One month and counting

As of tomorrow, I will have been in Paris for four weeks. So far, I am pretty proud of myself. No breakdowns, not even minor ones, and I feel like I have been able to assimilate fairly well :) I'm prepared for this next month to be a bit more difficult. I'm sure the dazzle of Paris will have to wear off eventually, making it tougher to be away from loved ones and Berkeley--especially with the introduction of the stress of school into my schedule.

However, though I do have a bunch of work for the semester, (don't know how I couldn't with seven classes) I'm actually NOT feeling overwhelmed-at least at this point. I'm pretty sure its going to be a very manageable workload. It also helps that I am a native English speaker, already gives me a leg up! I have three major papers, 3 mini papers, 3 oral group presentations, and 3 finals (still waiting to add the work to the list for the class I haven't had yet). Sounds like a lot, but I am kind of excited haha. I have a sticky note on my desktop with everything so I can delete one by one as it gets accomplished :)

I had a really lovely weekend--particularly today. Went with my housemates to Chinese New Year celebration in Paris' Chinatown, which is only about a 20 minute walk down the main road outside my building. One of my housemates shares a love for Chinese pastries, so we grabbed pork buns for lunch...sigh so good.

Definitely is going to be tempting to go back since it is so close--the 20 minute walk can be cut more than in half by using public transport...just saying.

I next went for a walk around the first arrondisment of Paris organized by my university (they do a walk in a different area every Sunday).





Perfect pretty day for perusing the city, but it is more importantly a good way to meet people--went with some other ladies to a cafe.

Afterward, I headed of for dinner at my "Buddy's" apartment. (If you haven't been reading the other posts--which I expect is the case for many haha--my university gives every international student a mentor which they call a "buddy," mine is named Hannah haha)

Dinner was absolutely lovely. I really lucked out with my Buddy--she grew up in Germany, but I swear she belongs in Berkeley. Vegetarian, chill, intelligent, activisty, so awesome haha. We had delicious crepes filled with spinach and cheese followed by equally delicious dessert crepes with some yogurt and maple syrup. I'm really excited to get to know her better. She already has offered to keep my suitcase at her place while I travel this summer which is AMAZING.

Now I am home. Just got to skype with the familia before they took off for Super Bowl watching :) There are tons of international students going to bars to watch the game (which begins at midnight here), but I think I will choose to sleep instead--definitely not the hardest decision of my life. Tomorrow is Monday, but thankfully no class till Wednesday as I haven't really gotten any work done this weekend.

On another note, just wanted to say how much I love all the musicians in Paris. They are everywhere...outside the metro stations, inside the metro stations, in the metro trains, on the street BAH it is awesome. For example, these guys were waiting for me when I got off the metro today for my walk...



On my way home from Hannah's house, a guy also serenaded my metro train with his violin. This happens a lot..and, for the most part, they are REALLY good (not like the saxophone player on Shattuck Ave in Berkeley--though I have seen some of those here haha). I would say I am definitely more happy about it than the locals. I had to hide my giggles after realizing I was the only one smiling brightly on the metro when the man started playing :)