That's "I am an office monkey" to you.
I learned yesterday that I don't actually have a teaching assistantship. I have an assistantship, without the "teaching." This means that my official job here in Paris is to help out in unspecified ways at the center. So far, I've handed out packets to the incoming undergrads and been volunteered to check antivirus programs on laptops tomorrow morning (no matter how the years pass, I always end up being an IT guy again...) Mostly, what my job looks like it'll consist of is sitting around at the center to make sure that someone is always physically there. Arguably, this position is somewhat beneath my massive academic credentials and qualifications.* That said, it also means I don't actually have to do any of this so-called "work" the other TAs have to do. One of them, the actual French one, is teaching an entire language class, for instance.**
In other news, I am all about the Monoprix. This is a massive chain of French supermarkets with these weird sort of anime-inspired cartoon mascots that is packed with bread and cheese and toilet paper and wine and veggies and cereal: everything you need for living! Happily, there's one right next to the center, as well as one that's a fun 20-minute walk to and through the Latin Quarter. This is how I'm staying fed.
I mentioned rollerblades in my last post. Related phenomenon: two-man scooter rides. There are practices that I've always felt really undermine masculinity, in an entirely sexual-preference-netural way:*** a dude getting a tattoo on the small of his back, rollerblades, short shorts, and yes, two-man scooter or motorcycle rides. Paris has already taught me that these practices are culturally specific, and that it is entirely possible to roll up on your rollerblades and hop on the back of your buddy's scooter and still be a real man.
* Actually, looking back at my CV, it's a pretty good match.
** Yes, his name is Pierre.
*** As in, no self-respecting gay American man would do them, either.
P.S. Sometimes I click around on the "everyone's photos" page on flickr. Go and look at this, if you think you can handle adorable kittens.
8.20.2008
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Dude, look at this if you think you can handle some serious kitten adorableness.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z3U0udLH974
It makes me want to run away with them and spend the rest of my life watching them "chat".
P.S. the rain in Portland is in effect complete with super awesome thunderstorms. Thought you'd like to know. :)
So,we've established that you're on Ile St-Louis, but where is the "office"? In the Latin Quarter? (I'm trying to visualize the stroll/commute. By the way, I,too, once got lost in the Marais and got my bearing again by finding the Centre Pompidou. So far,revisiting Paris vicariously like this is working out great!)
The center is in the 11th, down the Rue du faubourg st. antoine from the Bastille. So it's about a 20-minute walk from here to there, assuming I'm not run over by two dudes on a scooter.
I went and looked at the adorable kittens page and my uterus simultaneously exploded. No one was more surprised than me. Really, I want to comment on everything, but I'm still reading. Plus, I'm super jealous you're in France. So cool.
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