Work Hard Play Hard?

Hey all,

So it has been ages since I have written because the past few weeks have been insanely busy. School has really begun to pick up, particularly because I had two of my exposes this past week. Because of this, I regret to inform my sightseeing has also been well below part. BUT, there were still quite a few things I have seen and experiences I have had.

Firstly, thursday before last, me and a friend visited the Musee Marmottan Monet in the 16th. It was actually an old house (we never quite figured out who it actually belonged to) and many of the paintings in the house were there when the tenant still lived there. There were a few more of Monet's famed Nympheas(Water Lillies) along with many other Monet paintings. Gorgeous as always, so I spent quite a bit of time looking at the paintings. Downstairs, there was a more modernist exhibit. Though I liked the colors, it was a bit harsh for me, particularly after looking at the Monet paintings. With Monet, I could so easily picture myself there and put myself where he was, whereas with these paintings I didn't have the same experience. The museum also had pictures of Monet taken at his house and in his gardens in Giverny. It was nice to see the actual locations for many of his paintings. Hopefully I will have the opportunity to make a trip out to his house and gardens and see it firsthand, though I doubt it will be as good as Monet's portrayal of these places.

We had a three day weekend following that, which did not prove as productive as one would think. Thursday night, me and my friend Sam decided to go out since we didn't have school Friday. We also wanted to make the last metro (at 1:20) home. So, she came over, we had some wine with our friend Brittany beforehand and we didn't actually end up heading out till about 12. At that point, we checked out the bar we had wanted to go into, saw that there weren't that many people there and decided to cut our losses and head home. At this point, it was a little before 1. Me and Sam waited for the train until about 1:15 when the announcer called out that the line was terminated for the evening. We were less than pleased, but ended up heading back to the bar since we had to take a taxi at that point anyways. Brittany met up with us. A few tequila shots afterwards, the bartender said he had to close up shop, so we headed over to try out another bar called the Highlander(scottish bar). This ended up being extremely fun. The bartender was scottish, and funny. And, the bar was packed. We met some other French students, and spent a very long time talking to them. This was wonderful for me because I got to speak French, but since Brittany and Sam don't speak very good French, they were constantly asking me to speak in English. By the time we were done talking to them, and hanging out there in general, the bar was closing, and it was 5am. At this point we decided to wait the extra 45 minutes till the metro started again, and went to what I am sure is the French version of Ihop and had some food there. By the time I got home, it was 6:30am and I was exhausted. Slept until about 1 the next day and then woke up and got some work done. Next night, we went out again, to the same two places. First, to the Moose (canadian bar) where we met a group of girls in another Paris program, and we hung out there for awhile and talked to the bartenders. We headed over to the Highlander at around 1:30 again, but Sam and I were only there for a short time since we were tired from the night before. So, we called it a night and went home.

The next day was Valentine's Day, and as you can imagine, spending Valentine's Day in the city of love when your single is not exactly ideal. Thankfully, me and my roommate went to a dinner party thrown by some of our friends to celebrate Chinese New Year. Afterwards, I headed to a movie theater on the Champs d'Elysees to see Valentine's Day in English with Sam and Laura. It was cute, no Love Actually, but it still made me happy.

This pas week, I had mass amounts of presentations so basically the only thing I did all week was work. Even though it was stressful, it was nice to get them out of the way. I have one coming up on March 15th, and because its in French, my goal is to have books checked out for it by the end of the week so I can start working on it over my Winter Break.

As for more sightseeing: this past Friday, they have the Louvre open late for students. So, me and a friend first went to what I am sure is my grown up version of Disneyland, a macaroon making place called Laduree. Macaroons are french merangue typed cookies that are delicious, and at Laduree, they have a huge selection, and you can get a bunch of mini macaroons so you can try out the different flavours. Afterwards, we headed to the Louvre for student night which was a blast. It was nice to wander around, although we got there late so I didn't get to see much that I hadn't already seen, I love being at the Louvre.

Saturday, me and my roommate threw an extremely successful dinner party. It was potluck themed, so everybody brought food and wine, and we made chicken curry, which went well with the vegetarian curry my friend Heidi made. Everybody had a really good time, and was there until they had to leave at around 1 to get the last metro. We went through a lot of wine, and a lot of dessert, but it was all in all a successful night. I really like the people I have been meeting here, and dinner parties are a fun way for everybody to get to meet people they haven't known as well and talk.

Yesterday, me and a couple friends visited the Rodin Museum. It was a much nicer day that it has been in awhile, the sun finally decided to come out for a short period of time. The museum was also an old house, and contained many of Rodin's sculptures. This included the Gates of Hell (my personal favourite) and the Thinker. The gardens were pretty, especially with all of the statues interspersed around.

I am still enjoying myself very much here, even with the interludes of large amounts of schoolwork. I can already tell its going to be hard for me to leave. I feel like I will be excited to see home again and all my friends and family, but after the novelty of that wears off I am really going to miss everything here. This weekend my big sis in my sorority is visiting from Florence (where she is studying abroad) so I am excited to show her around!

That's all for now, better get back to some work for school. Will be better about updating from now on I promise.

Megan

Dinner Parties, Musee d'Orangerie, Versailles, and Superbowl at midnight

Hey everybody!

My weekend was quite successful to say the least, and I did some touristy esque things as well which was good. Even with the cold temperatures and the fact that I haven't seen the sun in forever, I am falling more and more in love with this city every day. I have moments where it hits me that I am actually here, and that this is actually real and I love those moments.

On friday, my friend Sam and myself went to see a movie called Oceans. Set to come out on earth day in the US, but as its a french film its being shown here earlier. Its a planet earth esque thing all about marine life, and the cinematography was breathtaking. It made me want to drop out of school and become a documentary filmmaker about the ocean. It also made me miss the ocean and being close to it. That evening, a friend of mine had a bunch of us over for dinner, and made delicious french onion soup. It was a lot of fun, and her apartment has an awesome view of the city which we all got to see. Afterwards, me and Sam walked around with a bottle of wine to avoid the ridiculous drink costs in bars.

Saturday, Sam Laura and I decided to go to the Musee d'Orangerie on recommendation from my mother, and to see Monet's water lily paintings. They were so wonderful I can't put it into words. We all spent about a half an hour in each room looking at the paintings. The way he captured the light, and how the light changed the scenery was beautiful, and the reflections of the sky in the water. I also loved them because I love water, and I really liked how he portrayed it with the water lillies. I really want to go out to his house outside the city, and to his gardens and see what the actual scenery looks like. Probably nothing in comparison to his portrayal, but it would be really interesting to see the nature that gave him inspiration for so many of his pieces.

Saturday evening we bought 5 euro tickets to a Shakespeare performance...in French. Needless to say, we understood almost none of it, and there were a reason the tickets were 5 euros; we were essentially sitting on the ceiling in the place. The play seemed like it would have been really good had I been able to see it and had I understood better what was going on, but because of the seating and lack of comprehension we opted to leave at intermission.

Sunday we went out to Versailles, which was beautiful. The palace and the gates were gorgeous at the entrance, but it was sad to see that a lot of modern buildings have been built up around the palace. Definitely a must see if your in Paris. You get in free on the first sunday of every month, and if your a French student(even though I am not actually french I just flash my Sciences Po ID and they think I am) its free every sunday. However, once you get through the palace and out into the grounds you felt like it was its own little city. The grounds were so pretty, even in the dead of winter so I can't wait to see what they'll be like in spring. I can't imagine what it would have been like to legitimately spend summers there and be able to wander around the grounds at your leisure. There was a Tex Mex place right by Versailles, and we wanted to go so badly, it was definitely a buzzkill when we walked in and they said they weren't serving food anymore. But, on the grounds of Versailles and near Marie Antionette's cottage there was a cafe that sold macaroons which were definitely the most delicious ones I have had since I have been here. We're talking about going back this weekend sometime, since apparently we don't have any classes on Friday.

I also watched the superbowl!! At a canadian bar. I have an 8am on mondays, so it was definitely a dilemma but it was too good a game for me to pass up. And it definitely lived up to my expectations, it was such a good game. So glad the saints won too! By the time I got home, it was 4:30, and I had my 8am to wake up for. But, my alarm decided to break and so I actually woke up at 9:30 and was extremely confused, so I missed class and spent forever fixing my alarm. Fixed now thank god so I won't be missing my 8am tomorrow.

I am enjoying myself so much here, I am falling more and more in love with this city every day. I feel completely at home here, and I feel like everything I do is interesting, even the things I must do out of necessity, like class, I still enjoy doing. I was talking to my mother today, and I realized how much I love all of my classes here. I actually enjoy going to class, it doesn't feel like a chore. I love studying at Sciences Po, and I really lucked out with my teachers. They are all extremely interesting, and extremely nice people. I feel very intellectually stimulated by all my classes, and even doing readings for them is interesting. It is also nice to have a lot of writing based assessment, and less exam based.

That's all for now. Since I have gotten very little sleep in the past 24 hours, I want to try and get some in tonight before I have to wake up for my next 8am.

A bientot!

Megan

Classes etc etc etc

Hey again all,

SO officially in my third day of classes. Well, just finished my third day of classes. So far, I like them a lot. My first three were really difficult because everything was in french, so by the time I had my first english class yesterday morning, I was really excited for it. Except, my teacher straight up didn't show, so we all sat around for like 45 minutes (its a 2 hour class) waiting until everyone left. This is poor manners at any time of the day, but particularly when its an 8am, and I woke up at 6:45 to get ready and make it over to school. Rude Edouard Husson, rude.

Today, I had a class called "Vichy's France", which is (yep, you guessed it) about the Vichy regime in France. It was extremely interesting, and taking this kind of class in France, particularly when Vichy is a sort of touchy subject in French history is very interesting. Also, the class has two professors. Both of them have different expertise on the Vichy regime, and so they both have different things to bring to the class. The first day was a lot of information, but all information that kept my attention, and I am excited for the rest following. Although I have a presentation in the class already in 2 weeks. Yuck.

An interesting aspect of studying at Sciences Po is that almost everything you study relates back to Politics and International Relations. Though this may be a narrow sphere for some, I love this aspect of classes. I take a religion and societies class in French which I thought was just going to be an evaluation of religion and its social roles in different cultures. However, the class is actually an assessment of the ways in which religion has influenced the political sphere (and therefore the social sphere) over the years. We study the Roman empire, Constantanople and the Byzantine empire, the Protestant reforms in Europe, and a few other political regimes, as well as religion's role in current day International Relations. I particularly enjoy seeing this from a purely European perspective. All of my classes are taught by French professors, and therefore I am getting a perspective on history and politics that I have never had before.

Last night, me and my roommate decided to make dinner. Well, my roommate decided what to make, etc, I just got spare ingredients. We made a couscous dish with grilled vegetables. It was a really nice relaxing evening, something I have not really had since I have been here. It also made me realize I am extremely thankful for the fact that me and my roommate get along so well. We have had a lot of fun living together so far, and its only a week we have been here so it should be a fun time.

On a completely different note, finally had the chance to check oscar nominations. I feel like I have been so busy that I am under a rock when it comes to current events, particularly bad considering the school I am attending. I think I'll read nytimes online soon. Anyways, I have to say, although there were movies that I am glad got recognition, I feel like the academy is on a decline. First of all, 10 best picture nominations is too many. Secondly, I know everyone else thought it was a great movie bla bla bla, but I personally am appalled that District 9 is up for a best picture AND adapted screenplay nomination. Gillian and myself decided one night to rent it since everyone told us how great it was, and thought it was horrendous enough that we had to turn it off after 45 minutes. This could just be my general aversion to sci fi of any kind, but I thought the movie was a horrible commentary on apartheid, and the majority of scenarios I saw in the movie would never play out in real life. I am going to stop my rant there so I don't bore everybody. I will still be watching (probably at 3am paris time), so we will see how it goes.

Me and a few girls are going out to ladies night at a club on the Champs d'Elysees tonight. I know I am probably not fancy enough to pull off doing stuff like that on a regular basis, but I figured I would try it out once and see how it went. I don't have class until 5pm tomorrow, so I thought I'd take the opportunity to do something fun.

I am also excited because I spoke to my longtime close friend Kirsten Marchbank's mother yesterday, and am officially going to London over my winter break in a few weeks for some much needed solo r'n r. I am also going to stay with my mother's best friend for a few of these days too. Since both Kirsten's mom and my mom's best friend are my second mothers, I am much excited.

That's all for now! Thanks everyone who is following this too :) You guys are the greatest.

First Few Weeks

Hello all,

As of now, I have been in the city for three weeks exactly. Classes only just started this week, so up until now its kind of been like being on one long vacation. Its been difficult to get back into the swing of things, particularly since I haven't been in school since mid December, but I am getting the hang of it. The weather is atrocious, I feel like I haven't seen the sun since I've been here, but oh well.

Its interesting how easily I settled in to life here. The first week was definitely a struggle. I remember talking to a friend about it the first or second day I was here, and he told me that feeling uncomfortable was good because it was the only way you ever learned anything about yourself. At the time it didn't register, but looking back on how I have settled in the past few weeks, there was definitely some merit to that. Its so interesting to immerse yourself in a culture so foreign to your own, and I expected myself to be able to do it with much more ease. The first week, I was extremely stressed out, confused, and doubting my decision.

The Welcome Programme the first week helped a lot. Sciences Po organizes a programme for its exchange students (of which there are a lot, about 1,000 to be exact I believe) where we learn about the different types of assessments at Sciences Po, and learn how to integrate ourselves into the school. The Welcome Programme was all in French for me, which was a good lead in to all the classes I will have in French. The best thing about the Welcome Programme, however, was getting to meet other exchange students. Though I did not meet a lot of French students, I did get to meet other students on exchange. There are a lot coming from the US, but also from plenty of other places. There were parties at night, tours during the day, and a class every morning from 9-11 which talked about the different specifics of Sciences Po. I met a lot of cool people through the programme, so I am extremely glad I did it.

I also met my roommate during the Welcome Programme, and we moved into our apartment last Wednesday. Its a really cute place, all hardwood floors and the smell of hardwood reminds me of my house in Atlanta, which is nice. Its in the 13th, basically in Chinatown. I can't see the Eiffel Tower everyday, and the Seine isn't right next to the apartment, but for what I am paying its a good deal, and the area is safe. Also, yummy Chinese food whenever I want.

When I wasn't in school all last week, I spent a lot of time playing, not much time doing much else. Me and another friend Laura from CU spent quite a bit of time at the Louvre. Though you technically have to be an EU student to get in, we just flash our Sciences Po ID's and they let us in. Sometimes they ask us a few questions, but don't put up a big fuss. I just pretend I'm British. The Louvre is gorgeous, even though that's a given. I like being in museums, its extremely calming. I want to bring a book and sit in the statue garden and read, but I am pretty sure I would get mass amounts of weird looks from passing tourists. The city is beautiful at all hours, and in whatever weather. People talk about springtime in Paris, which I cannot wait for, don't get me wrong, but even now the city is beautiful. At night and during the day. Last week, me and Laura had a truly Parisian night. We bought a bottle of wine, went up to a cafe on the Champs and asked them to open it for us, and then took our bottle of wine on a sightseeing tour around the city. We first payed a visit to the arc du triumph, and made a mad dash across the Etoile and oncoming traffic to get there since the underpass was closed. Then, we climbed up near one of the palaces and got a gorgeous view of the Eiffel Tower, and saw it Sparkle at midnight. We then sat under the Eiffel Tower to finish our bottle of vino, and had the pleasure of seeing it Sparkle for the last time at 1, and then turn off. I have been out a lot at night, barely scraping the last metro, and having to take a taxi on occasion, but as I said before, the city is just as beautiful at night as it is during the day. Also, going out at night to different bars in the area around school with other exchange students has been a good way to get to know everyone, etc.

Fashion week ended sometime last week, and I didn't get a chance to hang around the Champs and check out the scene. The fall shows all start in March, however, and sometime last week I had a pep talk from a friend's boyfriend while out on how to crash fashion week, so I am going to make an attempt. More info on how that goes later.

Even though I just started classes today, I can already feel myself settling into some form of a routine. Family friends of ours live in the city, and I was asked to act as a sort of tutor to their daughters about three times a week, just for homework help and such. I miss being around children since I don't get to see my brother and sister, so its wonderful for me to get to be around them for a little while. Classes have proved difficult so far, but I can tell I will get used to it. Lots of critical thinking typed assessments, which are my favourite kind. Because I am settling into a routine, and just settling in in general, Paris already feels like home.

That being said, I still miss my friends and family insanely. I have met a lot of extremely cool people, and I can already tell I will make good friends here, but I still miss my other ones. Although I have my big sis (sorority not actual) visiting me in a few weeks and my actual sister coming the week following that, so I will see some familiar faces. Me and a friend of mine are already planning a trip to Dublin for the weekend before St. Patrick's Day. Get back to my Irish roots.

I think that's all for now, and I will try and be more diligent about writing in this thing.

A bientot,

Megan