Since I'm in Paris until June and highly opinionated (or overly observant), I thought I'd do some weekly post sharing my thoughts and some interesting highlights. By which I mean, I'm going to complain about how weird/inconvenient living here is. So, here is this week's list:
- Apparently falling in love is a valid excuse for missing a deadline, not doing a particular piece of work, or being late.
- Apparently, you cannot view any transactions on your bank account that happened more than 45 days ago.
- The library of the university I attend has a lower limit on the number of books you’re allowed to borrow, a shorter loan time, and a poorer selection than the Paris public libraries. Deduce what you will about the education system.
- To learn what my grade is, I can't look it up online. I have to go to the campus of the university, find a particular hallway in a particular building, and look for my grade posted on the wall. Sometimes it's there.
- The book I bought for one of my classes yesterday – a novel- cost the same amount of money as a coffee. Another book I bought – a Moliere play – costs half as much as said coffee. Um. Priorities?
- Something is always broken. The elevator, the credit card machine, the metro, the RER, the ATM, the internet…..
- I went out to lunch with a dozen French people today. They said that two bottles of wine would be “too much.” Wait…what?
Hi Mademoiselle!
ReplyDeleteSorry for taking a few days to reply to your comment - I'll say that Paris got distracting as my excuse.
I hadn't really thought of myself as an "expat" before, not really; when I first got to France, a lot of it felt very familiar. I'd grown up in another European country, and some things are similar, and I also knew the language and the literature. But as I've lived here longer, I've definitely noticed differences, as the post above shows.
As for losing weight while living in France, I think that happened: I certainly lost about 5 kilograms by eating delicious French pastries and then running after the metro/RER/tram and whatnot. I have to admit, taking public transportation to class and work int he mornings is not something I'm used to, and I think I have perfected the skill of running in heels in the process.
Thanks for the link to your blog - will definitely check it out! And be sure to come back here, as I'm sure I'll be posting more of my thoughts on living in France!