Post #3

Sorry for the lack of posting…the last week has not been easy, so I was avoiding posting in hopes that things would improve (they’re still about the same.) I am currently homeless. The booking for my original hotel ended today, so I was forced to relocate and find another hotel. You may ask, Why is it so difficult to find housing? And why didn’t Emily plan ahead and do that before she left?
UNC explicitly told us NOT to find housing, in order to see what we were actually going to pay for. (the safety of the area, the actual living conditions, not a scam, etc) We were provided a list of contact info for local apartment agencies, newspapers, magazines, private student dorms, etc. Sciences Po does not provide any of its students housing: it isn’t feasible in Paris. Not only does housing involve a lot of work and research, there are still a lot of scams, hidden (unreasonable) fees, huge jumps in rent payment, besides the very stressful fact that housing is a very, very scarce commodity (the landlord of the apartment I looked at around 7 pm Thursday said he knew it would be gone by Saturday.)
In addition to finding housing, orientation has started! I have two classes every day, and additional lectures twice a week. While I enjoy this classroom time, it does take away time from the housing search.
Every morning I have my “methodologie” class. We have started presentations on current affairs. This class gives us a feel for how our regular classes will be structured. It also allows ungraded practice for the hallmark of French education: an “expose” (ex-pose-ay) which is a 10 to 20 minute presentation. My presentation is Monday on the relationship between French media and politics. My other daily class is a French class which reviews grammar, pronunciation, and vocabulary. We also have topics everyday (today was communication: what to say during a phone call depending on the kind of call, email etiquette.) All of the classes are two hours, so I start to feel a little bit antsy in the last 30 minutes, since I’m used to Chapel Hill’s rotation of 50 and 75 minute classes.
I have all of these classes with the same group of about 20 people. While Americans make up the largest portion, there are students from all over: China, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Italy, Mexico, Norway, South Korea, and Sweden (that’s all the ones I can think of.) I don’t even try and pronounce the kid from Finland’s name, it has all these sounds that aren’t found in English, so it ends up being a super-Anglicized version.
Between orientation and the constant search for housing, I’m exhausted. My plan right now is to find a family to live with, because I can’t open a bank account without a permanent residence, which I need to fund a deposit in order to find a permanent residence. This catch-22 is not making life very easy at the current moment. So, if anyone has any advice or contacts or a friend of a friend who might be able to help me out, let me know!!