It is hard to sum up the effects of my semester abroad into one blog post. I still think about it often. In the most simple sense, it allowed me to observe a new culture, speak a new language (better than before), and meet new people. And as clichéd as it sounds, immersing myself in so many new things was incredibly eye-opening. And I think the coolest thing about it was that it not only introduced me to a new world, but it also gave me perspective on my life back in the states--perspective I could never have gained without the physical and psychological distance. It made me realize things about myself that I had always taken for granted, things that might be normal in the US but aren't in France. It made me think about what I like about my life in the states and what aspects I might want to work on. And all of these reflections were coming at a good time, because now that I'm back, I'm a senior in college, which suddenly sounds very adult and real. While we were in Paris, we would joke about how weird it would be to come back to "real life"...and how it was even weirder that we were going to graduate in a year, and begin "real, REAL life." In some ways, my semester was a defined period of limbo where I didn't have to be carried by the natural momentum of a twenty-year-old's life. It was a lovely way to halt that for awhile (for example, I decided not to worry about trying to find a summer internship while I was there...it would be too difficult, and it wasn't something I wanted to concern myself with while abroad). And yet, five months is a long time, and by the end of the semester, I was ready to dive headfirst back into my world here.
And some of what I learned while abroad will help me dive into new and exciting experiences here, I think. For example, the language barrier ended up forcing me to be assertive and a bit more daring than usual. I had to learn to feel totally comfortable lunging into a conversation, even if I didn't feel comfortable with my conversation skills yet. Or going into a classroom full of only-French students, and then listening to an entire lecture in French, and then explaining to the professor that I wasn't on the rollcall list yet, because my program was different. You get the idea. I HAD to communicate with people even when I was terrified to, so now, I'm more used to dealing with nerve-wracking situations.
And all in all, spending so much time in France made me fall in love with this new country, and simultaneously re-appreciate things about America that I had taken for granted. Sometimes, I would be having an amazing time in Paris, and I would simultaneously be kind of homesick for the US. It was a strange feeling. And of course, now that I'm back in the US, I once again take the simplest things for granted...like having the signs be in English, or the stores open late, or access to Hulu and Netflix...All in all, going abroad was a life-changing experience, and to anyone even considering it, I would recommend it in an instant. I have never met anyone who regretted going abroad, and it has the potential to be absolutely amazing. I'm so thankful I was able to go, and now I'm ready to start new adventures this summer!
Monday, June 21, 2010
Traveling
I woke up on June 1 with mixed emotions: I was sad to leave Paris, but totally excited to see the US again. I said goodbye to Jean-Paul and took a shuttle to the airport. It was sad to say goodbye to him, since he had been so sweet and generous to me and had been sort of a surrogate family member while I was there. If I ever head back to Paris in the next few years, I know I'll be able to stay with him. When my shuttle came, he said, "A bientot!" ("See you soon!") and hugged me goodbye.
When I got to the airport, things began smoothly. I had bought my tickets with Iceland Air back in December, before any of this volcano nonsense had started. Even after the spring break debacle, I kept a wary eye to the news to make sure the second, larger volcano had not erupted. And lucky for me, it hadn't. But when natural disasters fail to inconvenience my life, the French bureaucracy steps in. I got to the airport in good time and got straight through security, but the plane was mysteriously delayed for over two hours at Charles de Gaule. When we finally boarded the plane, the pilot told us (in a noticeably frustrated voice) that the French government had been doing a surprise inspection of the plane. The plane passed the inspection, but it had been annoyingly thorough. When we finally took off, I relaxed again (this was my first plane ride with individual video screens, and I hadn't seen "Office Space" in years).
The bad news came at our layover in Iceland. Turns out, our connecting flight had already left for New York. The Iceland Air workers told us, without a hint of remorse, that there were no other planes leaving for New York until the next day, and that they would provide us with vouchers to stay overnight in a nearby hotel. Now, coming home from a semester abroad is a psychologically complicated event. By the time I left France, I was in "home mode"...I just wanted to be in my house in Albany, with my cat Lucy, and a homecooked, American meal, and my family. I just wanted to be home! I was truly heartbroken for a good ten minutes.
...And yet, somehow, seeing how angry all the passengers were made me think of this youtube clip called "Everything's Amazing and No One's Happy" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8r1CZTLk-Gk). And I realized there were many worse problems I could be having. I decided I needed to embrace my overnight experience. So, on the taxi ride to the airport, I asked the driver what there was to do in Reykyavik. He told me we weren't in Reykyavik...we were actually in the sister city, Keflavik. He told me I absolutely had to go to the Blue Lagoon...the top Keflavik tourist attraction (ha). And magically, while I was in line at the hotel lobby, a father and son struck up a conversation with me and told me they were headed to this Blue Lagoon.
The father (John) and son (Erik) were actually heading back to Minneapolis, the other destination whose flight had already left. They told me the exact same thing had happened to Erik's sister awhile back, and she ended up having a great time. So I headed to the Blue Lagoon with them! Turns out, it is a geothemral bath that is extremely sulfuric and stays at about 105 degrees Fahrenheit. It was actually unbelievably relaxing and wonderful after the stress of traveling. There was also a swim-up bar. And the bartender had a mullet faux-hawk. And wore a girl's leotard with a bowtie. I could not stop thinking about how random the entire experience was. Also, on the taxi ride to and from the Lagoon, we observed the Icelandic landscape, and it is one of the most bizarre things I have ever seen. It is basically completely made up of volcanic debris, so the entire landscape looks like the Apocalypse. Or the moon. The whole thing was so surreal. After the Lagoon, John and Erik invited me to go to dinner with them, so we went out to the harbor and had Icelandic seafood. The harbor was incredibly serene, and the restaurant was empty except for us! The food was delicious, and it was so much fun talking to the Minnesotans, who were quite interesting people. This annoying travel mix-up had turned into an almost-free mini-vacation! And I weirdly ended up really liking Iceland.
The next morning at the hotel's breakfast, I met an NYU student who had also been abroad, and we killed time together at the airport. Finally, our plane left, and six hours later, we touched down in New York...
When I got to the airport, things began smoothly. I had bought my tickets with Iceland Air back in December, before any of this volcano nonsense had started. Even after the spring break debacle, I kept a wary eye to the news to make sure the second, larger volcano had not erupted. And lucky for me, it hadn't. But when natural disasters fail to inconvenience my life, the French bureaucracy steps in. I got to the airport in good time and got straight through security, but the plane was mysteriously delayed for over two hours at Charles de Gaule. When we finally boarded the plane, the pilot told us (in a noticeably frustrated voice) that the French government had been doing a surprise inspection of the plane. The plane passed the inspection, but it had been annoyingly thorough. When we finally took off, I relaxed again (this was my first plane ride with individual video screens, and I hadn't seen "Office Space" in years).
The bad news came at our layover in Iceland. Turns out, our connecting flight had already left for New York. The Iceland Air workers told us, without a hint of remorse, that there were no other planes leaving for New York until the next day, and that they would provide us with vouchers to stay overnight in a nearby hotel. Now, coming home from a semester abroad is a psychologically complicated event. By the time I left France, I was in "home mode"...I just wanted to be in my house in Albany, with my cat Lucy, and a homecooked, American meal, and my family. I just wanted to be home! I was truly heartbroken for a good ten minutes.
...And yet, somehow, seeing how angry all the passengers were made me think of this youtube clip called "Everything's Amazing and No One's Happy" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8r1CZTLk-Gk). And I realized there were many worse problems I could be having. I decided I needed to embrace my overnight experience. So, on the taxi ride to the airport, I asked the driver what there was to do in Reykyavik. He told me we weren't in Reykyavik...we were actually in the sister city, Keflavik. He told me I absolutely had to go to the Blue Lagoon...the top Keflavik tourist attraction (ha). And magically, while I was in line at the hotel lobby, a father and son struck up a conversation with me and told me they were headed to this Blue Lagoon.
The father (John) and son (Erik) were actually heading back to Minneapolis, the other destination whose flight had already left. They told me the exact same thing had happened to Erik's sister awhile back, and she ended up having a great time. So I headed to the Blue Lagoon with them! Turns out, it is a geothemral bath that is extremely sulfuric and stays at about 105 degrees Fahrenheit. It was actually unbelievably relaxing and wonderful after the stress of traveling. There was also a swim-up bar. And the bartender had a mullet faux-hawk. And wore a girl's leotard with a bowtie. I could not stop thinking about how random the entire experience was. Also, on the taxi ride to and from the Lagoon, we observed the Icelandic landscape, and it is one of the most bizarre things I have ever seen. It is basically completely made up of volcanic debris, so the entire landscape looks like the Apocalypse. Or the moon. The whole thing was so surreal. After the Lagoon, John and Erik invited me to go to dinner with them, so we went out to the harbor and had Icelandic seafood. The harbor was incredibly serene, and the restaurant was empty except for us! The food was delicious, and it was so much fun talking to the Minnesotans, who were quite interesting people. This annoying travel mix-up had turned into an almost-free mini-vacation! And I weirdly ended up really liking Iceland.
The next morning at the hotel's breakfast, I met an NYU student who had also been abroad, and we killed time together at the airport. Finally, our plane left, and six hours later, we touched down in New York...
1 Day
Well, this post is coming about three weeks too late, but the end of my stay and my return to New York have been such whirlwinds! I will divide up the events up until now into a few more posts before I wrap up this blog.
Anyways, on my last day in Paris, I spent most of the day wandering throughout the city with my friends Toni and Lizzy. We started out at Reid Hall and said goodbye to our little mini-campus. Then we ate one last Frenchy lunch (crêpes at a crêperie nearby). For the rest of the afternoon, we kept wandering to different sites in an attempt to do something Parisian on our last day. We went to the Tour Montparnasse, in order to ride the elevator to the top and see the view, but turns out it was 8 euros...not something we were about to spend money on on our last day. So we began to wander towards the Catacombs, a touristy site I still had never been to. When we got there, there was a sign up saying it was closed due to flooding! Finally, we decided to wander over to the Musée D'Orsay to see the "Crime and Punishment"-themed exhibit there. Upon arrival, we saw that it was closed!...for no apparent reason. Anyways, all of these accidents meant we ended up inadvertently wandering for the whole day, which is actually one of my favorite things to do in Paris and a lovely way to spend the last day. We ended by going to Place de la Concorde and Opéra.
At night, I had my last dinner with Jean Paul (and his granddaughter and his daughter-in-law), and then I finished packing and prepared for a day of travel. Au revoir, Pareee...
Anyways, on my last day in Paris, I spent most of the day wandering throughout the city with my friends Toni and Lizzy. We started out at Reid Hall and said goodbye to our little mini-campus. Then we ate one last Frenchy lunch (crêpes at a crêperie nearby). For the rest of the afternoon, we kept wandering to different sites in an attempt to do something Parisian on our last day. We went to the Tour Montparnasse, in order to ride the elevator to the top and see the view, but turns out it was 8 euros...not something we were about to spend money on on our last day. So we began to wander towards the Catacombs, a touristy site I still had never been to. When we got there, there was a sign up saying it was closed due to flooding! Finally, we decided to wander over to the Musée D'Orsay to see the "Crime and Punishment"-themed exhibit there. Upon arrival, we saw that it was closed!...for no apparent reason. Anyways, all of these accidents meant we ended up inadvertently wandering for the whole day, which is actually one of my favorite things to do in Paris and a lovely way to spend the last day. We ended by going to Place de la Concorde and Opéra.
At night, I had my last dinner with Jean Paul (and his granddaughter and his daughter-in-law), and then I finished packing and prepared for a day of travel. Au revoir, Pareee...
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