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AN AMERICAN ACCOUNT OF PARIS : LIVING, EATING, AND TRYING TO SPEAK FRENCH

Wednesday, November 2, 2011

FREEDOM ON THE HORIZON

Last night I finally figured out the cobweb that is the French prefecture website. From previous experience I have learned that doing anything regarding your visa is a guaranteed confusing, frustrating, loss of time. Add on that a language you don't understand and get ready for hours of searching.




After going to page after page after page of information on how awesome the French police are, their history, how to become one, and all that nonsense, I finally found a page where I could make an appointment to renew my visa. Eureka! It may have taken me another 20 minutes to figure out exactly which numbers they wanted my to fill in but I ain't no dummy and eventually I made it through to the other side. And guess what? The next available appointment is....

FEBRUARY 9TH!




Are these people on crack?! It took a while for this fact to sink in, especially considering that they put their dates in a different order here (day/month/year instead of month/day/year). But the cogs finally fell into place and I realized that this was going to be a problem.

I recently discovered from my old school chef that I couldn't get a new internship without renewing my visa but I can't renew my visa unless I have an internship. It's like some evil mind game. The truth is, though, that there is no way in hell that I am going to stay at my internship until 6 days before it's over just to renew my visa. So what to do? What to do?

What I realized is that this means I can say, "So long butt monkeys!" to my current internship and make an appointment for a visa renewal at a later date. There is somewhat of a grace period for this and so while my visa may not be up to date my last few weeks here, as long as I have an appointment to renew it all should be fine. And in the meantime I will not only be enjoying the fruits of the Paris tree but I also may discover that my old chef was wrong (it has happened before) and be able to secure a new and different internship! Goodbye hell patisserie! Hello loophole and Paris!




This new discovery left me so giddy last night that I couldn't fall asleep until four o'clock in the morning. This means that this week, this day, whenever I want, I can leave! I'm truly and completely free! I figure I'll wait until I receive my most recent paycheck but then...Peace out grenouilles. Good thing I have a nice butt cause that's the last thing they're gonna see. 




This means I need to seriously crack down and make a list of assignments for myself to complete while here so that I don't just laze around the house eating cheese and foie gras while sipping on 2 euro wine. Sure that may sound like heaven but truly I don't want to have to book a second seat on the flight back home just because my thighs overflowith the first. And I actually want to, you know, see Paris! 

So here she comes, that classic fat lady, just about to sing, she's stepping on my stage of life, opening her mouth and as soon as she's finished, let the real show begin! 




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