Week One: Check!

I have officially begun all of my classes! Almost a month later, and I have finally finalized my schedule. In addition to my 6 hours of French class a week (which I find a little aggressive, since all of our other classes are taught in French as well), I am taking Art History, Political Culture and a joint seminar with the Sorbonne on International Cooperation and Sustainable Development. Both my Art History course and my Political Culture course have field trips around Paris almost every week. This is the perfect alternative classroom in order to maximize our time in Paris and take advantage of its resources. Why talk about Monet in a classroom when we can discuss his techniques in front of the actual painting at the Mussée d'Orsay?

My fourth course, the joint seminar, is slightly more daunting because it is with French grad students. I didn't feel too over my head during this first class, so I am hoping that it is a good sign, and that I can only go up from here! Because my French is still progressing, my class notes are rather interesting. They consist of a unique melange of french and english- sometimes even in the same line. 

Last night my friend Maddi got us on the list for a party where her friend was DJ-ing. After cooking a delicious dinner in her apartment and enjoying a few glasses of wine, we jumped on the metro towards the Seine. On the metro, we saw multiple groups of French students chanting in crazy costumes. When we got off the metro and began walking towards the boat that the party was on, we realized the French students were walking in the same direction. It turned out that the party was for French medical students, and apparently it is a tradition for new students to attend these costume parties thrown by student clubs. The party was rather interesting but fun and reminiscent of an American frat party. We even drank the equivalent of French "jungle juice": vodka and orangina. 

I culminated my first week with an interview for an internship at Reed Krakoff, an American fashion designer. An administrator at my program briefly mentioned an opportunity for a fashion week internship, so I emailed her to receive more information. She proceeded to forward my resume to Reed Krakoff, and today I met with a member of their team. They were looking for an intern to help them with their shows in their showroom this week. About seven minutes into the interview, my interviewer said, "You seem like you're pretty good at managing things and getting stuff done, right?". I tried to humbly reply affirmatively, and she put me to work right then. She assigned me to manage the models for the week. 

From Sunday to Thursday this week I will be working in the showroom from 9 am to 6 pm, except for when I have class. Even though I don't necessarily see myself working in the fashion industry, I know that this will be fantastic business experience in a fast paced environment. Plus, who would pass up working for a designer in Paris during fashion week? When in Rome...or Paris?!