Settling In.

For those who don't know yet, I'm in Paris.  I arrived on the 1st of February with a suitcase and a backpack.  Although I spent all of December and January planning, organizing, researching, and googling everything you can about Paris, I was far from ready to land here.

I spent hours and hours each day studying French, watching French cinema, drinking wine and smoking cigarettes, just so I could mentally and physically prepare myself.  The moment I stepped of the plane, I had a sinking feeling that the work had just started. 

Although I don't want this blog to be geared towards travel advice, if you want to avoid some major hurdles upon arriving in France, make sure your cell phone is GSM compatible and works in France!  I was told by my local Verizon flunkies "you won't have any problems, it will just be expensive."  Good one.  I had zero network service when I arrived.  Sure, no big deal unless....maybe you need to contact your landlord.  Maybe you need to find out where the hell you are going.  You know, little things.

I was not expecting there to be such a language barrier.  I was told by a couple of French friends that my French is very, very good and I have great speaking skills, including the correct accent and use of slang.  My friends must have meant "compared the the zero other Americans we know."  My ability to speak  French has so far, been somewhat of a problem for me.  When you sound like you know what you are talking about, people assume you actually comprehend what they are saying.  I'm not sure how many of you have heard an real Parisien speaking at full thrust, but it's a thing to behold.  In just three weeks, however, my comprehension is really coming along.  Just today I actually re-loaded my minutes on my French phone (just trust me, it's a big deal).

Too long of post!  I'm going to try to post daily.  Grammer and spelling mistake annoy me immensely,so if you see any, keep in mind I'm typing this out on a ten inch Netbook, sitting on a lumpy old canape convertible!  PS...Steph wins!! She was the first to follow this blog.  Steph is rad.  Jen, don't try to claim Steph's prize...I can tell you two apart!