(no subject)
ok i've been here a week now. my room faces the Eiffel Tower on the 29th floor. i have my run of the hotel w/ everything being free (and plan to stock up on alcohol from the room's minibar for my trip back on the plane!) after a few bumbles of choosing the wrong things on the room service menu (french food can be NASTY if you dont choose the right thing) i have become pretty adept at reading a food description and knowing whether it will be good or not (hoorah, Belle Salade Nicoise!).
i've been lost, almost walked out of Paris on Wednesday. it's been raining off and on but overall it's been nice enough. not so cold that you dont want to be outside, not so hot you're sweating while walking. i havent been to too many places, because after work i'm just too pooped to do anything. also, i'm not much of a night person, i prefer going out during the day over going to night clubs. maybe finding an unpretentious, friendly, unseedy bar to hang out at would be nice.
the IT department has been pretty friendly. well, not communicative and not hateful. it's a bunch of french dudes, some of which only speak French. i am beginning to understand everyone without effort and without listening, and that has been very odd, disturbing, interesting. it's really difficult to understand what everyone is saying and not be able to respond to them in their own tongue.
i am constantly mistaken for a Parisian. i think it's because not that many African-Americans visit France. i have been stopped by French people hurriedly asking directions, and every patron in a tiny restaurant i recently visited literally stopped talking, moving, eating to hear my bumbled "Frenglish" when the maitre 'd asked to seat me. now i understand what those JETs of Asian descent were complaining about when they arrived in Japan and were constantly mistaken for Japanese, and looked at oddly for not practicing Japanese customs, politeness and mannerisms.
i've been lost, almost walked out of Paris on Wednesday. it's been raining off and on but overall it's been nice enough. not so cold that you dont want to be outside, not so hot you're sweating while walking. i havent been to too many places, because after work i'm just too pooped to do anything. also, i'm not much of a night person, i prefer going out during the day over going to night clubs. maybe finding an unpretentious, friendly, unseedy bar to hang out at would be nice.
the IT department has been pretty friendly. well, not communicative and not hateful. it's a bunch of french dudes, some of which only speak French. i am beginning to understand everyone without effort and without listening, and that has been very odd, disturbing, interesting. it's really difficult to understand what everyone is saying and not be able to respond to them in their own tongue.
i am constantly mistaken for a Parisian. i think it's because not that many African-Americans visit France. i have been stopped by French people hurriedly asking directions, and every patron in a tiny restaurant i recently visited literally stopped talking, moving, eating to hear my bumbled "Frenglish" when the maitre 'd asked to seat me. now i understand what those JETs of Asian descent were complaining about when they arrived in Japan and were constantly mistaken for Japanese, and looked at oddly for not practicing Japanese customs, politeness and mannerisms.