Had my first day of work today. Alot of little things still need to get done, a desk, a pc, etc. It was good to have people to talk to. One of my co-workers has been extremely helpful. Even though most discussions are in French, at least the documentation is in English. Tomorrow I go see my apt for the first time since I've returned. I'm going to measure it for cabinets, appliances, furniture etc. I think I'm going to lose weight here. The meal portions are all smaller, and I'm doing alot more walking. OK, there are always 2 numbers listed on a receipt. Note to self: always remember to pay the smaller one, that's euros. The other is Francs, and much larger. :-) Oh, and no matter how thirsty you are, the water in the fountains is not for human consumption. Well tomorrow for breakfast I'm going to order the chocolate filled croissant. I've seen it the same place several times now, and it looks great. But I refused to order anything that I can't say in French. I've scoured the menu for snything resembling chocolate croissant, but to no avail. I guess tomorro I'll just point and grunt. It looks to good to resist again. Well, it's dinner time now, and I'm off to my favorite restaraunt. Au revoir.
Well Im here now. The food has been good, but the restaraunts are extremely slow. Local wine is nothing phenomenal, but is great for the money. Radio is interesting; almost all in english. On the radio yesterday I heard (in this order on the same station) that 70s song inside out, upside down etc etc, the latest song from Pink and something I can only describe as French Tejano. And at a restaraunt tonight I heard New York New York, the Beach Boys and When a Man Loves a Woman. My rental car is a Mercedes, but dont let that fool you. I never knew that they made an extremely small minivan, but thats what Im driving. Its smaller than my old car, but you sit high, and its shaped like a minivan. Driving is somewhat difficult. Street signs are small and on the buildings (or sometimes not posted at all). Nothing runs east/west or north/south, and there is no grid, and no streets are numbered. Im told that the most reliable appliances (washer, dryer, fruidge etc) are German or American. My temporary housing is very clean, and fairly new. It is small though. I have to duck to get in the entry. I have to crouch in the shower (not because of the shoer head like in the US, but because of the ceiling). The second floor (where the bed is) cant be more than 5 ft from floor to ceiling. I have to be very cautious of that in the morning! For those of you that remember the loft that Justin and I lived in during college, its just like that but with very steep stairs instead of a ladder, and no master bedroom. Well, my 2 hour limit for parking is an hour over due so I guess I should go. Ill right again when I can find free access.
Well, it's time. I'm sitting in my empty room, suitcases packed. I've said my goodbyes. Many of them today, several quite difficult. I don't think I've seen and/or talked to this many friends and family in one day since graduation. It certainly helps to be reminded that I have this extremely supportive network of friends/family. Several people today told me that it still didn't feel real to them that I was leaving. It doesn't for me either. In about 4 and a half hours from now I'll be waking up to finish some errands tomorrow. In about 10 hours from now I'll be on the plane. So regardless of how it feels, it's here.
I've realized that there isn't going to be one point when it all hits. Seeing my brother drive away in my car was certainly a step. Watching the movers pack up all my things and put the final nails in the crate was another. I don't think it'll all completely hit until months after I've been there. Everyone keeps asking about the war on Iraq and how that might affect my leave date. I don't know. The company has cancelled all international travel for the next 72 hours and will then reasses. My scheduled trip is just after that, so if they don't cancel travel even further I'll leave as scheduled. Other than that, I'll just have to wait and see.
I had my going away party. I realized that I had some unrealistic expectations. Somehow in the back of my mind I thought I would get to say goodbye to each person at the party in a personal way. This, of course, did not happen. I got to do this with a few people, but with most it was somewhat superficial just like at any other party. Thanks to Scott for running it all for me, and to Eric and Sarah for helping with the prep!! It went very well, and I loved the food. I was in Tucson for work yesterday, and managed to take a couple pictures. They're posted under "Arizona". It felt good to fly back into Austin. As I walked throught he airport looking out the window the thought 'it's good to be home' ran through my mind. Then I realized that I can only call this home for 2 more weeks. I think I will have to eat lunch at least twice a day for the next two weeks to have lunch with everyone that's asked. I sold my car to my brother. Seeing him drive off in it helped make everything start to feel more "real".
