My first weekish in Paris.*

*The weeks and days are still a blur.

Well I have a lot of catching up to do. well to get to the place where Katie is anyway. I feel like I have gotten through the jet lag phase finally. All I wanted to do was sleep for the first couple of days but when I laid on the bed, my back yelled at me. Not a comfortable bed at all. I think I have gotten use to being in a different bed now and different country.

I have been told that the culture shock takes a couple of weeks usually, but I feel that I have prepared myself for it rather well. Everything I see so far, I have learned about in the states. Or I just ask Katie. She's my guide. :-) So I will let you know how I feel in a couple of weeks. As of right now, I miss my family, co-workers, friends and the little life I had in Indiana.

À Paris,

For a person who speaks very little French, I feel that I have been doing well. Luckily I can read and figure out what most of the signs instruct and pick out the important words. Thank God for gestures and tone of voice.

The first wednesday, I got to play indoor football (soccer, I haven't meet one European that likes American Football) with a bunch of French guys and some other Europeans. Only one could speak English and he was not much of a talker. Little tip for American soccer players when playing Europeans: Never hesitate when playing. The few times the ball was passed to me, I stop only long enough to look up to set up a cross (I hesitated). As mentioned before, I don't speak French but I could definitely tell that I was being cursed at and by gestures and by the Frenchman making fun of me, one should set up the play before the ball arrives at your feet.

Today was the second day of French class for me and it is going well. I am still not sure what level I'm in or what the professor is saying. It is all in French, no English allowed. I'm not complaining just informing hopefully encouraging others like me reading this. If I can do it you can too....probably. Many that I have spoken to here in the foyer have told me "It takes time and then it just clicks" or "So and so got here not knowing a lick of French and two months later he or she speaks very well." As for me, I am still waiting on that "click" thing to happen. In the meantime I will continue to listen and speak as much as I know and can. Maybe in a month I can write these blogs in French like my awesome Frenchy wife (she's not really French).

Well this Wednesday I will be playing Badminton which is a sport that I have only played in the backyard. Katie and I are going to a meet up group where they speak 45 min of French and 45 min of English, so it is nap time for me. Till I write again......

Cpt. Tom

Demonstrators and Books in the Latin Quarter

One day last week (I think it was Tuesday but the days are kind of jumbling together right now), Tom and I decided to follow one of the walking tours in our Michelin Green Guide. We decided on the Quatier Latin because Tom wanted to see where he would soon be studying.

As soon as we got off the metro, we heard a commotion. What looked like a rather depressing parade was, in fact, a manifestation- a demonstration. We caught a glimpse of the banner. “Contre la privatisation de la poste.”




For the past week, I've been trying to figure out exactly what was going on. Here's my summary, with no promise that it's exact: the French postal service has to, by EU regulation, liberalize and become open to competition by 2011. Postal workers are worried that this means that the postal service will be privatized and will not be able to contend with new competitors. And so, as this is Paris, they went on strike, called grève in French. This confuses me a bit because I've read that they went on strike the 21st, yet we've seen trucks out and about, delivering mail. I've also read that French citizens are voting from today until October 3. But what for? I think that it's a vote to have a referendum (so maybe it's like a petition, demanding a referendum?). It's not a vote held by the state. I need to get in the loop some more.

After finding l’Institut de Langue et de Culture Françaises, part of l’Institut Catholique and Tom’s school, we set out towards the Seine. Our walking tour started at Quai St. Michel. We didn’t get too far until I spotted les bouquinistes- secondhand book sellers that have booths along the Seine.




I feel a bit sorry for Tom when we come across a bookstore. Whether it’s Borders or it’s these adorable stalls in Paris, whether it’s new or old, I love looking at books. And I take forever to do it. I didn’t have anything specific in mind, I was just looking for an author or a book that I’d heard of. I ended up buying A la recherche du temps perdu: La prissonière by Proust, which is where the title of this blog comes from, for 3 euros. I soon discovered that I might not be ready for this one. A few days later, at Fnac, I bought La mécanique du coeur, a sweet story that is a little easier to read.

Our tour ended at the Panthéon, but we got there right as it was closing. Another day ☺

How Being Exhausted Wreaks Havoc On My Emotions

Hurray for (more) regular Internet access! We do not have wifi in our room, but we bought an Ethernet cord, so we can now use the common room of our foyer to get online. I wrote the following post on Monday, and am just now getting to typing and posting it. Still playing catch up.


Aujourd’hui, c’est le 21. Nous sommes arrivés le 18. Je ne sais pas si j’ai fait face au « culture shock » ces 3 derniers jours (puisque normalement le choc ne vient que des semaines après l’arrivée). Mais si oui, je ne l’ai pas reconnu, ou les étapes ne sont pas comme j’avais appris. La première étape, c’est l’enthousiasme, « la lune de miel. » C’est vrai que j’étais vraiment ravie quand j’ai vu encore les sites de Paris de notre navette (notre chauffeur agissait aussi comme guide). Mais en arrivant au foyer, après avoir signé les papiers et apes le tour, je me sentais tout d’un coup déprimée. J’avais un sentiment de peur. Qu’est-ce que je fais ici ?! 10 mois ?!

Nous avons fait un somme, pas très longue, mais ce n’était pas une bonne idée. Quand je me suis réveillée, le sentiment s’est élevé et j’ai pleuré. Lune de miel ? Je crois que non. Peut-être c’était à cause de la fatigue, je ne sais pas.

Apres le somme, je me suis installé pour rendre notre chambre un peu plus comme chez nous. Les sentiments ont commencé à disparaître, peu à peu. Et Tom, il va bien depuis le premier jour, au moins il le semble. C’est moi qui a étudié le français et demeuré en France pendant 6 semaines, et c’est moi qui parle français (au moins conversant). Mais c’est lui que n’as pas peur. Il est vraiment un soutien merveilleux.

Maintenant, nous apprenons toujours cette ville (ou bien notre quartier) et le foyer. Nous avons trouvé un marché pas trop loin. Il y a aussi un centre commercial près d’ici. La, il y a Casino, où nous avons acheter les serviettes de toilettes, un sèche-cheveux, et d’autres choses que nous avons laissé chez nous parce que les tailles de nos valises ne les ont pas permis.


For the Anglophones

Today is the 21ist. We arrived on the 18th. I don’t know if I’ve encountered culture shock or not these past 3 days (since normally culture shock doesn’t come for a couple weeks after arriving. But if I have, I didn’t recognize it, or the phases are not like I had learned. The first phase is enthusiasm, or the honeymoon phase. It’s true that I was really excited when I saw the Parisian sites from our shuttle (our chauffeur also acted as our personal tour guide). But when we got to our foyer, after signing the papers and the tour, I suddenly felt depressed. I felt scared. What am I doing here?! 10 months?!

We took a nap, not very long, but it wasn’t a good idea. When I woke up, the feeling grew and I cried. Honeymoon phase? I don’t think so. Maybe it was because I was so drained, I don’t know.

After the nap, I unpacked to make our room feel a little more like home. The feelings started to melt away, bit by bit. And Tom, he’s been doing well since day 1. I’m the one who studied French and lived in France for 6 weeks, and I’m the one who speaks French (at least conversational French). But he’s the one who’s not scared. He is really a wonderful support.

Now, we are still learning about this city (or at least our neighborhood) and the foyer. We found a market not too far away. There is also a mall close by. In the mall there is Casino (a supermarket, not a casino) where we bought towels, a hair dryer, and other things we left behind because our suitcases wouldn’t permit them to come.