After almost 4 months in Paris

Ok, so this is another one of these entries for which I needed quite some time. However, I have a good explanation, and hope somebody buys it. I had to get accepted into the Sciences Po journalism exchange program and was a little worried they might google my name and find all the potential hating might be doing on Sciences Po in my blog. I have to admit that place still hasn’t convinced me a 100%, but it is definitely an interesting experience.

So, I’m about two thirds done with my exchange year and my study habits have definitely gotten better since I’m actually forced to sit down on my behind and work. Paris is growing on me, but I still miss Montréal a lot. I also have to say that the friends I made during my first year at Concordia, who were on exchange back then, were a great help when it comes to settling in and it is very nice to have a support system in a new city. 

One thing which surprised me at Sciences Po was that the majority of German exchange students I met, all study outside of Germany, which was somewhat reassuring to me. It seems that I’m not the only one who is just a little insane. I haven’t met anybody else from Concordia yet but I have classes with quite a few people from Vancouver.

Another thing which is rather interesting to observe at Sciences Po is “French elitism”. Well, let’s say elitism in general since it is supposed to be such a great school (I still slightly beg to differ, but that’s just me), a notion which never came into play at Concordia.

As far as the weather goes I’m kind of happy that this seems like constant fall compared to Montréal. It also seems that Christmas season has passed me by with all the work I had to do and the simple fact that there was no snow. Nevertheless it is nice because I can still go running outside whereas in Montréal I would be spending that time inside at the gym.  BUT call me weird….I miss the snow!!! A lukewarm Christmas just seems so bizarre!!!

Something else I should mention is that I started volunteering. A friend of mind told me of this organization called Afev which works with schools in poor neighbours and children from poor (defavorisé) families. So, twice a week I head to the 19^th arrondissement and help out Nissan with her homework. Nissan is an 8-year-old girl, whose parents originally come from the Ivory Coast. She has 4 brothers and sisters and her mum is expecting another baby. So, she just seems to get a little lost among all of them. We to the Eiffel tower a few days ago and she thought it was completely ugly and was wondering why people come to see it. My cell phone and mp3 player turned out to be a lot more interesting to her.

I guess there are a lot of things going on in this post but I still hope it is interesting to read.