Comment ça va?

Bonjourr! I’m Kassandra, a Gallatin sophmore, and my concentration is currently undecided, a nebulous mix of history, art history, political science and literature, with a smattering of film studies and anthropology. One of the greatest things I find about traveling is that I get a glimpse into what it’s like to be a local (which is why I generally avoid tourist spots like the plague) and discover the other side that no one ever talks about. The NYU team in Paris seems to believe that philosophy too, and began educating us on the first day. Here’s a snippet of it.Some Rules Of Paris, courtesy of the NYU Paris team, as interpreted by Kass:

1. You can, and will, be pickpocketed anywhere and everywhere
2. Don’t look people in the eye, particularly in the subway. This applies especially to women because eye contact is apparently a very forward way of indicating… interest, and Frenchmen will aggressive pursue you at the slightest encouragement.
3. Everything goes on strike all the time.

I haven’t actually experienced rules 1 and 2 yet (mostly because I’ve been clutching my bag wherever I go and staring fixedly ahead), but I’m beginning to see what rule 3 would be like. It’s my first Sunday in Paris, and the entire city feels like it’s on strike. The restaurants are closed, the supermarchés are closed, the pharmacies are closed, even the shops (sacrilege) are closed … about the only things open are the bars, and they only start waking up at 5.30. [edited a week later: there’s going to be a transportation strike this coming Thursday, so I WILL get to see what it’s like]But one adapts. Adaptation, as college has taught me, is the key to survival, particularly so as this isn’t my first time studying abroad. I’m from Singapore, so just being in the Washington Square campus was already a study experience for me, Paris is just studying abroad somewhere else. Though of course, nothing about Paris is a “just”. I’ve actually wanted to learn French and go to Paris for the past decade; I started on the former a year and a half ago in college, now I’m finally accomplishing the latter. What makes it particularly sweet is that it isn’t just a typical tourist visit, which I personally have little patience with, because Instead, I get to live like a local, improve my French, and further my concentration – uncovering socio-political trends in history through art – all at the same time.