I’ve been in the United States for almost two months now, and I’m officially to the point where Paris sometimes feels like a dream, whereas being back on campus after so long felt unreal for a while. It’s funny how the rest of the world seemed to keep moving, while in a way I felt like I had pressed a pause button on my life at home. There is a little adjustment period, of course, but now that I am back in the swing of Northwestern life I am taking time to reflect on what I learned. Here are just a few things:
- 1) Paris can be both similar and radically different from Chicago. There are so many little things about the way Parisians see the world that I would never think about otherwise. It was a small shift, but doors have opened in my mind where they wouldn’t otherwise. How French people see food, cars, public spaces, and many other things are different enough from my experience to open my eyes to the fact that the American way is not the only way. Race, class, and the environment are similar enough that I can compare and learn.
- 2) You can’t let one tragedy define your whole experience. Bad nights, paranoid weeks—these happened, but that doesn’t mean that I didn’t have an overall wonderful experience.
- 3) You have to be careful to enunciate when you speak French.
- 4) Friendships with people from another country are invaluable.
- 5) Taking a baguette and cheese to watch the river really is all it is cracked up to be.
- 6) There is something magical about a city infused with art. Allowing paintings and music and literature to occupy a big space in your life is a key to better appreciating the world around you.
I miss Paris. I miss my hostess and my friends and Sciences Po. But I know I am so much better for having gone, and I appreciate being home all the more for it.
