July 6, 2001, to July 12, 2001
This week began on Friday, because I sent last week's update on Thursday. This past weekend (and in fact all this week also), the weather was pretty awful. Friday night we had one of the worst thunder-and-lightning storms I have ever seen. I had decided against going into Paris that evening and after seeing how much rain fell out of the sky, I was glad. It didn't rain like that again, but it's been cloudy and chilly all week (about 20 deg C, which I think is something like 62-65 F). It drizzled off and on all day yesterday. It's overcast yet again today, and it looks like it will rain or be not-so-nice for the weekend, which is unfortunate because it is France's "Fête Nationale", or Bastille Day, their independence day celebration. I was hoping to go see the parade and/or fireworks. I guess we'll see, now.
Oh yes, last Thursday night I went to see Shrek (in French). It was an adorably funny movie, but they spoke excessively fast for me to understand everything. Now I want to see it in English when I get back :) I could also go into Paris to see it in "version originale", which means in English with French subtitles. Movies here are not badly priced - about the same as in the US. They have student discounts to 36FF (about $4.50) but only on the weekdays. The rest of the time it's $6.75 in the 'burbs, $7-8 in Paris.
Over the weekend, I decided to explore the big Parisian department stores: Galeries Lafayette, le Printemps, BHV (Bazaar d'Hotel de Ville). There are several others which I may try to explore next weekend, but as it was I spent several hours in each of those three on Saturday so I was too tired to go to more. Shopping is hard work, even if you are just looking :) I actually had not intended to buy anything, because I thought it would be way too expensive. And it would have been, except everything was on sale - 30 to 50% off. Everything in Paris is on sale through July, it seems. So the prices ended up being normal expensive-ish US prices (i.e., $50 for pants, $60 for shoes, $40 for sandals). I bought a pair of sneakers since mine were losing their support structure and hurting my feet on long sojourns into Paris. They're made of denim; it's neat - très European.
That night I had intended to go to Shakespeare and Company's outdoor play with the Danish kid I met at the 4th of July party but it was/we cancelled due to rain. So I took shelter in a cafe to eat a light dinner and went home to Palaiseau. On Sunday I had no real plans but I wandered along the Seine, debating if I wanted to seem like a real touristy tourist and get a caricature done of me by the many dozens of artists along the banks. I sat in a cafe for several hours reading, writing and drinking espresso. I saw one nice-looking American boy but he was with parents on a family trip so I just smiled back at him when he smiled at me and kept going. The weather was slightly chilly but not rainy, and only partially overcast. I had dinner in the city and went home to clean my apartment (which needed it by this point).
Work is improving in the social direction. I no longer feel like the 'new girl' - other interns have started since I have, and we have a little group of 4, 5 or 6 that goes to lunch every day. Everyone is much easier around me now, joking and whatnot. At first I felt somewhat like an outsider, which is to be expected when you first start working somewhere. Now that's over though, and the dynamics here are really friendly and welcoming. It's summer, tho, and people are on and off vacation all over the place. Everyone in France gets 5 weeks minimum, per year. MINIMUM. Many of them take 3 or more of those during the summer. Half of the north of France relocates to the Mediterranean areas. So I'm sure office productivity goes way down in the summer. The people who are left kick back the stress a notch and are even more laid back than usual! It's an interesting change.
Ah, another interesting note is that every morning when people arrive at work, most of them spend the first 5-10 minutes walking down the hall and shaking everyone's hand to say "good morning". They greet everyone in this way, even if they are not friends, as is usually the case in the US. A little piece of French culture :)
On Tuesday night, there was an end-of-school/beginning-of-summer party here at the office (well, downstairs in the cafe). There were many people I did not know because the company is rather large, but I got to socialize and talk with some of my coworkers. The party was an outdoor BBQ, with skies constantly threatening to downpour on us... They had sangria in their punch bowl, which was a bit strong for me, but an interesting flavor. The food was good, and the company better, so I had a very good time. They also had music and a small dancefloor set up. Not many people danced, and the music made it a bit hard for me to hear and understand the French being spoken around me. However, I think as the night wore on, I settled more and more into French and it was flowing a lot more fluently than it had been. Having a conversation with one or two people for an hour gives you a lot more practice in a language than having little 2-minute snips of pleasantries and weather talk with 30 different people. Afterwards, one of my coworkers drove me home so I did not have to take the bus/train, which was nice.
Wednesday night I met up with a friend who was visiting Paris on his way through back to Philadelphia (Joe Casacio, for those who know him from Drexel). He has several friends here in Paris whom I met, and they were interested in hanging out again. We went to a nice Italian restaurant and ate and ate and ate. The French can spend 4 hours at a meal, no problem! The wine and conversation flowed. At one point, I counted English, French and Spanish being spoken simultaneously; due to language barriers, not everyone knew French but most people had at least 1 or 2 languages which overlapped, so everyone could pretty much follow each other. This seems to occur often in Europe. I really enjoyed the evening, and especially the one woman Michelle whom I finally met (a friend of my boss's back home) was pleased to meet me and interested in going out again.
Last night I got together with the Danish guy I met at the 4th of July party. We had a drink and then wandered through Paris. It was nice to walk through the city instead of taking the Metro - you get to actually see the city and not just a crowded subway tunnel :) It was also getting a bit dark so the lights were coming on and everything looked half-real and very pretty. I noticed I could see a lot more stars while still within the city limits of Paris than I can back home in Philly. The clouds had parted enough that I think I saw Mars - a bright orange dot in the sky. I remember reading the Mars is in its closest proximity to Earth this summer than it has been in quite some time, and you can see it easily with your naked eye. Everyone should go outside and try to see it! :) It was a humbling and not-altogether-unpleasant thought to imagine that I am walking around at night in Paris while somewhere 4000 miles away, all of you are walking around during the day under the same sky (yeah yeah "somewhere out there...") We probably walked for about an hour - through half of Paris - and then I got on the train to go home. We'll probably hang out again because we seemed to hit it off well.
Tonight (Friday) I am going to meet a British girl whom I made contact with via an online mailing list for French techno fans. She responded to my post and invited me to go to a French rave tonight. It's surely going to be different than US raves, so I'm excited to see what the 'scene' (as we call it) is like here. Sarah (the British girl) has lived here for quite some time, and she says the scene is very different because the government here has really cracked down on "free parties", going so far as to make them illegal period. Don't worry, the one I am going to tonight will not be illegal - they have commercialized ones with permits and licenses now, as in the US. French culture seems ultra-suspicious of anything that originates in the States, and typically tries to 'fight against the American influence'. It's sort of amusing, when you consider the opposite is true in America regarding new European trends...
I had been having random weird run-ins with French guys since I got here, which was discouraging me both about French culture and about being able to meet people. Several people have told me that French men view staring as a compliment, whereas my deeply ingrained American conscious finds it disturbing and rude. It's just a change I will have to get used to - and be wise about not talking to strangers or what-have-you. As it would anywhere, it just took time to meet some nice people and I guess now my French social life has begun :) I've made some friends and had a busy calendar every night this week. For all of you who told me so, yes, you told me so :) Now I think the summer will go too fast, but that only means I have to live it up to the fullest extent possible. As I read recently "Life is a sequence of events to be lived up, not survived through." So I'm adopting that as my personal philosophy for the summer and that's that :)
In other news, some of you have been asking about the French fries. Well, I did have some but have to say I was not impressed. And, contrary to popular belief, they did not originate in France. I believe it was Belgium (where they also speak French). However, I did not feel as though they were very much different than fries you can get in the US. Perhaps I did not have them from the right place, I don't know. What I do know is I much prefer to eat French bread and pastries and crepes than french fries :)
I'm sad to say I've actually picked up a small coffee habit. It's so common here that it is difficult to avoid. I've developed a taste for their tiny cups of espresso - excellent after a big French meal, which they almost always are (big, I mean). The French may not snack, but when they do eat, they Eat! Here at work you can get so-so espresso from the fancy high-tech vending machine for 2FF, which is about a quarter. Most people have some directly after lunch - I think to use the caffeine to counter the post-lunch sleepies they all get due to the large dinner-like lunches they have. (Here dinner is much later, around 8 or 9pm, and usually not the main meal of the day.) I joke that we should all just have a siesta after lunch, which they actually do in the south of France. They all take a 2 or 3 hour break for lunch, actually close up shops and so on, then come back and work until 7 or 8pm. They don't do that up here, however :(
I have less free, unused time in the evenings now that I'm making friends, but that is a good thing. When I am home, the neighborhood is very very quiet - the only consistent noise I hear is "les avions" - airplanes. Orly Airport is only about 10-15 miles from my place I think. It's not disturbing, however, because in Philly we get plane noise all the time too, so I'm used to it. There is very little street traffic aside from the occasional motorbike/scooter, which are MUCH louder here than in the US. However, the people who live above me walk around like herds of elephants, often late into the night. I wouldn't say it keeps me awake but I have to wonder what they're doing up there...
Anyway hope this letter finds everyone well, and enjoying that hot Philly summer (for those of you on the East Coast, that is). I've seen the weather being in the 90s for weeks now, with heat advisories and everything. Can't say I miss that part, even if the summer here *has* been a tad chilly :)