I am Mark a rising sophomore at Sid Richerson College studying mechanical engineering. Coming to Paris on the train from Amsterdam reminded me of how much I enjoy trains and wish the United States also had high speed trains because it is a lot easier and more comfortable than flying and a lot faster than driving. In Amsterdam, we made close connections with some of the students studying at the University of Amsterdam and I wonder if we will be able to form the same type of close connection with people in Paris when we are not working with students from a local university. We would see the UvA students every night and they helped us learn more about the city and Dutch culture which helped me feel more connected to Amsterdam and made the experience a lot more interesting because I was able to learn a lot outside of the classroom as well. Because we are also staying at Rice housing and not a hostel I feel like it will be more challenging to meet people but I am still hopeful we will find a place to meet people who we can form a connection with. In Paris, I hope I feel very fulfilled by the end of the class and not regretful for anything I did or did not do. I really want to make the most out of the time I have here and have as many different experiences as possible which is something I did in Amsterdam. I want to go on a weekend trip so I can explore another city as well. I am really excited to walk around and explore a new city. My parents just visited Paris two weeks ago so they gave me a lot of suggestions about what I should see which I am excited about. I am also excited to see my friend who is studying in London because I have not seen him since school ended. I have also not been to London in 12 years so it will be nice to experience it again especially because my brother was studying abroad there all year so it will be nice to walk around because he would tell me a lot about his expenses and things he liked to do when we talked so I am looking forward to doing some of them myself. I really love walking around cities because I feel like it allows you to see the most. Yesterday I walked 10 miles around the city and even though I was walking between major tourist attractions, I found so many interesting and pretty streets and buildings which I would look at. If I had taken the metro or bus instead of walking I would have missed all the parts of Paris that were not touristy and I think that I sometimes enjoy seeing the more regular parts of a city instead of the touristy parts. In my free time, I hope to walk around more especially in a few neighborhoods which I have not seen yet. A memory I want to make while I am here is watching the sunset on a clear night from the Sacred Heart Basilica of Montmartre because I have heard that that is one of the prettiest spots to watch the sunset from.