Bridget Jones in Montpellier

France, evening

Bridget Jones compared to me is just a beginner. I am shy. It doesn't look like, but I am. I am talkative, but only if I feel comfortable and I know the people around me. In French being talkative is for sure already more difficult. If I don't know anyone around, is actually impossible.

However, today I decided to start to talk to the head of one other scientific groups here. It was a few days that I was preparing in my head the perfect excuse to talk to him. I had everything figured out. Of course, the everything I figured out was slightly different that how actually things happened.... I met him on my way to the copy machine room. I stopped him and asked him if he was the head of the other scientific group. At his positive answer, I asked him if they have lab meetings and if I could participate to them.

I didn't introduce myself. I didn't ask his name (which I still don't know).

He nicely asked me my name. I was already completely red to say anything more that my name. Till that moment, I spoke French to him. He then proposed me to give him my email address, so that he could add me to the mailing list and I would receive an email every time they have the lab meetings. We then walked to the copy machine room and by that point I probably became blind since I couldn't find neither a paper nor a pen to write with. Of course they were in front of me, so he took them and he started to write my email. I got so confused between the French and English that a) I confused him on how my name is written (which is already not easy to start with) b) I gave him a wrong email address................

The redness level of my face at this point was like a strawberry

I fortunately realized that the address I gave him was wrong (he probably started to think that I am quite retarded) and gave him the correct one. When he read my email, he made fun of me and asked me if I was famous since I have my own website. He was joking, but I was so much in panic that I couldn't say any meaningful word in any language, Italian, French or English and in the order I:

a) started to justify myself for having my own website, blathering and mumbling some nonsense (as I could realize from the expression on his face).
b) almost stepped on his feet, so that he had to jump out of my way
c) realizing that I was probably making a totally horrible impression, thus getting even redder and more confused if possible.

End of the story. I finally apologized to him for being so confused (?)......in three weeks since my arrival here, I made a point. Which is that I am probably the most confused person they have ever met....