J'arrive.

I've been in Paris for a little over a week now, sorry for not updating! Housing is a nightmare, I haven't found anyone who has been successful at finding their own living space. Except for those who have agreed to au pair or babysit. So I've been a bit preoccupied with that. But, definitely trying to be optimistic about it.

I went to my lycée today to meet the head of the English department. On my way there, I was mistaken for a German (twice). I'm not sure if this is a good thing or not, but I suppose I'm at least blending into the European vibe. It's quite a ways outside of Paris, but it seems to be in a quaint suburb.

The English department director is very nice, I will be teaching what seem to be called "European Classes" which are classes taught for the large part in English but concern various issues around Europe. My focus will be with the Economics and History classes. I'm not supposed to speak French at all (except for in the exclusive company of the other teachers at the high school). I got a tour of the school and they said I could take any book I want out from the library! How fabulous! I got a set of keys and also my computer log-in, which is excellent! The department head said I could also brink my laptop in case I wanted to use a projector for anything (which will be useful when I somehow find a way to tie in Arrested Development to my lesson plans...). I start my real first day on Monday, with introductions. I teach 3 days a week (Monday, Thursday, and Friday) for 4 hours at a time. I'm actually excited to meet the students and see (if) how well they can understand what I'm saying!

Here are a few other tidbits that happened in the first week of my arrival:

1. Opened a French bank account. This proved to be difficult due to the language barrier. Since I'm out in the suburbs it's increasingly difficult to find someone who speaks English and although I was confident in my French speaking abilities before I got here, I've found out that I'm somewhat lacking. Especially with financial lingo. But the woman who helped me was very patient and was able to open my account without any problems!

2. I've been mistaken for a French person approximately twice. Once by an actual French person! Though, when I start speaking, it's quite obvious that I'm not French at all (so obvious, in fact, that apparently I used a phrase "too vulgar to be repeated" in a bar. Well, that's probably not the first time that has happened, but it's the first time it's happened to me while speaking French!)

3. Successfully navigated the métro (and bought a permanent metro pass!) and only got lost once, and it was entirely my fault for not paying attention to where I was going.

4. Ate some traditional French cuisine and met up with other assistants, who are all so fabulous and I would be having a very hard time adjusting without!

FWOTD:
Bienvenue (adj.): Welcome