Back to School

So I started my French lessons at the Sorbonne the yesterday… the building is directly across from Notre Dame and there are about 15 other students. It’s a very basic course… I had assumed that I would be placed in the intermediate level since I can understand a bit of French, but apparently, I failed my placement test badly :o) But class is good… the teacher only speaks in French and you’re only allowed to respond in French, even to ask a question. If you don’t know how to say a word, she makes you to describe what you’re trying to say in French. I’m the only American in the class and when I speak, everyone smiles at me and nods in encouragement… evidently they find my accent cute.

The only thing is, now that school has started, my days have become super hectic. I wake up at 6am to get to school by 8am. Class is from 8-10am then I head to work from 10:30am-6:30pm. Considering I’m meeting friends for drinks or a movie nearly every night, I get about 5 hours of sleep a night. And I start taking the phonetics courses in two weeks so I’ll be in school from 8-11:30am every day and will have to adjust my work schedule again.

So I’m kind of in a weird place. On the one hand, I’m extremely grateful that I have a job because it’ll allow me to enjoy my time here that much more—in terms of eating out, travelling, shopping, living in a decent neighborhood, going out with friends—I don’t have to be so conscious of every penny I spend.

But on the other hand, my purpose for coming here was to live a completely different life than I did in New York. To slow down and enjoy the things that I was too busy to enjoy properly before—basically to bum around in cafés reading novels, practicing my French after class with my classmates, wandering the streets of Paris in the middle of the day, travelling around France… that kind of thing. Nothing.

New York is all about the hustle; its part of the culture and if you aren’t a part of it, you feel a bit inadequate. Paris on the other hand isn’t like that at all—don’t get me wrong, they work hard here too—but it’s a completely different way of life, there are different priorities and that’s what I’m hoping to adopt while I’m here. Now I’m beginning to feel as though I may get swept up in my old way of life again, which means I may have to revaluate. We’ll see how things go once I’ve adjusted to my new schedule. Thankfully, if I decide I want to make a change, I can do so easily. I’m not tied to or dependant on anything at this point which is a very nice feeling for a change.

Anyway, tomorrow night is the big France v. England rugby match… they’re playing here in Paris and since we’re at the knockout stage of the World Cup, it’s going to be HUGE. All of Paris is in this crazy rugby-obsessed state so there’s nothing to do but join in, otherwise you’ll be hanging out with the crickets every weekend. It’s actually been pretty fun, I must admit—I was supporting Ireland for my friend Brandon but now that they’re out, I’m rooting for France. I’m going to a bar in Montmartre to watch with some friends, should be a good time! I’ll try to get pics/video to post of the insanity so you can see what I’m talking about. A bientot!