Aujourd’hui à Paris c’était bien. J’ai fait le mengage ce matin ensuite je me suis promener dans le Parc de la Villette faison du jogging. Après je vais faire la chouette vie, ensuite je vais aller au Franprix et acheter du parmesan pour mon dînes, je vais aller preparer de bon pates.

(The MK2 Cinéma in Jaurès and some Parisian artwork)

Eventually I’m going to make la chouette vie bilingual but for now the French readers will get short snippets of French which will grow in complexity as my knowledge does!

I resigned from my English teaching job as it was getting in the way of my French education… I was talking in English all day and then spending time preparing lessons in English. It was really bugging me as I want to speak French throughout the day. Initially I thought it would be okay as I could study at night but as the teachers out there will know, there is planning to do in the evenings. So it was time to rip off the bandaid. I put my ‘self recruiting’ hat on and jumped on the net and printed out a list of bars. I quickly worked out what I would say in French and hit the phone. By the fifth call I had an interview. The interview went well and I had a trial that night (Thursday). So it’s a good change! But it’s lucky I’m not here for the money.

If something is weighing you down in life you have to get rid of it!!! (within reason of course).

Friday night with the Kiwis:

I headed off on the metro on Friday evening buzzing in anticipation of some kiwi contact. I decided I would spend a little time each week with some native English speakers in order to stay sane. Learning French is fantastic but the mind needs to rest every now and then! The monthly pub night is held at a neat little bar called ‘Eden Park’, how fitting! There was a smaller group than usual (I was told) but It was still a great night. We ended up hopping to a few other pubs afterwards and by 11.30pm there was four of us left (2x kiwi, 1x lepricon, 1x pom).

All sorts of people make up the France New Zealand Association. Half of the people that were there were simply fans of NZ or had some connection with it. But the Irish, English and Kiwi combo seemed to work well and we had some good laughs! (sorry, no photos!)

(Musée Dali: Dali used his moustache to paint!)

Weekend sports wrap-up, Paris side:

Watching the All Blacks give the French rugby team a good thrashing was fantastic. You really feel proud watching your country win when you’re amoungst the opposition. I was working at the time and there were some very passionate French men throwing their fists at the TV. One guy almost fell over when trying to express himself. I kept my emotions low key as did the kiwi lady hiding in one corner of the bar.

The yachting: Team New Zealand, you little beauties!!!

New and amusing French things:

Bǫte de la nuit Рnight club Рdirect translation: box of the night

Likes: St Michel fountain, Paris at night, Any French conversation, Sleep, great new friends.

Dis-likes: Americans that bitch and moan e.g. “ahhwwww why the F*** is everything in French!!!”, the Metro when it’s hot and crowded.

This week:

French lessons, lesson exchanges, bar work, rendez-vous avec amis, runs in parks, and most definately some new and exciting experiences! à bientôt!

This entry was posted on Monday, June 4th, 2007 at 7:14 am While Dave was in Paris. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.