#sciencespo

[oneechanblog]

イロコイ族ガイド: 場所、人口など | Oneechanblog podcasts video

[dream-big-study-hard]

Thursday is definitely the worst day of my week, having classes from 8 am to 9 pm.

My lunch time was devoted to working on economic subjects.

Thankfully, today is a pretty sunny day in Paris, which helps me stay motivated ☀️

🎶: Where’s my love - SYML

[weaselvoid]

"Buckle your seat-belts, motherfucker, because in eight short pages, I'm going to teach you something that I only learned two hours ago. So sit down, shut up and enjoy the experience of my 4 am caffeine induced self hatred fueled writing extravaganza."

I don’t know who wrote this, but it could be the intro to ALL my essays. ALL OF THEM.

[latvian-parisienne]

Day 7 - The first day of school

Of course, at some point the dog days had to be over, but it feels like time here in Paris is definitely running in a different speed than in Riga. A week has passed already since our arrival! That’s simply crazy.

Yesterday it was my first day at school and let me tell you some things I’ve understood so far.

1. 4 lectures in a row is not the smartest thing to do

Although I am super happy about the fact that I have to go to school only on Tuesdays and Thursday, 4 lectures in a row (meaning 8 academic hours in a row) is quite hard to focus. After every lecture there is only a 15 minute break which is spent by trying to find the classroom for the next lecture, and you have the time to eat some lunch only if the lecturer dismisses the class earlier.

2. Italians are everywhere

That’s not a bad thing and maybe that’s just whom I attract as a person, but in the first 4 lectures I was surrounded by Italians.

It all started in the French language class where I was surrounded by three of them. Then in Economic Sociology I started to talk another girl who turned out to be Italian. European Economic Law - accidentally chose to sit between girls from Milan and Genova. économie au défi du genre - you guessed it. The first person I start to talk to is from Milan again. Italians are quite cool so I don’t mind, I am just surprised by how easily they find me.

3. It’s easier to meet people in the events than in lectures, because you get tired very easily

The lectures seem quite demanding also for an exchange student, and the running and lack of lunch takes the power away even from the strongest of us. Therefore, it can be said that I feel more at ease with meeting new people in the afterwork events. In the lectures you do not want to disturb neither the professor, nor other students, so you do not talk. In the 15 minute breaks you have to be running to a different building in the campus, so you are not able to engage in deep conversations with anyone. It looks like lectures are literally meant for studying and for communication you have to use the other events that the school provides.

4. Don’t be afraid of French seminar courses

As I am not having any French lecture courses, I cannot talk about them, but in French seminar courses about 50% of people are exchange students, so you are definitely not alone there. Moreover, in the seminar that I had yesterday, the lecturer allowed us to write the final paper and the exam in English if we feel more comfortable in it. I am still not sure in which language I’ll write, but at least we have the option. The lecturer also is aware of the fact that half of the class is not francophone, therefore, the seminar is not that hard to understand (at least for now). Especially if you speak and understand French on a decent level, I feel like it’s more worthy to choose a seminar course in French rather than simply take a French language course. Of course, there we can improve our speaking and writing skills, and grammar, but it’s still not the real French you hear there, it’s not as intense. It is easier, but it is also less of a challenge, which I personally need in my daily life. 

5.  Everything is super hard to be found so don’t hesitate to ask for help

When two courses in a row take place in the same building, all is good. You have 15 minutes to find the right classroom, and that’s it, you’re good. When you have 15 minutes to get to a building in a completely different place of the block, you can feel kind of screwed up. For me google maps was my best friend yesterday to find the exact building, but representatives of Sciences Po were the ones I approached when I could not find the room I needed. Also, don’t trust the building that is stated in the calendar - yesterday one lecture was supposed to take place at 56, Rue des Saint-Pères, but no one informed us that the entrance is from Rue Saint-Guillaume. Luckily I had some extra time to get there, but it was a bit of a shock at first. Plus, there are two buildings on Rue des Saint-Pères , therefore, more confusion. In the 28,  Rue des Saint-Pères, the situation seems even messier - three different buildings in the same yard, good luck guessing where you’re supposed to go. That’s when you get rid of your shyness and go to ask for help. French people are quite helpful (at least when you speak French to them), so picking up some words before you arrive in Paris could be useful.

All in all, it was a quite tiring day and I was undeniably happy when it was over. However, now I have only the Thursday left and it’s over for the workweek! I am still not sure whether I really like the things I am studying, and I am missing numbers and finance-related subjects, but so far everything seems interesting. At least for a semester only, definitely.

PS. When I waved to the bus as crazy, it actually stopped for me in the stop, so I guess this hack definitely works.

[hamzadeamman]

🌟It feels like I got here last week 🌟 #SciencesPo #mylittleparis #Aerial #Aerialview #parisfromabove #Paris #Parigi #Urbano #Urbanisme #eiffeltower #toureiffel #Invalides #Seine #Cityview #France (at Paris, France)

[latvian-parisienne]

Day 1 - Moldovan mom is the best thing one could wish for in Paris

A few weeks ago after many sleepless nights, signed and broken rent contracts, many “je suis désolé mais vous devez visiter l’appartement pour le réserver” and “you are rejected due to various reasons ” me and Sorina were happily surprised that a lucky star shone upon us and we got the best opportunity we could had ever wished for. A Moldovan mom whose two daughters have left Paris has a free apartment very close to the center which she would rent out for a very friendly price to a Moldovan student (and me additionally). Moreover, as the cure for my own worried mom, she would even be living with us for a week to show everything around and take care of us. What could be better? We are basically destined to live la vie en rose from now on.

The positive surprises continued when she prepared us a lunch. As she does not speak English “pas du tout” and my Romanian is even more “pas du tout”, we switch between French, Russian, English and Romanian all the time. Actually, after spending a day with two Moldovans, I feel like I could become fluent in Romanian. I already understand the context of many of their conversations. It would be cool - I’m not sure there are many Latvians who are fluent in Romanian. But it’s still a while to go and my brain is so mushed up that I’m not fluent in any language anymore.

A week ago I had decided to take up a new habit and say no to alcohol because, you know, drinking and partying in a big and unknown city can end badly. I had been holding up pretty strongly and tasted all of the possible non-alcoholic beer and seltzer options one can buy in Rimi, but then the lunch came. It felt like I have a Moldovan grandmother - grandmother because she is pushing us to finish the whole plate and puts on more food even when we don’t want to eat anymore, but Moldovan, because she angrily speaks in Russian if we do not finish the wine glasses. You just have to drink wine with your lunch in Paris. And there’s no discussion about that.

We also walked across the center of Paris and we were surprised how tiny it is. You can walk from Sciences Po to la Sorbonne, then to the Notre-Dame de Paris, then to the Centre Pompidou and not even feel tired (okay, yes, they both are sleeping right now, but I’m still feeling fresh as ever so I think the distance is fine). Paris is just astonishing, which can also be seen from the pictures, but the hot weather was not helping to take it all in fully.

Sciences Po surprised us in the blink of an eye - while we have just decided to just walk past by and understand what the school looks like and how to get to it easier, we accidentally got our student IDs and bought tickets for tomorrow’s boat party. I’m not complaining, it was very efficient experience. Plus, the tickets are sold out now. Lucky us! The school itself reminds us of American movies - two guards standing in front of the entrance, many students and organisations are sitting in the hall, selling tickets to events and presenting their activities. The cafeteria is the best one - although one local already informed us that it was expensive, the whole interior looks like a setup from “Mean Girls” - you can easily imagine that a different group sits at a different table, that there are tables at which “you can’t sit with us”, etc. Comparing to SSE Riga where we come from, it’s HUGE like the letters I just used (I’ll shut up soon, sorry for bad jokes).

However, we found the best ice cream place in Paris (or, to be honest, our cool Moldovan mom showed it to us) - Amorino. It looks like a flower and it has many amazing flavours. I tried organic blackcurrant, organic blood orange and lime & basil flavours. 10/10, would do it again. Also would do it for the aesthetics.

And don’t even think of messing with the Moldovan mom due to her accent when she is speaking French! For dinner we went to a quite tasty Chinese place in the center, but the waiter did not fully understand her request due to the accent. He got us only one dish instead of two and it was too spicy for her taste, so she made him to create a new one from the scratch without so many spices added. Just so you know. You just never mess with Moldovan moms because they are too cool to be messed with.

In a nutshell that’s all we did today. Navigo card will have to be waited for for 10 days, because the webpage is not allowing to choose a place to pick it up in 72hours, so I will have to pick it up at the concierge downstairs. Not that I’m complaining, almost-room service is always a nice thing, but this time I would have enjoyed starting to use the public transportation for cheaper faster. Guess I will have to start enjoying how walkable distance everything is here.

[latvian-parisienne]

Day 12-15 - Staying home and doing nothing is also a nice thing to do...apart from visiting Versailles

After you have spent the first week and a half in Paris and you have seen every monument there is to be seen and are kind of getting tired of purchasing additional metro tickets (because your dearest Navigo still has not arrived) or walking around, you start to also enjoy the joy of being at home... because you feel like you have a home to go to.

Apart from going to a meeting of the school’s journal and cheerleading trial, I decided not to leave the house for two days in a row. And it was amazing! Waking up whenever you like, napping, preparing some food, watching TV shows and doing laundry also should make a part of your stay in Paris.

And then the exhausting Tuesdays arrive, full of four lectures in a row and flour products, because that is the only thing you can manage to eat during the 15 minute breaks. Still nothing interesting happens, nothing worth talking about at least. Life in Paris can get pretty bring once you are used to it.

That is why one needs to explore more and more whenever the time constraints and sleep levels allow. Today we went to explore the beautiful palace of Versailles and it was, of course, breathtaking; however, I had somehow expected something more, something different.

We decided to go on our Versailles mission on a cloudy Wednesday morning, hoping that it would save us from the endless masses of tourists. We were slightly wrong - tourists were still there, stopping at around places, sticking selfie sticks into your face, creating guided groups which just tended to stay in the middle of a small corridor...it was all there even though we arrived at 10 a.m. And it can also be understood since the palace is beautiful and it is definitely worth visiting it at least once in your life. However, the endless crowds of people did not allow us to fully enjoy the beauty of Versailles - it was simply overcrowded and the only thing I managed to capture into photos was ceilings. They also were really impressive and full of various paintings, but most importantly, no one covered the view of them and it was easy to enjoy their charm.

Gold, glass and marble is basically screaming from every corner you see at Versailles. Although some of us might be willing to live in a similar building at some point in our lives, for me it felt too much. I could never imagine someone living there at all, that’s how over-polished and posh it looked. But that’s kind of the case with all of those big castles - they look majestic, not liveable. Maybe that’s even good - what would I do if I decided that I wanted to live in one someday?

The gardens were pretty indeed. Red and yellow coloured flowers were decorating the beautifully cut garden, which created several ornaments and figures in the ground. From the windows of the castle, the gardens looked even better. 

However, if you take a long walk towards the Grand Trianon and Petit Trianon, you will get a much better experience of Versailles. There are less people, less posh and more of the feeling that someone has actually lived there or at least would be willing to live there. Grand Trianon was my personal favorite, filled with pastel colors, cosier and smaller rooms and beautiful violet-schemed garden. It felt more put-together and less screaming-in-your-face than Versailles palace itself. Petit Trianon was also cute and worth-visiting, since it also gives you a completely different feeling from the vibe you get at Versailles. When visiting the Trianons, you suddenly feel like in a countryside - a small river, owners with dogs walking around, baby swans swimming in the lake, small chapel in the middle of a meadow and no tourists. It’s an amazing feeling when you know that a 15 minute walk away the people are getting crazy over Versailles. It cannot be felt at the Trianons.

So, am I happy that I went there? Yes. Would I have chosen any other day or time? Probably not, since it was still summery and sunny in the afternoon. Would I go there again? Definitely not in the upcoming 10 years. I feel like I saw everything there and there are plenty of castles of similar style around the whole Europe.

[latvian-parisienne]

Day 11 - Traveling around part 1: Reims

What’s the best thing to do when you don’t feel very well? Buy cheap train tickets and make yourself feel better in the blink of an eye.

Although Paris is extremely beautiful itself, the whole France and region around is astonishing, too. When on Friday afternoon I found tickets to Reims for 4.99 EUR each way, it was only a question of with whom I would go rather than whether I would go. At 9:15 1.55h in a bus, then around 8min in a train to Gare du Reims and you are there. Then catch the bus at 18:15 and you’re home at 20:15, just in time to analyze one reading for European Economic Law. And 7 hours is enough to explore the beautiful, however, small city of Reims.

That’s how a managed to gather a team of four travelers from India, Hungary and Taiwan ready to join me in my daytrip. Before going to Reims, I remember having been there quite a few years ago; however, nothing apart from the Cathedrale Notre Dame de Reims had remained in my memory. I remembered that being beautiful, but nothing much. This time, maybe because I was older and could explore the city more properly, I will hopefully remember more.

“Je suis rémois“ is written all over their souvenirs, apparently reminding that not only Paris can be considered a touristy city, but also Reims and that you can be proud to call yourself an inhabitant of Reims. And they have lots to be proud of! The small city is still full of tourists, clean streets, cosy trams, beautiful architecture, tasty champagne and macarons, and museums which are free of charge for students.

When we had arrived to the cathedral, we were amazed and simply very happy about having arrived to a place outside of Paris. It was not overcrowded, it was light and it had a very warm feeling to it.

Afterwards the only problem of the trip started (apart from the fact that we almost missed our bus and I got totally anxious) - we wanted to find something to eat for a normal price. That was definitely a challenge. Although there are cafeterias on every corner, if you don’t feel like paying 10 EUR for a dish, you can’t find anything, and our wish for “eating something French” ended up being “eating something cheap” which was a burrito. It was tasty and offered Cheddar sauce as well, which completely improved the whole burrito experience for us as cheese lovers.

If you choose to go to Reims on Saturday, keep in mind that museums open only starting from 2pm, which for us meant that we have around 2 hours to hang around and wait for Musée des Beaux Arts to open. What did we choose to do? As Reims is located in the region of Champagne and is said to have one of the best champagnes in the world, we decided to drink some champagne even though it was only midday. Nothing’s wrong with that, right? 

Most of the cafeterias offer glasses of champagne as well; however, as imagined, they can be super expensive (even up to 10 EUR per glass) so we walked around several places to find one which costs the least. We were so desperate that some of us even suggested buying a bottle of champagne in the supermarket and then just drinking it in the park, but by doing that, the whole point of drinking the champagne would kind of lose its charm. In the end we bought a bottle for 32 EUR, which meant 7.5 EUR for each of us (for two glasses), therefore, the deal turned out to be pretty cost-efficient for us. You just have to walk around and look for the prices, and don’t forget to ask the representative of the restaurant whether it is allowed that you drink only champagne and that you don’t order any food.

In a slightly tipsy mood we decided to go to Musée des Beaux Arts and Le Palais du Tau. Both entrances for students were for free. While Musée des Beaux Arts was really interesting and provided great artworks, Le Palais du Tau was slightly disappointing. It should be a palais, but at first we did not even notice it, because it was located next to the gracious cathedral and is surpassed in its beauty. Of course, we entered it anyway, and it looked like the staff was preparing the palais for some wedding celebration later in the evening of the following day, but it still felt cold, empty and we had expected more. However, if you enjoy ancient history, this palais and the museum inside it might be for you, since it is home for many ancient sculptures.

Then we went to a cute sweets shop, similar to La Durée only more Reims style. It was called Fossier and it had lots of different sweets to offer, including everyone’s favorite macarons. The pink interior and the possibility to taste the sweets before buying was definitely encouraging; however, it was still not a good enough reason to buy something. Not so much because of the prices, but because of the fact that I would eat everything and the initial idea of bringing them home to my family just would not survive.

And then it was already time to go home. The train to Champagne Ardennes TGV where we had our bus was leaving at 18:01, while the bus was departing at 18:15. There are 8km between the two, so it is not really walkable.  Crazily enough, we managed to get there on time although me as a normal Type A person freaked out and already checked the prices of tickets for the following busses. They were only 5 EUR, so I calmed down - bus tickets to and from Reims really are not expensive.

That was our 1 day trip to Reims. And let me tell you, traveling is addictive because I already started checking out bus tickets to different cities on my way home. And I found some! So other travel experience stories will be coming soon as well!