Fun on the Metro

   Today, I learned something fun: sometimes, your Metro tickets stop working. I learned this as I got trapped  in the station at Defense, as neither of the tickets that I had bought minutes before would let me through. A small boy let me through (he asked me for a euro for his help, and I gave him one as I was running late and wanted to avoid a scene, which I have previously learned happen when people here do "nice" things for you and you don't give them anything), and I reached the next level only to be blocked again. This time I was able to sneak through when someone was going through with their stroller, but I had to wait a while for this opportunity. The lesson learned here is that I'll always carry extra tickets (until my pass comes).
   Of course, the reason this situation was extra stressful is I was running late for my appointment with the bank. Luckily they were still able to see me (even though I was quite late by the end of this ordeal), and I am now the proud owner of a French bank account! Soon I will have a carte bleu credit card, and will be free (mostly) from all these coins in my pocket. It's not that I don't like them; I just hate carrying them around.
   The reason I was running late in the first was I was registering for language classes, which start on Friday. Unfortunately, the only times left were at 8:00 am, so I will have the pleasure of waking up early twice a week. It could be worse, I suppose.
   In the end, today was one of the last steps in finishing all the formalities for living here. I now have a phone, I'm registered for classes, and I will soon have a credit card and metro pass. After that I'm golden :)

-Ian