School?

Well, I'm back in the land of the living (ie - I have internet again). I've been meaning to write this post for a few days now but, for some reason, my internet refused to work for the past three days. It's really a miracle that it's working now because I haven't done too much to fix it and I was sure that I'd have to find someone to help me with it. Anyway, I don't think that I mentioned it before, but I'm (going) to be taking two of my five courses at the Sorbonne, which is really cool for the simple fact that it's the Sorbonne and hopefully I'll be able to meet some nice French people (ie - girls). So, this past Monday, after my first class at IES, I journeyed to the Sorbonne (which is surprisingly close to my house) and made my way to the big entrance hall along with dozens of other students. Just to let you know, University here is completely different from anything in the US. There is absolutely no orientation, no advisors, no living in dorms to meet other people, and I believe the application process takes about ten minutes -- "Hhmmm, you got an A in literature, you've got nice posture, plus you look like you'd fit in, alright you start in two months". So, that being said, I'm sure that many students standing in the entrance hall there had never even seen the place before. Anyway, there was a man sitting behind a welcome desk so I went up to this guy and just asked him where my literature classes would be taking place. He gave me a funny look which doesn't always mean he doesn't understand, he just thinks there's something wrong with you. Then he simply told me that all literature classes start next week, on October 6th! I didn't even know what to say..... but I can say that that is the perfect example of the French university system. How the hell would anyone have known that? They wouldn't and so everyone would just show up and be told to come next week. Oh well.... I can't really complain since that just shortened my semester to two and half months and gave me another week of "vacation". However, in reality, I have a lot more work from IES than I thought and not being used to work, I always start at 10pm and end up sleeping at 1am, which isn't that good if I'm waking up at 7:30am which is my start time each day. Oh and good news on the tennis front -- I can subscribe to this club that I played at a week or two ago for less than half the yearly price which is very pleasing indeed. By the way, every court except for one is red clay! I might make a grinder yet. Ha, I doubt it but it's certainly good for defense and consistency in general. Now it's just a matter of finding good guys to hit with and maybe finding a pair of clay-court shoes. Mine are so slick I can barely serve without falling over afterwards. This weekend should be very exciting because on Saturday night, there's an event called "La Nuit Blanche" which is a saying for an all-nighter and it's taking place across the entire city. It's not really a party, but more a celebration with tons of performances of all kinds--pretty sweet. Plus, on Sunday I have two free tickets to the "Qatar Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe" which is a huge horse-racing event taking place at the biggest "hippodrome" in Paris. So, in a few days I shall tell you how it all goes. I miss you guys and I wish you all the best at the ITA's this weekend. I hope the weather is accomodating!