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April 5, 2002, 0315 hrs Weird. Went to bed pretty tired at 2400 and here I am, wide awake at 0300. Yesterday was pretty much a success. Getting my Carte Orange was very easy - easier than I remembered. I cannabilized by old Canadian passport to get its photo for the Carte Orange (which requires one). Only 44E for the card and I get unlimited use of the buses and trains in the Paris region for a whole month. Much better than paying 4-7E for a day's use. I went by the Alliance and stood in several very long lines. Arrived about 2pm, stood in line to find that I needed to be tested before I could pay for classes (but these were less because I chose the less popular late afternoon class). Then I stood in another long line to be tested (Level 1, SubLevel 3 because my passe compose sucked - got 16 out of 20 right on the multiple choice but didn't do as well on the oral exam). Then down to the registration desk again to finally pay for it (about 3:45 minutes after I started). Then a long (for Paris) metro ride of about 30 minutes and a walk of another 15 minutes to get to my studio. It's in student housing (the school of Agriculture apparently). It's terribly meagre (maigre). Basically a very barren room with a tiny single bed. But it does have its own bathroom (with shower) and a little kitchenette with micro fridge (frigo). I will have to buy some amenities (a couple of pots, toilet paper, utensils and plates) in order to make use of the kitchen. But eating out is very expensive so I have lots of motivation. Last night's dinner (a pizza margherita with red wine, dessert and coffee) ran 20E. A significant improvement over the 33E of the first night but nowhere near as imaginative dinner or quality of service. So, all in all, my first two days have been a success. I have registered for class, met my professeur, and secured housing for the first month. Later today I'll take a taxi to my new domicile. I plan to go by the American Church today and pick up a copy of FUSAC and check out the housing board. Got to see if there is something similar to that at the Alliance as well. I found an Internet cafe that seems pretty cheap (2E per half hour) around the corner from the Alliance. The neighborhood around Residence Rene Dubos (I'm on Rue Yitzak Rabin!) is definitely working class and much less interesting than that surrounding my hotel. I definitely want a studio in the inner city - if nothing else than it will lessen commute times dramatically. I want to open a bank account soon but I think it might be wise to do so in the neighborhood I plan to live (so I have a local bank). Oh, I bought a recharge card for my cell phone and managed to navigate the menus to recharge it. Took quite a few button presses to accomplish this (following instructions heard over the phone) so I feel that I accomplished something significant. Looking in local circulars there seem to be a ton of little cars available at great prices (less than 2500E). Also not a few bikes and scooters but these seem to be surprisingly expensive as the engine size climbs. On the other hand, I very much doubt I need anything more than 250cc here (especially if it is a 2-stroke). Traffic doesn't seem as bad as some have reported - perhaps because I've been driving in California and SF so long. I think my two major challenges in the next week or two will be to buy some online access for my laptop and to find a studio to live in from 30 Avril. Apparently I could have moved into my studio from 2 Avril. Wish they had told me.. would have saved a bunch of bucks on the hotel. I worry a bit about my fitness. No gym at the Residence. I have my exercise band and push-ups for now.. I am certainly walking enough - I suspect I'm logging better than four or five miles per day. I think that's the secret of why the French stay slim - Parisians at least. They walk a hell of a lot. My left knee was hurting quite a bit by the end of the day, a sure sign that I had spent a lot of time walking about. Damn good thing I've lost a lot of weight. My expectations of a studio have been reset somewhat by the comparison between my hotel room and the Residence. I'll be happy with a room as nice as the hotel room in a good neighborhood. 2100 Well, I'm not sure how much I got accomplished today besides attending class and moving into the Residence. But I suppose that "sufficient to the day are the evils thereof" (as Mom is fond of saying). Nice to have such a literate Mom. Tomorrow am is getting the final necessary elements for my room (big stretch to call it a studio, more like a room with tiny kitchenette - no micro - and shower). Had a good day at class and actually understood everything the teacher was trying to communicate to us. The passe compose isn't too terribly complicated, only 14 verbs require the use of the verb etre and some aren't that common. How often am I going to say "I died yesterday" or "he died yesterday". Not often, I hope. Went by FNAC (trop cher) and picked up a cheapo Walkman for 15E (forgive me, I have a symbol for pounds, but not for Euros). Now I should be able to listen to my language tapes without difficulty. Now that I'm here, it's really a survival issue and I want to get as fluent as possible as quickly as possible. After grabbing a 6E cream cheese (there is no word for cream cheese in French so they just use "cream cheese") and smoked salmon bagel I bought a nice bottle for Bordeaux superior (AOC) for another 6E and had a very fine picnic in the Jardin de Luxembourg (until le flic kicked us all out about 8:15 - sundown). It's t-shirt weather here and I didn't really need my sweater until the sun went down. Don't worry, I didn't even open the wine 'til I was finished with the bagel, Mom! After dealing with the studio necessities (taking Mom's advice and buying paper plates, but I will need at least kettle and frying pan), I'm going to go get that phone card that gives me 2c/minute to the 'States and then go and look at some apartments. I've easily found half a dozen in the City proper. First thing to do is to check out some of the neighborhoods in question. I already know I like the 7th. I'm also going to look in the 10th and 11th since that is where I may be working if I'm lucky enough to land a job with one of the two firms I'm speaking with. I'm going by a friend of Laura's (Damien) on Sunday afternoon at 3pm to socialize and meet some people. I hope to get some advice on studios and possibly Internet connections as well. My studio is on the ground floor and there are no bars on the window. So I worry that things might get stolen (Dad would be proud) and end up locking the window and drawing the curtain while I'm gone. Unfortunately, that means that the room is an enough when I return at the end of the day (as I've just learned). Can't imagine what it will be like in a couple of weeks when it gets really warm! A bientot.. here are a couple of pics of my new "studio" (and I use the term advisedly).

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