Conversation du Jour

French Guy: Monsieur!
Moi: Oui?
French Guy: [insert French phrase/question I do not know]
Moi: Quoi?
French Guy: [presumably the same phrase/question asked immediately prior]
Moi: Je ne parle pas Français.
French Guy: Tu es un tourist?
Moi: No, Je suis etudiant.
French Guy: ahh…[pause]…pourquoi me parles en français?

Touche, sir

(Translation :
French Guy: Sir!
Moi: Yes?
French Guy: [insert French phrase/question I do not know]
Moi: What?
French Guy: [presumably the same phrase/question asked immediately prior]
Moi: I do not speak French.
French Guy: You are a tourist?
Moi: No, I am a student.
French Guy: ahh…[wait]…why are you speaking to me in French?)

Jour Un

Day one in Paris was full of learning experiences, but overall I declare it a success.

Things I Learned:

NyQuil is a necessity on overseas flights.

The door to our apartment complex is in the middle of the building. In the front. Not around the side. Around the side is some sort of loading dock where, when they aren’t working, groups of French men amuse themselves by watching a dumb American with 3 suitcases and a backpack wander around a loading dock because he failed to locate the door to his apartment building.

The front door is a push door, not a pull door

I still prefer shower heads that are firmly affixed to a wall.

I do not know enough French to purchase produce.

I do know enough French to purchase an alarm clock.

There is a small button on each floor of my apartment complex which turns on the hallway lights.

Using said button is easier than walking up the narrow spiral staircase in pitch black darkness.

Our apartment is awesome.

This is going to be a fun year (once Abbey gets here).

Foray into blogging

As many reading this are probably aware, I will be spending the next school year in Paris, France as a student in the MA in Middle East and Islamic Studies program at the American University of Paris. I thought about updating folks via mass e-mails, but thought that keeping a blog would allow those who don’t wish to be on an e-mail list and yet are too kind to inform me of their indifference to my day-to-day happenings to check at their leisure or never visit this site (as opposed to the arduous task of ignoring an e-mail and not telling me about it). The more astute readers will have also noticed that the title of the blog which appears in what I see is called a “header” is “[TBA]”. I’ll figure out a title later, and am open to suggestions.

I fly out this Thursday, August 27th at 5:30PM from Dulles Airport, will arrive at Charles de Gaulle at 7:00AM on Friday morning, catch a taxi to our apartment on Avenue de Choisy, take a nap and go wandering before school orientation begins on Saturday.

Thank you for indulging my arrogance in believing that this blog may be read.