I landed in France a little over a week ago but it seems as though I have been here so much longer. It's difficult to believe that I could have crammed so many museums, monuments, moments with friends, and delicious French meals into ten days. However, my orientations period is not yet over and classes at the Sorbonne and its related institutions won't start until February. I still have time to kill and places to explore, and it is in this pre-class lull that I have time to reflect on what I really hope to accomplish in my time here. I've spent a significant part of my life building up and preparing for Paris in the spring, and now I'm determined to take advantage of everything around me.
I have to remind myself that each moment is a learning experience; whether studying French university language with my program, getting lost on the metro, or trying to describe soy products to my host family. It's terrifying and gratifying to wake up each day and realize how little vocabulary I understand, how much needs to be done before I can begin classes in a week, and that I never have to walk more than two blocks for pastry. My program allows us to review courses at all ten of the Sorbonne institutions (each specializing in a different field of study) along with a few private universities in France, and then create the Frankenstein's monster of class schedules. This lets us travel all over the city for school and find exactly what we're keen to study. It is also a horrifying game of tetris that I am determined to beat. At the moment my schedule also necessitates that I take a quick course in apparition to magically send myself across the city in ten minutes, but I'm getting there.
Beyond the obvious struggles of university life, I've been thinking about the culture shock that so many previous study abroad students speak of. While I'm sure everyone's experience is different, I'm consistently shocked by how un-shocking the melding of cultures has been. While a small part of me may have expected all of Paris to look like an impressionist painting, it's much the same as anywhere else in the world. The ground is the same post-snow muddy green, the sun still rises and sets on schedule, and the Seine flows like many of the other heavily-industrial and polluted rivers I've lived near. The shock and magic of living in another culture comes from the small differences. My first week has been a constant surprise as I learn the differences between my beloved DC Metro and the Parisian Métro, explore the wonderful meal that is French breakfast (as they believe that chocolate is meant to be enjoyed at any time of day), and generally adjust to an 8:30pm dinner time. I have only begun to understand what life in France will entail but I'm looking forward to every moment of it. While preparing for my time abroad and applying for a visa long sejour it seemed as though I would be in France for ages, however I now realize I only have about four months with this deeply fabulous city. There is so much else to see, and much to accomplish before I leave.
A few working goals I will re-visit when I have only one week left in Paris:
- Tell a hilarious anecdote to my host family that they fully understand and translates, both linguistically and culturally
- Attend a manifestation and actually be able to make out what people are chanting
- Discover my personal favorite macaroon shop (a particularly bold and intense undertaking)
- Be able to navigate the metro as well as the indescribably trendy middle-schoolers on their razor scooters do each morning
- Find a personally breathtaking view of the city
- Develop an even deeper love and understanding of fine cheese, and a way to sneak said cheese back to the United States
In the next few days I'll begin shopping my classes, hopefully start volunteering as an English-speaking tutor in a local elementary school, and visit Normandy with my program. I'm ready for some sort of routine to begin taking shape, and just hope that each weeks feels as long and accomplished as my first.