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As I write this post, I am sitting at the long end of my dining room table, where I have done most of my writing since high school. I shove off for Paris tomorrow at 2 p.m. It’s been a great summer. I was in New York working at Forbes Magazine as an editorial intern, but now that I’m leaving, I can forget about the lofty idea of career success, and focus exclusively on my studies abroad.
That’s what I’m most looking forward to on my trip to Paris. Living exclusively in the present. Paris is a place of the senses. Sight, smell, and taste, specifically. It is those that I will seek out to no end while studying in Paris.
I’m interested in comparing life in Paris to that which I have experienced while in New York. Will there be the same roar of traffic that goes on incessantly in the night? I’m also interested in comparing life in Paris to that which I have experienced in other European cities I have visited, like Amsterdam, Berlin and London. How will the food compare? The nightlife?
I’ve heard numerous stories about how Americans come off as both arrogant and ignorant when they speak only in English at museums, restaurants, etc. I wonder how I can best go about practicing my French (which is very bad) while maintaining some level of practical communication. I’m told that often times, when a waiter hears that your French is bad, he will just begin speaking to you in English.
Well those are my initial ruminations. I have to go pack now. Au revoir.