It's been a while huh? Several of you have been kind enough to point it out and it's unbelievably nice to hear that there are people out there who actively want to know what's going on in France.
Things here are very different to what they were a week ago. My life is basically unrecognisable in one serious way: I have a job!
After what seems like an infinity of begging, hoping, waiting, cursing and planning to move to Paris, I started at the end of last week as a waiter in a Pizza Express right in the main square (Le Capitol for those in the know). It's tough as it's all in French and the fact that I lied about the amount of waitering experience I had is now blantanly obvious for all to see. Happily the french employment laws dictate that they have no choice but to stick with me until I'm good.
As I've heard (but never really believed) from everyone who's ever done it, it's complicated, tiring and confusing. At least, that which I understand (I work entirely in French of course) is complicated, tiring and confusing. All the rest I have no choice but to ignore and hope it will go away.
In all seriousness though, I'm over the moon to have finally established myself in France and I'm currently living purely off my tips for everything bar the rent and the occasional wild lunch-expenditure so life is pretty good. I'm once again, as I was at Caffe Nero, in a situation where my spectacularly low pay is not too much of an issue as I don't have 5 seconds spare in the week to spend any of it. It's marvellous.
There is even a french girl who started on the same day as me who's 26, attractive and an egyptologist when not a work. She's awesome and I'm going to make good efforts to befriend her.
It's not all sweetness and light however. My responsable is Italian and is not the sort to put up with any shit. And I am shit! I received the dressing-down of my life the day-before-yesterday after a busy shift where one fuck-up only lead to the next for me, and increased my level of general flusteredness and confusion. I did it all: Broke stuff, forgot to tell the kitchen that people had ordered their dinner, told the kitchen but got it wrong, forgot to charge people before they left, charged people but lost the resulting Visa slip and I even managed to lose the keys to the cellar meaning that we went without any stock for half a day until it was found in my locker. Oh dear. As occured when I first started at Caffe Nero, I've started having dreams where I'm at work and things are going badly then I will wake up and have to go to work all over again.
Still, yesterday was much better and I started being able to manage myself a little and work out what it was I was supposed to be doing. The volatile french staff seemed a lot happier with me by the end of the evening. It's always a bit difficult to tell though...
So, life goes on. I've traded exhausting but fun work with no time for socialising in one country, for the same in another. Except that every day that passes here I get a little better at the french language. Let's see... In the last few days I've learned useful phrases such as "clear table 21", "now sweep the main room", "fill the oil and vinegar containers" and "think carefully about what I've said to you and do better tomorrow". All marvellously self-improving.
I've had to quit school which is a shame. Life in the Alliance Francais is easy, comfortable and fun, but it was entirely incompatible with having a job. I got my money back for the last week though so it's all good.
Oh and last thing: This monday I passed an audition to be a member of Le Choeur Du Capitole De Toulouse which is a super-posh choir who sing in the main builing of town. I'm very excited and am currently plucking up the courage to ask work for the time off I need to rehearse. We'll see.
I'm currently feeling like the more I settle myself in to Toulouse and real life, the less I'll be using this blog as an outlet for those bottled up experiences and feeling I just had to tell someone, so if nothing appears to follow this entry for some time it doesn't mean I no longer care about my friends and family (mum, I'll call you soon!) it just means that I've reached the kind of equilibrium which is no longer interesting to read about, but represents a real kind of existence for me in a foreign country.
Love
Rob
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