So, for the next couple of hours (while I am diligently doing my readings for first summer class of Criminal Procedure tomorrow; after this anyway hah) I am waiting to see if I receive an email from a professor in La Rochelle saying that I can rent the studio for up to a month while I flat-hunt. This is unlikely; not because it is late there (since in France it is early morning), but because I've given him a few days as it is - and in the last email, he said he would ask his wife to "see what they could do" (which sounds like either (1) the studio is already rented out, and he's trying to be nice and accommodate me anyway; or (2) his wife runs the show and he has no idea).
Nevertheless I am slightly hopeful, because there's this 30msq BABYHOUSE with a gaaarden within my budget (400 euro/m, or about NZD180/w) - and googlemaps says it's like 2km from campus, which would be easy on a bike (providing La Rochelle isn't like bloody Garden Road [see: shouldn't be a road]). And I wouldn't have to share the babyhouse with ANYONE (except Julie etc when passing through) so it would be MY babyhouse.
BABYHOUUUUSE.
[Trivia of the day: Ryan Gosling can sing and play the piano and the guitar [not amazingly-like-some-sort-of-prodigy but pleasantly-and-I'm-playing-it-down-because-I-am-aware-of-my-biased-melting-uterus], and he is in this band called the Dead Man's Bones and he sings about ghosts and pirate things or maybe it's zombies (hey Julie :p). But anyway if you take nothing else from this post, just remember that his stage name is BABY GOOSE. >_<]
However, *sigh*, failing that, it seems most likely that I will be in a studio of 22msq, which is currently on hold at a student residence (they were my first call to France! I swear French is harder over the phone and I got all overexcited... but the guy said he'd talk "tout doucement", which essentially meant he'd speak slowly, but literally means ALL SOFTLY, AWWW). It's like 2 minutes from the original place I wanted lol - I'm guessing this one is still available because it is more expensive: 450 euro/m (approx. NZD202.50/w) for short-stays/under 6 months (but at least they DO short-stays; bloody ARPAE).
Electricity/heating/water/wi-fi included at least, which means it is only 20 euros/m above average student rate in La Rochelle (according to some helpful website I have now forgotten/which I hope was reasonably recently updated). And there is a proper garage where I can keep the bike I plan to get - potentially even store some stuff while I go travellabouts. Though that means I have to go back to La Rochelle after Italy/Greece, instead of just heading straight to Paris for flight to Japan - buuut if I get that Eurail pass thing that won't really be a big deal. OH GOSH I've been looking at the train things it's SO EXCITING; god I miss living on a giant land mass with an efficient transport system - not that I really remember the latter bit beyond the special bike lanes and bike traffic lights, but those were SO COOL.
Anyway so, inevitably, lately my French vocabulary has grown to include boring jargon on things like:
- furniture, which at least I recognise mostly from early days (FYI: T's new German cartographer-intern flatmate told me the German word for refrigerator but I forgot it now; it was something awesome like cooling closet, and freezer was like cold or freezing chest - "the thing pirates keep their treasure in", he said. N'AWWWW.)
- insurance (MULTIRISQUE HABITATION abahaha it is so much more dramatic); and
- property-ad abbreviations, e.g. TCC (everything like electricity etc is included in the rent) vs TTC (something about tax).
I guess they are useful though. But I still have to learn all the important hosiery words! IMPORTANT.
Speaking of which, there is no French word for busking! Just literally: to play music. Unless there is a slang word wasn't on wordreference.com; but they're usually pretty good because of the forums/got me through my French major so far...
And OHGODDAMN the money-freaking-out is starting/back again(?), so seriously I might actually have to ACTUALLY busk (ugh if only I could teach/communicate verbally like a normal person/speak in a way that doesn't lead to people saying months after they've met me "yeah I used to have trouble listening to you, but now I've learned how to follow you/just tune you out when you ramble"). Hmm so I guess I should make some music friends to come with me or something... Maybe at choir! I want to join a French choir, bahaha. OH GOD FRENCH BARBERSHOP I HOPE IT EXISTS. (OMG FRENCH FOR BARITONE IS BARYTON, THAT IS SO PRETTY.) And also I would really like to join some sort of dance class/club thing so then I can come back and be like LOOK I AM COORDINATED NOW.
[FYI Han: I saw Andre and Limpy on Cuba Mall the other day; Limpy was monkeying up an X--Stage pole!! Like, the topless one.. The pole, I mean, not Limpy :p She seemed surprised to see me all excited to see her (since, though I often watch in awe, we don't exactly talk), but I guess that was mainly 'cause of the stage pole to be honest, bahaha.]
And speaking of money, it is official: it is way too expensive to ship my pole to France and back. *SIGH*
Whatever, it was still a justified purchase, and I have support for that :p
So, yes. Busking law/regulations. I need to find those out.
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