| Is It Still Cool To Invent Words? |
| Written by Brendon Green |
| Sunday, 20 September 2009 00:52 |
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I was told before I left New Zealand, that moving to France (or any other country) would be some what difficult and I would face problems and hurdles that, ultimately; if overcome... would build my character. And apparently the hardest time of all is at the start. When you arrive with basically nothing, and have everything to do in front of you, it can seem daunting and... dear I say it, overwhelming. And I thought; “Pish! What’s character got to do with it? I’ve got as much character as Alex The Kid, and I’ve done alright so far. I’m sure everything will be easy as.” Well, it’s not easy as. And maybe, just maybe, I will even gain more character from this experience. I will expand from a 2D, 32bit little man with an awesome theme tune, into a more well-rounded person, with a bit of depth. I will be a Crash Bandicoot of sorts. It’s been about 2 weeks so far, and I’m still looking for a place to live, let alone a job or future travel plans. Turns out the lack of speaking French is the disadvantage I foresaw. It is entirely possible to live here speaking only English, but your possibilities are greatly limited. I spend the day trawling the internet, e-mailing Parisians who want to sublet or share their apartments and studios. And some of them even reply! My other problem is that I have arrived just as the universities are going back, so there is a huge demand for accommodation. Bloody students; name one good thing to come from furthering your education. Exactly. So the frequent checking of my inbox to find no replies, has been wearing me down. And the abundance of free time allows ones mind to wonder about all the worst case scenarios that are possibly only moments away. But in-between all the Negative Nelly moments there are bright spots of hope. I call these Hopots, or sometimes Spopes, because I have too much time on my hands. These Spopes are usually connected to the people you meet. And staying at a hostel means there is a constant stream of people to meet. But also just today I had a Hopot when I got a reply to an e-mail about a studio apartment I sent yesterday. And the man was very positive. So this has cheered me up. See, just because it’s hard at the start, there’s always glimpses of what can happen if you stick it out. I shouldn’t be so negative all the time. If I can find a place to live, then I can start worrying about work. Awesome. |
