Starting Over, Sort Of

When I first arrived in France it was a total whirlwind experience. First was the jetlag, then the sudden immersion into the language via my job training courses being entirely in French (which was weird seeing as there were over 100 English Assistants in the same room with a few profs to train us, it seems that majority does not always rule). Then I had to deal with a gauntlet of stressful situations like finding a place to live, figuring out things like getting groceries, the bus, etc. By the time I had caught my breath from that Leigh arrived and it felt like I had done all of that preparation for her to be here.

We had an amazing time together. I couldn't be happier that she came to stay with me for so long. In addition to sharing some amazing travel experiences together, it was so great to have her as part of my daily life. She was here for 3 months without a job to go to everyday and only had seemingly mundane tasks to occupy herself and yet we only had one actual argument. The argument was actually the product of us both being stressed out about my French bank account going haywire and me having to open a new one, so it wasn't even a relationship issue just life sucking for a few days.

Anyway, my point is that we did really well here even though she wasn't working and I was only working about 20 hours per week so we spent all our time together, we had to watch every centime to support ourselves, and we were in a whole new world dealing with "lost in translation" moments on a daily basis. We enjoyed each other's company and had a great time. I grew in several ways by having to be even more of the dominant personality (ordering in restaurants, asking directions, etc) and Leigh grew in that she started doing things by herself eventually in spite of not speaking any French. In the States she would let me do the talking because she's shy but here if the person spoke some English she would jump in and speak with them because it is a rare opportunity here. So I guess all I'm saying is that this was a really great experience for us both.

Now that it's just me here I'm having to switch gears completely. Aside from cooking for myself and doing my own laundry, both of which are going fine thank you very much, I also have to start thinking like a single person again. This may sound strange to people back home, but when you have to take a bus and a wheely suitcase to the grocery store, then a bus back and walk a half mile uphill and climb the stairs to your apartment, you have to change the way you think about buying groceries. In France things like this are just easier with another person. I went to Carrefour yesterday by myself for the first time since early October and it was a tough experience all around but I successfully bought everything I needed for at least the next two weeks, so yay me!

I think the most important way I have to change my thinking is in the use of m free time. Last night I got home and I was pretty tired from my day, but after I watched Grey's Anatomy on my computer and chatted online with my grandmother for a while it was still only 11:00 and that was my day. Now that it's just me I'm going to have to make more efforts to be social, go out at night and live my life while I'm here. When it's "Leigh and Emily" it's OK to stay home most of the time and just keep each other company, but when it's just "Emily" I don't want to turn into a lame, bah humbug type person who just works and runs errands when she's not exploring new cities and visiting museums while "on holiday."

Alas, thus begins My Life in France Version 2.0. Today I will do laundry, get some exercise, study French I to brush up on basic grammar, and maybe go down to the English bookstore later to find something a bit lighthearted to accompany my quest to read Bleak House (ugh).