Hi everyone, I just reporting in from Belfast, where I arrived two days ago. I went from the airport straight to the offices of the Committee on the Administration for Justice to get familiarized with my new surroundings. Now in the my third full day of work, I can say that my colleagues here at the CAJ are kind, helpful and thoroughly familiar with Fordham's work in the international public policy sector, particularly in the Northern Ireland context.
Since I've started working immediately upon my arrival, I've barely had time to secure my housing locally and cannot say that I've seen much of Belfast. What I can say is that it strikes me as a mid-sized city with an increasingly lively profile that contrasts sharply with past notions of a place rife with political unrest. The city center is charming, compact and full of great places to get a coffee or a bite to eat.
I haven't yet checked out the pub scene but will do so soon...to be continued.
Wednesday, May 30, 2007
Saturday, May 26, 2007
First night in Paris
Hello readers and fellow Leitner scholars,
I just arrived in Paris tonight, so I thought this might be a good time to write a first post. I'm very excited to be here, naturally, but I am completely exhausted from the past few days--because of a combination of the writing competition and packing up my entire apartment in a day, I've only slept about 9 hours since Wednesday. Also, I'm a bit bummed because my guitar is missing in action. The baggage handlers at Charles de Gaulle airport think it must have gotten stuck in London, and will hopefully arrive in a day or two. Nonetheless, as soon as I hit Paris, I was invigorated. I'm staying at a hostel for the next few days, until I move into my apartment. The hostel is right on the outskirts of Paris, in Epinay-sur-Seine, a nice area with a very suburban feel to it. I went exploring a bit after moving in, went for a long walk and relished being in a new place. It was overcast and lightly raining on and off, with a cool breeze that was a welcome relief from the sweltering heat of New York these past few days. I had only been walking for about five minutes before someone stopped and asked me for directions. Of course, I had to let them know I was fresh off the plane and barely knew where I was, let alone where they were going. Still, the inquiry gave me an instant, and encouraging, sense of belonging. As I walked around, I started getting hungry(they served meals on the plane, but, well, it was airplane food and it didn't really do the trick), so I stopped into a cool little pizza shop. Inside, a crowd of locals was huddled around a thirteen inch(33cm?) TV watching a football match--they were all going absolutely crazy every time one of the players made a good play or someone scored. I watched with them while I ate and got pretty into it, and thoroughly enjoyed meeting some people who weren't tourists.
I'll be starting my internship at the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development on Monday, so I think I'm going to sleep in tomorrow(just a bit!), then spend the day exploring Paris. For now, though, I think it's time to sign off.
À bientôt,
Adam
I just arrived in Paris tonight, so I thought this might be a good time to write a first post. I'm very excited to be here, naturally, but I am completely exhausted from the past few days--because of a combination of the writing competition and packing up my entire apartment in a day, I've only slept about 9 hours since Wednesday. Also, I'm a bit bummed because my guitar is missing in action. The baggage handlers at Charles de Gaulle airport think it must have gotten stuck in London, and will hopefully arrive in a day or two. Nonetheless, as soon as I hit Paris, I was invigorated. I'm staying at a hostel for the next few days, until I move into my apartment. The hostel is right on the outskirts of Paris, in Epinay-sur-Seine, a nice area with a very suburban feel to it. I went exploring a bit after moving in, went for a long walk and relished being in a new place. It was overcast and lightly raining on and off, with a cool breeze that was a welcome relief from the sweltering heat of New York these past few days. I had only been walking for about five minutes before someone stopped and asked me for directions. Of course, I had to let them know I was fresh off the plane and barely knew where I was, let alone where they were going. Still, the inquiry gave me an instant, and encouraging, sense of belonging. As I walked around, I started getting hungry(they served meals on the plane, but, well, it was airplane food and it didn't really do the trick), so I stopped into a cool little pizza shop. Inside, a crowd of locals was huddled around a thirteen inch(33cm?) TV watching a football match--they were all going absolutely crazy every time one of the players made a good play or someone scored. I watched with them while I ate and got pretty into it, and thoroughly enjoyed meeting some people who weren't tourists.
I'll be starting my internship at the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development on Monday, so I think I'm going to sleep in tomorrow(just a bit!), then spend the day exploring Paris. For now, though, I think it's time to sign off.
À bientôt,
Adam
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