By bevvy2212
I have been in Paris for a week now and even though France and the U.S. are both modernized, developed countries, I definitely did not mistake myself for being in the U.S.
- College—French Style.
GW automatically enrolled us in the Welcome Program that is offered by Sciences Po, which I am truly grateful for. Even though going to classes is a bit of a bummer in comparison to those who aren't participating in the Welcome Program, I have benefited greatly from the classes. The French, they are a classy bunch, and they like to think their education is a superb and exquisite pursuit to true knowledge. Hence, their expectation of us had quite hit the roof. They like to question everything, just like Descartes had put it, “I think, therefore I am.” For the full week, we learned how to dissect question prompts to pieces. For example, we were given an essay prompt, which was “Should we live in a world without borders.” From first glance, this seemed like a pretty easy topic to go at and I would have probably attacked it from all the wrong angles according to the French standards. Our professors walked us through the process, dissecting each important word and gave those words boundaries. For example, we had to narrow down the word, “borders”. Does it include political borders, or national ones, or geographical ones etc. Then we would have to derive a paradox from the question, like, border has a negative connotation to it yet humans need borders in order to establish their individuality. So towards the end of the week, I was really paranoid and started to question everything… It is as if I am in Inception or something. Where am I? Am I REALLY in Paris? Is this real? Am I real?
The French also put a lot of emphasis on exposés, which means oral presentations. I personally really dislike speaking publicly. Don’t get me wrong, I usually can be a chatter box and go on and on for days. But once you put me on a podium, I’m like a deer in the head light. We had to each do a five-minute oral presentation for our classes and mine was on the U.S. policy in the Middle East. It went fairly well, which was surprising. My professor thought I was quite composed and relaxed, which again, was blasphemous. But after it was all over, the exposé doesn't seem nearly as bad. So I guess at least I’ll come back from France, fully able to take charge and give public speeches. *I hope*.
- Cat calling.
Another aspect of the French culture, or maybe the European culture in general which I find quite appalling, is the amount of cat callings I have received. I admit that maybe I should have swapped dresses for pants, seeing as how most Parisians think winter has descended upon them already, but it’s been 60 to 70 degrees, like, come on. I have felt very uncomfortable walking down the streets in my dresses simply because of the amount of vulgarity and explicit sexual content that was directed toward me. For heaven’s sake I’m in France! I never expected for this to happen. I never considered myself to be a true feminist but after a week in Paris, I feel the strong need to advocate the fact that the way men view women as if they are some fresh meat need to be changed. Like, I felt safer when I was in Peru. PERU! (Not like I’m discriminating against Peru or anything, I love the country.) Way to go, Paris.
- Pick pocketing
I think I should consider myself lucky that I have yet to be pick pocketed, in the U.S., or in France. But I feel like sometimes, things such as theft seem very far to you unless they actually happen to you. We have been so used to the safe environment in GW that when we are outside of the cocoon of campus, we don’t realize that we obviously don’t blend in with the locals and are easy targets for thieves. My friend actually got her wallet stolen in the Paris Metro. The thieves were two girls, and their moves were unbelievably fast. Luckily for my friend, she was able to hold onto one of the thieves and a nice Parisian rang the alarm in the Metro for her. The thieves freaked and gave her back her stuff. Nonetheless I know for sure now that I am going to be extra careful with carrying my bags. (Though I can barely find my wallet most of the time, I’d like to see them thieves try.)