Chez nous

It's hard to believe we've been in Paris for nearly two weeks now! The first few days were filled with a seemingly endless to-do list -- there are still many, many things left to do, but we're finally beginning to feel a little settled in here.

For those who don't know, we celebrated our wedding with our families in St Andrews on August 7. We took a brief honeymoon to Colonial Williamsburg, then drove (20 hours) from Virginia to Kansas, where my parents hosted a combination wedding reception/going away party. Then we drove (14 hours) from Kansas to Michigan, where Matt's mom hosted a similar event. And then, we drove out to DC (11 hours) to try our own hand at a reception/party for our DC friends, as well as get moved out of our apartment.

We flew from DC to Paris (by way of Copenhagen) on September 2, with four heavy suitcases and two thoroughly unimpressed cats. Even though they would rather have been at home, the cats travelled like champs -- we didn't sedate them at all, they didn't complain (most people near us on the planes didn't even know we were travelling with pets!), and they even ate and drank during the long flight. Getting them through customs was far easier than we expected: no one asked for any of their health certification, or even looked into the carriers -- we just walked right through. (Both of us have wondered if we might have gotten away bringing Rosslyn, but I somehow doubt everything would have gone so smoothly if one of the carriers was quacking...)

We went straight from the airport to our new apartment, and met the manager to pick up the keys. We have a great one-bedroom apartment, one floor off a relatively quiet street in the Third Arrondissement.

I'm now about one-third of the way through an extensive orientation program Sciences-Po (my university for the year) has designed specifically for the American students in my program. We're taking a language class designed to bring our French up to snuff, as well as a methology course designed to teach us the formatting, protocol, etc. that's expected by French professors.
"Real" classes start on September 29. I have six classes this semester -- two required classes, plus four electives. Three and one-half of my classes will be taught in English, and the other 2-1/2 are in French (obviously, there's one bilingual seminar).

Matt's school (he's taking an intensive, year-long language course) is on a more traditional French schedule, so he won't start classes until the end of the month. Until then, he gets to slowly explore Paris, although he's also doing some ongoing work related to his PhD.

Much of our "free" time has been taken up by trying to satisfy the bureaucrats. Matt and I each received student visas before we left the US, but, because we're planning to be here for nine to twelve months, we have to convert them to temporary residence permits. As it's been explained to me so far, this basically requires four steps: (1) registering at the university as a student; (2) acquiring health insurance; (3) qualifying for the residence permit; (4) proving that we're adequately healthy to be allowed to stay in France for awhile.

So far, I've done (1) and (2). Registering for health insurance was shockingly easy, and entirely online: I just completed a simple registration form with my name and address, then ticked off which form of insurance I wanted to pay for. I stood in line for 90 minutes to get my student ID last Wednesday, and was one of few students to succeed (read: have all the necesary documents) on my first attempt.

So, it's on to Step 3 -- now, I'm trying to get my carte de sejour (residence permit). The number of papers they require is truly amazing. To give you an idea, I've got to submit my birth certificate; my student ID; our apartment lease; our renter's insurance policy; a copy of my student visa; a copy of the picture page of my passport; our marriage certificate; a letter certifying that I was admitted to Sciences-Po; a form certifying that I have registered for classes; my health insurance card; two photocopies of everything; and a self-addressed, stamped envelope so everything can be returned to me after it's reviewed. I've triple-checked the list, and I think this is everything I'll need -- so, after I finish class tomorrow, I'm headed off to the office, where I'm sure I'll be told what I've forgotten. :)

After this, Step 4 requires an offical government medical exam -- I'm not 100% sure what to expect, but "they" say it's basically a quick physical, plus an X-ray to check for tuberculosis. I am 100% sure, though, that this exam isn't very useful at protecting the public health, as I will have spent several weeks in France (theoretically infecting the public-at-large) before I see a doctor. Neverthess, it's required unless you desire to be an illegal immigrant -- a status to which neither Matt nor I aspire. :)

Since the whole process begins when you enroll at school, we'll get to run through this all over again as soon as Matt's classes start -- I'm hopeful, though, that it'll be a little easier because we'll know what he needs, based on what I needed.

We'll try to post weekly updates, just to share what's happening in our lives. We hope all of you are well, and hope that you'll send us your news (just let us know if you need our address)!