Hey all,
It's been awhile, but I just want to put out there, that I actually wrote a new post about a week ago, published it...and then accidently deleted it -_-;. I'd written quite a bit, too, and was too lazy to re-type everything out. So let's see if this one can remain un-deleted, hmm?
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For those of you that don't know, I actually won't be coming home for Christmas. I was a bit depressed about it at first, but after some reflection, I figured it might actually be for the best. It'll save me some money, and Christmas in Paris is actually really nice. Even if they don't have Christmas classic songs like we do..but that's what Youtube playlists are for! ;) Also, I found out that there are a few other ISAers that will still be in town for the holidays, so I'm thinking maybe we can all band together and have a little Xmas dinner of our own :)
As a little example, here's a panoramic (kinda blurry, sorry!) photo of the Champs-Elysees just after the annual Christmas lighting (which famous French actress Audrey Tatou assisted in)
As for school, everything continues to go well. I wasn't a big fan of my fashion class, so imagine my utter joy when I found out that this week is our last class--not in late January like my other two. They told me that since it was an English class, (as in, the students in it are all American and almost all leave for Christmas) that it just made more sense to keep it a few weeks shorter than the rest. This means, that for 3 weeks in January, my Wednesday school days won't be 9 hours long anymore! :D We'll see if next semester's schedule won't be so rough..
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Speaking of which, I've been thinking a lot about my future. I might or might not've mentioned it, but I've really been strongly thinking about going into business, hopefully at a school here. Most likely management, to be exact. Mentally, I'd composed a list of reasons why this would be a good idea, so let me finally get them down:
-Paris is one of the best places for learning and practicing business. Great schools and great opportunities.
-English really is the business language. My classes would be in English, (which would help immensely) but I've decided that I would still continue learning French on the side.
-A career in business has a pretty decent return.
-And this one I only just realized recently, but I seem to be running into the old saying "The apple doesn't fall far from the tree." Between being completely taken over by an obsession with cooking and baking, and now managment, I'm becoming more and more like Papa..
-Worst case scenario, in the event that I can't find a good job here, I can work for Papa and help manage his business at home. Or maybe start French cooking workshops. I might even make that a summer thing to do at home. Ionno. I never said this was all concrete..
-And if all else fails...marry a rich French guy and I'm set.
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Of course, I haven't forgotten about a few, very important details: paying for school and housing here, and paying back my loans. I've sent an e-mail to a supervisor at the financial aid office at Western (though big surprise, I've yet to hear back..) on whether I could 1. continue to defer repayment of my loans as long as I'm enrolled in a higher institution, regardless of it's location, and 2. whether I could continue to receive aid from the state of Washington, again, under the same conditions.
And if the answer to those questions are no, then maybe, just maybe I could do it with aid from the French government and with a job. All I know then is that living inside city limits would probably not be possible. But eh, now I don't really care all that much.
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Ugh, there's so much more I'd like to write, but I feel that it's still too jumbled in my head to properly sort out and articulate. These last two months have been financially stressful beyond belief, but if there was any silver lining, it's that I'm now more determined to really set my future up right. That and that I've lost weight due to my food rationing, haha. I'm keeping my fingers crossed, knocking on wood, tossing salt over my left shoulder, but I may, may, MAY finally be getting some money in the next few days. Let's just hope I don't go crazy with my grocery shopping once I do aha.
Bisous! (kisses, in French)
Rachael
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