Busy, busy, busy (finally)

I know I promised some more news a few days ago but I have been very busy. I have had heaps of job interviews lately. Yesterday I had one way out of Paris, which was an adventure, taking the train (ie not the metro or the RER which service paris) in the 36 degree heat (no air conditioning) wearing business clothes! It took me 2 hours to get out there, partly because I didnt really know what I was doing (I had never taken the suburban train network before), and partly because it was so far away. But at least I got to see a bit more of the surrounding areas of Paris and luckily the job is not actually out there. I have another interview today and one tomorrow. So hopefully something will come out of all this, although I have been through all this many times just to be told at the end that want an EU citizen. Anyway at the moment I am doing a bit of contracting work for my old company in Sydney so at least that should cover the rent for a bit longer and is keeping me busy. I have to admit I was getting a little sick of not working and just kind of hanging out around Paris. Most people I know here work during the day and there are only so many museums, galleries and sights you can see.

I have also had a very busy social life lately. When I first arrived I started going to "Language meetups" where french poeple come to speak english and foreigners go to speak french. We try to speak half the time in english and half in french and help each other and correct mistakes. We usually meet in a bar or have a picnic and it is more of a social event than a learning one, and I have met lots of cool people through the group. So last thursday I went to the language meet up and had fun speaking french and drinking (too much) wine. The meetings are only once a month but I often meet up with people I met there. Last night I had a drink with a friend I met through the group and on friday night I am going to a dinner party with a couple of people I met there. That is also how I met the group of people I watched the world cup matches with and the tour de france.

On friday I meet up with Vanessa (sue's friend) for dinner and drinks and had a great night catching up and drinking a bit too much wine (that seems to happen alot here). And on tuesday night I went out with her again for dinner with some of her friends. It was a fun night and the food was great but I hardly understood a word anyone said because they were speaking french (of course) and it was really noisy, as it was a bar/restaurant place. But everyone was nice and stopped every now and then to explain stuff to me when it was obvious I had no idea what they were talking about. And Vanessa told me that used to happen to her all the time in pubs when she first moved to England. So I didn't feel TOO bad about it, although I really wish I could speak french better. It can be very frustrating sometimes.

Saturday night I went to a jazz club in the marais (a trendy part of Paris) and had a fabulous meal with Alison (my Irish friend). It actually had heaps of vege food which is quite rare in Paris! I had gnocci in cheese sauce with ginger jam. It sounds like a weird combination but it was really good. We didn't even end up seeing the jazz band in the end as it was expensive and in a different part of the venue to the restaurant and we didn't finish eating till late. But it was a great night. Afterwards we went to another bar for a digestif, which is very european but really does make you feel better when you have eaten too much! We need to start this trend in Sydney. It is great.

So that is about it. Between doing the contracting work, job interviews and going out I haven't had much spare time at all. What free time I do have I usually spend trying to improve my french by watching french films with french subtitles (they speak so fast) but watching with the french subtitles really helps, and reading french books. At the moment I am reading l'etranger (the outsider) by Albert Camus. I read it years ago in english and it is one of my favorite books so it is great to be able to read it in the original.