I have finished my first week of classes. It is a little bit like high school being that you are only allowed one excused absence for the entire semester, the classes went ok. On Mondays and Wednesdays I only have class from 9 am until 12:30 which is nice because then I have the rest of the day to go shopping or wander aimlessly around Paris. I have The History of Paris through Art and Architecture first. I think that it will be really fun because half of our classes are field trips to see art and architecture all over the city of Paris. For our first non syllabus day class we went and saw the ancient Roman ruins that are still here today in Paris. There are the Cluny Baths, the amphitheatre, and the ruins in the crypt of Notre Dame.

Also for that class today I went to a small museum, Pavillon De l’Arsenal, which is free near Bastille that is all about the different periods of Architecture in Paris. We had to pick a time period and in class on Monday give a five minute presentation on our time period.

My Second class is French Politics and Society where we learn about aspects of French life and try to learn to look at the world the way a French person does. Also seems like a very interesting class. On Tuesdays and Thursdays I have 3 classes. First I have Supranational Governance in the 21^st century. Basically only taking this class because I had to get out of my all French history of Louis XIV; so we will see how it goes. Next I have the Political Economy of European Integration, only taking this class because it fulfils my requirement for my International Business minor. Both of these classes are taught by the same professor and it really just seems like a lot of presentations approximately 5 for each class throughout the semester. Also I have to start being educated about the world around me and read things like the Economist and The Wall Street Journal when I would much rather read things like the sports section of the Collegian. Then 4 hours after that I have my French class which also seems like it will be very simple. The only real problem with these classes is that we have actual homework not just reading assignments anymore. Not really a fan of the “study” abroad I think I should have signed up for Live abroad for 4 months and do no school work.

Today after my visit to the museum I wandered around Paris for about an hour stopping in random shops and browsing. I stumbled upon the Bastille Monument (Reason for Bastille Day where the prison used to be) and a nice little demonstration about all that is going on in Egypt right now.

Then on a completely random note I found a street that was completely lined with lamp stores? One of the stores sold only chandeliers which were absolutely awesome so I took pictures.

Location: Paris, France