Today was the day of my first real class here at IEP, at 10 am, titled "European and International Institutions". Despite your personal opinion, to me that sounded pretty cool, and I was definitely looking forward to starting off the semester strong. Showed up to class (on time even), sat down with a few other Penn kids in the middle of the mobbed lecture hall, pulled out my computer to take some notes, I was ready. Turns out, the professor wasn’t, or at least did not feel like showing up to class today. After waiting around for 15, 20 minutes, we started to look around to see if anyone else thought this was odd, and to see if there were any real French students in this class who could expertly explain whatever was happening. Sure enough, a few minutes later (by this time 25 minutes into the class), a student left the room, and returned shortly thereafter with the news that there would be no class today. First class, no class.
Second class, this time on the United States in the 20th Century. Not sure if I will actually end up taking this class as it probably will not earn me any credit at Penn, but I think it would be awesome to learn what the French think about the States, and get in some arguments in the process. However, I did not get any help in making my decision about this class unfortunately as yet again the professor did not show up. I know there were classes today, as other Penn kids did successfully begin their semester…just not me. While it was great to have an extra six hours in my day, I hope this doesn’t become/is not already an odd French trend of professors failing to show up to class. Maybe they were on strike? That would be very French.
Anyway, I can’t continue to move ahead in my life story without first catching you up on what went down this weekend. Now, I am not referring to any crazy fêtes or boums, and this paragraph is suitable for all audiences. No, this weekend brought the pleasant surprise of a chateaux tour. You see, I had initially wanted to go to Paris this past weekend to visit friends and see the sights, but after missing out on train tickets, I happily settled for more time in Lyon. My host family told me that they were going to the countryside for the day on Saturday and, since they knew I had some newly discovered free time, they informed me that they would be more than happy to have me join them. Trying to be open to new experiences, I gave it a “pourquoi pas” attitude, and consented to the trip. One of my two roommates had already been dragged into this, so I figured it could not be that bad. Turns out that the tour comprised of me and the roommate (combined age: 38), one IEP professor who at about 40 years old is actually a fun person/big kid and proved to be a great connection for us, and then probably 35-40 people between the ages of 60 and about 90. Yikes. Highlight of the trip was definitely the bus rides (as we could sleep and listen to music), because of the 3 (or 4?) chateaus we went to, they were all kind of similar. Yes it was a cultural experience and I tried to soak it all in as best I could, but I became saturated with culture pretty early on in the trip. Throw into that the fact that my camera is broken, and overall it was a fantastically boring way to spend a Saturday.
For this week, its off to classes (hopefully I will eventually have one), and more getting to know Lyon. Recent discoveries include a hockey team in Lyon, free opera tickets, and a carbon copy of a Target superstore in the heart of the city, all sure to be explored shortly. With treasures like this, who knows what the next week will bring.
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