent a week together and visited Versailles, rode the bateaus mouches, took a tour bus around Paris, and stopped in Montmartre, at Notre Dame, at at the Musee D'Orsay (which is damn cool). We ate a lot of good food (and I can prove that being 2 lbs fatter), we visited some home goods stores, and eventually decided that every home goods store in Paris charges $90 for a lampshade and went to IKEA. Thank god for the swedish and their flat-ish furniture. I say ish because I notice more and more non-flat variety furniture populating the shelves. I'm onto you IKEA.

School has continued to be a mind-blast. What does that mean? Not sure really, except that it's still 21 hours per week in French and I'm not sure at what speed my level is advancing, but I'm loving the coursework and becoming more and more friendly with my classmates. One of whom held a little get together about a week back which was congenial and welcoming, so much so that I invited Alix to come along and she enjoyed it just as much a I did, if not more.

Today, however, I'm procrasitinating. After a week of vacation which should have been filled with dancing and eating chocolate and oversleeping, it was instead filled with hacking up a lung and feeling like death, and now it's over and I haven't done any of my work. That would be all well and good save the fact that I have a test in French history tomorrow and I feel the old "Procrastinator" emerging in me. It's been long-dormant, but rearing to make a comeback, and here it is. I don't want to do my work. Which is silly, because I'm here firmly by choice, doing this just for me, and yet, I still don't want to do it. I want to play video games. I think that's just nostalgia creeping up because I enjoy gaming and it's been a while since I've wasted my days and nights on some useless quest to save the princess.. but well, there it is.

Past that, life is still amazing. No regrets. I miss my family and friends, a lot. It's slowly building to a whole lot. Nostalgia is winning. But, the holidays are coming up with PERFECT timing and I'm looking for a flight home between Dec 26 and Jan 1, so if you're in town and want to hang out, I'll be there! (I hope!).

A Nanny Becomes Him

So yes, I'm going to become a nanny. But I'll leave you with that for now and explain later :)

21 Hours Complete

21 hours of French language instruction down, 294 to go.

I've had quite an interesting week, I have to admit. I was more than a bit skeptical about what type of courses I would be taking at l'ILCF, whether they would be taught in both French and English, whether there would be large or small classes, or whether I was even signing up for live instruction at all versus computer labs with a French aide to help us with our self-instruction. (I think I had a dream/nightmare about that last one.. not that the concept is scary, just that c'mon, I wouldnt want to be spending my time in a computer lab all day teaching myself with some software.. but it at least shows you the complete lack of understanding I had about what I was walking into).

I can therefore calm your nerves by saying that we have small classes, typically 16-18 students, with a dedicated French instructor who speaks only French during the lessons. These students range anywhere from the USA, to Spain, Japan, Mexico, China, Portugal, Brazil, England, Taiwain, Egypt, Canada, Germany, the Czech Republic, Belgium, and probably elsewhere (but I forget..). What's interesting about the range of nationalities is that we all speak French at our own varied levels, but we have no other common language. Sure, many people speak English, but not as their mother language, so we really have to speak French to communicate. Even though the conversations can be a bit confusing and broken from time to time, it's an amazing way to learn.

Well.. Alix and I found an amazing little place this week for movie lovers called Le Forum Des Images.












We went after finding a small advertisement for one particular part of the Forum, Les Salles de Collections (the Collections Room). This little out of the way discovery is run by the Mairie of Paris and therefore free to the public. It's a personal cinema with access to over 6500 movies, and its setup in a great room with individual couches, television screens, headsets, and a dark, dimly lit atmosphere bathed in red lighting. It was fantastic. Now of course, streaming movies and on demand entertainment is becoming more and more common, so the need for a place like this is diminishing, but at the same time it was nice to get out of the apartment, to discover something exciting, and to dedicate ourselves to sitting down and watching a movie. It's too easy at home to get bored or tired or hungry and leave yet another movie half watched. So we watched "Trouble in Paradise," a movie from 1939 I think which was about two jewelry thieves preying on the ex-depression rich in America. Verdict? See it. Great movie!

Past that we finished our Obama puzzle! I had found an incredibly tacky "Yes We Can" puzzle at Barnes and Noble back in December for $1 on clearance, and since Alix and I had ritualized puzzle building with a tacky $1 Spiderman puzzle last year I thought it perfect for us. It took us almost 9 months to get around to it, but we finally did! Overall it's about 30" wide by 22" tall, and it will make a great addition to our slowly but surely American themed apartment. (Did I mention that I threw up an American flag as a shade for our mezzanine? Or that I put up my Muji New York City wooden buildings set? Yeah.. I did.. love it).

This weekend we're taking the train up to Lille, our ex French city, and then the tramway over to the town where Alix grew up. We'll spend the weekend with her parents and I'm sure talk all about our school life and our experiences in Paris and so on. It should be fantastic. And next weekend my mom and my aunt come to visit! Already! It seemed like it was so far on the horizon, but it's practically here. I can't wait to see them! Alix's mom will also come back to join us for the weekend, and for the first parental introduction. I love how unorthodox we are :)

That's all for now. Tune in next time.

Les Velibs

There are literally thousands of them all around the city. You rent them, you hop on board, you crack a smile, you almost get creamed by a bus, and then you return them. Only in France could a system like this exist, because surely in Les Etats-Unis 90% of them would have been stolen before the first week was over.

I'm of course talking about the "velibs," the public bicycle system in Paris (and my daily mode of transport to and from class.) If you find yourself travelling to this little out of the way village of Pah-ree, keep your eyes open for one of these:














Aside from moments of near death and absolute confusion regarding the French rules of the road, I can promise no better moments of enjoyment in Paris than on a velib. They force you to learn the layout of the streets, you see things by hazard you would never have planned to see, you can make 'velib' friends at nearly every crossing, and it will only cost you about 7 bucks for a week long subscription to the service. (Speaking of which, dont ask me how to actually get that subscription. It of course comes from the machines posted at each velib station, but the hierarchical menu system is at best archaic and at worst prehistoric. That and french credit card readers hate American cards, much like the French hate peanut butter and jelly, the cretins!).

So, bicycles, enjoy :)

Mes premiers cours de francais

So... I had my first classes in French today at the lovely little institution known as l'ILCF, and I have to say I'm impressed. When I registered last Thursday I met a few of the professors who teach the various courses and they are all exigent to the extreme. So much in fact it was a bit intimidating, but after 6 hours of french instruction (that's right, not a word of English.. after all we had about 12 different nationalities in the class) I'm perfectly at home.

Mme Guyot teaches Synthesis and Argumentation for my level (Advanced 1) but she's a linguist and grammarian by day. The best way to describe her is to say that she sort of dances through her lesson, greeting each student with a high-octave "booooonjour!" and then diving back into the lesson with hands flying in various gestures and all manners of quick witticisms and commentaries. I think she must consider herself an amateur artist because she adores drawing little cows and bowls to be used as metaphors and analogies. That's not a very good description of what I learned today, but needless to say she actually succeeded in making Argumentation interesting, and further in connecting with her foreign students who probably pick up about 70% of what she says.

My second class was History of France... but what I realized was not very French-minded at all. I think my high school skipped over World War I completely. (You know, that pesky little WORLD war that involved basically everyone on the planet and set forth the infrastructure for World War II and subsequently the global alliances, and political and social movements that still exist today.. Yeah, that war.) I was learning things in French that I never learned in English, and while that's generally par for the course over the next 15 weeks, I never realized I would be learning things that I SHOULD have already learned. Strange. And from a European perspective to boot.

On another note, I knew that France, England, and Spain were colonial powerhouses back in the year 1XXX (whatever) but I had never really thought about the fact that the ENTIRE world at one point was colonized, except for 2 countries: Japan and Ethiopia. What's also fun to learn is that while other colonizing powers were quite pleased to up and move to their respective colonies, the French generally didn't have the same motivation. They liked their country, and they liked their colonies, but when other people lived there. The French. Heh.

So, again, 6 hours of courses, and afterwards I took an "abonnement" (subscription) for the Velibs (the public bike system in Paris) and rode a bike on the way home across the Seine through the center of Paris. Amazing. I can't believe I can actually write that sentence and not be lying. In any case, it was fantastic and only took 15 minutes to ride home from school. And since most of my days run from 9-12 and then 2-5 I can really go home for lunch - I haven't done that since the 6th grade! Thanks France!

More to come. And pictures. I promise.

French Student Proper

So I passed my little oral exam in French with flying colors! The friendly professors confirmed my "advanced" level of French language, and placed me into my classes - all 21 hours per week - holy crap. I'll be taking 12 hours of French language instruction and a mixture of 9 hours of culture classes, The History of France (1890 - 1962), History of Cinema: The New Wave, and a class called Parcours Culturel, where we learn all about general culture and even take a few trips to visit local centres of interest. Not bad at all! In fact, the ladies who registered me for my classes kept asking how I knew to register for all the "good ones." It was just a gut feeling, but I guess I did pretty well. I'm more than a bit nervous to begin learning in French, but, well, here goes! I have 2 classes on Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday, from 9-12 and 2-5, and then 1 class on Wed from 2-5, and no class on Friday. Not a bad schedule at all.

I start on Monday. This Monday. Vacation is offically over and the reality of my new life is slowly creeping up on me like... like something creepy. But in a good way! If that's possible. Any of that old fear I had is actually leaving me.. I know I'm going to be tired - not of the language or the jetlag, but just of actually speaking the language for 6 hours a day. It's amazing how using your brain makes you tired, but if I'm actually flexing that muscle more than I have these past months I'll be thoroughly happy. These new courses can only bring good things.

Well.. off we go to FINALLY try to get my cell phone plan set up, with a beautiful new iPhone 3Gs, French style. Wish me luck!

Teaching English

I really thought it would be easier to find part-time work tutoring kids in English. Given the sheer student to teacher ratio, and considering my low low price of 20 euro per hour, wouldn't there be at least 1 person who would have called me over the past week? I guess that answer is no. But hey, I'm not one to give up so easily. Time to get to posting more flyers for my glorious lessons :)

The Churches of Paris

I ended up at 4 different churches in Paris today, but not for any particularly religious reason. Alix was off to school once again and to entertain myself I called her friend Perrine, who is leaving tonight for a 3-8 month internship in the Democratic Republic of Congo. She invited me out to lunch with two other friends, Ben and Camille (both great people) so I was pleased to join. Needless to say, we ate, and then after she invited me over to the Galleries Lafayette on Boulevard Haussman to see the Macy's-style themed windows.

I always end up at the American events... and this was no exception. Apparently David Lynch took the opportunity (for money or prestige, I'm not sure) to design the 8 storefront windows, each with a various take on the theme "machinery, the city, and women" or something equally as arbitrary. Well, enough bitterness - they were FANTASTIC to say the least. I loved having this small look into the mind of a genius, or a madman, it doesn't matter. I noticed a small sign outside for a free exhibit in their permanent gallery, so we went inside too. Here, David had offered around 30 demonstrations of his recently discovered talent in lithography, each more fascinating and grotesque than the last. A personal favorite was "murder victim", so you can easily grasp what kind of subject matter was shown.

Perrine had to leave soon after, so I wished her luck and set off on foot. I was near the Opera, so I passed by the building with a quick wave and headed south toward the Seine. Here I walked in front of l'Eglise Madeline, a giant Parthenon-style romanesque building converted into a Catholic church. It was austere and beautiful, and I took the brief moment of shade to read an article from the graduate students of the American University of Paris.

Not 2 blocks from Madeline I found the Hotel Scribe! Too funny since my mom had just made reservations to stay there in October. I took a few pictures of the lobby and walked back out to summer in September. I found my way to the Place de la Concorde, across the Seine, and down to the American Church (once again). I'm still looking for people interested in English courses, so I checked their bulletin board (the reason for stopping), took down one number and set off. I thought to swing by the Musee D'Orsay on the way back, but on the way I first saw some men playing petonque (kind of like Bocce ball, but much more pretentious), and realized I was right in front of the Hotel Nationale des Invalides. Now.. this is not a hotel. It's a GIANT palace that was built to house soldiers in 1650 and eventually became a church of prayer for the king, and today it's a museum of war. I loved the scale of this place - even the cobbles on the cobblestone street/path were twice the size of my feet.

I'm finding more and more comfort here.. The article I read earlier was about our relationship with time and space, and how it relates to our human anxieties in a consumer society. Sounds very lofty, but it has to deal with the fact that we have a different set of stresses today than we did hundreds of years ago. We know we are mortal, and we time time is eternal, so we basically form relationships with physical things to come to some sort of tangible understanding of our place in the world. In a way it gave me some comfort to think that as I call my new apartment home, and as I rationalize this big city and give tangibility to my life, my anxieties will ease and I will truly find my place. And as I was speaking about 80% French today and 20% English (except for this post), I think the language is actually helping with that feeling of comfort rather than hurting it.

Fuzzy. Black. Thing.

So apparently, fuzzy black things are "inderdit!" in Paris... I didn't know that.

House Boyfriend

So I don't start classes until Sept 28th, as I just found out yesterday when visiting l'Institut for the first time. (I was pleased to see that my school is only one block away from a good friend of Alix, and 3 blocks away from the Jardins du Luxembourg). Further than that my oral exam is on the 24th which is still a week away, so in the meantime I've relegated myself to the role of House Boyfriend. And to be perfectly honest, I'm okay with that. Alix generally leaves around 8-9am for her classes which take her to the other side of Paris, and while I miss her throughout the day I've been taking advantage of that time to tackle my to do list, which ranges from registering with the office of immigration to posting flyers for private English lessons, to simply buying necessaries for the apartment. Simultaneously the charm of the city is growing as my initial fears are subsiding. Communication is for the most part good, I'm discovering more friendly faces than not, and I keep walking down seemingly quiet streets to discover that I was no more than 50 feet from a huge city landmark. Maybe that's what's striking me most about Paris, because I don't really know the layout I keep happening upon beautiful places, and that beauty isn't lost on me.

We hosted some friends at our apartment for the first time last night, and it was truly great. Two of Alix's friends from NY were in town with their mutual international boyfriends, so we chatted in English and French, drank at least 7 bottles of wine and beer, and topped off the evening with some dancing. It wasn't supposed to be a late night but it lasted until at least 1am, at which point we left the apartment to find a bar and failed. I enjoyed reconnecting with everyone, who asked me the obligatory questions about finally making it to Paris and being together with Alix (obligatory, but not unwelcome!). They complimented us on the apartment, and invited us to Alsace this weekend. Many, many plans are being made. Before the party, Alix and I walked over to the Cine Cite at Les Halles to see Julie and Julia, but because of a crazy 4 euro promotion the place was packed and the show sold out. We walked a few more blocks south up the Quai de la Meggiserie to buy some plants and check out the little pet shops interspersed between. Strange combination, pet shop, plant shop, pet shop, plant shop, repeat, but somehow it works. The beauty and scents of the flowers compliment the warmth and friendliness of the pets, enough to overshadow the fact that it was a cold, cloudy day.

Today I'm off again to make my way around city center, looking for the American Church, the American Cathedral, and the American Library (sense a theme?). From what I've read there are all sorts of bulletin board postings there, so I'll bring a few flyers to put up and probably take a few flyers with me. I'm craving to join an expat group to talk about all the things I should be doing, see how others have managed their moves to Paris, and generally avoid the 3 month depression that's supposed to set in. After that I think I'll do some food shopping and start preparing a dinner from my Les Basiques cookbook by Marabout. (I highly recommend this book for any francophones/francophiles - great recipes, very simple directions, and amazingly tempting photos).

I've been snapping some random pics here and there but still have limited internet access, so I'll probably throw them up later.

The Apartment

Well this didn't seem to work last night, but I took some pictures of my new apartment and I'd like to share. Here goes nothing:

Move-in Day +1

Well, I didn't quite have the chance to post yesterday as I was discovering my new neighborhood and re-discovering mon petite amour. But I'll certainly recap the events to the best of my ability (I never promised to have a memory at all, let alone a GOOD memory).

These past few years have been a bit tough on me.. I was slowly but surely reaching a plateau at work, the long distance between me and Alix seemed to become longer and longer as the intensity of our relationship increased, and I felt as if I wasn't challenging myself mentally. That last part was the hardest. I was tired from my workdays, reading less often, and not really learning new things. Recently I've started feeling dull and uninteresting, which is a terrible downward spiral that I'm sure eventually ends in depression. Now, all that is to say that those days are over. While I'm about to deal with things like missing my family and friends terribly, all of a sudden I see brightness where before was only darkness. I'm about to begin my studies in French language and culture, I've already put together a list of over 20 things I have to do before I even start my studies, and I'm living in the epicentre of culture. Needless to say, I think I've begin my climb from the plateau.

A few moments after posting yesterday, a Vietnamese professor named Martin asked me to watch his bag in the airport. I wondered if he was looking for some sucker to safeguard his bomb, but my better reasoning prevailed and I said sure. After browsing the net for a few minutes he came back and struck up my first interesting conversation en route to Paris. It seems that Martin had been studying theology at UC Berkeley and was on his way to London to continue his studies in philosophy. (His graduate work had been in literary studies, thereby rounding out the academic profile). Martin had spent the past 10 years of his life studying and working his way up to a doctorate so that he can return to Vietnam and open a school which promotes free-thinking. It seems that youth in Vietnam are yearning for expression, and their oppressive Communist government is anything but promoting that mentality. We talked about the importance of education, the changing landscape of the developed world, the belief in god as it equates to the belief in love, truth and goodness. We talked for a bit about my path, my interests, and my potential future in sustainability and I realized that with all my privelage I was blinded to just how lucky I've been in my life. I basically decided right then and there that this year (or 2?) in Paris is an incredible gift, and I have to take full advantage of it for myself, but maybe also for those who I might influence in the future. I took his name and friended him on facebook, with a promise to later visit him and his colleagues in London.

Interesting conversation #2 was my 5-minute friend-ly neighbor on the plane. We were two of the lucky ones not to have someone crammed between us in a 3-seater, so we seized the moment to instead crane our necks for 5 hours by talking with each other. Sian works in sustainable development (coincidence? not so sure..) working for a non-profit who matches sustainable fisherman with sustainable retailers. She also has spent the last 12 years of her life studying, obtaining a pHD in some very detailed studies of fish schools (sorry Sian, I know you explained it better than that) and also living and working in the Phillipines, Australia, and other various parts of the world. Sian was incredibly passionate about her work, eager to tell me about her brother's newfound success in life and his plans for travel, and equally eager to hear me out once again about my future plans. Really, she gave me some excellent advice: focus specifically on what I want out of a sustainable development degree, not just to help in the choice of school, but more so career - do I want to work nonprofit? government? private sector? as a consultant? in the field? as a researcher? etc. We chatted in more detail about all of the disconnects and miscommunications she had working in the field, and eventually she shared her discovery with me. The biggest disconnect between her and her volunteers abroad was not gender, race, language, or wealth, but education. When dealing with those who have only reached grade 2, even if they were able to communicate in the same language, the logic applied to even the most simple of tasks would confound the conversation. Interesting, education. I took her business card with the intention of meeting her for a drink before she leaves town on Thursday. (She's in Paris to attend a WorldWildlifeFoundation conference on "labels" for use in the sustainable fish market).

Well, I promised to talk about my arrival, not necessarily these two great people. (But.. could I have found 2 more appropriate conversations to kick off my desire to "re-interest" my life?) So I arrived yesterday to Alix waiting for me at the airport. Fantastic. It was probably the best reunion we've ever had, and that's saying a lot since we set ourselves up for many, many reunions over the past 2.5 years. We quickly picked up my 150lbs of bags (ouch) and managed our way out of the airport and into downtown Paris. Emerging out of the subway and almost directly onto the Rue Montorgueil I instantly fell in love with my new quartier. I think I told some people I'm living in the 1st arrondissement... sorry, it's the 2nd, but we're on the borderline. (oops!) We walked through the crowded streets and I saw 2 open pharmacies - on a Sunday, in Paris, this is something QUITE amazing. We found our little street, Rue Dussoubs, and ascended the 1 spiral staircase to the apartment.

It is incredible. If I can get this camera to work I'll post some pictures. We quickly ran back out to the market which was closing in 5 minutes and bought 3 dorades (fish) and a sandwich kabé viande, a Lebanese delicacy. And yes, it was delicious, with an incredible mix of a savory brown sauce, spicy vegetables, and ground meat. Without too much more detail into the mundane, we napped, we went to a nearby park with free internet (yep, no internet at home for at least 3 weeks... I could practically die), and returned home for dinner. I promised some discussion about food, so let me say that yes, you can microwave dorade with some spices and it tastes quite good, but I would recommend you put it in the oven which we would have done had we an oven to use last night. Anyway, I highly suggest an Alsacian wine called Gewerztraminer - it's a light, sweet white wine that's actually practically clear in color, it compliments fish very well, and it's the perfect ending to a perfect day. One episode of Flight of the Conchords later and we had to sleep.

Today was Alix's first day at Celsa, a school which is part of La Sorbonne. Me, well I don't start at the l'Institut de Langue et de Culture until next week, but I took advantage of a random opportunity this morning to attend the recording of a TV show at a nearby studio. When we were in the park last night a solicitor named Jamel approached the two of us and kindly invited us to the taping, well he more begged us, but I was pleased to accept (if not a bit weary of whether this was a legit offer). I found my way up to the Garibaldi metro stop on the 13th this morning and arrived at the movie studio, a modern white building with red columns (as was texted to me last night). It was all in French, so I caught about 60% of the show, but I had a great time! Jetlag prevailed before the 4 hour taping was over, but it was a great way to gain some minor independence this morning and make my way through the center of Paris. If I had my Navigo pass (the new Carte Orange) setup I would have taken the Velibs (the Paris city bicycles) back home, but as it was I took the metro back instead.

And so, that's the beginning to my French journey. This post was probably more minute-to-minute than each successive post may be, but I look forward to your feedback to steer me in the right direction. If you like this kinda stuff, I'll keep writing it. Like I said, this is for me, for you, for.. random people (it IS the internet, after all), and I'm sure my posts will range from enthusiasm to frustration (here's looking at YOU, French administration) to sadness to utter joy. I love this place. :)

D-Day

I'm moving to France. I don't think that's quite sunk in yet. I have my student visa, I've gained 6 lbs of stress weight, and I quit my job, but I haven't recognized the simple fact that I'm moving to France. This morning was met with many welcome surprises: remembering where i put my brown leather gloves, packing two perfectly weighted 50 lb bags, the joy of Air Canada travels (who knew?) and a gentle drizzle to help me as I packed the car. With some kisses, hugs, a few tears, and a last minute Subway tuna sub, I was on my way through security and into those familiar Newark Airport Terminals. Sidebar, by the way, to say that the more well-traveled I become, the more I appreciate Newark Airport. Now some may say it's disorganized and overbearing, but try traveling through Fiumicino airport in Italy, or Tainin airport in lower Taiwan and you'll start to see why I love the always under construction Newark.

And as I start this blog I'm still contemplating its purpose in my adventure.. is it for me or for my friends and family? Can it be for both? I've made the decision to focus my writings on food. I think that's a generally well-liked subject, and it's a little known fact that France is full of it - they even have some pretty tasty stuff. But I don't just want to focus on food, so I'll certainly be heaping on a healthy dose of travels, books, aperos, general criticism of the French and so on.

All I know for the moment is that I've found a measure of peace in taking this step. Sure I'm feeling almost every emotion at once, fear, nervousness, happiness, stress, uncertainty, anticipation, hopefulness, joy, doubt, but overall I know I've made the right decision. A decision only reinforced by the number of emails I received from colleagues, family, and friends congratulating me and wishing me well. What a wonderful network of people I have. I hope I live up to the endless love and support they show me. For now, I'm off to explore Toronto airport and burn the next 5 hours of free time.