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Why not Paris?

By paigebradford

“Why not Paris?” is the response I get from pretty much everyone when I tell them I study in Reims, a small town 130km northeast of Paris. Peoples bewilderment towards my decision to study in Reims over Paris is mixed. On one hand, Paris is the most popular city for students to study abroad in, attracting hundreds of thousands of international students each semester or year. Besides its rich history and culture, Paris boasts a dense transportation network.

To travel in and around France, Paris is the hub to access such transportation networks making it easier for students, who wish to travel during their semester abroad, to get around quicker and more cost efficiently. While on the other hand people must cope with the high costs of living, overcrowding, and be aware of the higher levels of crime. Despite Paris’s diverse array of characteristics, I could never put together a clear answer to the question, because my decision was never based on the negative aspects of Paris, rather it was geared towards the newness and uncertainty of living in a smaller town away from anyone I knew or am familiar with. Therefore, instead of focusing on all the aspect of why one should not choose Paris, I thought of all the reasons why one should choose Reims.

For one of my assignments within the GW Global Bachelors program, of which I am a part of, we had to brainstorm and outline a set of goals of which we hoped to achieve during our second time going abroad. Two of my main goals were to form a strong relationship with my host family and secondly to form friendships with international students. My first goal was accomplished quickly. Having grown up with 3 other siblings myself, living with a host family with 4 kids was familiar to me. The conversations and the time I have spent with my host family has been culturally informative and fulfilling.

The opportunity to live with a French host family, and exchange social differences and similarities has made me more aware of the various aspects which make France and America different and in some areas the same. For example, there is a big societal emphasis on family time. Each day of the work week, most companies and industries have a two-hour lunch break for employees to return home and have lunch with their families. Furthermore, France’s strict 35-hour work week enables the workforce to dedicate more time to their families than working at an office. Due to the laid-back work schedule my interactions with my host parents and siblings are frequent and range from formal sit down meals to casual conversations sitting in the living room. Moreover, the host family housing option is only offered at the Sciences Po Reims campus, which made studying there more attractive to me because I knew I wanted to gain more of an immersive experience,

One of the greatest aspects of study abroad programs, is their ability to bring together students from all over the world to experience something unique and form relationships that can last a life time. While making my decision on which city to study in I was hesitant that I would accomplish the goal of making international friends in Paris, for I already knew a lot of people who were looking to study abroad there not just from GW but also old friends from high school. My fear was that if I went to Paris I would refrain from making new friends and would just stick to spending time with old friends. Although I have made the trip over to Paris quite frequently this semester to see old friends, the new friendships I have made with students from all over the world has been a learning experience. Since most exchange students are perusing the same major as I, it has been interesting to hear their countries perspectives on global affairs, for their knowledge of it is more elaborate from what I might have read from a news article.

Having studied abroad in both a large metropolitan city like Shanghai and a small town like Reims it is interesting to compare the two different lifestyles side by side. Although I don’t think I could pick which program I preferred, for they both have their own unique positive and negative qualities, I would recommend to anyone choosing between a big or small city to study abroad in to ask themselves what level of immersion are they looking for, and how much effort they are willing to put into embracing the culture and traditions of another country. If someone is looking for a high level of immersion then it requires a lot more effort to find those social circles which encourage cultural integration in larger cities because you’re surrounded by the hustle and bustle of city life, and less people are willing to take time out of their day to talk to you. While in a small-town life moves a lot slower and you’re faced with families who hold deep sentimental roots to the area and are eager to talk about their history.