My experience thus
far in France has been nothing but positive overall. I am discovering more and
more about Paris everyday. I must say that I was quite shocked by the diversity
of the city. Much like New York City, I feel Paris is also melting pot of cultures. I was of the view that the make up of
the Parisian population would be predominantly French, Arab, and African, but much
to my surprise there is growing South Asian and Chinese population. And
obviously Paris is major tourist destination hence there are people form all
over the world that visit.
Moreover, unlike the constant hustle and bustle of
New York City, Paris, at least in my humble opinion, is a slower pace city. In
the big apple most people work up to 40 hours a week and get very little vacation
time. Parisians, and furthermore the French, take their vacation time and lunch
breaks very seriously. I feel the social security here in France is set up in a
way that is conducive to leisure and family time. I’ve learned from my
discussions here that French workers get 5 weeks of vacation time per year,
guaranteed maternity leave and paid days off for funeral and weddings, among
other benefits. After learning all of this it make wonder why we cannot have
some of the benefits for workers in a great country like the United States.
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| Economics of Development Class |
My classes have
also been going well. At least I think so. You see, here in France there are no
midterms or weekly quizzes for you to measure how you are doing in the class.
There is merely a cumulative final at the end of the semester in most
universities. Ergo, it is up to the student to frequently review the course
work and make sure that he or she is ready for the final exam. Having said
that, some classes such as my Histoire de L’Afrique Noire (History of “Black
Africa”) class will ask require that you do a major presentation. The topic I
will be presentation on is the border dispute between Mali and Burkina Faso in
the 1970’s. I am really enjoying
my classes at the Sorbonne because the topics that we cover are not subject
that are often discussed in American Universities. Another course I find quite intriguing is Economie du
Dévelopment (Economics of Development).
It is truly helping me to better understand why certain countries are
perpetually having difficulties in grown their respective economies.
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| Model UN |
As I previously
mentioned, I recently joined the Model UN society here at the Sorbonne. It has
been an amazing experience thus far. I have met a lot of like-minded people,
who have certainly helped ease my transition at Paris 1. The way Sorbonne ONU
works is that we meet roughly 2-3 times a week. The first meeting is generally
to practice and go over the rules and procedures of Model UN. In the final
meeting, which is on Friday evenings, we usually have a debate on current
events. This pass week we had a very good discussion about the burka, which is
the veil some Muslim women chose to wear, and the French law to regulate the
face veil. We particularly discussed the incident of a Muslim woman in the
south of France that made headlines all over the country. It was good exchange
and it enabled me to better understand how young people in France feel about the
matter. All in All, I think being a part of Model UN at prestigious university
like Paris 1 is definitively helping to become a better and more informed
debater.
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| At the Atomium in Brussels |
What’s more, I
have been fortunate enough to have the opportunity to visit a few places in
Europe. Recently I went to Brussels
for the weekend as well as the historic French city of Rouen. Furthermore, I am
currently in the city of Geneva visiting the UN Headquarters with a friend who
is interning here. As you can see I am soaking it all in and enjoying
everything Europe ha to offer me.
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| Downtown Rouen, France |
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