Today was a slightly off day for me, i guess you could say. I had a few errands to run like trying to open up a bank account, figure out where the closest H&M was (if you call that an errand) and try to rent, for free actually, (so i guess it's not renting, it's borrowing) a vélo, or bike. And along with that came ol' me, probably looking cute, but acting really, reallly stupid. I googled mapped the directions to a random bank, made sure i knew the word for bank account (un compte bancaire) and started walking. I noticed there were many banks to choose from on the way to my chosen one. so i went into banque populaire, and tried my best to seem intelligently french. i got turned away b/c...well, i don't completely know everything, but the gist (jist?) of it was that b/c i was only staying here for 4 months, that they don't do that, or whatever. the teller, a woman who spoke très vite, had really nice, rectangular black glasses and pretty eyes...the only reason i observed this is b/c i stood there staring at her for about 2 minutes, trying to form french words to respond,and while trying to translate her words, and while trying to gather a meaning all at the same time. so after repeating a couple times and pointing at a brochure of the train station, she told me i should go to the bank near la poste et la gare. and my wonderful response? " à la droit, là bas? Merci...au revoir... " yeah, in english that's, "to the right, over there?" Brilliant! So bank number two, i thought i would surely hit it right on and everything would work out...but no. I did do better speaking, explaining i was a student and needed to open an account and asked her why when she told me i couldn't today (argh!)...so, this woman, with a short, blonde pixie cut and weird teeth (yes, i stared blankly at her too, i bet i look so creepy) helped me understand much more than the other woman.
So, now, b/c i won't have a bank account until vendredi, friday, i can't get a bike until then. So, since that opened up some time, i decided to find where H & M was, a very cute, but low-priced clothing store. apparently it's very popular in europe but there are only like 3 or 4 in the states. i had to ask for directions, but it turned out i was on the right street, just going the wrong way..hah! they were closing in 30 mins. so i just wanted to peek in and try to find some jeans...ok, and maybe a shirt....now, i'm faced with another problem: european sizes...wtf...there taille 34 looks so big! so i found jeans that were 27 waist 30 length...and wanted to see if i guessed my size right. of course, the store was closing at that time, and i suddenly had the realization that i didn't know how to say : can i try this on? what is the verb for try on? what would the proper verb be? i don't know! I managed to mumble something about i need a room...or "cabines," apparently...and the girl quickly told me i couldn't try it on b/c they were closing...what a clever way to make someone buy what they were going to try on...it worked on me...now i have a cute little shirt! But of course, the check-out was another thing in itself. This cashier had glasses too, a short hair cut and a pissed off look... and was kind of mean...she wasn't sympathetic with my bad french...so she just switched to english and hurried me along my way.
So, i've been walking around a lot, and of course right when i think i have a good sense of direction, i get lost. the streets in le centre-ville are so confusing. they're so jam-packed together that you think, oh, i'll just go this way, i'll only be one street away from where i was...NOPE! one street becomes a lonnggggg ass hill and everything starts to look the same, and for some reason the deeper you get into downtown, the less street signs are posted. so...after about 20 minutes of taking the scenic route, i decided to ask someone. i couldn't fool myself any longer....turns out, when i finally did ask for help, i was only about 2 blocks away from the school! hah! by that time, it was after 8, so of course, no buses. so i walked the 45 minutes home, all the while thinking about my soon-to-be bike and how the hell a mac computer can be so heavy and why the hell did i decide to wear flats today....
i like walking around discovering the town though b/c little by little i'll learn it and learn it well, and won't have to print out google map directions (they don't help once you trail away from the "recommended route"). but most of all, i get to think. i love thinking. i do it all the time...non stop...i even get woken up by my thoughts...some might call it anxiety...but i call it...a lot of shit to think about. it's my time to think about everything, not just school...and time to practice my french. of course, my french is always so good in my head...then when i'm in front of a real person, it gets all caught up in my mouth and i freeze. but in my head, it's good, you should take a look sometime. i like to think about the universe a lot. i wonder where it's taking me, why it was so persistent in getting me over here...but then drops me like a lead balloon. chip tells me to pay attention, so i can maybe see some signs...but nothing so far. nothing but a broken heart (thanks a lot dave, you bastard, oh, you'll get yours hah!) and an aching back. Where are these signs...i told tam last night that i felt like france is in the cards for me...undoubtedly, but there's only one problem: I'm all in, but haven't even seen my cards. What if i'm the worst player at this game? What if i get dealt a 2...high card? What if i get a royal flush? it could swing either way at this point...and i'm rooting for myself, cuz i've been through a lot of bullshit and it's my time now...HEY, Universe, you listening? It's my time...so you better come through. so, i'm just going to walk to the beat of the songs on my ipod and do some more thinking...(hopefully) i get a bike tomorrrow!
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