What do you want to know about?

The 3-and-a-half day weekend has made my brain turn to mush. In this blog entry I'm probably going to do a lot of babbling. The thing is, I have been studying French language and culture for many years, and so there are certain things about France that do not shock/amaze me like they would someone who did not spend their college years as the president of French club. I want to know what YOU, my readers, would like to know about life here. Please write me some comments with your questions about my life in France! This blog is a 2-way street-- I want to keep in touch with you all.

Routine?

Work
Though I wouldn't say that I came to France because I was dying to teach English to children, that is what I am being paid to do, so I might as well discuss my job here. I've been in Europe for about a month now and I have barely started working. In two weeks we have
the vacances de Toussaint and I won't have to work for a week and a half. Excellent!

As far as I can tell, I will be working Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays (remember, a maximum of 12 hours a week). As far as the job itself is concerned, the children love to talk to me. I'm not sure how long this will last. Right now I am the new and exciting maitresse d'angalis, but I fear that they will eventually begin to treat me as they treat their other teachers-- with disrespect. The teachers are all great, and now that they know my level of French, they are not afraid to talk to me.

Socializing
Luckily, being placed in Versailles and living in Paris, there is no shortage of assistants to meet. I feel that I have made some really great friends. Yay me! On top of that, it's nice to have people around at home. I know a few assistants who live alone or with strangers, and they don't seem to be having the same stress-free experience as me. Alexis, Julie, and I even made some French friends. They are guys, but don't fret, they are not creepy... thank God! I enjoy hanging out in a group of people. Also, Alexis lives very close to me (a 10 minute walk), so we have *attempted* to run errands together. Today we're going to the social security office and then to see a movie!

Visiting Ryan!
I haven't seen Ryan since he left Paris 2 weeks ago. It wasn't really possible before he found an apartment. Now that he has somewhere to live, I plan on visiting him in Lille this coming weekend. I'm excited to see him and to visit a new city :) Train tickets between Lille and Paris aren't too expensive, and I hope that we can see each other every 2 or 3 weeks. We are having very different experiences so it will be fun to share stories!

Other things I've been doing:

• grocery shopping
• graduate school research/ studying for the gre in paris
• going to the market
• watching tv
• cooking delicous food/eating Melanie's delicious food
• trying desperately to improve my French
• eventually I would like to make a list of the ridiculous bureaucratic nightmares that I encounter
• on Wednesday I am going to the coiffeur

All in all life is pretty... normal.