September 23 – 25, 2019. This was an interesting week, the first half of which was spent going to class, going out with my classmates, and going on my first date in the city. As I am publishing this post-facto, I shall rely on the almost real time tweets that I had posted.
[23 Sep 19] Had my first class report/presentation today. Then headed to Montparnasse for the rest of the night. Ok fine, it was a Tinder date. My first in Paris. Ended up sleeping over and going home the next morning.
[24 Sep 19] The closest I could get to kanin and ulam near the apartment is a neighborhood ‘turo-turo’ which serves decent Chinese food by the gram. Every morsel of umami counts (and in this case, costs).
[25 Sep 19] Our professor moving two sessions to one day meant a whole day in the classroom but also a long weekend–starting now! Booked the (one of the) cheapest bus rides out of France for tomorrow.
After class, my classmates and I went out for beers in one of the bars near school. Since it was after class at around 6 in the evening, we were the first customers. We ended up staying a few hours before heading out for dinner–at a Japanese restaurant for ramen, upon the suggestion of who else but out Japanese classmate.
The rest of the week I spent in Amsterdam, for which I shall dedicate separate blog entries for.
September 16 – 22, 2019. The second week of LLM classes was spent familiarizing myself further with Panthéon and its surroundings, as this is where the school library is located, hanging out with my classmates, going out with them to my first live concert in the city, and enjoying the last days of summer in this part of the world. I recall these events through the series of tweets I had posted.
[16 Sep 19] It was an unusually warm day, just when we all thought summer was about to end. The thing is, air-conditioning is rare in this part of the world. The bank was non-AC, the trains and buses were non-AC, our classroom was non-AC. Torture during hot summer days.
[17 Sep 19] Library orientation at Cujas Library in Sorbonne. Spent the rest of the afternoon in group study with some classmates, which was an excuse to while away time until happy hour really.
[18 Sep 19] I had a two-hour break in between classes so I decided to go to La Défense, the main financial district of Paris during lunch break, to run essential errands as I begin my life here–open a bank account and sign up for the gym! Here at the steps of La Grande Arche (a gigantic modern building that mimics the Arc de Triomphe) hundreds of office workers take their lunch.
[19 Sep 19] First time to catch the Metro on peak rush hour on one of its busiest and older routes. No lines, just walk and push yourself through as politely as you can. We were elbow to elbow I couldn’t even wipe the sweat off my face–the train was non-AC.
[20 Sep 19] Spent the first of many library days studying at the Cujas library, with two of my German classmates. Had take out lunch at the main Panthéon plaza where most of Sorbonne hang out for lunch break.
[21 Sep 19] My LLM classmates and I went to see Amber Run. It’s my first live concert in Paris! We went out for drinks afterwards.
[22 Sep 19] Last Sunday the Catholic church near the Arc de Triomphe that holds English-language mass held a food festival of the countries represented by its parishioners. The Filipinos had the largest table. It was comforting to have tasted palabok again.
September 15, 2019. Our LLM program director arranged for us a whole day trip to Chantilly, north of Paris, last Sunday. We had aperitif at one of our professor’s countryside home, then we had lunch at a French restaurant with a brief lesson on French table manners.
The rest of the afternoon was spent with my classmates at the vast Château de Chantilly and its exhibits–one of the main artworks of which is a panel painting of Europa and the Bull (depicting the abduction of the Phoenician princess Europa by Zeus, metamorphosed into a bull, which through the centuries have become one of the symbols of Europe and the European Union).
September 9 – 14, 2019. It was my first day of class last Monday! It was so surreal that it was finally happening. I’ve never been in a completely international environment with classmates from all over the world, so it was fascinating having the opportunity to be in a class with classmates from Europe, the U.S. and Asia. In the morning we first had our introductory session to the LL.M. program with the director and with some of our would-be professors. After that session, we were free to do our own thing. Most of the class decided to have lunch together. Since we were unfamiliar with the neighborhood, we ended up at one of the first cafes we found–Le Bonaparte at Saint-Germain des-Près–which turned out to be a bit fancier that we expected. I cannot (afford to) eat like this every after class, I thought.
Over lunch we decided to have our preliminary introductions, at least of those who joined us for the meal. I have four German classmates, four Americans, an Italian, a Japanese, and a Vietnamese. Later on we would likewise be acquainted with classmates from Russia, Greece and Belgium.
After lunch I didn’t want to go home all the way to Suresnes so I decided to roam around Paris, around Trocadero specifically because I am not yet over seeing the Eiffel Tower, and because yes I still am a tourist in this city. As an introvert I was still too shy to make friends with my classmates right away and hang out with them on first day.
Later that evening, we had school-sponsored dinner at À La Petite Chaise. Conversations over dinner were fascinating and eye-opening. There’s so much to learn from other countries’ experiences and legal systems.
We didn’t have class until Thursday, so the next two days was spent doing errands, studying for the next class, and exploring more of Suresnes and Paris. I realized that living 45-50 minutes commute from school is not so bad after all, if the trade off is some tranquility of a Parisian suburbia. Anyway, on Wednesday I also met up with a fraternity brod, Yael, who also started studying in Paris this September. He is taking up his masters at SciencesPo. We had dinner and drinks around Saint-Germain-des-Prés because it turns out our schools are just in front of each other along Rue Saint-Guillaume and Rue de Buci was just a few minutes walk.
September 3 – 8, 2019. Leaving Manila wasn’t such a big deal at first. Separation didn’t get real until I saw my parents off at the Paris airport last Tuesday. Oh my heart when I saw them holding off tears. Spent the next hour on my commute to my new ‘apartment’ holding back my own. I made my way from the airport all the way to Surenes to settle down at my new place. It was my first long city commute and I’m proud to have figured out how to get from north-east of Paris to west via public transportation on my own.
It was, and still is, an overwhelming feeling, as I’ve never lived away from my family and home. The thought that there’s no turning back–as I would be 10,000 kilometers away from the familiarity and comfort of family and friends–was daunting. Should I encounter any problem, I’d have to figure everything out on my own.
August 31 – September 1, 2019. Typical of traditional Catholic Filipinos who find themselves visiting France, a trip to the town of Lourdes is a must. It was a necessary pilgrimage for my mom who was a devout Catholic.
We took the TGV (‘train à grande vitesse’ / high speed train) from Paris directly to Lourdes, far south of France, near the Spanish border. The distance was more than 600 kilometers but it took us a little less then five hours to get to the town.
