Today I am French

Of the six days that I have been in Paris, today is the first day I have felt like a resident of the city. Previously, I felt like something between a tourist and a complete stranger.

Class today started at 14h30 and I decided to sleep in after staying up late last night. I woke up this afternoon around 12h, giving myself plenty of time to get out early, in case there were problems with the trains. On my way out of MPF, I passed three other students from my program. Yesterday, I definitely would have stopped and tagged along with them but since buying my book of maps and making careful observations while traveling previous days, I decided to have a go at it on my own. I'm not amazing with directions; I'm just getting to the point where I understand Chicago's geography but that's easier, because Chicago streets basically stick to a grid system. Parisian streets do not. I'm more of a visual landmark navigator; I may not know the name of the street but I know what's on the corner of it. Thankfully, this system also works in Paris. Over the last two days, I memorized the look of the streets we used to walk to train stations, restaurants, etc. Sure, it’s probably the lazy way out but it works for me. With my wonderful waterproof map though, I will start to pay attention to street names as a means of insuring that a familiar looking street is actually the street I think it is.


The view outside my window at MPF.

A true sign that I have become settled in a new place is that I am not afraid to venture out alone to points beyond walking distance. I caught the M4, transferred to the M14 (the magical train from the future), walked down la rue de Tobiac to buy a crepe and arrived to class on time.

I thought that it would not be easy for me to become an island while in Paris as I am at U of C because I am completely unfamiliar with the city and needed to follow someone everywhere. Today, I discovered that it is not impossible, which in some way is positive because I can be independent but in more ways it is not. As proud as I am of new independence, I have enjoyed the company of my fellow students and thus will not abandon them for solitude, although it’s appealing. In keeping with the challenge of living in a foreign country, I will continue to challenge myself to be social, without losing my intrinsic ability to peacefully exist in solitude.

Today, I am French.