I wanted to wait to write my next blog once I finally felt as though I was settled in and happy … no one wants to hear me complain about the pains of planting my roots.
The checklist consisted of three things in this order:
- 1. Job
- 2. Apartment
- Bike
The job and apartment hunt were simultaneous, but I wanted to secure the job before committing to an apartment for a few reasons: to know that money would be flowing in, to know how much money would be flowing in, and to know where I should strategically place myself in the city to be closer to my job.
I started gearing the job hunt towards babysitting putting my hopes of working in a café off to another day, because it seemed like there were many people looking for native English speakers and I would have set hours that worked with my school schedule. The two sources of postings were the American Church in Paris which has a bulletin board with both daily housing and job announcements and the other is FUSAC (France and USA Connection) which published a magazine once a month as well as had a website.
I began checking the American Church’s board every day and would then stop by “my hotel” (Hotel de la Tulipe which is right next to the church) for a coffee and croissant/cookies, chat and receive encouragement from Daniel, and internet staying for typically 4 hours. This was my routine after class for about 2 weeks. To spare you from all of the painful details about different places and families I will just say it was frustrating and painful. Feeling as though I’d hit a wall after 2 weeks, I’d had more than enough and asked my bible study group to pray for my situation. During the prayer my phone rang – it was a family asking if I was still looking for a job and wanted to meet me the next day.
MY JOB
The family lives in Sèvres (a little banlieu on the southwest side of Paris). I go 4 times a week for 3 hours at a time taking a 15 minute train ride from the station right next to my apartment. There are 3 girls (Marie 13, Anouke 10, Laura 7) who are all very sweet. I pick them up from school, sometimes walk them to the music conservatory, we eat a snack, play games (guess who, go fish, speed … if you can think of anymore card games we can play, let me know! They’ve been wearing out the ones that I’ve taught them!!!), and bake cakes. They love to eat chocolate and the house is always stocked with milka bars :) Big perks. The main goal is to improve their spoken, every-day English – that’s the most difficult part. I have to avoid speaking French, while thinking of creative, fun ways for them to put together sentences in English. Mamma Mia sing-along has become a favorite. Although, I had to change a class to make the hours work, everything went through last week and all is well! I’m staying with them at least until June, but it’s possible to work with them all next year if I chose to do so.
MY APARTMENT
It’s in the 9th, which is the perfect central location. I’m a 15 minute bike ride from school, less than 10 minutes from the train I take to get to work, and about a 20 minute ride to church. It’s small, but I have more than enough room for my stuff (after a guy from church helped me raise my bed to put my suitcases underneath). I have a fridge, microwave, hot plates, pots, dishes, silverware, etc. that all came with. I’m on the 6th floor with an elevator (BIG PLUS) and my window faces the courtyard of my building. There are two locks/doors you have to go through to get in my building as well as a few locks on my own door, so I feel safe. The grocery store is right across the street. I do my laundry at a friend from church’s apartment.
MY BIKE
I got my first bike off craigslist. It was white and purple. I owned it for less than 4 days before it was stolen right outside my apartment. I got my second bike for much cheaper at a flea market a little outside the city; it’s black. I’ve owned it for almost 2 weeks and have only had minor problems. I changed the brakes yesterday morning all by myself. The back wheel needed to be tightened, because it got loose and was hitting the frame, but besides from that, it’s been a good bike. I park it inside my building’s court, but there’s nowhere to attach it – I just lock the front wheel to the frame, which is what another bike does as well. Hopefully I’ll be able to hold onto this one longer…
OTHER
My hotel. I mentioned it in a previous blog (the hotel where they let me print my CV), but I’ve been back at least a dozen times since. The second time I went was to stop in and just say thank you again for letting me print stuff and photocopy my visa, passport, student card, etc… Then Daniel asked me if I’d like some coffee, and then offered croissants and cookies…If you give Melinda a cookie … then she’ll visit every day. The hotel is right next to the American church where I went to check for job/apts. I would then walk over to the hotel to get a coffee or tea, use the internet, and discuss life with my best and only friend in the city – Daniel (the Romanian receptionist). He even let me use his cell phone that had an international plan so that I could call my dad in a time of need/decision making. Because of work, I can’t go by as often (only about once a week now). I went by yesterday for some apple tarts, café, and a discussion about crazy Parisians (more of the story to come).
I found my café! It’s called Caféothèque and it’s behind the Hôtel de Ville – discovered through some guys blogs about Parisian cafés. They make/sell coffee from all over the world (any country that produces coffee) and the salon is full of awesome chairs and books and a piano that one of the baristas plays frequently when it’s not busy. I’ve been there four times. The second time I went it was pretty dead and the guys gave me a free latté :) I asked them if they would give me barista lessons and they delightfully agreed (including letting me go behind the bar and make drinks myself!). I’ve been back twice for lessons, but it’s been crowded and the owners were there…I’m planning on going tomorrow.
My bar = St. Georges’ Pub. It’s right down the street and I knew from the name that we would become good friends – kin even. Sebastian, the bartender is from Britanie and knows me by name.
That’s the gist of my settling in…kind of boring details, but necessary to write about and describe before I go on telling more stories about my job, apartment, or bike. If you have any specific questions (just things you’re curious about) let me know!
