A few days ago I ordered some things from IKEA. Yeah, I'm doing an awful lot of shopping lately, but it struck me when I came back to Paris that it would be nice to get all my stuff off the floor, including my meals. And in nosing around the IKEA site, I found that in France you can order certain (large) things online and they will deliver them. This is good because the nearest IKEA is quite inconvenient. You have to take the RER B nearly out to CDG, and then get a bus. So I ordered things online, the big one being a LACK shelf to go the long way, on its side; and two folding chairs and two folding tables.
This morning my phone rang, it was an unfamiliar number so I let it take the message, and it turned out that it was IKEA. I thought about getting someone to help me call them back to schedule the delivery...but I really wanted to get my stuff off the floor. So I wrote down all the things I would have to say, including the numbers for my digicodes to get into the building (grumble grumble "quatre-vingts-quinze," there's no excuse for that monstrosity). And I took a deep breath and called. And I was fine! I didn't even have to explain that I didn't understand French very well. The one thing I had to ask for was when she asked for the digicode, she just asked for the "code," and there just weren't enough phonemes there for me to recover that. So I had to ask her to repeat it, and that didn't help, so I said I was sorry but I didn't understand. Then she said, "Pour entrer" ('to enter'), and I understood.
Whew! So my stuff is coming Wednesday morning.
In other news, I have a small request. You guys have been awfully quiet lately, and I thought I would mention that I do really like getting comments, as sometimes it feels like one is writing into the void if there are no comments at all. You don't need an account with blogger to post a comment, you can do it "anonymously" (though please sign your name in the text). Or if you don't want to post a comment, of course you could just drop me a line by email. I know a number of people are reading the blog because I talked to you over the break, and it was nice to hear that you were reading it. So if you could remind me you're out there once in a while, that would help me feel more connected to North America. Thanks!
Thursday, January 12, 2006
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5 comments:
Congrats on the phone conversation.Take pictures when you get the shelves in place.Will they deliver it up the six flights? Do you have to tip them?
Big M
woohoo! That successful phone call sounds very satisfying. And it's early days yet, too! By the time you're finished over there, you will be able to perform all kinds of speech acts...maybe you should work on christening boats, next.
--noo
Y'all rock! Nice to see all y'all.
An update: I realized later that I had said "quatorze" (14) instead of "quarante" (40) for the beginning of one of the codes, and was getting all worried about calling them back... but then I realized that since it's the beginning of the code, it doesn't matter. A relief! I wouldn't have wanted to call them back. Hmm, I wonder if I have to tip them. I'll find out. But yes, they know it's six flights.
Troopofchimps, while shelves for me are a nice thing, shelves for you guys must be a necessity, with all the books lying around....
i read! i like! you should keep blogging sez me!
josakana
And how about feeling more in touch with La Varenne ??? ;-p
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