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2004-08-11 - 8:56 a.m. Mon ami, mein freund, my friend. My new friend Jadam (I would use his real name since blogging seems to be a particularly American event, but just in case). I found myself today looking at him, really studying his face, whilst we were taking a break from a day of apartment hunting and sitting outside at a caf� in the 5th. We had just viewed what I think will be my new apartment in Paris and were taking some time to discuss the pros and cons and also to escape the heat for a moment by drinking an Orangina from a glass that had one ice cube in it. I looked at his handsome face and tried to make sense of why he was so kind to me, why he offered to always help me, why he would call me everyday, sometimes two or three times a day to inquire as to how I was doing. Did I need anything translated, did I want him to explain a neighborhood, did I need to use his address for my first French bank account (a uniquely French chicken or egg; you must have a Paris address to open a bank account, but you must have a French bank account in order to rent an apartment in Paris)? Jadem seemed to want to help with anything or everything. As I stared at his profile (and listened to him tell a story of the previous night out with other friends) I began to realize that Jadem wasn�t seeking any kind of reward. Jadem liked people, in the way that I often find myself liking them, he liked people with a past, people with an interesting or at least unusual past, he didn�t judge immediately. Jadem was a good soul, he was someone that would give anyone a chance and if a friendship or anything else blossomed he would only be more enriched. Jadem and I get along very well, we laugh at the same things, we make fun of the same people on the street, we are similar, and we are friends. I realized I suffer from an inherent suspicion of people�s motives or agendas. I also realized that I now reside in Paris, and what I have known since my teenage years abroad, Europeans are different, and this pea is so happy to be back in his pod. � � 
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