It's all Part of the Process

I will never stop learning. Not in the sense that I'll forever be a student of wonder and curiosity (which is also true, but not what I'm talking about), but that I think I have the right things figured out only to discover that I was wrong. So I found out yesterday that there are openings in a English Teaching Assistantship program, a program I researched this summer but was too late to apply for. It turns out that after the program begins, people leave and spots are unfilled, and then they do a second round of hiring, but they cannot provide the necessary visas--you must already have your paperwork squared away. And in order to do this, I would need a student visa. So I'm working on three parallel sets of requirements: 1) Figuring out how to become a full-time student without spending more money than I'd be making; 2) Obtaining a student visa; 3) Applying for this program. Now I'm running around trying to obtain and square away a copy of my diploma (which is framed and burried in my storage unit), pre-registration to a school (which includes its own long list of requirements), a CV and letter of motivation (in French and English), proof of residency, a flight home in the next week... Oh, and they're hiring now. So I might have a 2-week window to have this all finished.

And yesterday I was reminded of an intersting aspect of French culture. The fact that you can't ever do things as simply or quickly as you'd expect. I paid a personal visit to the director of this program to get more information. But she was busy (this is after a train ride out to the 20th arrd.), so I just received her name and phone number and instructions to call her Wednesday. Then it turns out that I might have been barking up the wrong tree because the openings might be in a city just outside of Paris--which means I went to the wrong office. Even renting a movie here is an ordeal. They have these sleek little computer vending machines all over the city. You put in your card, select your movie, and it comes out a slot. You get the movies for 6 hours, 12 hours, or 24 hours. But to even qualify for a movie card, you must have a French bank account, official photo ID, and official mail with your name and address. Since my landlord collects the bills and I pay in a lump sum, I have nothing to provide other than friendly letters. No good. So Karina and I are movie buddies, since she has this documentation. But we went back and forth to this movie office 3 times last night because the 4 pieces of photo ID she had with her were not sufficient.

It's amazing because I can walk out my front door and purchase all the fresh produce, bread, cheese, meat, flowers, etc. that I want. But I can't rent a movie. And now thinking about becoming a full-time language student, applying for a different visa, potentially getting a job... and it all has my mind spinning. I'm jazzed about the possibility but dreading what I know will be one mis-guided step after another. I know I'll do 10 things for every 1 productive step. But I can't complain (and I'm not). I'm in Paris...and I'm going to make this work.