Bonjour from Paris

Bonjour,

Sorry for the long delay in blog entry, but I have been settling into Paris quite nicely.

I got in a bit over a week ago, and spent the first night at a youth hostel/hotel time place, as pictured below. It is right in the middle of the city, 10 minutes walk from Notre Dame (which I did indeed visit.)

Immediately when arriving, the French hit me. For the first time, I was actually expected to know the foreign language, very different than what I had been used to. However, over time, it has become a bit easier to understand and to speak. Now, just to continually improve that (as well as vocabulary) while here!

The other thing that struck me for the first couple of days while in Paris was how 'American' the city is. Although I do not see Paris as 'American' now, I definitely have a different perspective on Paris after visiting India. (And I have to be very careful not to think about the Indian prices in Euros for whatever I am buying, as Paris and India are completely on opposite ends price-wise.)

It has also really struck me how completely opposite India and France are culture-wise. Although I did not really receive any culture shock when getting back to the United States, I was constantly comparing Paris to India in a way that made me understand culture shock more. Whether it is how one acts (India is more in your face, whereas as France is not), the food (spicy vs. not), or even how one eats (with hands, or using silverware very gracefully) the differences are present everywhere.

As part of our orientation, all of us Stanford students studying in Paris got to go out to a very nice restaurant named Nicholas Flamel (and yes, the character in the 1st Harry Potter Book is based of the same alchemist the restaurant was founded by.) It was indeed a very good Parisian restaurant meal (and very un-Indian.) The following picture is of Stanford students outside the restuarant.

After the restaurant, everyone went to see their host families for the first time. My host family, whom I share with another Stanford student, Alex, lives in the chic neighborhood just outside Paris called Neuilly. It's most famous former resident: current president Nicolas Sarkozy who started his political career as supervisor and then a mayor of Neuilly (sur-Seine.)

My host family is a very nice couple who lives in a Haussman appartment building. They have been very kind, and have made some very nice French food for dinner from quiche to apple tarts (yum, and again, how un-Indian.) I guess I am still getting settled into the house and to think of it as a home, but I am definitely beginning to feel that way. The following picture is from outside my room of Neuilly.

Last Tuesday, I officially started classes, but I admit that not too much has happened in them, so I will talk more about them in my next entry.

Also, I have been getting out to see Paris monument, most noteable was one week ago (Sunday) when I went to the top of the Arc de Triumphe with Alex since it was 'national monuments weekend' and the national monuments we free. (Too bad it took us until Sunday afternoon to realize this and not have been able to take full advantage of it.)

Before I go, I will admit that I am not planning on writing blog entries as often from Paris, as it definitely differs from my summer adventures in that it is also school, but I will definitely not go 1.5 weeks again without writing.

Until next time,
-Andrew