in response to a request...

from my mom, an avid reader of my blog (perhaps the only one), here are some scenes of me studying. See, Mary Lou thinks that there are entirely too many pictures of me having fun, drinking, LAUGHING, and carrying on like I was happy or something crazy like that. So, just to show that life isn't all fun and games, here are a couple shots of me unhappily studying. We'll start with an early one.




Ok, this is not a good example. It was early in the semester and I had no internet access at school because I had no student ID card because registration didn't take place until a month into school because...oh yeah, I already wrote this post about two months ago.

Anyway, the only place I could go and: 1) use the internet for free; and 2) use electricity for free was the Peace and Love Youth Hostel, the scene of this video. I had a citecheck due for which I needed the internet so it seemed like a good choice. Plus, there was happy hour from 7-10.


In reality, school here is hard and not just because it's in French and there aren't any textbooks. I spend a ton of time studying and getting ready for class, especially Private International Law and Droit Interieur du Marche. Those are by far my two most challenging and interesting classes. Just trying to negotiate all of the different treaties, country laws and customs is enough to confuse anyone. Add to that the civil law aspect of their approach and I am frequently lost. Private international law is like what I think conflicts would be, although I have never taken that class. You usually have some litigation between citizens of two different countries and you have to figure out if the judge is competent to rule on the matter. There are myriad rules dictating who is and who is not competent to rule on matters and a lot of it has to do with what category the legal problem falls into. This I still don't understand completely but I am getting there. Then there's the situations where the judge doesn't agree with a decision because of "ordre public" which really means it goes against the morals and values of France.


In any case, here are some pathetic photos of me studying:


These first two are from today. Mariah and I went to the Louvre. She entered the museum and saw what there was to see. I read some Droit Processuel de Jean-Luc Sauron.

These last two are pictures of me studying in my apartment, yes in my pajamas. I figured that as I was studying away on Saturday morning in Paris, I should take advantage of the self-portrait to see just how lame it looked.

Love you Mom.