Settling in...

Wow, it's been 3 weeks since I arrived in Paris... and yet it feels more like 6, it's hard to believe it's been so short. In that time I have been for multiple job interviews and ended up deciding on 2 part-time jobs (the first of which I started 4 days after my arrival... talk about a running start). Whilst the 2 part-time roles mean a little less security I am hoping they also equate to a bit more free time and more money, so we'll see how it goes. Hours are starting to pick up and by the end of April I should be into the swing of a full working week (have vague memories of what that feels like :)

My French is still appalling... and is even more noticeable when my students get stuck on a word and look to me for the translation of a complicated French business term (especially as I am so intimately acquainted with the world of hedge funds and market derivatives... not). However, my comprehension is definitely improving and I only have to give people the completely blank 'huh??' look about 50% of the time now. Shopkeepers have started speaking to me in French, rather than reverting immediately to English the moment my first few French words come out. So progress must be being made... not that it feels like it.

In addition to jobs I have also secured myself a room for the year and am happily (at least as happily as a person who hasn't received a paycheck yet can be) buying myself curtains and sheets etc and tacking photos up on the wall. Following a year of movement where the longest I spent in one room was 6 weeks, it is a wonderful feeling to know that I'll be here for a while and don't have to put a backpack on!

Next items on the list are getting myself a bank account, social security number and my temporary work permit... all of which will hopefully be well on the way to sorted by next week... oh yeah, and have to learn the language!

I have unknowingly moved into the 'little Turkey' area of Paris and am surrounded by many familiar elements. My street is full of Turkish men hanging around tea shops and smoking, posters of cheesy looking Turkish singers adorn the walls and Turkish restaurants and kebap shops abound. There is baklava, simit, ekmek and I have even spotted Midye Dolma (my Turkish favourite - mussels stuffed with rice), although it is on the menu of a classy restaurant and not being sold by a 12 year old boy on a baking hot street corner. Without the risk of serious food poisoning I'm not sure they'll taste at all the same...

My spare time (of which I have plenty at the moment) is spent walking around Paris, weather permitting, getting endlessly lost. I wandered around many strange streets in many cities last year, but none find me quite so baffled and disorientated as the streets of Paris. Any time I think I am heading straight I am certain to be heading along a diagonal street and where I end up is never quite where I expected. Thank god for the metro... I just keep, either intentionally or unintentionally, getting lost and walking until I stumble across the next metro stop where I pause to figure out where the hell I am. So far so good, always manage to find my way home and am stumbling across some great little back streets, markets, shops etc... not that I'll ever be able to find them again, but hey!

I've added some photos and videos to the blog for anyone interested. Hope everyone is well!