a girl in Paris

16th June 2010

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In which I magically don’t get lost in the train.

Today was my first day of work. I had to take a 1 hour long train ride, switching lines once. The train is weird and when it’s crowded it smells like sweaty armpits.

The weird thing about work today was seeing just how much more developed the French are when it comes to dealing with people. Everyone who came into the office went around saying hello to each of the maybe 10 people in the office. Everyone knows each other! And coffee breaks are mandatory; it’s rude if you don’t stop for a coffee before work and after lunch. During the morning coffee, I met three other interns: two French, one American. They were really friendly and, um, WAY FUCKING GORGEOUS. They made me bring out my train map and showed me a quicker way to get to work. They look really chill and I want to get to know them better.

My supervisor, Emmanuel, is pretty chill and has the coolest French accent and does hand-waving because he can’t come up with the English words. He showed me around and introduced me to everyone, and everyone made it a point to remember my name. I don’t remember the names of about half the people I met! He also helped me change the language on my computer to English and found me a Qwerty keyboard, which is great because the French one is weird. He’s really trying his best to make me feel comfortable, and I appreciate it.

Mathilde, my other supervisor, is also a Chemical Engineer, and she’s sort of pimp. She explained my project, which involves me sitting at a desk and MatLabbing a lot, which is awesome because I suck at MatLab. Oh wells.

I also tried to get a phone today (for the second time) and couldn’t find the fucking store. Or the supermarket. I am hungry and way exhausted.