Une fois un blaireau, toujours un blaireau

It's two weeks until I officially leave for Paris. I wasn't planning on writing another blog post until I arrived, but I can't think of a good enough reason NOT to write this post. As many of you know, the Teaching Assistants in and around Paris (for the most part) are responsible for finding their own housing. This is nerve-wrecking as many of the landlords in and around Paris are not comfortable with leasing to Americans (or foreigners in general) which shrinks the available housing pool for all the assistants who are arriving around the same time as each other. So, I'm trying to exhaust all ideas in the search for an apartment.

Fortunately, this lead me to find out that there is a Wisconsin Alumni Association chapter in France (most of the members are in or near Paris). After e-mailing the provided contacts about possible tips for finding housing and standing out as a lessee, one of the alumnus very generously offered for me to stay with her for a few days until I found a place on my own. The outward hospitality and graciousness of the Badger alumni on behalf of a recent grad inspired me to write this post. I know that many people from their various universities swear up and down that theirs is the best or at least "better than yours". I respect their loyalty to their universities, but I have to say, even as an alumnus, Wisconsin continues to outdo itself and inspire me. 

Not many people would blindly take a recent college graduate into their home solely with the knowledge that this grad went to Wisconsin and is moving to Paris to be a Teaching Assistant. Even fewer people would offer to additionally pick this alumnus up from the airport so that they don't have to lug their bags around the Metro or pay for a cab on their meager income. After graduating in May, I knew my time as a Badger would never really come to an end, because as they say "Once a Badger, always a Badger", but this experience was a realization of the interconnected web that are the Wisconsin Alumni and how fortunate I am to be a part of such a widespread and proud group. I'm hoping one day I'll be able to pay it forward in as big of a way as this Badger helped me.

For those of you who aren't Badger alumni, I hope this post at least inspires you to believe that there are decent, kind, and wholehearted people left in the world and you really don't have to look too far to find them. And if that point didn't get across, well, just watch this Badger video* for laughs anyway.

FWOTD: Blaireau (n.): Badger

*-video contains vulgarity, not appropriate for children or my mom (sorry).