Too Much

I've been sleeping too much. Maybe 9-10 hours a night, which is far more than I ever sleep. But for some reason, I am constantly drained. By body is not used to walking or commuting, and my brain is not used to French - although that's coming along pretty easily.

Thinking of things to do in Paris is pretty tough when you don't know anybody and don't know the city that well. So I sit around a lot, and do a lot of nothing. Which is kind of pathetic. I'm actually looking forward to the start of classes so that I'll have some sort of schedule to deal with and complain about.

Classes at the University (Sorbonne) seem like they might also be interesting. I think I'll probably end up just taking more medieval lit courses, since I know the subject already and maybe will not fail miserably as a result.

Woke up late today - maybe 11:30 - and took my time getting ready, showering, eating; all that jazz. Then we had a brief meeting at IES so they could tell us how to make friends in France. Apparently, it is pretty hard. So they had a couple of people present their youth clubs and volunteer opportunities or whatever. If you want to go to a "conversation" with other young, clueless people in Paris, it costs 5 Euros. No thanks. Volunteering could be really amusing, though. We'll see.

After that, I went with Katie, Monica, and Monica's french "sister" to go shoe shopping. Monica wanted boots, and she found some. I won't lie and say that I loved them, but whatever. She didn't ask me. Katie found no heels. They're some point-toed thing going on here that I find slightly discomfiting - maybe it's a primary means of defense for the modern, chic Parisienne.

Charlotte, Monica's host sister, was super nice. She also didn't know I was from the states at first, and then complimented me profusely on my French, so that may be why I liked her. At any rate, it was nice to walk around with someone who knew the system a little bit. Because let me tell you, shopping in Paris is hard. Anyway, I've decided I want some pimpin' hi-tops - not flashy, but just noticeable enough that people will look and say, "damn, that kid has some pimpin' kicks." That's the goal. Also my sneakers are getting disgusting, and I think I need to retire them. I also need to recharge my camera batter - you'll notice I have no photos.

Thursday there's a transportation strike, because people are mad about the economy. I guess throwing the city into chaos is going to do a lot of good, and probably fix said economy. so I suppose I'll have to walk halfway across Paris to get to school. Awesome.