Summer's Over and a New Start is in Sight

I knew that I hadn't been blogging, but I had no idea how long it really has been. I guess there are so many things that I've thought of blogging about and that translated to actually sitting down and getting it out in my head. It's always a good idea to write what's going on, but at the same time it's good to be so busy that there is no time to write...

Summer is over. Fall is here. Unreal.

I'm happy to report that I have done everything (and more) that I had hoped to do while being home.

I saw tons of friends. Slept on more couches, floors, futons and random beds than I can count. Some friends I saw more than expected and others I didn't see nearly as much as I wanted/needed to. I realize that this is difficult since I don't have a car or others live far, far away, or people are busy with their lives. I can safely say that I made a really good effort to see as many people as possible. I've got the public transportation/ living out of a backpack down to a fine art.

I went camping. I went to the trailer. I traveled from the west coast to the east coast. I've been embroidering beautiful little things onto canvas when I can't be painting. I've eaten in amazing little restaurants all around Toronto. I've wandered and wandered without any real destination in mind. I've laid in grass and watched things go by. I've been to art show openings and artist talks. I've had bubble tea and amaretto sours. I've hung out in lovely condos and played with cats and board games. I've managed to journal for my own eyes. I've been witness to amazing friends committing their lives to each other. I've had some damn good food. I've met some amazing little babies that some good friends have created. I've gone to festivals and parties and free concerts. I've had arguments and laughed until I cried. I've had conversations about the future, about what it's like to be married about what it's like to be pregnant and trying to figure out if we're really adults.

(I for one, don't feel like I thought I'd feel at 27.) I think that most of my people feel the same way.

I decided to live in Canada the way that a foreigner would live in Canada. I mean that I've been trying to look at everything is new and I'm only here for a short time so I have to get it all in. It's been amazing. I've always liked Canada, but I've always been excited about going to new/different places. I knew that there were good things about this place, but I never truly took the time to get to know it. I can safely say that I would be happy to eventually settle down in this place. It wouldn't be bad at all.

That being said, I've decided what I'm going to do in the next few months. As I've said before, I've been thinking about going back to Asia (maybe Japan or Hong Kong) or France. I was so torn between all the different possibilities that I had. Someone finally asked me if I didn't have money to worry about where would I go? At that point I knew that I had to go back to France. I had to stop putting off the decision and just go with it. I found out that I can get a work holiday visa for one year in France. All I needed for this visa is to be a Canadian between 18-35, a passport, sufficient funds, a round trip ticket and be living in Canada when applying for it. I started the process of getting all my papers and whatnot in order to apply. France has started issuing "biometric" visas (visas with fingerprints in them) and so they require that we have an appointment before they can look at our papers to decide if we've been accepted for the visa or not. I couldn't get an appointment until Sept. 2nd. My flight is Sept. 12th (I had to get the plane ticket before I know if I'll be given the visa)

I went in for my visa appointment this week and I was denied because one of the three insurances I had to get wasn't sufficient. The woman working there made me feel like a child. Because I was flustered and very nervous I seemed to have lost all of the French I knew. I must have sounded like an idiot because she finally started to speak to me in English because she felt like scolding me for not having the right thing. Shiesh. I was granted another chance to get my stuff right and go back next week. I've bought extra insurance just to be doubly sure that it's all I need.

I'm figuring that if I go again and there is some other problem with my application then I'm just going to go for the 3 months that tourists are allowed to be there without a visa. I'll study my butt of and explore and cram everything into that much shorter time. It's all going to be just fine. I see the positives and negatives of both outcomes.

If I get the visa:

The goods...
- I hope to become fully fluent after the year.
- I'll have valuable time with good friends there.
- I'll have lived in France 3 times in 10 years and that's not too shabby.
- I'll have more time to travel around more of Europe.
- My cousin Robbyn and I will rendezvous somewhere on that side of the world for Christmas since she's going to be living in Israel for the year.

The bads...
- I'll probably be poor again.
- I'll have to find an apartment in one of the most difficult cities in the world to find good housing.
- I'll have to find a job which most likely I'll be over worked and under paid doing something like babysitting or washing dishes or serving snobby Parisians and annoying American tourists.
- I'll miss my 4th Thanksgiving in a row.
- Even after getting the visa in Canada I'll still have to do a ton of medical test, paper work and stuff once I arrive.

If I don't get the visa:

The goods...
- I'll go for a shorter time and just hangout, learn French, paint and wander the city for three months.
- I'll save a lot more money not having to pay rent for a year in Paris.
- I'll come back and find some job and work on school applications and get myself back to school.
- I won't have to deal with the French government.

The bads...
- Having to leave France just when I'm getting readjusted to living there again.
- Perhaps I won't learn as much as I would if I were there for a year.
- Saying good-bye to Pascaline, Kaya, Sebastian, Mauricio, Marine and Benoit so quickly.

So all in all I think I'm going to be ok with whatever the outcome.

Since I'm leaving super soon I've been looking online for jobs and apartments. A week and a half ago I was checking out Craigslist to get an idea of the housing situation over there. For the most part the "apartments" are the size of a closet and cost 500 euros or more. For anything much bigger/nicer they cost upwards of 700 euros (that's about 1,000 Canadian dollars a month) It's way past my budget, but I've kept searching. I've been thinking about getting a roommate or working as an Aupair (live in nanny) I found this one posting for an amazing place in the 1st arrondisement in Paris. It was 400 euros with utilities included to share an apartment with a French girl. I would have my own room and bathroom and would share the kitchen/living room with her. It was the ideal situation. This girl "Marie" and I were emailing back and forth for about a week. She hadn't asked me for any money so I thought that it was for real. Eventually she got her lawyer to draw up the rental agreement papers and sent them to me to sign and send back and then we'd work out the payment before I arrived. I immediately sent her an email letting her know that I didn't feel comfortable sending money before meeting her and seeing the apartment in person. I told her that I had a friend in Paris who was willing to go over and meet her and see the place. I haven't heard from her since. A friend of mine thought of putting her name though a person finder on the internet. No such name in Paris. Then she put the address of the apartment into the finder and it turns out that this apartment is actually a post office. Her email address is on a list of scammers.

I can laugh about it now. It's a good thing that I wasn't born yesterday and sent "her" any money. Man, you know that people do send money otherwise these people wouldn't even try to make a living off of scamming others. The saddest part for me is that I had been picturing myself in that place, in that part of the city and how great things were going to be. Oh well, I guess I've learned not to trust people so easily, at least not people I don't know. I've been much more careful since then and I'm getting the hang of knowing when something is too good to be true.

When I first get there I'm going to stay with my friend Sebastian who lives on the outskirts of the city and then make it my full time job to find a good, decent place to live within my means. It will be so much better if I can see the place for myself, meet the landlord/roommates etc. It's all going to come together eventually.