The past four days have been a whirlwind of starting
work and moving into my apartment! Needless to say, I’m finally figuring out
the Metro system.
The job:
I arrive every Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday at 1pm and
leave at 930pm when we close. Without any training or even an explanation on
how things work, I was thrown into my first shift. I hadn’t even signed
anything yet – still haven’t actually... Very different than at home! A very casual agreement, I chat with
customers, fetch things from the back room and organize gifts on the floor.
M. Dupuis is very nice. He is a round man with glasses and
grey hair, probably around his early to mid 50s. On Monday he and I closed the
store together and he made a point of ensuring I knew where all the dangerous
parts of Paris were. I then promised him I wouldn’t find myself near them and he
seemed pleased saying if I ever had a problem he would be happy to help. The
tone changed after that, and he started describing all the parts of France I
had to see, giving me a list about a kilometer long.
Mme Dupuis is a bit more strict. She, is a big woman with a big presence. She has red hair and tends to command a level of respect from all
her employees. She loves that I speak English and has had me translate a few
things for her when filling out the order sheets. She finds my French mistakes
funny and my pronunciation of some words odd, but in a ‘aw you’re a nice little
Canadian girl’ kind of way. Or at least I think that’s how she sees it.
My favourite part of the job is talking with customers. They come from all around the world. I had a nice chat with a couple from Calgary, a man from
Minesota and mother and daughter from Indonesia. I find that I speak almost
equal amounts of French, English and Spanish - yes Spanish, my high school
Spanish teachers would be so proud! All the different langauges swirling
around me are nice but do make me more prone to mistakes. On Tuesday I was
chatting away with a sweet old woman from the south of France and she asked me
for an apron. I tried very hard to sell her a magnet – and it wasn’t until she
pulled me over to the rack of aprons I understood. Completely embarrassed I
apologized to her and brought her over to the till with her apron AND magnet!
One of the women I work with is from Serbia, and while
French is her second language she speaks it as if it is her first. She has a
masters degree in Economics from Sorbonne and stayed in Paris because she met
her husband here – it seems a lot of people meet and fall in love in Paris. There must be some truth to calling it the most romantic city in the world! She and
I have wonderful long chats and she seems to be very interested in my
university degree. Throughout the day, she helps me along with
developing my French, correcting little mistakes as I go. It is great to have
someone who understands how communicating in your second language can be a bit
nerve wracking at times but she understands. Apparently everyone she speaks to
asks if she’s Italian!
The apartment:
It is my own little corner of Paris. At 20m squared,
which is just under 200 square feet, it is very tiny! The apartment is on the 2nd French floor - the 3rd
floor in Canadian terms - and my view is all the white roof tops that seem to be connected. I usually leave
the windows open to get a nice Parisian breeze. It is conveniently situated right next door
to a Patisserie. This is both fantastic and far too tempting as I get a whiff of
freshly made bread and pastries every time I walk through my building door.
I live in the Bastille neighbourhood - or the 11th arrondissement - which is known for being full of
young people between the ages of 20 and 30. They all seem to live in the cafes,
restaurants and the streets. I am actually sitting at one very lively café as I
write this sipping on a café au lait.
All in all it has been a crazy past few days, but I am
finally able to catch my breath. I feel much more at home and as soon as I am
wireless in the apartment things will be perfect – although I don’t mind the
excuse to come to a café every day to check emails!
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