Course registration at Paris III was this morning - what a hassle. After arriving at 9:15, we got in a huge line (of only American students) and waited and waited. I was near the front, probably at the end of the first quarter/third of the group, and I registered at 11:30. They had only one person doing registration for each department (we were in the literature/linguistics line), so everyone had a one-on-one meeting with the representative to sign up for classes. Luckily there was no line to sign up for my translation class. The Middkids were waiting in line for the lit classes with a group from Sweet Briar College - a massive pack of girls who spoke English the entire time. Three of the girls, who go to Kenyon but are from West Chester, NY, tried to squeeze in front of us in line to register - but the Middkids bonded together and spread ourselves across the doorway so they wouldn't cut us. Perhaps not a lovely impression of Midd students, but it was a nice moment of bonding for us, and the three girls had been whining next to us in English for about an hour. At least when we complained we tried to do it in French.

After surviving registration I wandered home and found a really cute street along the way with an outdoor market, a nice grocery store and lots of cute little sandwich shops and creperies. I bought some fruit and the market and the store (cheap clementines and raspberries for only a euro). I also found a Starbucks!! My first one - and it's on the way to school! I'm very excited about this. :)

This afternoon my orientation group went ice skating in the center of Paris on a random ice rink. Apparently this is a big thrill for Parisians, who rarely ice skate. Our group leader seemed slight disappointed when we told her that in New England nearly every town has an ice rink. This was definitely ice skating Parisian-style, as we had to carry our bags with us, and there were signs everywhere telling us not to smoke. Ice skating seems like a popular activity for teenage boys, kind of the Parisian version of a skate park. There were lots of teen boys racing around the rink and performing tricks. Just like in the US, there were also a few old men, both on figure and speed skates, practicing turns and twists and fancy moves. Because it’s so warm here, the ice had melted quite a bit and there was about an inch of water covering the rink’s surface. All the other girls were super-hesitant to partake, esp. with their large handbags, but I really enjoyed it.

After skating, my group headed to the Centre Georges Pompidou, a museum. We saw an exhibition called The Movement of Images (or something like that). It was really interesting – there were lots of film clips and films meant to represent the cinema process. Definitely modern art.

The group parted ways after the museum and I walked home via a grand boulevard where there were tons of stores having their big after-Christmas sales. The sales started yesterday and apparently last for three weeks. Absolutely every store has “SOLDES” signs in the windows. I took the opportunity to do my first shopping in Paris, stopping in several shoe stores to look at pairs of boots (everyone’s wearing them) and visiting H&M and Zara (right next to each other). I got a cute sweater, a couple hair clips and a simple black bag that I’ll use for now to take my things to school. I also tried on lots of clothes, part b/c I thought of buying them and part for the amusement of seeing myself in fashionable European attire. Finding pants that fit here is definitely going to be an issue. They don’t seem to come in “short” sizes (that makes sense as every female here appears to have long, thin legs). Hopefully I’ll find some in GAP or some American chain later, if not, I’m not a huge fan of skinny jeans/pants anyways, which is basically all they wear and sell here. The shirts ranged from small and ridiculous to enormous and ridiculous on me. I’m not used to seeing myself dressed so fashionably. Perhaps I’ll dare to buy something and wear it, but I think I’d feel like an imposter – some hippie/preppy/Vermonty girl wearing Parisian fashion. Nonetheless, the shopping trip amused me greatly and I’m excited about what I did purchase and that the sales continue.