As you read this I’ll probably be at 30,000 feet rolling my eyes at an unruly child while trying to enjoy The Baker’s Daughter, but that’s just a guess. It’s cliche to say this, so I will, but the past four and a half months have gone by in the blink of an eye. I find it hard to believe that it wasn’t just yesterday that I was fearful of sleeping in a loft situated fourteen steps above the ground, or that I saw Val-de-Grâce from my window in the pitch black night for the first time. Though I’ll most likely be processing my semester for a little while, what I can say now, with certainty, is that I wouldn’t changed a single thing about the past semester. I try to learn from every experience so even situations that seemed less than perfect (at the time) have given me opportunities to think. Plus I’ve had a phenomenal city to do this in. I may have been at odds with many Parisians but the city itself is quite spectacular. From tiny cafes in the upper Marais to my neighborhood boulongerie, to people watching on Saint Germain, to soaking up the sun in Luxembourg, to smelly metro stations everywhere, or to eating my way through Paris via macarons, this city has given me a swell of more emotions than I ever could have anticipated. And this is why I find writing this post a bit difficult. It certainly won’t be my final piece about Paris but it’s certainly the last one that I’ll write from my apartment, I just hope to return to this wonderful city sooner than later. With that, here’s a small piece I wrote when I had just about a month left of classes. I was in a pensive state of mind so just go with it… See you from RHODE ISLAND!!
Though I’ve spent plenty of time away from home in the past, I’ve never immersed myself in a completely different culture for extended period of time, like I’m doing now. Believe it or not I’m not trying to be funny here because I actually feel that I have some legitimate concerns about returning home. There are certainly French ways of living and attitudes that I have been impermeable to but sometimes there are things that you simply cannot avoid. I often find myself sighing at small things, cramming into a metro, and creating problematiques during conversation. Though I feel that I have not adapted any major characteristics, the French have definitely had an impact on me. I’ve been asking myself some questions lately in hopes of figuring some of these things out…
When I get home will I remember how to order at a cafe? Will I smile at strangers? Will I hold the door open for an elderly woman at the supermarket? Will I look both ways before crossing the street? Will I miss all of the delicious foods? Will I think laughter in public is weird? Will I be a nicer or harsher person? Will I get annoyed when people talk loudly on their mobiles? Will I remember how to drive? Will I ever see fashionable men again? These are all dilemmas, no?
