My French Experiment – Getting Started
Okay, so I decided to actually do it. Packed my bags, told myself a change of scenery would be good, and ended up in France. Not Paris, mind you, but a little village out in the countryside. Sounded romantic on paper, right? Figured I’d just land, plug in my laptop, and carry on. Well, reality had other plans.
First hurdle: the house. Found this old stone place online, looked decent. Got here, and yeah, it’s got character, but it was freezing cold. The heating system looked like something out of a museum. Spent the first couple of days just trying to understand how the heck it worked. Twisting knobs, reading faded instructions in French I couldn’t understand. Finally got some warmth going, but it wasn’t exactly plug-and-play.
Then came the internet. This was the big one for work. The listing said “broadband”. Hah. Getting it set up was a whole saga. Had to call the provider, waited ages for a technician. He eventually showed up, did some stuff, shrugged a lot, and voilà… internet. Sort of. It works, but downloading big files takes forever. Forget high-def streaming during peak hours. Learned a few choice French phrases during that whole process, mostly about being patient.
Settling into the Rhythm (or Lack Thereof)
So, I started trying to build a routine. Here’s what I aimed for:
- Get up early.
- Walk to the local bakery (boulangerie, fancy name, tiny shop). This part is actually great, the bread is amazing.
- Try and get a solid block of work done before lunch.
- Deal with calls back home in my afternoon, which is their morning.
Sounds simple, but the time difference is a killer. Some days I’m on calls until late because of it. And the slow internet means simple tasks sometimes take way longer. Found a small café down the road with slightly better Wi-Fi, so sometimes I just pack up and work from there for a bit, sipping coffee that costs more than I expected.
The language thing is also… interesting. My French is pretty basic. Ordering food, buying groceries – it’s all an adventure. People are generally nice about it, smiling and speaking slowly, but you definitely feel like an outsider trying to mime what you need. It’s humbling, I guess.
It’s been a few weeks now. It’s definitely an experience. Not the smooth, effortless transition I maybe daydreamed about. It’s more about tackling little, unexpected problems every day. Fixing the drafty window, figuring out the recycling schedule, trying not to mess up basic French greetings. It’s a work in progress, this whole “Stephen in France” thing. Still figuring it out, still trying to make it work smoothly. We’ll see how it goes from here.
