Self-Perceptions and Coping Skills

La Vie a Paris
An undertaking such as this exchange tests one’s self-perceptions and coping skills. Am I really so patient? Am I really so adaptable? What can I do to keep from becoming frustrated?

I have been here nearly five days and I am beginning to believe that finally I have settled in. Stay tuned. Yesterday was a liberating day. I got my stipend. I got my Bpi badge. And I bought a French cell phone. As the French would say, maintenant je suis branché. Now I am connected.

And this morning I discovered that the adapter I thought I could not use in France works in the old electrical outlets in the apartment, but not the new. Now I can use my computer and charge my cell phone at the same time. Hooray!

My apartment does not have internet access, and I have learned how dependent on the internet I have become. How easy it would be to compare la superficie (area) of Paris and Queens, find the correct spelling of a French word or the conjugation of a French verb if I could only “google it.” But I think I’ve learned how to cope. I have begun to work on documents such as emails and blog entries on my laptop in my apartment in the evening and copy the documents onto a flash drive. If and when I get internet access at the office today, I will send the emails and post the blog entries. If I don’t, I will go to the library this evening and attempt to use wifi. When I was at the library on Monday, the wifi was not working.

Following this plan, of course, requires that I accept the constraint of time. I may have to use the internet for research today, make corrections tonight, and not send certain emails or post certain blog entries until tomorrow. The alternative is to write these documents at the library, which means using a French keyboard. I can’t tell you how frustrating this is for someone who prides himself on his typing speed. I have been telling myself that it makes no sense for me to learn the French keyboard since I will be here only a month. I think I will set learning it as a personal goal instead.

Last night after work I stopped at a patisserie recommended by a colleague. I bought one piece of tarte d’abricot (apricot tart) one piece of tart du pêche et pistache (peach and pistachio tart). Heaven! Will there be more when I get off work tonight?