October begins: An update on France

It's been one month since arrived on this foreign shore. What's crackin'?

Let's start with school. It's officially a no-go. Apparently, no one can HANDLE the GropeMobile! This is why the greatest vehicle to grace this planet has not been sold yet. What can you do? I'm not sure... but certainly without the money from the sale you can't go to school. And so, it looks like I'll be seriously taking up private study from here on out. It's a little disappointing, but a bit of a relief on the other hand. That money that (hopefully I will get) would have gone to school will now be going to those unfulfilled debts back in the States, which in the long run will be far more productive for my state of mind and stress levels. At the same time, I'll have more time work (hopefully), and work on other projects... trying to travel and generally reconnecting with myself in terms of where I'm going in life. And, possibly, if I find the time and patience, learning to play the guitar.

I took care of Gabriel last Wednesday. The morning went off without any serious hitches, which is good. The child occupied himself for much of the time by listening to one song on repeat and running back and forth across the apartment. I read The Doors of Perception (I STOLD it MATT! HA sucka!) while slowing him down now and then. Afterwards, we read through a children's Meteorology book. Then I gave him a bath, watched Sylvester and Tweety, then played legos. All in all, not a terribly morning, but man... difficult. Generally speaking, I understand a lot of what people are saying (in French) although I can't ever really figure out how to answer. With Gabriel however, I understand next to nothing. And, of course, the five year old doesn't speak a word of English. And so, obviously, it's hard for me to get my point across, just as it's hard for him to get his point across. Luckily, he understands "NO!" even if afterwards I'm telling him in English "don't turn up the music that loud" or "slow down and be careful" or "only three episodes today..." I would have enjoyed myself a lot more if the child would have let me ACTUALLY play legos with him! That little bastard took what I was building right out of my hands and took it apart to build his own, obviously inferior, structure. The child needs to learn the beauty of symmetry, and also needs to understand how to construct integrity. Silly boy.

Anyways, the family has agreed to 6E/hour, and there's a possibility for more hours... so I guess we'll see how it goes.

I got my hair cut yesterday! I am super pleased with the results. In fact, I think I've never immediately enjoyed a haircut as much as this one ever. The gentleman who cut it new exactly what I wanted and executed it flawlessly. To top it off, the haircut was free because he's new and was practicing. I've never seen the technique's he used to cut it, and it was actually kind of fun to watch. Anyways, my hair, right now, is perfect. I love it.

Okay. I think that's all that's happening right now. I'm missing everyone though... please keep in touch with me! And ask any questions you have about what's going on here!

<3 <3 <3
jonjonjon

PS: Last night, I watched Battle In Seattle, the movie about the WTO riots. If you want to get angry, it's well worth the watch.