Discoveries of the French Culture

In most ways France is very similar to where I am from in New Hampshire. Before coming to France I had a completely different picture in my head. I built France up as a sort of dream world, like it is in old movies. Everything is beautiful and had old world charm, and it is true that some areas are like that but most look like any other city in any other country. I thought that the moment I stepped off of the plane I would be in a completely different world, it was a little tiny bit of a disappointment for everything to seem the same as it did at home. But among the features that are similar to any other place I have been noticing little things that separate the French culture from American culture.
Unlike America that always seems to be on the go, people in France sit outside on patios and enjoy their lunches for hours. People watching is a big feature of French life, parks are always full of people enjoying the sunshine, watching people stroll by. One of the bigger differences between French and American culture is shopping hours. Walking through town on a Sunday I noticed that almost everything is closed. Small bakeries might be open in the morning, but other than the occasional gas station nothing is open. Sundays and Mondays are restful days, which is hard to get used to at first.
Everything in the U.S. is open all of the time. Stores stay open twenty-four hours a day, 365 days a year. It is a big change going from that to having stores with very limited hours. In a lot of ways it is nice, not to be running around doing errands. The more small town life of Strasbourg/Robertsau is much more relaxed then the hustle and bustle of Paris; I really enjoy the French country life.

New Challenges

The week is the two-week mark of my time in France. This entire experience had been amazing. I have seen so many amazing things and done things that I would have never dreamed of doing. The only part that is really difficult is the language barrier.
Being in a new, unfamiliar place is always hard but not being fluent in the language makes it a challenge sometimes. The other night a group of us went out to dinner and it was so much fun. We went to a fancy, sit-down restaurant and ordered without being exactly sure of what we were getting. I am a strict vegetarian, no animals of any kind, that can cause some problems in France. Being vegetarian is not something common in France, so I have to be very careful. I ordered a ‘lardon salad’, which we all decided was a type of bean. The waiter set in front of my this giant plate of salad with a huge heap of bacon on the top.
We soon discovered that lardon is a type of pork not a type of bean. It was so hilarious when that giant plate of meat was put on the table. It all ended well, I had ice cream for dinner which is way better than salad anyway. Everyday I am learning more words, though it is a slow process every time I use a word and the person understands me feels so good. This trip is such an amazing learning experience, I know that understanding French is going to take a lot of practice and that I will make a lot of mistakes. I am completely fine will learning from my mistakes, mistakes can add fun twists to everyday boring things.

My Most Amazing Sighting This Week: The Eiffel Tower

A cliche as it sounds the Eiffel Tower has been the most amazing thing I have seen this week. I have seen so many unbelievable things these past few days. Everything in Paris is beautiful; the architecture, the paintings, the sculptures, and the gardens. This is a really hard decision, but I would have to pick the Eiffel Tower.
It doesn't even look real, it is completely surreal. When you are looking at it from distance or looking up from underneath it, it doesn't look like an actual object. Do you know that look that green screens give in movies? That is exactly what the Eiffel Tower looks like. I cannot explain it but, that is what it reminds me of. It is unbelievably beautiful, it delicate detail is so amazing. For such an immense structure it is incredibly delicate. Looking through binoculars the little arches and little holes are so pretty.

I have no idea if the Eiffel Tower will still be my favorite thing tomorrow but today, it is the most amazing thing that I have seen so far. Probably because it is so iconic for Paris and it full lives up to all of the hype. I find it funny that when it was built everyone thought it was a disgrace and now it is one of the most famous landmarks in the world. I suppose that could be said about a lot of today's most famous artists and pieces of art, before they were loved they were hated. Of course now, we could not picture the world without it.

Packing My Bags

Packing luggage is so hard. I have spent so much time trying to figure out what to keep in my bag and what can be taken out, it is quite a challenge. Four months is a long time, I cannot really anticipate everything that I will want or need over the whole semester. The weight limits add to the difficulty, two bags of fifty pounds each. After quite a bit of packing and repacking my bags are all done. I am ready for the airport. I have everything that I think I will need,with room to spare for the amazing things that I will find to bring home.

Clothes are just clothes, if in December my bags are too full with clothing and souvenirs, I will through them away. You can always buy new clothes, the little things that I will find when I am over there will have much more importance. I am so excited to see everything and do as much as I can. Packing is just such a pain in the neck, I am glad that at least for now, I am done doing it.