[07 Oct 19] Normal class day. Things are becoming more routine. I don’t like to lose that feeling of awe every time I walk the streets of this city. I hope the magical feeling of waking to a dream come true stays longer. When I walk the streets of the city I still can’t believe I’m here.
[08 Oct 19] I wish my eyes were a camera, so I could easily take snapshots of everything (and everyone) that I see–without the discomfort of having to raise my phone or camera in front of people. I wish I could store everything I see in a photo or in a video, and keep all these memories forever.
This experience still feels like a dream come true. The things I see now had only been matters of my imagination, as I’ve seen them in countless films, photos, videos. Now I’m right in it.
[09 Oct 19] First exam of the LL.M. program done! Took a snapshot of my desk before starting. We were allowed to refer to our ‘codal’–European Union treaties. Some of my classmates probably had an easier time since half of them are EU citizens. Night out with some of them after the exam!
[10 Oct 19] Our French language professor forbids any English word in class as a policy and discusses everything in French. I feel like drowning, really, like being thrown in the ocean, me gasping for air (words) and catching my breath, with no choice but to (learn to) swim. And swim I will! French class was my only class for the day. The rest of the day stayed at the apartment.
[11 Oct 19] I met up with my frat brod Yael to hang out and explore some parts of the city. I will write another entry on this day!
[12 Oct 19] It was a slow weekend. Stayed most of the time at the apartment, heading out to La Défense for a while. In this photo I took, a young boy looks out to the Grande Arche de La Défense as the metro approaches France’s main financial district. The Grande Arche stands directly opposite the Arc de Triomphe. A giant graffiti that proclaims “We support Hong Kong!” greets commuters at the tunnel.
[13 Oct 19] Almost half of the Sunday parishioners of this Catholic chuch in central Paris are Filipinos. After mass, many would swarm around ambulant vendors selling Filipino food items from chicharon to turon, sometimes even some ulam. This Sunday we went to the Filipino store to have lunch. After lunch I walked across the Seine to the gym.
September 29, 2019. It’s the last leg of my nine (9) hour bus travel from Amsterdam to Paris, in an almost empty tram to Suresnes back to the apartment where I’m bed spacing. This was such a gloomy and draining day. I came to certain realizations about my stay here in Europe after another encounter with a rude French-speaking person, this time an impolite ground crew at the bus stop who was really rude with my request for assistance. Certainly not the best day.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m having the time of my life here, it’s just that I have to deal with the stereotype attitude that can really feel offensive, impolite and arrogant. That’s just how some of them are I guess, ikaw ang maga-adjust talaga.
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 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.
