Problems

Here is my most immediate problem:

I am cold.

...And so is everything else in this city. The air is cold, the people are cold, my apartment is cold. You may have heard the rumors that French people don't often smile in public. I'll confirm that. It's a shame really, my smile is one of my best features but it's wasted on these people. I was told that here in Paris smiling at a girl essentially means "I want to sleep with you." (of course for some of the men in this city looking at a girl means "I want to sleep with you.") ...Point is that now I'm learning to live with limited human interaction. However at the moment the people are not nearly as cold as my apartment. Something is wrong with the radiator... I think. I tried to talk to Martin about it the other day and... well it wasn't the worst interaction we've had, but I still have no idea why our apartment is so cold. On the bright side he seems to be warming up to me. I wouldn't go so far as to say that we are friends but I no longer fear that he will murder me in my sleep... not that I've been sleeping a lot lately. It's been difficult this past week partly because of the cold and partly because of my next biggest problem:

I still don't speak French.

The past week I've been lying in my bed at night unable to put my mind to sleep, my head swimming with French and cold and doubt. It goes something like: We don't pronounce the s; we don't pronounce the e, n, t; How am I going to pay for my rent two months from now; How am I going to survive the next two months in this cold; I'll go get an electric blanket, that will help; I need to find a job; How do I get a job if I don't speak French; Sortie means exit, it comes from the verb sortir which means to exit or to go out; Sortir can also mean to date someone, the same way we say "going out" with someone; I'd like to sors (we don't pronounce the second s) with a French girl; How can I go out with a French girl if I don't speak French; I wonder if it's this cold in London; They speak English in London; Why didn't I just go to London?

London... Now here's a question that's worth exploring. Of all of the places I could have ran away to, why did I choose Paris. On one hand, I just don't know, on the other hand... I have an idea. And as I'm not able to sleep at the moment, I may as well tell you all about it...