Welcome Program

We went to a pub last night (our first night really out in the city). Diana and I spent an hour speaking French with a student our age at the Sorbonne. It was amazing what beer could do for my language skills. We then woke up at the crack of dawn for our first day of methodology classes.

Lists of reasons why I don't belong at Sciences Po:
1. Teachers HATE it when you are late and see it as a huge sign of disrespect...good thing I'm always on time
2. I am taking zero business classes and the french don't understand the concept of add/drop
3. I have never taken a politics class in my life and apparently that's what all of the students specialize in at this school (who would've thought)
4. You can't skip class to travel to random countries to visit your fellow study abroad friends
5. Most importantly, you can't bullshit and must always back up your comments with cold hard facts

I am praying that this introduction class is a scare tactic to make us appreciate this educational experience, or so I've been told. On the bright side, and it's a very bright side, we've met some incredible people from all over the world and the city is beautiful. Though it's hard to believe, I have even begun to understand how to use the metro. I managed to make it from the apartment to class by myself and I only got lost twice on the way (don't freak out mom, the school is in a good area). I even managed to pick up a croissant and make it to class 10 minutes early. This is because I left the apartment 25 minutes early in order to give myself time to make a wrong turn, continue making random turns in panic, and then ask (en francais) for directions! Tomorrow we have a tour of the Louvre and a boat ride on the Seine. My typical Tuesday forms of entertainment.

We also ate crepes and cider tonight with our welcome program groups. From now on it will only be fresh baguettes, good cheese, and two euro bottles of surprisingly great wine.

I just found out that I don't have class next week until Friday. This will give me a few more days to learn the metro and adapt to living in a city. I also get to think of fun things to do before the work begins...