Pounding the Pavement and my new book

Wednesday I took a train at 8am into Toulouse, arriving about 9:20. I spent the entire day walking from language school to language school, with a few museums and the national orchestra in between. Teaching English in a language or test prep school is a surer bet, but what I'd really like to get into is working for a museum, an orchestra, or a dance company. The large problem with finding a job in a museum or with the orchestra is that no one seems to really know what's going on. The welcome desk attendant tells me to send a résumé to City Hall, but that as far as who runs the museum, it's just her and a director (riiiiight). At the Human Resources department for the city, I ask what kind of jobs there are in the orchestra (so that I can say in my cover letter "oh, you have a music librarian. I could be the assistant music librarian), how it's organized, run, etc. Now, this is Human resources, remember. The answer: "Oh, we don't really know who works for the orchestra. No, we don't know who they employ or what jobs there are."

After walking I don't know how many miles under the sun (and getting a sunburn) with my sandals that used to be comfortable but now rub the bottom of my feet in a strange way and make my heels hurt after several hours, I cracked when I saw part of the Garonne that reminded me of a beach back home. I was homesick and hot and all I wanted to do was go to the beach, so instead I cried a little bit.

I shouldn't say the day was negative because there was one language school that seemed really interested and I have an interview scheduled with another that wasn't open to visitors on Wednesday. It was just tough to have such a wide variety of responses. After all, I didn't change, but sometimes people were interested and gave me good information, other times they just took my résumé (or didn't take it) and asked why I was there again (Because I'm looking for work?).

Yesterday was such a gray day that it didn't make much difference if the curtains were closed or opened; it was still dim and gray inside. I tend to be solar powered, or perhaps solar motivated, so I didn't feel up to doing much. Plus the internet was wacko, and there's a weird mechanism that if the internet doesn't work, I can't do much else on my computer, even if it doesn't involve the internet. So about 11am, I went out to check the mail, and there was a package from Amazon! Harry Potter year 7 arrived! I'm trying to not be like B when he read it two weeks ago. I read for a bit yesterday, then I checked on the defrosting fridge that I'd started before opening the book, and then went back to my book. I stayed up later than B to keep reading, but I was very reasonable and turned out the light at 1am.

Today there is blue sky with little puffy clouds, so I think it will turn out well. B left me some cash he got from an ATM last night, so I'll buy some bread, maybe make a cake for tonight, and work on my job search. I might even put away the towels that are drying on the backs of chairs in the living room. Heavens, I have an inkling that I'll do all the dishes in the sink.

Crazy crazy day ahead of me!