Category: Living Abroad

What Could Make You Throw a Brick?

12/15/2018

If you can’t think of anything, may I gently suggest that you have always felt

heard.

What would it take? What could make you throw a brick or rush a fence? What could make you do something illegal?

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Yvonne Explains France

12/6/2018

4 Comments

Am I qualified to explain recent current events in France to you, my loyal readers? Absolutely not. But I am your boots-on-the-ground friend in Paris, so I’ll tell you what I’ve seen.

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There Are No Panty Lines in Paris and I Know Why

11/7/2018

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I moved to Paris last year. It is beautiful. The architecture is beautiful. The people are beautiful. Most of them have enviable figures and wardrobes. They stalk the pavement in front of those lovely buildings like it was a catwalk.

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Attention: Book Nerds

10/19/2018

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If you need me, I’ll be in the Bibliothèque nationale de France.

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How to Use the Paris Metro

9/7/2018

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Using the Paris Metro is easy, fast, and cheap, but it’s also in Paris and that means things don’t always work like you think they should. Let me help you out.

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Making Expat Friends is Like Polygamous Dating

7/1/2018

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I’m an introvert, and meeting people and making friends is not easy. When we moved to Paris, I knew I’d have to leave my comfort zone or my only friend would be Netflix. But I did it, and so can you.

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Date Night Just Got Better

4/17/2018

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Sinfonietta Paris is a Paris chamber music organization that sponsors a series called Music by the Glass. It features intimate concerts in lovely concert halls and private homes throughout the city. The concerts last about one hour so you won’t be overwhelmed, and after the concert there are wine and snacks, included in the ticket price. You can meet the performers and mingle with the audience.

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Codependent No More! Your Move, Paris

3/10/2018

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I was so proud of myself. I had figured out how to live in Paris and be treated humanely, talking to the locals and getting pretty good customer service. French classes were going well. Clerks and waiters had begun addressing me in French instead of English, which means I no longer look like a tourist, and I blended in with the other Parisien ladies with my dark colors and my lofty RBF. I hadn’t been given the stink-eye in months. It took some work on my part, but Paris and I were getting along swimmingly.

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Paris in the Snow

2/17/2018

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When it snowed in Paris this February, everybody was shocked.

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My Fully Furnished Apartment

1/25/2018

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Our US furniture was unworthy of being shipped to Paris. I had to start over.

For the first time, I was able to shop slowly and chose things I liked instead of deciding which Ikea sofa went with our garage-sale end tables. I scoured flea markets and furniture stores. I consulted Parisians and expats. Our shipment of American household goods (books, pictures, one piano, one armchair, and one coffee table) arrived months after we got the apartment. Therefore, I didn’t feel truly at home for a long time. I still felt like we were in an Airbnb and somebody was going to tell us to get out. Now it’s just about finished, and feeling more like home.

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