Apartment success!!!

So I know I already rambled on about this apartment yesterday, but we went and met with the landlady, Audrey, this morning for two hours to go over the lease and any questions we had and to take a little tour of the neighborhood, and it's all final and set! We didn't sign the actual lease today because Audrey has to finish drafting it, but we each signed a little paper verifying our verbal agreement to rent the apartment, so we'll be moving in on the 13th of October at the latest. Yay!!!!!! I'll post the address on here next week so you can all start writing to me so I'll have piles of mail waiting for me when I move in... :)

The best part about this morning is that we did it all in French! And I actually understood most of what Audrey was saying, which is kind of a miracle since we were talking about everything from security deposits to where to take the trash to how to work the TV and the stove. I think I was able to understand her more easily than other people I've talked to here because she's a speech therapist for children and really enunciates her words. Or else it's just because I was "on" today. Whatever. I'm not going to question my random ability to actually understand French--it was so exciting!

That's basically the only really productive thing I did today though... Well, that's not entirely true. I called my other school this morning and finally reached someone--an English teacher named Paul (a name I generally like okay but that really sounds so much better in French!). I'm going to meet the teachers there Thursday afternoon, but I guess they're okay with me not starting until Monday too. And I went to the bank after seeing Audrey and set up an appointment to open an account on Friday morning so fingers crossed that goes smoothly and quickly!

Otherwise, not much. Rachel and I celebrated getting the apartment by going to lunch at this adorable sit-down creperie. I had a delicious salad, a galette with some sort of tomato sauce and some blue cheese-esque sauce that was amazing, and then, of course, my standard nutella-banana crepe. I really need to broaden my horizons a little bit though and try OTHER crepes.

I'm off to meet the woman who needs a babysitter in a bit and then to Marie-Christine and Régis's house for dinner. Hopefully my out-of-nowhere French speaking ability won't fail me tonight!

More good news...

So we're meeting with the apartment lady tomorrow morning to go over the lease and talk about what she should leave for us in the apartment (everything!), so I am tentatively yet optimistically REALLY excited. We can't move in until the 13th, but I can't wait to post pictures. It's just so cute! And it's nice to be able to move in somewhere and not have to face unpacking boxes and decorating and searching for thin s in whatever box or bag you randomly threw them in during the rush of moving out of somewhere else. (Ahem: dreading that when I come home--perhaps someone would be kind enough to just do that for me? You have until the end of June...)

So that's really exciting. I also got to meet one of the teachers I'll be working with at my main school this morning. Her name is Madame Gorry, and she's adorable! She's a single mother of three and is an English teacher at Collège de Vaise, which is in the northwest part of Lyon. We spoke French for a bit but switched to English to go over details. It was all good news, from her offer of having me to dinner or to crash there if I ever needed a place to stay, to the fact that she and the other two teachers I'll be working with will basically provide me with the lessons they want me to teach, to them wanting me to work more than 6 hours that they would pay me extra for, to meeting the principal and secretary and disciplinarian, all very nice women whose French I can mostly understand! The secretary is really on top of everything and gave me a paper that says I live at the school so I can use it to open a bank account tomorrow (hopefully!). They want me to start next Monday so I have a couple extra days to hang out and soak up the sun, but I have a little locker in the teacher's room already and it's all very cute.

The only drawback is that I have to work at another school, and they are impossible to get a hold of. I called twice today, and there were never any English teachers around to talk to, or anyone who knew anything about the assistant program for that matter. They just kept telling me to call back later, so now I'm supposed to call back tomorrow morning. I would just go to the school and hang out until I could talk to someone, but because of the transit strike, it's a 30-minute walk from the farthest away metro station and I'd rather not do that unless I know they're expecting me... So here's hoping I reach SOMEONE from there tomorrow!

After my successful school visit, I went and got my metro card that I can refill every month to go on the subways and buses--went very smoothly en français! Then off to enjoy the beautiful day on a cute little lounge chair by the Rhône River. I read some and napped some and became obsessed with watching these two swans on the river (maybe Juliet and Juliet--like the Boston Public Garden!). Yes, I'm posting pictures of them, if only to give you a bit of an idea of how pretty Lyon is. :)

Not much else to report for today. Had an amazing goat cheese and pepper quiche for lunch. Took a nap. Went for another awesome run in the park and then checked out the zoo a bit more. Most of the animals were being put in their night cages inside so I didn't see too many, but I did see some crocodiles, baby coatis, and a ton of flamingos... On the agenda tomorrow: meet with my landlady and hopefully sign lease (yay!), open a bank account (please, dear god, let it go smoothly--people seem to be having either a really easy time of it or an awful nightmarish time), and meet a family who wants me to babysit/tutor their two kids, which will hopefully help me be able to afford my gorgeous apartment!

Just an aside, even though I know I'm not allowed to complain while I'm on this amazing adventure, but I have a serious bone to pick with whoever is in charge of French showers. First of all, the showers are for the most part handheld--there isn't an attachment into the wall. This makes washing hair particularly difficult because you only have one hand with which to do it. I have yet to master the art of wetting/rinsing my hair without directing serious amounts of water directly into my ear. And second of all, they don't have doors or curtains or anything (at least where I'm staying now doesn't) so if you hold the shower nozzle the wrong way you spray the entire room with water, which is especially awesome if you're staying in someone's else apartment and he happens to be exceedingly clean and tidy. The whole different shower thing was all very quaint and charmingly foreign for a couple of days; now I just want to hang a stupid curtain and/or just take a bath...

Anyway, I promise that's just a minor rant. I'm just baffled as to how a country that can excel at breads and pastries and soccer and wine can be so off when it comes to something as important and integral to daily life as showers!!! Speaking of, I haven't yet since my run so I'm off to take one. I can't wait. :)

Un match de foot, giraffes, my first crepe...and an apartment!!!

It's been a good 24 hours! I went to see the Lyon soccer team play Toulouse last night at the Stade de Gerland, and it was an incredible game and an even more incredible experience. Because of this ridiculous strike, getting there was a little difficult, but we just followed the crowd of guys wearing soccer jerseys and scarves. :) Got tickets at a little store near the stadium for 15 euros (cheap!) and we were about 10 rows behind one of the goals! Turns out that area is CRAZINESS. Well, the whole stadium was pretty crazy, but our section stood up on their chairs for the entire game singing and jumping and yelling, and it was awesome. Lyon came from behind and won 2-1 (of course) with two amazing goals, even while missing three of their best players! Yay!!!

Anyway, it was kind of a late night since we had to make the trek home on the random bus with 34,000 other people so this morning was pretty lazy. Didn't manage to get out of my pjs until 1ish, but then I made up for my laziness by going for a run (my first in 6 weeks, but my broken toe did wonderfully!) in the beautiful Tête d'Or park. Everyone and their mom and their ADORABLE French child was there enjoying the sunshine. It was amazing. Even more amazing was looking up in the middle of my run and seeing three giraffes wandering around. Yes, giraffes. Turns out there's a random free zoo in the middle of the park, but I almost had a heart attack seeing them at first...

 It was so beautiful that I didn't want to be back inside so Rachel and I went off in search of somewhere (anywhere!!!) to get a crepe. I mean, it's just ridiculous that I hadn't had one yet considering crepes are are basically the reason I'm here in France! ;) But never fear, I finally found a little crepe stand and got a banana-nutella crepe and it was every bit as delicious as I remembered. Mmmmmmmm.

And last, but DEFINITELY not least, I think I may have found an apartment. Woo-hoo! Well, I mean, Rachel and I did find an apartment and I think it's ours, but we haven't signed the lease yet so I'm hesitant to get too excited. But it's gorgeously wonderful and in the 8th arrondissement if that means anything to anyone. It's a lot more expensive than I had hoped, but I've resigned myself to spending all my life savings. It's worth it. It's a 2-bedroom apartment so Rachel and I will live there together (although we've made a vow to start speaking only French...soon), and it's sunny and is completely furnished, beautifully, with wireless internet, a flat-screen TV, a washing machine, and a landline that I think is free to call landlines in the States! It's more of a family area but is right near the metro line for my schools with tons of cute shops around and is close enough to walk to the downtown area if I have to. We're meeting with the landlady woman, who is the nicest person ever and whose French I can miraculously understand most of the time, on Wednesday night so I'm going to wait to celebrate until then.

Off to bed now since I have to get up early to make my way to my school tomorrow morning to meet with my teacher contact... Ack!

The first strike...

So little did I know but apparently I have moved to Lyon right as a massive transportation strike is starting--lucky me! Beginning on Thursday, the metro/tram workers went on strike for more money or less hours or something like that, meaning that half of the metro lines in the city aren't running and the trams and buses are running on limited and somewhat random schedules. The good thing is that my school (or at least the primary one--just found out that the other one is out in the middle of NOWHERE-VILLE north of Lyon) is on one of the automatic metro lines so it isn't affected during strikes like this. It does make getting around to look at apartments more difficult since two of the main lines aren't running at all...

Which brings me to the double entendre of the title of this post. My first day of looking at apartments yesterday was craziness. I mean, finding an apartment with random roommates is hard enough when you're doing it in your own language. In French, in a city with 120,000 students all also panicked about finding housing, it's basically impossible. I saw three places yesterday, each with serious advantages and disadvantages, but I'm still holding out for something better. I went and saw this amazing place today with Rachel that I LOVE, but it's a little pricey and she's not sure she can afford it and the woman renting it wants to rent it to two people, preferably who know each other. We have to let her know by tomorrow morning so we'll see. I'm just already burned out on looking and it's only been a couple of days! Sigh. C'est la vie.

On the bright side, it's a gorgeous day here and I'm planning on going to see a soccer game tonight: Lyon against Toulouse. Yay! Not entirely sure how to get there with no metro running, but I'll figure it out.

Still haven't had my first crepe--creperies just don't seem to be as common here as in Paris... :(

What's with the NYY?!??!

So I've been here all of 29 hours (and I slept for 14 of those) and I've seen three people wearing New York Yankee paraphernalia. If I wanted to have that craziness shoved in my face, I would have moved to Brooklyn, not all the way across the ocean! Clearly, my new goal while living here is to make these Frenchies see the light and start sporting RED SOX gear. :)

Anyway, today's agenda was to get a French phone number, which I did and mostly in French. The problem is that apparently my accent is pretty good so as soon as I open my mouth and say anything, they assume that I'm fluent and start talking a mile a minute leaving me completely lost. But then I'm flattered that they think I can understand everything so I tend to nod and smile instead of revealing my lack of understanding. This works great until I get asked a question...  Anyway, so I have a French phone number that I can e-mail those of you who want to call me, but I don't have voice mail capabilities so I can't get messages and it's really not cheap to call anywhere since I didn't sign up for a plan and am just going to pay as I go for now. Not ideal, but it was the only thing I could do without having an address and a bank account and I need a phone in order to get both of those things. Everything with housing is a big catch-22 here.  Ugh.

So that was relatively painless. Then Rachel and I wandered around the city for a bit, stocked up on some food, and are now attempting to tackle the housing dilemma. Not quite as painless... Wish me luck!

Je suis ici!

That means "I'm here" for all you non-Francophones. And yes, after two amazingly smooth flights, I made it! Didn't sleep too much so I'm a little cracked out right now. I mean, there were so many good movies to choose from (I finally saw The Hangover--yay!), and how was I supposed to sleep when they kept serving food? I even got a snack on the 55-minute flight from Frankfurt! Note to all of you planning trips to visit me: fly Lufthansa. Love them. :)

So yeah, the flights went very smoothly and I got my hugely heavy suitcases without a problem (and without a fee even though one was over the weight limit!). In fact, I really didn't have to go through customs at all. In Frankfurt, a cute German guy asked me what I was teaching before stamping my passport, but that was it. I literally got my luggage at baggage claim in Lyon and walked out through the doors. Très facile. Hung out in the airport for awhile since I couldn't get into the apartment I'm staying at until 6:30 and didn't want to wander around the city with all of my stuff. Had my first pain au chocolat, and it was even better than I remember. If I ever doubted my decision to do this, that first bite of French pastry resolved that for me! I still don't understand why we can't seem to make anything like that in the states. Presumably we have the same ingredients, recipes, etc., right? It just NEVER tastes as good. Too tired to go out and get my first crepe now but that's on the agenda for tomorrow. I might need to take a picture of it to post on here seeing as the crepe theme is pretty prevalent...

As for Lyon, what I saw of it on the shuttle from the airport was sunny and gorgeous and cute. I successfully mastered the metro without taking out too many people with my huge bags and found the apartment no problem. It even has an elevator, which was amazing because I think I might have died if I had had to carry my bags up the three flights of stairs. Damien, the guy who is renting the room in the apartment while his girlfriend is away (just found out his gf is American and is STUCK in the states because some university won't renew her visa--apparently it isn't always as easy as it was for me...), is super nice and his English is amazing. He doesn't seem to want to speak French, which is fine with me for now. And Rachel, the other girl who's doing the program and found this place for us, is great too. I think we're both a little brain dead right now, but we're all about getting phones tomorrow morning and exploring a little and starting to harass people about apartments. I kind of wish I could just stay here though. It's cute and furnished and in a great location and relatively cheap, and the thought of having to move my bags again makes me want to die a little inside, but I guess I probably don't want to share a futon with a relative stranger for the rest of the year... Riiiiiiiiight.

Off to shower and pass out. Vive la France!

T minus one day...

So one day left, well, 21 hours to be exact before I'll be flying off over the Atlantic on my way to the land of crepes, wine, baguettes, cheese, and hopefully gorgeous and not too stereotypically smelly Frenchmen... Bags are (mostly) packed and (mostly) under the 50-lb weight limit. I am DREADING the trek from the Lyon airport to the random apartment I'll be staying in since I'll be doing it at rush hour, but maybe rush hour in Lyon isn't the same as rush hour in Boston--riiiiiiiiiiiiight. Everyone think good, helpful thoughts at approximately 5pm Lyon time, which is 11am EST. :)

Had a lovely last two weeks stateside. Being unemployed definitely has its perks, lots of free time being the best one. Saw tons of family and friends and did a minimal amount of freaking out (to be expected, of course). Even managed to find time to move/organize boxes from my room that had been there since I graduated from college and clean off my bulletin board from 7th grade--suffice it to say, my mom was thrilled to rid the "guest room" of those magazine cut-outs of Brad Pitt and Jared Leto...

Am still in a bit of denial and disbelief that this is all happening, but I'm feeling excited and relatively prepared. We'll see how long that lasts! Am going to bed deliciously full from the AMAZING coq au vin "Last Supper" that my roommate made for me. As a new omnivore

after 16 years of vegetarianism (but only free-range, local, grass-fed meat), she can already cook meat a million times better than I will ever be able to. Sigh. Unless, of course, I become Julia Child reincarnate while in France. Highly likely, I think. Ha! Anyway, I took pictures of the mouthwatering spread, but they just don't do the meal justice upon further review so I'm just going to include the picture of the dessert she made: raspberry whipped cream meringue.  Was very French and was delicious served with a side of strawberry-rhubarb pie from my local Maine farm. And champagne from France, of course. :)

Hope this first post wasn't too brutal. A little long for not having left the U.S. yet, but I'm new to blogging so deal with it. Bonne nuit!