Longest (and most overdue) post ever.

Jump to Comments

At this point, I’m considering the trip to Italy a thing of legends. By this I mean that it’s been too long since it happened to try to recount it here, so it’s something that will live only in memory, not in writing. I’ll tell you about it in person if you’re interested.

I do want to mention a few things about Italy (I can’t help myself):
1. It is so HOT there. I loved it, if it weren’t for the heat and the combination of humidity and pollution that made it impossible for me to breathe, it would have been perfect.
2. That sounded like I had a terrible time, which is not true. I think Italy is more romantic than France in that it is absolutely beautiful and the whole time I could imagine Roman legions and 20th century armies marching through its countrysides and stunning, lazy piazzas. Amazing. I want to go back as soon as I can.
3. Thank you mom and dad for giving me the ability to speak French. Going to a country where I could barely say please and thank you made me realize how incredibly lucky I am to speak a foreign language. As soon as we got back to the creepy little Beauvais airport outside Paris, I was overcome with joy at being able to function independently and effectively in a country in Europe (England doesn’t count).
4. You know it’s a small world when you’re in a park in Florence and you run into a high school teacher from Beaverton and end up walking to the gelato stand discussing news at your alma matter. Yes, this really did happen to me.
5. Let me just say that I have never seen a more enchanting or lovely place than Venice. The whole thing felt like a dream, lying on the coast of the Adriatic Sea and gliding past gondolas on the Grand Canal… whenever I’m having a bad day back home, I will think how lucky I was to be there.

Now back to my “real life” in Paris.
I’ve been chillin’ all alone for two weeks now since Amanda left. Right before she left, I was inflicted with my first illness since arriving here. I was coughing and sneezing all over the place, as was she actually. Anyway, I even took a sick day from work, which I hate doing. I’m all better now though. Not to associate something negative with Amanda’s visit- we had a great time! And, I’m proud to report, she is at least the second person who has told me Paris was their favorite stop on their Euro trip. What can I say? It is a fantastic place, made more fantastic by the fact that I’m here of course.

One other thing to mention about Amanda’s visit: we witnessed the amazing fete de la Bastille. I’ve never seen anything like it: we watched tanks roll down the Champs Elysees to the sounds of patriotic music being blasted from loud speakers. I felt like I was in a movie in the 1930s. As they rolled down the street, people cheered and waved flags, as uniformed soldiers with machine guns looked straight ahead from their perches on the top of the tanks and other military vehicles. The parade finished with army helicopters flying over the city, from which dropped a dozen or so parachuters, who flew in formation and landed in front of the president and controversial leaders of many foreign countries at the Place de la Concorde, where the monarchy was literally ended.

The rest of the day, we saw military vehicles and soldiers rolling around the city like it was no big deal and we concluded the evening with a Fireworks show at the Eiffel Tower. Bastille day is the equivalent of our Independence Day, but I must say, I feel like it has a very different meaning and feeling. Our celebration makes sense to me since we are celebrating our independence from the British and the founding of our country. Their country’s big day is so much more complicated, since it doesn’t mark the founding of their country or their independence from anyone else. Rather, it marks the end of a monarchy (and a brutal end at that) and the beginning of the sovereignty of the “nation.” When I write it down, I guess it sounds kind of similar to ours, it’s just strange to me for some reason.

(Another note before I move on, I tried to see the conclusion of the Tour de France, although I had to pry myself from my spot on the route to go to work before the bikers arrived. It was sad.)

In other news, I succeeded in negotiating a bit of an early departure, which I have mixed feelings about. I am so excited to see everyone again, I feel like it’s been a long, long time since I’ve talked to most people and even longer since I’ve seen them. This sense of feeling really remote has been enhanced by my lack of access to internet (a truly funny story, which I will relate a bit later on).

On the other hand, I am completely in love with Paris. This is something I have become more and more aware of as the date of my departure approaches. I feel like leaving is literally going to be equivalent to breaking up with someone. I’ll save my ode to Paris for a later date, closer to when I’m actually leaving, but I’ll throw a few things out there that I’m being especially carefully to appreciate before leaving.

1. Paris is an exciting, beautiful, mysterious place. It’s hard to describe what I mean here, but I know what it is every time I walk along the Seine and up the Boulevard Saint Michel as the sun’s going down. It’s like a fulfilling peace comes over you and you realize how lucky you are to be alive. I know it sounds corny, but it’s the best way I can think to describe it. If you can, come and experience it yourself. Simply sitting at the tip of the Ile de la Cite or on the Pont des Arts and watching the boats glide by is an experience worth the super long flight over the Atlantic.

2. Everything moves a bit slower, everyone drinks a bit more wine and everything is a little less important than it is at home. While I admit that this attitude can be a bit frustrating when you want to get something done, overall, I respect it as a happy way of life and I hope to adopt some of the philosophy as I return to hectic life back home.

3. America is great and important but it is not the center of the world and I love being over here where that becomes obvious. I probably think about this a bit more than others might since I’m a European history geek, but the rest of the world seems so much closer over here than it is at home.

4. Your sense of being part of a greater human history is so greatly enhanced over here. At home, especially on the West Coast, there’s just not that much history around you. But here, every time I leave the library, I walk down the street to the Hotel de Ville, where 18th century urban dwellers demanded to be armed and led to Versailles to bring the king back to Paris. Then, I proceed to the Seine and walk past the place where the royal family was imprisoned before being put to death in one of the biggest turning points in history. The list pretty much goes on and on; Nazi and then liberating armies marching down the Champs Elysees, Napoleon’s Arc de Triomphe… so many amazing things.

5. I kind of like being a foreigner. This doesn’t really have to do with Paris in particular, but more with living abroad in general. It forces you to learn about yourself and your home when you are in a foreign place and it’s an experience I wish everyone could have.

6. I realized this in Italy too, but I also find Europe so fascinating, particularly at this phase in its history as it is uniting more and more (or trying to) under the banner of the European Union. It’s amazing to me that in the same time it takes me to fly from Portland to San Francisco, I can fly from Paris to Pisa, two entirely different countries, with different languages, cultures, histories and economies. And these peoples are so proud and unique in so much, yet they are working together and trying to unite. It’s so fascinating.

7. In terms of Paris in general, where else will you read a sign in the window of a shop that says “Closed from 30 July to 30 August, have a good vacation!” This is so weird to me, but kind of cool that in the increasingly fast-paced world, there’s still at least some place where things take a break.

On the other hand, here are the things I will not miss or just can’t wait to get back to:

1. I will not miss fighting with copy machines and printers on a daily basis. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve generally really loved my internship and the insight I’ve gained there has been incredibly valuable. However, I am more than ready for the end of my days as an office assistant.
2. If I ever live in a big city and have to commute, I will do anything to avoid ridding the metro to work. Now that I’ve switched for at least part of the time to the morning shift, I have to ride the metro with everyone else heading to work. Every morning, I fight the feeling that I’m about to pass out or throw up as I’m squeezed, sweating, with no room to breathe between everyone heading to the office. This morning, I actually closed my eyes and tried to imagine walking the streets of Berkeley in the fresh air.
3. I am so excited to have the internet and to have a cell phone that I can call people on! I cannot describe how excited I am for these things.
4. House of Curries. That’s all I’ll say there.
5. A real shower, with a showerhead mounted on the wall, shooting out fresh water. The thought of being able to stand up straight and take a shower and feel really refreshed afterward is so appealing to me at this moment.
6. ICE. I love ice and I wish Europeans would adopt my love for it, it would make summer days here so much more bearable.
7. Friends and family. I’ve missed you all a lot and I can’t wait to come back and see you or at least be able to talk to you regularly. I want to come back to Paris and I’ve thought about moving over here after college, but the one thing that holds me back from deciding to move more permanently is all of you. I wish there was some way to make Paris and America closer, but then I guess neither would really be the same.

2 Comments

Filed under Uncategorized