First Month conclusion

So it’s Sunday and I don’t really want to do my work but there is so much of it. I am going to take a quick break to write this. After Brussels, the rest of the week was very tiring because that Wednesday I went to my first Sciences Po party which was held on a stationary boat on the Seine. It had three levels of bars, dance floors, and seating areas. I went with a friend from Northwestern, but I was disappointed that nobody else from our group was at the party. The reason was probably they went to the first two that I kept being too late to buy tickets for. My friend and I were really tired from the two days in Brussels so we got there when it started at 11PM and got drinks and posted up on the top level. We sat at a table with two chairs in front of us that we put our feet on. We were being really lazy mostly because we didn’t know anyone and nobody spoke English. We ended up being dragged to the dance floor by multiple girls who came up to us, so yeah it was nice to not have to do any work. We met Italians, French, and even a Brazilian.

What I liked the most about the night was that this “club” was no different than the parties we have at Northwestern except for the music which was half techno, half 80s and 70s oldies that I found it really amusing that many Frenchies knew the words to. I didn’t even know the words to most of them, but then again do you expect me to know Dancing Queen? But yeah so there would be a corny American song and then an amazing 2007 techno song. Strange but fun. Other differences include the fact that guys dance better, but you still have the creepy guys who just come out of nowhere and put their claws on a girl. It was funny because by the end of the night when we were dancing with these three girls, guys would come up to them and they would move closer to us. I also had a few laughs watching some of these guys dance to techno and be completely off, not saying I was much better but yeah its not that much different from the States. Thursday I had class then slept. Friday was catching up day that also included a game day organized by some girls in our program which is well documented on facebook.

Saturday was interesting because not only did I wake up at 7AM to travel to the other end of Paris for Sciences Po soccer, it was somebody’s birthday that night and it was Paris’ Nuit Blanc when there is a party all night. The birthday party was fun not only because the 2E champagne was good but because France upset New Zealand in rugby, which was like the Detroit Lions beating the Bears…well the Bears and Lions from last year. I won’t even mention the Cubs’ exit from the playoffs because since whenever people were talking about October baseball, I said they were not making it past the first round of the playoffs. Going back to Sat night, some parts of Paris were open all nights and a lot the public places along the new 14 metro line were open with artist displays and concerts. Everyone from the party walked around for awhile around the Louvre/Ferris Wheel and St. Michel but it had been such a long day that the prospect of walking from the Place de la Concorde to Montparnasse was not looking good. On the train back with two of my friends, another friend who actually lives above me in our apartment building walked into our train car. Weird but it’s been happening so much in this city that is scary. Over the course of Sat night, my group ran into people we knew from the program 4 different times. I guess as you get older the world gets smaller and smaller. Sunday à my first time watching an Arsenal game and drinking a pint of Guinness legally! Best part they won 3-2; worst part I found out on ESPN that the Rockies are going farther in the playoffs than the Cubs. Divided feelings but a pint at 2 PM made it and all the homework I have to do today even more fun than it normally is. Oh well back to the mines….