Le premier jour

That brings us to today, Monday. This was the first day of my orientation at Sciences Po, and a monumental day in other regards, too. This morning, I braved my combined fears of technology and Parisian store clerks to find a French cell phone. Success! I now have my phone, and it is pink (I'll take a picture later).

In case anyone is interested, I will point out that there are some significant differences between phone service here and at home -- most notably cost. It is very expensive to place phone calls here, especially from a landline to a cell phone. For a reason that apparently has something to do with poor cellular technology infrastructure, it costs quite a bit less to place calls to/from landlines, but even this is more expensive that we are used to. However, the cell phones themselves seem to be much more affordable (I chose the least expensive model at 9 euros), and pay-as-you-go plans appear to be more popular than monthly contracts, at least among students. Also, due to high cost per minute of phone calls, SMS (text messages) are the most common form of communication among young people. So to sum up: 9 euro phone + 29 euro mobicarte (a.k.a. SIM card) + 25 euro debit account for calls/SMS = less than the cost of a new phone from AT&T. Cool.

And oh, yeah, I also had school today. All of the international students attended an info session this afternoon in preparation for the beginning of orientation classes tomorrow. I was very surprised that most of the session was translated into English. According to the vice president's introductory speech, Sciences Po recognizes that English is the global standard, and as such proficiency in English has now become a key part of the Sciences Po curriculum. So what is a poor French major to do?! For some reason, it made me very sad to hear that (even though all of my classes will be in French). No, don't give in, Sciences Po! Vive le francais!

After orientation, I went out to dinner with some friends to celebrate and relax before the craziness begins. Tomorrow, I am taking a tour of the campus in the morning, followed by my French and "methodology" classes in the afternoon. I'm so excited to get started!