American in Paris (had to do it)

*Jane in Paris*

When we arrived at my apartment, finally, on Thursday afternoon I was not very happy. It was so much smaller than the apartment in Vienna and seemed to lack completely a sense of beauty. I felt that there was nothing I could point to and say, "oh, but this is very nice." I also thought there would be a couch, and I'm really a couch and not a chair person. When I realized that I must have been mixed up because I had looked at so many other places my mood did not improve. Oh, and a strong smell also floated out from the bathroom.


But then slowly things started to get better, as the little things that I hadn't noticed upon my first glance made their appearance: there was enough room for all of our clothes, the TV worked, the water tasted alright, the kitchen seemed to have everything I needed, Harry Potter and the Prisoner from Azkaban was on the bookshelf. The view is also quite nice.
So many things have been stuffed into the room, although they have been artfully arranged so that it doesn't feel cramped, that it took us the rest of the day to find most of them. There are just a lot of nice little things that the landlord had left behind for me.

As the pictures make clear, the apartment really is in a part of Paris that feels like "the city." The two large windows face the Boulevard Voltaire, and perhaps it was under his influence that someone had written "No gods nor masters" beside my door! The street below is surprisingly loud, especially at night. Some sort of force compels large bands of drunk young people to take their time as they walk by the window. Where do they all come from? Luckily Nick and I are equipped with sleep masks and a pink noise track on the mp3 player that does an excellent job of covering up the singing, yelling, and sounds of traffic.

I have met several people at the Fulbright Commission already, because I had to take a form into the office. When I told the director, M. Roujou de Boubee, where I lived he immediately responded that the area around the Place de la Republique was "very lively." It certainly is buzzing with activity every night until at least 1 am, except on Sundays. Mason hates the liveliness of the area, and when it is crowded on the sidewalks he would rather just stay home. He is going to go back to Vienna, which compared to Paris seems luxuriously relaxed and green.

Now a little bit about Parisians. Some of you know that I had been quite anxious to come here, given my lack of experience speaking French with French people and some bad experiences that I had here in 2003. I am happy to report that every Parisian I have communicated with has been exceedingly nice - happy to repeat a sentence to me 4 times, to write out words, to wait patiently while I figure out how to respond. I do not get the sense that Parisians are in a hurry, even though they live in an environment that to me feels very similar to bustling New York.

In my research, I have come across stereotypes about the French. One is that they, along with their Latin kin in Italy, are hot-blooded and that their emotions rise quickly. Indeed, I have witnessed 2 heated arguments since arriving on Thursday. The funniest one occurred on Saturday night in the middle of a crowded crosswalk, which I think Nick will talk more about.

So the short story is, things are going very well here and my spirits are much better than I thought they would be. The is certainly an exciting place to live, and the Parisians are a real pleasure to be around.