Best Day in Paris

This past week and week-end were quite eventful. Many of my friends had visitors in town, as this past week was the UC Spring Break, so I got to do a lot of fun touristy stuff with them. Wednesday, I even got to see the wonderful and FABULOUS Yuna Shin, who updated me about life in Berkeley over a nice hot chocolate by the eiffel tour. Yuna is a total gem in every way and it was nice to check-in with her about home and it made me realize how much I miss her and all my Berkeley hommies. Although I'm seriously getting quite used to Parisian bars, museums, parks, and party posse, I think all of the fantastic friends I have at home are going to make my transition back to Berk sooo much better! (Plus I get Raf, Allie, and Melissa in Berk too, and Andrea--just a train ride away in SB).

Other than that, I've had a lot of school work (!), which I've nicely balanced with tons of fun (perhaps a little too much fun, thinking about this week's bar expentitures...). Sciences Po is challenging, and I feel like I can't bullshit my way through it, as I often do in my classes at Berkeley. However, being the perhaps slightly-masochistic girl that I am, I wouldn't haven't any other way. And insteading of just screwing around while being abroad (which, don't get me wrong, I'm doing plenty of), I'm learning A TON. All in all, every day is different and wondrous and fun and stimulating and educational and everything I could ever want or imagine from my abroad experience. I am a REALLY REALLY REALLY lucky girl!!! REALLY.

Today may have been the best day in Paris yet. I'm going to officially count the day as beginning at midnight last night, when I found myself at a party in the seventh, hosted by an Australian friend, Cara. The guests at this party were such an eclectic mix and it was just as much fun to watch the group dynamic as it was to interact with everyone. I think I just I really enjoy people, especially the kinds of people who live in Paris. One of the people I really enjoy is my friend Song-My, who arrived at the party last night shortly after midnight, marking the beginning of her birthday! This prompted (or perhaps I prompted...?) many multi-lingual renditions of the "Happy Birthday Song". I can recall Farsi (spell-check...?), Chinese, Korean (Song-My's personal favorite), Finnish, English, and of course, French. There may have been more, considering that everyone I meet seems to know 17 million languages. Moments like these make me laugh at all the fears I had about being lonely prior to coming to Paris. Instead there are so many gems here--truly exceptional people!

This afternoon, I visited the Salon du Vin--an exposition of independent wine sellers from all over France. I got to go the exposition for free thanks to my wine class (anyone in California who has been reading about said class has the right to be totally jealous), and headed over with Andrea, her boyfriend Luke who is visiting from Santa Barbara, and the birthday girl. As we headed inside, we were handed a glass, and found ourselves face to face with hundreds and hundreds (maybe thousands...?) of wine booths in an enormous hall with multiple rooms. Overwhelmed, we began at a booth from Loire Valley, the region that Andrea, Song-My and I are focusing on for the presentation we are going to do for our wine class. I think we spent a good 20 minutes at the first booth, talking (in French + English, or "Franglais" if you will) with the wine producer about everything from the production to the marketing of his Chardonnay, as we tasted it and some Muscats. He gave us some literature about his exports and was so friendly and helpful. At the end of the day, we actually returned to his booth, picked up a couple of bottles, and discussed even possibly visiting him and his wife at their vineyard! How does that sound for homework? Throughout the day, we basically traveled booth by booth and tried wines from all over France, talking to the producers as well. I could go on for days and months and years about how great it was, but I will just say that I was in wine heaven, which for me is basically plain old heaven. In fact, heaven might be a let-down compared to the Salon du Vin. I think my life is complete now.

After a trip to heaven, how could my day possibly get any better? Simple, with a trip to visit our favorite jazz musician, Patty Sherlock, for a celebration of Song-My's birthday! I absolutely LOVE our Sunday night jazz bar expeditions, and tonight was especially fun because Patty, who is quite fond of Song-My, dedicated a few special birthday songs to her. Aaand, at one point, he compelled the entire bar (well over 50 people) to sing her the Happy Birthday song, which I thought was pretty cool! Aaaand, maybe it was all the wine going to my brain, but I had a particularly good time, and felt more compelled to dance (which I of course did) tonight than I have at any other jazz.

I think my blog might be insanely boring to read, because I feel like I just babel on about how great my life is. So I'm really sorry, but I just can't help it. My life is really great. Have I mentioned that I'm REALLY REALLY lucky? Well I am. Thanks Mom and Dad and Aunt Berta and everyone else for the best semester of my life so far.

Last Night!

I had such a great night last night that I think it merited its own post. First, we had a wine tasting of a 2007 Cote du Rhone in my World of Wine class, complete with chocolate, fruit, and cheese (to see how it tasted differently with each component). Then, directly from wine class, I headed over to a Girl Talk! concert. Girl Talk is a really well-known mash-up artist and DJ from Detroit and I personally am a huge fan. It was sooo fun to dance and reminded me of home a bit. Furthermore, there were tons of Americans at this concert, including many Berkeley kids--so it was SUPER SUPER fun to see them and reunite as well. After the concert, Tami and I decided to grab some sushi and warm sake (it was a cold night), so we headed over the the 11th and grabbed ourselves a treat. That was the first sushi I've had since being here, so I was SO SO HAPPY to have some. It was really really good. All in all, I can't think of an equation for a better night!

Longest. Post. Ever.

As some of you (i.e. Rafaella and Dad, probably like half of my audience right there) have noticed, I haven’t blogged in a while. So, to make up for it, I am writing a super-extra long blog—you get 3 posts for the price of 1! However, I don’t expect you to be entertained by my life for multiple pages worth of events, so I will try to intersperse some philosophical musings/ fun facts for your pleasure. Enjoy!

P.S. I would also like to apologize if I begin to use extremely long sentences or if I have become less succinct. It’s just a part of my integration process.

Exposé 1:

Last Friday I had my first oral presentation (exposé) for my French seminar course, Introduction à la pensée liberale. This wasn’t actually even an exposé, which are kind of like oral essays, but was a review of the press from the “liberal perspective”. I struggled a little with my French but in general I thought I did a pretty good job of preparing my work; I did a fair amount of research, included a lot of quotes, picked an interesting topic, and did kind of a broad overview of the liberal point of view of my topic—presenting alternative view points and showing that the liberal perspective on the subject was nuanced. Apparently, though, my professor disagreed. He appreciated my work, but had a lot of specific clarifications/corrections to make about things I had said. So, I got to hear him tell the rest of the class all of the things I said that were “not exactly right”. For around fifteen to twenty minutes. As I stood in front of them. As they all watched me. And as I felt myself turning bright red. At first, I was embarrassed, frustrated, and feeling argumentative. But then, after about another ten minutes, I realized that I am here to learn. And although the degree of work that I did may have been acceptable for a course taught in America in English, French is not my native language and I lack some of the reference points that many of the French students have. So, I decided that I would take this humiliation as a lesson learned, and have now realized that in my French classes, I need to have my exposés totally written out (not just with notes) and I need to do MORE research and ask for help when I need it. By the end of this two hour class, I was surprisingly quite chipper.

I think this change in attitude reflects the fact that in general, I’ve had much more of a sunny disposition here, because:

1) I’m only in France for 5 months, and I want to take advantage of every opportunity;

2) I’ve realized that a lot of situations here are beyond my control, and I can either choose to get upset/frustrated/complain when things don’t go as expected or I can say: hmmm… that’s interesting, how can I tailor this new situation to my advantage? And I’ve been choosing the latter because, well, … see #1;

3) I’ve tried to take a lot of my experiences here as reflecting cultural differences, which I think has allowed me to feel more neutral about things I might normally get pissed off about, and

4) ummm… I’m in Paris. Life is good.

Yes, maybe this list is a little corny, naïve, and idealistic, but.... See #4, in reference as to why I don’t care.

Funk Festival and Francophone Friends:

That night, Song-My’s Moroccan friend from her foyer Sarah (who had invited us to the jazz club a few times) invited our group to a funk festival put on by one of her friends. I was expecting a small gathering of locals in a club, but was pleasantly surprised when we rolled up to a large university and found ourselves in the midst of a full-force concert, complete with a bar and an art exposition. Instead of the 50 people gathered round tables that I had imagined, there were hundreds, on the floor (with us) and generally packed into a large lecture hall. Three bands played, and we danced the night away. I think the highlight was listening to the French-accented audience belting “Now you do what they told ya…” to a (quite good) funk rendition of Rage Against the Machine’s “Killin’ in the Name Of”. Two of Sarah’s Moroccan friends, who are also studying in Paris, came and they proved to be both excellent dance partners and, as I found out later in the night, great French tutors (though all three of them speak fluent English). It was such a fun time, and this felt like a more authentically French experience than the California Party Posse’s normal bar scene (which, don’t get me wrong, is definitely fun too). It was just a nice change.

Père-Lachaise:

The next Sunday, a group of us decided to head over to the cemetery Père-Lachaise, which is home to the graves of Oscar Wilde, Jim Morrison, and Balzac, to name a few. You may remember the cemetery from such films as Paris Je t’aime. It is an absolutely beautiful cemetery, and we had the good fortune of choosing an absolutely beautiful March day on which to visit it. The weather in general is warming up here, which this Southern Californian native is SO SO happy about. At the cemetery, we walked around for a long time and Tami, Ara, Matthew and I kissed Oscar Wilde’s grave for good luck (as is the tradition in these parts). The graves are above ground, like they are in New Orleans, and each one is unique—with varying levels of grandeur, from humble stones with sober inscriptions bearing the bodies of centuries-old Parisians, to the glass-encased sculpture that houses two Hungarian princesses. Our trip ended with a pause on a grassy-patch over by Jimmy and all in all, it was a beautiful (I hate to continuously use that word, but it is just so fitting) experience which caused for some serious reflection on life and death. As one of the few free activities in Paris, too, this one is going on the top-ten-things-to-do-in-Paris list that I just created while writing this sentence.

Beth’s Wine Tasting Guide:

A Factual Interlude to this Blog Post, Brought to You by My World of Wine Notes

Did you know that there are 5 steps to tasting wine? Here they are, in order, for your reading pleasure:

1) Smell the cork. Does your wine smell vinegary? If so, don’t drink it.

2) Pour a small quantity into your own glass to:

a. Make sure your wine is good

b. Make sure there’s no cork in it.

3) Look at the glass and look at the color. The color indicates age (darker for a white wine, brickish for a red wine) and grape variety. To clearly see the color, hold a white sheet of paper to the side of your glass. Also, look at the tiers (legs). Very visible tiers indicate well-made, alcoholic wine.

4) Smell your wine. Does it smell like: floral? Citrus? Fruits? If your wine is from California (or the rest of the “new world”), it may smell like these things because of the addition of flavored yeast. However, if you have a French wine, these aromas likely reflect the “terroir”—condititions in which the grapes were grown. By the way, you should be holding your wine by the stem and swirling it slowly to preserve the temperature and aromas throughout your drinking experience.

5) Taste it! Suck in air between your teeth as you taste your wine to aerate it. Taste it on its own, and then with something savory and sweet for different effects. After you drink it, notice how long the taste lasts in your mouth (ladies…). Bad wine fades fast.

I plan on putting these steps in action during my next class on Monday, and I hope you use them soon too!

Fun Rock History:

A Factual Interlude to this Blog Post, Brought to You by My History of Rock Music Notes

Did you know that Techno Music can be considered the great great great grandson of African American Slave Songs? That’s right! Some of your favorites like “Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger” were brought to you by “Old Man River”. In the “Defining Age” of the 1960’s, Folk Revivalists like Woodie Guthrie sought to capture the dying spirit of the American South, and were particularly focused on preserving Black Folk Songs, which they considered to be truly American. Some of these guys then turned into hippies, like our friend Bob Dylan, who yielded the San Francisco and L.A. psychedelic scenes, like our friends Jefferson Airplane, after going electric during the “Technical Age”, around the time when Dylan traded his newsboy caps for his WayFarers. In the “Fragmented Age” that followed, psychadellic electric folk turned into electronic with dudes like Brian Eno, who then influenced your Airs and Aphex Twins of aujourd’hui. Isn’t that a doozy?

And now, back to our regular programming….

Manifestation:

Usually, I don’t have classes on Tuesdays and therefore have no reason to go to Sciences Po. However, this past Friday, I had a partnered oral presentation (actual exposé) to do in the conference for my French lecture course on “Large Questions of the Construction of Europe” and so my partner Dalhia, a French girl, and I decided to meet at the University on Tuesday at 6:30PM in preparation. When I got to the Metro Station, she called and asked where I was, and said something about not being able to go into Sciences PO owing to some men being in there, all of which I did not fully understand due to the combination of our shoddy cell phones and her speedy French. She and another kid caught up with me on my way from the Metro, and (jokingly) informed me that the 20 police officers I was about to see on the block outside of Sciences Po (which is in one building in one block in the 7^th—not quite as large as Berkeley!) were out to get me. As we made our way past them and into a crowd of hundreds of students, I discovered their true reason for being there: a MANIFÉSTATION! Note: I use the French word here, because the English word, “protest”, does not really do this event, or the French culture of strikes and protests, justice. Dalhia and I were among the crowd members who witnessed a handful of young people (likely Sorbonne students) take over our University in an anti-establishment tirade. They had got into Sciences Po (and thus justified the fact that we’ve had security guards checking our ID’s upon entrance into the building for the past few weeks), and chanted from some windows of the second floor of the building, where they had also hung a large sign, which (although it is way more elegant in French) read:

GOVERN, EXPLOIT, PRIVATIZE.

IT’S HERE WHERE THAT IS LEARNED,

HERE WHERE THE KNOWLEDGE IS THE SERVICE OF POWER!

As a bit of background, Sciences Po is one of the “grandes écoles” (“large schools”) in France, and is also the place where basically every major French name in politics or business did their first five years of University. So, while the staff and students are mostly considered to be to the Left, Sciences Po is also seen as “part of the institution”, especially amongst other students. Considering this dynamic and reputation, it was interesting then, to see some of the Sciences Po students chanting right along with the self-proclaimed anarchists, while others (of the polo shirt and khaki disposition) rebelled against the anarchists. One khaki kid fell, trying to rip down the maniefestants’ sign, and others made their own “Vive Le Roy” (Le Roy = Sciences Po founder) signs, and mooned the crowd from the classroom next to the one occupied by the anarchists. All of the public universities in France, with the exception of the grandes écoles, have been on strike since we’ve been here, and our friends like Sarah over at the Sorbonne have no idea when they’re going to begin classes. Perhaps that partially explains why a few of these students decided to come into our neighborhood.

Throughout the episode, Dalhia and I discussed our exposé and concluded that there was no better place to discuss French politics than in the midst of a manifestation—a truly French institution! After we were done, I talked to a handful of her friends about the cultural differences with regards to protests, strikes, etc. in France and the States and about the differences between French and American politics in general (my tattooed, Berkeley hippie, peace-loving, socially-concerned, Obama-obsessed Leftist self would probably be considered somewhere around the middle here), until the police came—accompanied by “Justice Nowhere Police Everywhere” chants—about an hour later and decided to remove the protestors. I’m totally glad that Dalhia and I happened to be meeting as all of this was going on because I got a lot done on my exposé, practiced my French (with Dalhia’s friends and in listening to the protestors), got students’ take on French politics, and did all of this amidst the excitement of a totally French cultural experience.

Hands down my favorite and most memorable experience in Paris so far.

Exposé 2:

When Dalhia and I met to discuss our exposé, she first asked me what I thought of the group that had gone the week before. Wanting to be polite, and also legitimately impressed by their effort, I told her that I thought they did a really thorough job and that it was pretty good. She agreed, but then added, as if reading my mind, that their presentation was also really long and pretty boring. She then informed me that she had a crazy idea to do our exposé in the form of a play, centering around the theme “Je t’aime, moi non plus” (roughly: “I love you, I love you not”), a French song and common theme in French literature. Exposés are normally very straight-forward presentations, meant to simulate political briefings, with a very strict methodology. However, considering that a) our subject: “Can France still be pro-European?” would fit appropriately with such a scene, b) Dalhia seemed pretty smart, and c) I had nothing to loose after my exposé number 1 debacle, I got on board. Furthermore, we weren’t abandoning the exposé methodology; just presenting it in a way which we hoped would compel our classmates to actually listen.

For the next few days, we prepared our exposé, with Dalhia doing a lot of research and revising, and by Friday it was ready to go. We stood up in front of our class, totally confident, and I took on the role of the non-French European community—critical of the French attitude and efforts towards integrating into Europe, and Dalhia took on the reverse. We had a very lively pre-written debate in front of our class, concluding that although both France and Europe have had difficulties in truly integrating the former into the latter, a pro-European France would be possible if each party changed their attitudes and took on some specific positive actions.

Prior to our presentation, Dalhia and I knew that it would be hit or miss, so we were both reassured to see our classmates’ and professor’s faces light up with every impassioned intonation or implanted interjection. During the “questions” segment at the end, our classmates mostly commended us for retaining their attention, and our professor, too, expressed his extreme approval for our dynamism. He only critiqued one small part of one of Dalhia’s subpoints, probably just for the sake of critiquing something.

Not only was it comforting/glorifying to do so well on this exposé (due in large part to Dalhia), but it was really fun to work with a Parisian! While breaking from our work, Dalhia gave me a lot of insider tips about slang, fun places to go at night, good food, and the real scoop on Sciences Po. I learned that, yes there are super intense kids who do nothing but study here and are disinterested/ unimpressed by Americans and international students, but there are also a fair amount of laid-back students who are sympathetic and fun to boot!

GivernyàRouen:

Today, a group of us were planning on taking the train to Giverny, site of Monet’s house and the famous water lilies (which I have a strong connection to and will probably discuss later). However, upon our arrival in Vernon, the train station about 7KM away, we learned that apparently Monet’s house isn’t open until April 1^st and that the bus from Vernon to Giverny won’t be running until then anyway. So, being the spontaneous and adventurous study abroad students that we are, we decided to keep going on our line (after some cocktails, of course), all the way to Rouen, the capital of High-Normandy, and site of the cathedral of the same name which Monet studied at different hours in the day. We walked around the town, in and out of the cathedral, and had many delicious treats along the way. All in all, it was nice to get out of Paris (as magical as it is) and to see a charming and older town. In hind site, I’m also quite glad that we’re saving our Giverny visit for another day because today marked the first sign of clouds in a while.

In general, I have a lot more I could/want to say. My life here is pretty great. Paris’ beauty never ceases to amaze me. However, owing to the fact that I have homework and a bed to attend to, and the fact that you’ve probably stopped reading by now, I will call this the end for now. If you are still reading: congratulations on making it through. Raf and Dad: was that what you were looking for?

Today...

Today I was walking behind Sienna Miller on my way home from school. She was exiting Paris Fashion Week. Later, I participated in a discussion linking Max Weber to Bob Dylan and Brittney Spears.

Life is good.

A Different Kind of Week-end...

I need to go to bed now, so this one's gonna be brief:

This Thursday night, I went to watch Clockwork Orange with a few of my friends at an artsy theater Rafaella had discovered. I had seen the movie once before, but due to my young age, didn't quite appreciate all of it's nuances. (Thanks big bro for the Clockwork Orange/American History X double feature when I was 12). This time around, I really enjoyed the movie and picked up on a lot more of the subtext. Also, the imagery was a lot less disturbing and distracting at age 20.

Friday night, I went with a group to a soiree put on by danone).(communities (as in Danon, the yogurt people) that I thought was going to be primarily a speech by Muhammed Yunus, the founder of the Grameen Bank and winner of the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize for inventing microfinancing. Instead, the talk was more of an annual report about what danone).(communities--Danon's foundation that has projects in developing countries and works towards marketing cheap/nutritious products there--is doing and the problems it will face. The presentation also included a series of round table discussions that addressed issues like the tension between the profit-driven nature of corporations and the desire for increased corporate social responsibility. Yunus was a part of one of these round table discussions and it was actually really cool to hear him responding to other people's comments instead of just making a speech in front of an adoring audience. This seemed a lot more real. Also, most of the other presenters spoke entirely in French, so it was good practice too! All in all, the soiree wasn't what I had expected, but ended up being really interesting and inspiring anyway.

Through a convulded chain of people, I got the opportunity to volunteer on Saturday and took ten of my UC party posse people with me. We woke up bright and early and headed over to l'Envol--a camp an hour outside of Paris for chronically ill children. We were told that we were going to be painting walls, but what we didn't know was that that actually meant painting designs onto walls--something we all very much took to. I made some fabulous coccinelles (ladybugs) and had a fun time chatting with some American ex-pats and the French people who worked there. I brought a huge feast for all of us for lunch, to which a few others contributed an absurd number of baguettes, and we chowed down. The staff at l'Envol were so fun and gracious and I hope we can go back there because we all had a GREAT time. Plus, a little extra good karma never hurt anyone in Paris.

Last night, I went to a party at my friend Annie's HUGE apartment and had a fun time practicing my French with some of the local natives. Although we didn't talk about Freedom Fries, I do remember a particular conversation about the cultural differences with regards to language instruction between the US and elsewhere, so I guess I'm pretty predictable and the Chi O seniors who called that I would be talking politics with the Frenchies via my Chi O Abroader award last semester were totally right. Earlier this evening (Sunday), I went back to the jazz club I had visited a few weeks ago, and followed that with a great chat with Tami and Song-My.

Now I've realized that it's approaching 3AM and that I have miserably failed at being brief, so I'll sign off and save a few of my latest intellectual musings for next time.

VI N!!!

Today, I had my first session of World of Wine in France, and this class was everything it ought to be and MORE. We are basically going to learn everything about French wine from the affect of the terroir (territory in which it is grown, climate conditions, etc.) on the taste of the wine, to the cultural contexts in which it is consumed. I have already chosen my topic for my oral presentation, that I will be doing with the lovely and talented Andrea Michealian, and we are going to compare Chardonnay from Nappy Valley to Chardonnay in France's Loire Valley. My professor advised us to do a tasting in order to prepare ourselves. She actually advised tastings A LOT over the course of the first session and informed us that our first hour of class next week will be held at Lavinia, the premiere wine shop in Paris (and possibly even the world...?). Pretty much I couldn't even dream up a better course to be taking in Paris, especially with opportunities for Field Trips (Bordeaux, Champagne Region, etc.) so close and easy. Tastings + Field Trips to Vineyards + Trips to Wine Shops = What could be better?

Beyond classes, I also came to the realization as to why Parisian women are notoriously thin despite their lack of gyms and definitely in spite of their diets (have I mentioned the nutella-crêpe-pain chocolat-baguette-smoked salmon-brie-wine dream of a life I'm living here?). I think it is because they are constantly walking their little dogs while wearing incredibly high heels. The high heel part is important because French women never leave their house looking anything other than perfectly pristine and absolutely put together--which, as many of my former roommates know--I have a bad habit of doing too. Also, I think that the constant wearing of high heels is a work out for the calves--très important considering the popularity of skinny jeans, tights, and leggings here. The small dogs fit into the equation as they become an accessory themselves, and are probably easier to walk when one is wearing high heels. De plus, considering that a French woman wouldn't dream of leaving her house in sweats (and probably doesn't even own them and instead has a wardrobe of beautiful night gowns), gyms are out of the question. Thus, this high-heel dog-walking equation is the perfect solution for their exercise needs.

On another note, the sun was out today and has been a few times already in the past week. I am so happy for it; this California girl does not do well with too many gray skies.

Mes Courses

So week one is up and I’ve officially had most of my classes. Sciences Po is definitely a tough school—probably up to par with Berkeley on difficulty, but oh wait, in French! Here’s the run-down of each of my classes:

Large Questions of the Construction of the European Union: This is my cours magistral in French, meaning that it is my large lecture course, for which I also have a 2 hour-long discussion section (similar to the States). It’s all about the European Union, and the large questions concerning its construction, the problems it’s going to address, etc. For the lecture portion, I can choose to either listen to my professor intently or take good notes, but I don’t think my brain works quickly enough in French yet to do both simultaneously. Furthermore, there are very few American international students in my Conférence du Méthode (discussion section) for this course, and so it seems as if all of these Europeans (whether they are French or something else) have a lot better of a handle on the EU than I do already. This class will definitely be a challenge, but I also think it will be a good opportunity to learn a lot and meet new people—I’m already signed up to do a presentation with a French girl!

History of Rock and Roll Music: This is an elective in English with a sassy young French professor who is also interested in the fashion industry. It seems really great so far and I LOVE the professor. From the first day, she’s been cursing a lot and explained to us that she is quite rude when she speaks English. She made fun of me for being from Berkeley (which is kind of a big deal/pretentious thing to say around here), and was teasing people for their tastes in music too. Our homework for this class on top of readings is to listen to playlists that she’s created for us, so I’m very excited. All in all, I think this will be a great class.

French: I’m still a little confused as to why I was put in French 4 (the highest level, there’s no French 5), but I’m just going to try to roll with it. In this class, 15 of the 18 students have been at Sciences Po for a semester already, and furthermore, there are very few Americans. It’s a little intimidating, but I think it’ll be better for me to be in a more challenging class and struggle a bit than in one where I am just the best and won’t learn that much. I’m not going to lie though; I think grade-wise this semester may not be my best.

Philosophy of Public Policy: This is my English lecture course and is probably the only one which I will be able to actually transfer for credit, which makes it all the more unfortunate that I ran around a building of Sciences Po for forty minutes trying to find it the first day and ended up being thirty minutes late. I was pretty mortified about this and apologized to my professor afterwards, explaining that I had been lost, and she seemed pretty understanding, BUT I’m still highly afraid that I will get some sort of black mark by my name thanks to my tardiness. Other than that, the class seemed really interesting and theoretical, which I absolutely love. I hope it ends up working out okay, but I guess que sera sera.

Introduction to Liberal Thinking: This is my French elective and it’s all about European liberalism (which is pretty much like American libertarianism). I’m actually really excited about this class, because I think it will be a nice departure from the Neoliberal doctrine that is preached at Berkeley, and although I tend to agree with that doctrine, I think part of my experience here is about expanding my mind and gaining new perspectives, so I’ll call it a victory. The professors seem pretty great too. They are two French men who work in government and are extremely hilarious, and they decided that me and the boy sitting next to me were a couple since we both happened to be from America, and kept making inappropriate references to us throughout class (which prompted us to introduce ourselves to each other after). I think this will be a good one as well.

Unfortunately I haven’t had wine class yet, but my first session is tomorrow and I’m excited to see how that goes.

Beyond that, I am enjoying the little free time I have left before school really kicks into gear. I think it’s definitely going to be tough here, so it’s nice to relax a little before I start with all my assignments. I’ve done a lot of fun stuff over the past week, including a boat ride, and multiple visits to a cool bar in the fifth called Piano Vache, which is very grungy and has a rock and roll feel. I’ve been hanging out with my Californian friends a lot, and one night Rafaella, Melissa, and I hung out with Melissa’s French cousin and his friends and we practiced our French a lot. Next week, I’m doing a “tandem” meet-up with a French student, for me to practice my French and for him to practice his English. Hopefully that will be fun too!