Classes (and other boring things)

I'm taking 5 classes this semester. I have no idea why. Everyone else here is taking 4. But no, during my French "vacation" I decide to take 5 classes and teach English at the local lycee (a school that teaches ages 18-20).

My classes:
Junior Language Usage (French)
Europe and International Security Issues
Policy Seminar on Contemporary Europe
International Communications in European Media
Economic Policies of the European Union

My French class scares the crap out of me. Speaking French is terrifying, especially in a classroom setting. Also, everyone seems so much more advanced than me. My security class is pretty interesting. Lots of talking about wars and bombs and other pleasant topics. Policy Seminar is interesting because we have a lot of guest lectures, but some of it is a bit boring to me because I took a class on European Integration at GW. Communications is less of a class and more like tea time. There are 9 of us girls and our British professor. She makes tea, we sit in a circle, and write quite a bit on various post-it notes. It's quite bizarre, yet very refreshing. The last class on my list is my least favorite. I hate economics. Now, you might ask, why did I decide to take an Econ course if I hate the subject? I blame my father. He was like, "Oh but it will be so interesting and important for you to know. I don't think it will be that bad." After I emailed him telling him I hated the class he responded with "Well, odds are one of your classes was going to suck. Econ seemed to be the best bet." Thanks for that Dad. I'm never listening to you again.

I don't have too much homework (yet), but I do have this stupid paper to write for my European Identity Seminar. It was the class we "took" while exploring central and eastern Europe. There aren't even topics for this paper, just general themes! Do I have any clue what I am writing on? No. Do I have any motivation to think about it? Of course not. Why they insist on making us do this is beyond me. I don't need the 2 credits you want to give me for this class, let me skip the damn paper!

Today is my friend Sasha's 23rd birthday. I bought her a cake, which is a lot harder than it sounds. France doesn't exactly have cakes like the US does. They have prepackaged cakes that need to be thawed out before consumed. I had to go to the little Jewish grocery store just to find a normal chocolate one (and kosher!). It better taste good, that's all I'm saying.

In other random news, the Times of London released its top 100 universities in the world list. Guess who is #95?! GDUBBB! Apparently we beat out Georgetown. Love it!