Why would they do that?

We had a guest lecturer today, an extremely tall Philipino-American guy from Saint Louis. For anyone interested, he was talking about Coase and the theoretical origin of firms based on internalizing transaction costs. Quite interesting really. But I have to say, they really shouldn't have let this guy loose on us. He was extremely articulate, funny, dynamic, good story teller, very clear explainer, without powerpoint slides, etc. In a word, he kicked the asses of all the profs I've had so far.

They really should have waited until the end of the semester to bring this guy in because I learned a ton in one two-hour session. I don't want to think that I could be learning a lot more at another university. But it's not like I would have been likely to apply to an econ program in the States. I guess I could go all crazy and try to get a PhD after this thing, but what would be the point of that? It's kind of silly to do all that just to take a some more interesting classes and avoid work. Also, I'm not sure if with this school I'd actually be qualified to do a PhD after this school. A Masters in the states means more than a Masters in France, I'm realizing. Wait, I need to shut the hell up so everybody will be impressed when I get back.

No, Matt, I'm not bitter or the arrogant American, I'm not the only one who thinks this. Well, maybe we're all bitter, and maybe I'm getting arrogant too, whatevah. Is it really arrogance when a bunch of other people (non-Americans) feel the same way? I really don't want to be a whiney bastard, I really want to enjoy my program, it's just been annoying me lately. But it seems like next semester should be better once we get the basics down. And the research project is still really cool, as are all the people I've met. Sigh ...

I really need to get over this BS and enjoy the fact that I'm living and studying in Paris. What's not to like? Just tell me to shut up.