The Apartment
(Picture: Jardins des Tuileries)

We got the apartment! It’s perfect: three separate bedrooms, kitchen, bathroom; it’s massive… wooden floors throughout… only 10min by metro from uni… I am so happy! It is such a relief. I will be sharing with Mathilde and her friend Barbara. The only downside to the apartment is that it is unfurnished, so I’ve spent some time at Ikea and other furniture stores choosing a bed, desk etc… but it works out to be worth it in the long run! We are moving in on Saturday, and I don’t think the WiFi network has been set up yet, so it may be a while until my next post… although I will try to use the WiFi at uni.
Otherwise, things have been going well. As part of the orientation program, I have been taking classes on French language and civilisation each week, as well as classes on the ‘methodology’ at Sciences Po – how to write essays, how to format oral presentations, etc. They have quite a rigid system here and I’ve been told to expect a lot of work. Sciences Po is considered to be the best university in France for political science and international relations, so I shouldn’t complain! Sciences Po (short hand for the Institute of Political Studies) is the starting point for many French politicians, including the current president (Jacques Chirac) and current prime minister (Dominic de Villepin). The next French presidential elections are in May 2007, so there will be many debates and conferences held at uni – I look forward to seeing some of the heavyweights in French politics in action.
I haven’t had that much time for sightseeing here, although I have been making an effort to walk around different parts of Paris after uni. The weather has been beautiful, and in the late afternoon it is really lovely. It still feels very surreal when I think that I am living here now. Last Saturday I went to a party with Mathilde, which was a lot of fun. It was my first French house party, and I was the only non-French person there… so it was interesting! It was hard for me to follow conversations due to the noise etc, but I got by. The theme of the party was ‘the 1990s’, so they played a lot of great music. Mathilde and I caught the first train home and only got back at 7am… which is another of the reasons why I didn’t do any sightseeing last weekend! Life here as an international student is a lot of fun, and I think it will be even better once I have moved into the new apartment which is a lot closer to everything. The area is lovely, we have everything we need in walking distance, including several small bakeries… I look forward to buying my baguette in the morning!