my fellow expats

Let me introduce you to my fellow assistants. First there is Irene, who I don’t know very well yet. She’s from Chili and only speaks French and Spanish. She seems very nice, but I don’t know if we’ll hit it off. She lives with Rhiannon, and I think those two will get along nicely.
Rhiannon is next. She’s the other British assistant at my school, and the first one I met. Rhiannon comes from the northern part of England, up in Leeds. She is also a very sweet girl, but very shy. I could tell she was super nervous about this whole situation. I think she was glad to have me here now, so she wouldn’t be alone. We ate lunch together, and she took me around to get some paperwork done.

Lastly, there’s my flatmate Rachel. Rachel doesn’t actually work at our school, she just boards here because her schools didn’t offer her housing. Her schools are actually very disorganized, and it’s making her very stressed out. I’m thankful my school is taking care of us, and that I only have to work at one school instead of 2 or 3. Rachel is from Lancaster, if you know where that is. She seems quite nice, and I think of all the assistants she and I will get along the best so I’m glad that she’s my flatmate. Her dad and boyfriend Collin were here as well to help her get settled. They are both a riot. Her dad made us dinner, and we had some good wine, and talked for quite a bit. We spent the night going over the language differences for Brits/Americans. It’s a fun game. I told them that I love their use of “brilliant” (among others) and they said I should make it popular in the States. But I told them I’d feel like a poser, to which they just laughed. They imitated ‘top hat’ English gents for me (her dad esp loved do to this), and I pronounced words in my accent for them. It was a good time. They also asked what sort of English things I knew about. They loved that I liked Fawlty Towers, and we would randomly throw some quotes out from it (don’t mention the war!). Collin loved that I knew Randall and Hopkirk (the old one too, not the new one) and about Bob Harris (yes, recent knowledge due to Prof BH). I think we all hit it off nicely. I’m glad that there were people here to make this place feel more homey. I think Rachel too was glad that I finally arrived because it took some of the stress off of her. Her bf/dad were glad as well because I think they were nervous about leaving her soon. Collin asked me to watch out for her, since I seemed strangely well-adjusted, and I assured him that I would. It’s her first time abroad, and I know that can be scary. But I told her that we were going to have a terrific time this year, I’d make sure of it. I think that made everyone feel better. The chipper American is here to help!

My flat is interesting. I don’t think it’s that bad, but my I think my flatmate was disappointed with it (I have already learned that the French have much different standards of living). The only real downside is that I don’t have a room, though they said the computers should be gone in 3-4 weeks. Of course in French time, that could mean all year. I still keep my stuff in the room even though I sleep in the living room because I want to be able to unpack a little, even if stuff just has to go on the floor or on computers. The other thing is that the dampness has made this place prone to mold. Rachel and company already scrubbed down most of it, but there’s some on the ceiling in my room that will have to get cleaned up soon. Oh and there’s no laundry mat within a 2 mile radius, so we’ll be washing clothes in the tub. The only part that might be hard is getting clothes to dry in the damp air. But we’ll worry about that later. After all, I'm in France, so who cares??

On the plus side, the flat is very roomy. When I have my room, we’ll have a total of 2 bedrooms, a WC, a bathroom, a kitchen, a living room, and a balcony. We even have a toaster oven! And for 60 euros a month, I was expecting a hole in the wall, so this was great. All it needs are some posters and lampshades. Oh and my bed needs to not be a rock. Then it will be perfect!

Fear has turned into excitement! Here goes nothing…