JMo in France

Postscript

Ok, it's a very late postscript, but a postscript nonetheless...

I recently returned back home (to Chicago of course) from a final trip (at least for now) to France to retrieve the last of my things.  Honestly, it was strange going back as a tourist after living there for so long.  I found myself seeking out Americans while I was there too - I saved one family from getting on the wrong train and rode back to Paris with them discussing their vacation.

I said goodbye to the town and life I was living in France and I was just happy to leave.  Have you ever had one of those days when you're praying it won't rain and it starts hailing instead?  Well, add to that the fact that you're hauling around a good chunk of your life's possessions trying to make the bus and train and that's the kind of day I was having.  I spent most of the rest of my trip in Paris just walking.  Paris will remain my favorite city to walk around - it's such a great city with the tourist attractions along with the side streets and neighborhoods.  Have you ever been walking around late at night alone and feeling as if your heart might explode with joy and break at the same time?  That's what Paris will always be for me.

Not quite the same

This will be one of my last posts here - I'm going to be leaving France soon, and JMo in (random US city) just isn't as interesting a topic.  I started this journal to keep friends up to date on the damage I was doing to American/French relations, and there doesn't seem to be a point to continue it after I leave. 

I still have a little time left here, and friends will be visiting me before I leave for good, so I'll most likely post a few more pictures.  But when the new year rolls around, I'll be moving on (and starting over) with life in the states.

Senlis

Giverny

The Thinker

It's kind of fitting right now, and that's all I'm going to say about that.

More photos of the Rodin Museum are in the Paris album.  It was a gorgeous day today.

It's a happy day

The heat came on today - I was doing a little dance as I was going around bleeding the radiators.  I think I'll let it warm up to about 80 in here for a couple of days.

I have four days of meetings starting this Sunday so this is as happy as I'll be for a while.  I predict a major blow up too - any explosions seen in this area will probably be taking place at my meeting.  My boss evidently was trying to replace one of the other senior people on the project without his knowledge.

Tucson

Tucson was definitely worth seeing (again).  We did go to Oktoberfest on Mt. Lemmon too - which at 9000 ft. didn't look anything like Tucson (grass!  trees!  cool weather!)  Tucson was in the upper 90s during most of the visit, but cooled down nicely at night.

On the way there our flight ended up being delayed 3 hours out of Chicago because of maintenance problems - we actually taxied down the runway but didn't take off. Uhh...  We ended up getting off that plane and boarded another, and I think that's the most frightened I've ever been during takeoff because the 2nd plane seemed kind of sluggish too.

These pictures were from Mt. Lemmon - I took tons of pictures here because of this guy.  Isn't he cute?

And, sure enough, my bag got opened at the airport, and even tested positive for explosives (come on, it was a false positive).  They asked for my drivers license to write down my home address, and when I told them all I had was a French one, they said they'd just use my passport and asked the town that I grew up in.  I think I'm on some sort of watch list now. 

Hi Chicago, I'll be thinking about you

I'll be connecting through Chicago tomorrow (of course) so I thought I'd add this picture of the bean in Millenium Park.  I'm all packed, with my festive polar bear boxers that my best friend gave me at the top of the bag as usual.  I gotta give those customs guys something to smile about in case my bag gets picked.  Sometimes I just like to brighten people's day.

Fall in France

Ah, fall in France; crisp, clear blue skies, and the smell of upcoming winter in the air.  Or that might be dog poo that I smell.

Fall is the time of la rentrée, when the town is reacquainted with hordes of children traveling in packs, monopolizing precious sidewalk space and irritating me with their perfect and slang-filled French.  I don't see how these kids ever get any schoolwork done, as they always seem to be traipsing back and forth between school and the gym located by where I work, or for walks in the forest. 

Fall is also the time when I start to wonder if I'll ever have heat in the apartment again - the heat is included in the rent, but as it's steam heat, the building is subject to the whims of the caretaker as to when it is turned on and off each year.  Brrr.

However, I'll have more warmth than I'll know what to do with as I head to Tucson, Arizona tomorrow.  It's still in the upper 90s there during the day.  I'm staying with friends who have a pool  (doesn't everyone there?)  We're also going to Oktoberfest this weekend, although beer and stifling heat don't go well together in my mind.  Just think, I could be going to Munich instead.  I should add that to my list of things to do before I die - Oktoberfest in Germany. 

 

Lessons in patience

I do try, I really do.  I'd even say that I have begun to understand the true meaning of patience since moving here.  But when I've been waiting for 20 minutes for the check at the restaurant so we don't miss the train back home, which is the last one (ok, there is one an hour and 1/2 later that runs local so it takes twice as long), I tend to get a little pissy.  Some people have phobias of heights or snakes, I have a phobia of being late.   I've had more dreams (nightmares?) than I can count of trying to get the airport on time.

I've been playing with some photo software - pretty cool.  I think these photos are very calming.   

TGIF

OK, the recap of the past couple of weeks:

For three days the apartment didn't have water during the day as they were doing something to our pipes, although I suspect one of the things they did was lower the water temperature and pressure as the shower now just kind of drizzles water unless you're in the mood for a cold shower, in that case, the water pressure's great!

The elevator has been out of service for a while, and will be for the next couple of weeks.  I live on the 2nd floor (3rd floor US) so I normally take the stairs anyway, but lugging bags of groceries from the basement (floor -1) to the apartment is not fun, especially since it involves turning on about 5 light switches (all the hall and garage lights are on timers) and opening up 5 doors, all of which pull rather than push.  I've gotten pretty adept at turning on the lights using my nose so I don't have to set any bags down, but opening the doors is a huge pain.

I took my car in for servicing which was surprisingly incident free.  However, they'd be able to come up to me and say, I'm sorry, your car needs about 500 euro worth of work done to it, and I'd totally tell them to do it.  I wouldn't know how to say no.   I barely know what the words for the major car parts are in French.

Work has threatened to explode into a huge shouting match/power play/big bitch fest.  These are very intelligent, accomplished people that I'm working with, but they're acting a bit like children lately.  I've always tried to remain neutral (the voice of reason, so to speak) but that could possibly be the worst place to be - everyone wants you to take a side.  I also opened my big mouth today about something I probably shouldn't have and gave my boss something else to become furious over.

My last word

On Katrina, that is. 

This opinion piece was especially insightful.

On French radio they reported that little blurb about Bush accepting responsibility for the mess after the hurricane and flooding.  They're not big fans of the prez. 

Just like home

Wow.  On my walk to work today I saw a Dodge Ram pickup truck.  It was bright blue, with a white racing stripe or whatever the hell they call that thing, and a cab cover.  It even had the square-ish license plates.  That would get you noticed here.  It also would probably ensure you got pulled over by the police more than the average Joe (or average frog?)  The license plate said American Car City, so of course I had to look it up on the web.  Sure enough, they have a website where you can buy Ford Mustangs (starting around 40,000 euro) and big pickup trucks and SUVs.  I also wandered over to this site and discovered that I could be the proud owner of an American police car "comme a la tele".  What was more disturbing though, was that I ran across this.  Hummers in France?  The things would barely fit on the roadways here.  My car would probably fit in the trunk area, and parking spaces here already feel like a squeeze to my little car.  Not to mention gas prices, I can't imagine what it would cost here to fill one of those things up - it would have to be at least 200 euro.  (P.S. Americans, stop bitching about gas prices.  You've still got it good.  But then again, I walk to work.)

World views

I'm always fascinated now to see how the rest of the world views the U.S.

The world press weighs in on Katrina and its aftermath

And another update on French efforts:

France searches for French trapped by Katrina

Expat life

This article gives one of the best descriptions of the struggle surrounding expat relationships that I've seen.  I'd go even further, though, and say that even my friends here who are fluent English speakers wouldn't see me as the same person as my American friends.  I've become much more cautious with my language, and even jokes can be suspect because of the cultural differences.  I laugh and joke with my friends in Chicago in ways that I never would with (my few) friends here.  I'm a much more reserved person here than in the U.S., not that I was ever that loud to begin with.