Now that I have
come to the last days of my trip I am starting to recognize some cultural
differences in life here that I am wanting to take home with me. I am the youngest student studying here in
Paris and at first I was skeptical about the timing in my life being right for
studying abroad, but now after being here I am very grateful that I was able to
have this experience at such an early age.
Being here has taught me a lot about myself and a lot about where I see
my life going and how I would like my future to turn out. After meeting a bunch of people my age that
have also studied abroad and who have traveled all over the world and who know
five languages I know I need to continue to travel and to learn new cultures
and even more languages, but maybe I should focus on perfecting me French for
right now.
I have also
realized here that work should not take over your life. Even though I have not had a full time job in
life yet, once I start one (this summer) I will be able to understand how to
take time for leisure time and not let it consume all of my day. I have seen so many adults back home that
have had their work take over their whole life, and they are always busy and
stressed out. That is what I feel like
when I am going to school back at home, I don’t take enough time to relax in between
studying and then once it gets too stressful I explode. One of my favorite things to do here is to go
to Buttes Chaumont (an amazing park) and lay on a blanket with some snacks and
a glass of wine. The park is always full
of people, when its warm, and everyone is off work and forgetting about their
day and just relaxing and hanging out with their friends. If they aren’t at the park after work then
they are at home or a restaurant, café, or bar with their friends or family and
they stay there for hours. This kind of “leisure”
time seems to happen every night. It is
very refreshing to see people separate their work and social lives. Once I get back to the United States and in
my future I will try to keep this in mind and I think it will make my life a
lot easier and more fun. We all need to
take a step away from our lives at some point and realize what is important and
I am so glad that I was able to do that this semester. I will never forget this experience, it has taught
me so much about life and it had been one of the bests time of my life. Paris will always have a special place in my
heart.
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