More adventures

Wednesday night was quite eventful! The UC Center had extended an invitation to a UC Alumni get together at a British pub in the 12^th to all of us students, and after internally debating whether or not to go, I decided it might be fun to talk to some ex-pats and find out their take on living in Paris. There was also the promise of free beer which sealed the deal. There, I met an array of really interesting people, including a recent Cal grad who recognized me from going to parties at his fraternity, a UCLA grad who came over to do his masters and has stayed ever since, a guy who recently got his master’s at Cal’s architecture school and works for a nonprofit that consults mayors on how to reduce poverty in their cities (so cool!!!), and a whole host of other people who were more of interesting characters than resources. I also got a few free pints of beer, so all in all I would say that it was well worth it.

After the UC alumni event, a group of us girls (and one brave boy who was right with us until the 20 euro entrance fee he was confronted with) headed over to my territory, the Champs-Elysées, to ladies night at a gay club. It was really fun to dance in a big group of girls and I was there for a very fun two hours. I left (relatively) early at 1:30 thanks to the exposée I was to give the next day, and apparently missed a couple of male strippers. Needless to say, this was quite an interesting experience. I think we’ll definitely be going back.

Yesterday in Methodology I gave said practice exposée, on whether or not there is a French model of integration. I sort of cheated in picking this topic, as I took an entire class about French immigration last semester, but it was still intimidating to speak in front of my class for ten minutes in French, and until class yesterday, I wasn’t sure how my professor—the son of Algerian immigrants himself—would react. I think it went over pretty well though and I’m just really glad to not have to worry about it anymore.

Last night, our UC party posse joined up with our Welcome Program for a bar hop in the Bastille. It was really fun to run around with my UC friends (as always) but it was also really nice to get to talk to some of the girls in my orientation group outside of the context of our classes. I also met some boys from Basque (which I correctly knew to be in the South of France, earning me brownie points…), Australians, more Australians, and a Canadian. I really enjoy meeting people and hearing different perspectives on a whole host of topics. I think I could dig living in a cosmopolitan city like Paris for a few years to graduate. I’m really getting into the adventurous and exciting atmosphere here.

Now, I’m off to methodology, and quite excited for the week-end ahead. A friend from my sorority is visiting so it will be so fun to show her around!

More pictures to come soon...