Housing in Paris, Part 1: Foyer

Since our arrival in September until now, we have lived in a foyer in the 13th district of Paris, Foyer Masséna, part of the CLJT. There really isn’t a good translation of foyer, because, as far as I know, there is nothing like this in the US. The closest comparison is a dorm, because there is a lot of collectivity. We have a 15m2 room with a sink, and there is one bathroom (3 toilets and 3 showers- coed!) per floor. We also share a tiny kitchen with the other 100 some residents.

However, it is far from being a dorm because it is not connected to a university and accept young people aged 18-25 (with some flexibility) from all over the world. Some foyers are just for students, some just for girls, and some just for workers. Ours is a foyer for jeunes travailleurs, étudiants, et stagaires (young workers, students, and interns). Some foyers only have single rooms, and ours, of course, has rooms for couples.

Pictures of our room, taken around Christmas:







Tomorrow we are moving to a studio. We are very excited to be moving, because life in this foyer has become borderline unbearable. I must add that our frustration is related more to specific circumstances than general foyer life. Let me explain. When we applied to live here, we were told that the bathroom and kitchen were collective, but that they were renovating a new, nice, better building in central Paris and that everyone would be moving to the new place in December. December.

Tomorrow is March 1 and we are still here. The move was delayed until January, and then February, and then March. What’s worse than sharing a bathroom and kitchen is that the cafeteria (which served dinner Monday-Friday) stopped last month in anticipation of the move. We never bought a fridge because one was supposed to be included in the new room at the new foyer. In addition, it seems that the direction here has lost interest in the conditions of this foyer, “knowing” we’ll be moving soon. Among other problems, there is rarely toilet paper in the bathrooms and the Internet goes out on the weekends when the staff isn’t here to reboot it. If we knew 100% for sure that we would be moving to the dream foyer in March, we would be sticking with foyer life. Yet, we have very little faith in them now.

We did live here for nearly 6 months, though, and I thought it might be helpful to future students and English assistants if I gave a quick bilan of the advantages and disadvantages of living in a foyer- not specifically this one which is falling apart. Of course, not all foyers are the same, so if you are considering applying to live in one, ask a lot of questions!

Advantages

• It’s easy. I mean that it’s easy to apply to live in a foyer compared to the nightmare of trying to find an apartment in Paris. Affordable and decent housing is a big problem in Paris, especially for students, since there aren’t dorms like in the US. I was afraid of coming to Paris (at the same time as tons of students) without a place to live. I know other assistants who didn’t find a place for two weeks or more. Others found a temporary place, but had to do the search all over again after a month or two. Finding an apartment or studio here takes time, energy, and MONEY. For our foyer, we had to give a security deposit (une caution/ une garantie) equal to the amount of one month’s rent (le loyer). But with apartments, when you use an agency, you have to pay a deposit of one or two month’s rent, first month’s rent, and often agency fees (honoraries) that are at least the amount of one month’s rent. So, if you found a place for 650 euros/month, you may have to pay 2000 euros or more. Also, you usually have to have a co-signer (garant) if you don’t make 3 TIMES the amount of the rent. You also have to have all kinds of paperwork that you probably don’t have in the first week of arriving.

• It’s probably cheaper than any apartment or studio you’ll find in Paris. But, I guess you get what you pay for….

• There are (for our foyer at least) planned activities that are usually free. Tom often played badminton and volleyball. I did a few cooking workshops which were fun.

• The staff members are usually helpful with questions about housing assistance, bank accounts, and where to find things in the neighborhood.

• It’s a good way to meet people- if you’re outgoing and enjoy the activities proposed.

• It’s international, which maybe 50% French and 50% foreigners from the US, northern Africa, Italy, Spain, Latin America…. I think other foyers are mostly non-French. Not sure.

Disadvantages

• Sharing a bathroom (again, some foyers have rooms with private bathrooms). This wouldn’t be so bad if some people here weren’t so disgusting! Gross.

• At this foyer, there is no Wi-Fi and Internet is only accessible in… you guessed it, in a common room, only open from 9am-midnight. You have to have a cord and there is a limited number of spots- perhaps 8 for more than 100 people that live here!

• There are too many Americans. A disadvantage? Yes, when one wants to learn French.

• A particular disadvantage for us: we are perhaps on the older end of the age range here and are married. We are also not so much into partying in the “college” way. Therefore, it was actually difficult to make friends here, due to a lack of common interests I suppose. Going from having our own place to living in a dorm-like place has been tough and sometimes made me feel like I was being treated like a child.

• The building is simply not very attractive.

• Some foyers (not ours) have a curfew and don’t allow overnight guests. This may mostly apply to the all girl foyers.

So, there you have it. Generally for students and English assistants, I would recommend living in a foyer if you are single and are used to living in a dorm. If not, some adjustment is required. I would in general recommend the association that our foyer belongs to, CLJT, but not this specific foyer, unless they actually do move to the apparently inexistent foyer in St. Lazare (9th district). And remember to ask a lot of questions! It also could be a temporary solution. You have to give a month’s notice before leaving, though.

We are moving tomorrow to a studio, only slightly bigger but with a kitchen and shower and the possibility of Wi-Fi. The toilet is in the hall (not uncommon here) and is shared with one other studio. I think it will be a vast improvement, but I’m hoping not to run into any unexpected problems. I will keep you posted.

Ça n'a rien à voir!

Pssst- Scroll down for English. And then learn some French!

Je suis désolée mon pauvre blog et mes lecteurs fidèles (je sais que vous venez tous les jours, sans faute, pour voir si j'avais écrit quelque chose de nouveau...). Je suis plus occupée ces jours-ci à cause de notre recherche pour un nouveau logement et nos aventures administratives. Enfin nous avons eu nos rendez-vous chez l'OFII et nous avons reçu nos titres de séjour! En fait, je suis actuellement en vacances, mais je travaille toujours. Cette semaine je suis intervenante des stages intensifs d'anglais pour un groupe de 12 lycéens.

Alors, je donne mes excuses pour le manque de posts. Je vais écrire longuement de toutes sortes de choses la semaine prochaine, mais en attendant, voilà un peu de vocabulaire. Il n'y a pas de thème, sauf que "ça n'a rien à voir."

I am sorry my poor blog and faithful readers (I know that not a day goes by that you don't check the blog to see if I've written something new...). I have been extra busy lately thanks to our housing search and our administrative adventures. But we finally had our appointment at the OFII and we received our residence permits! And actually I am currently on break, but I'm still working. This week I am leading an intensive English workshop for a group of 12 high school students.

So, forgive me for the lack of posts. I am going to write about all kinds of things at length next week, but in the meantime, here's a little vocabulary. There is no theme, except that "it is not at all the same."

Ça n'a rien à voir. That has nothing to do with it. / It is not at all the same. The first time I tried to use this, I said it wrong. I said "Ça n'a rien à faire," which is closer to the English version, to a student who was asking ridiculous questions, unrelated to the lesson. They all just stared at me! Just last week, my dear friend Sylvie (I'm not making fun, promise!) said in English, "It has nothing to see." I love languages!

Ça y est. That's it. It's finished.

Ça a été? How did it go?

Ça vous (te) dit? Is that okay with you? / Does that interest you?

Ça vous (te) dit quelque chose? Does that ring any bells?

Vote!

... on our blog that is.

I have plenty to write about, but don't have the energy tonight. Plus, I want to know what you want to read, hence the poll on the left of the page. Let me know what you're interested in, and I'll get back to writing!

French Administration and 3 Ways to Say, “I’ve had it!”

Before coming to France last September, I had a vague idea of how bureaucratic French administration can be. Trying to get information about different university programs for Tom was a headache in itself, and the fact that French people don’t email as much as Americans do can be very frustrating.

That was just the beginning.

Since arriving in September, and especially lately, French administration has been testing my patience, and my patience has not been prevailing. It seems that nobody is on the same page about ridiculous but result-changing details. I’m pretty sure that most offices in France have less hours than those in the States, and the hours are never 9am-5pm. And everything takes so much time! For my American, non-Frenchy, readers, you may think I am exaggerating. But ask a French person, and he or she will likely back me up. Just today, my French friend Marie said that you really have to be déterminé to survive French administration. In addition, if you watch L’Auberge Espagnol you will see a scene in which a French student goes through the frustrating process of finding “the right form.” But, if you don’t know any French people and don’t want to watch the movie, I have two real life examples to prove my statements.

Example one: official paperwork. We have been in France for over 4 months and still do not have everything finished that we should as residents. Upon our arrival, we sent copies of our passports, visas, etc to the OFII. Around December we were supposed to receive a convocation from the OFII, summoning us to a medical appointment, after which we will receive some type of stamp serving as our titre de séjour, a resident permit. We still have not been summoned. It wouldn’t be such a big deal, except we need the residency permit to register for Social Security (for health insurance) and we need our Social Security numbers to apply for the CAF (housing assistance). Honestly I think that health care (which is cheaper here even without insurance) and housing assistance is better in many ways in France, but for the love of Pete, it’s taking forever to get it!

Example two: auditing a class. Last December, I decided to audit a Political Science class at l’Institut Catholique de Paris. I’m really interested in international relations and wanted to take a class in French, so I chose to take Relations Internationales. I went to the office of the department (which is only open in the afternoons) in December, ready to sign up and pay. I was told to come back in January. I went back in January, filled out a form, and was told to come back later to pay. I went back the next week, arrived at 4:30pm, waited for 30 minutes and then was told they were closed and had to come back. I went back last Friday and watched the lady enter my information from the form into the computer (she couldn’t have done this without me there?). Then, she told me that that’s all she could do. I had to go somewhere else to pay. Oh, but they’re closed on Friday afternoons. The class started on Tuesday, so I had to go on Monday. But, I work until 4pm and they close at 4:45pm. So I ran! And…success! I signed up and got a shiny student card that will get me some awesome discounts.

Tuesday: first day of class. I arrived perhaps 2 minutes late, opened the door to Salle C 32, and heard a professor speaking in English. Huh? I must be in the wrong room, I thought. Nope. The Relations Internationales class is indeed in English this year, although it was not indicated in the brochure as one of the English classes and the lady in the office didn’t tell me this. Just me? My mistake? No, the French students were pretty upset to learn, on the first day of class, that it’s in English.

In Tom’s words when I told him about the class being in English, “Oh mon Dieu.” I have been defeated. I have not the strength to try to switch classes.

In order to deal with this new kind of frustration, there are too solutions. One: remind myself daily how much I love speaking French, eating French food, and getting to know French people. Two: complain in French. Thus, voilà 3 ways to say, “I’ve had it!”

J’en ai assez! I’ve had enough!

J’en ai ras le bol! I’ve had it up to here! / I'm sick of it!

J’en ai marre! I’m fed up!