Thus far… Spent the last couple of days in Orientation for school, I start on Monday. Also been getting acquainted with all the other ERASMUS students, well not all because there are about 200 of us at this school. ERASMUS is just another word for exchange student basically. Today we did a tour of the Seine River, it was freezing but a bunch of fun! I met another American, makes me feel for at home but everyone is seriously awesome. Each day I am surrounded by people from literally ALL over the country. I have met Brazilians, Mexican, Korean, Sweden, Finland, England, Czech, Chinese, Canadian, German, Austrian, and so much more. It is crazy to have conversations with everyone and just talk to them about their home life and get to know them. Having never been out of America I honestly know more of how big and small the world really is. I am just so lucky to be able to have this opportunity, my life is forever changed.
So I thought it might be fun to kind of list some things that I personally have experienced in the few short days I have been here. Definitely a totally different lifestyle then America. I absolutely love it so far and I find it so fascinating that there is so much that is different and getting to experience all of this keeps things very very interesting 🙂 Remember this is just from my perspective though!
-It is true, ice is not served with drinks
-In order to get around you either walk everywhere or take the train (metro and RER) and on the trains to get to one place you usually switch trains more than once
-Motorcycles, gopeds, mopeds and all of the above own the streets here (pretty much no “illegal” traffic laws here)
-everyone wears scarves and I mean everyone
-there is no iced tea here just hot tea (I will greatly miss my favorite American drink)
-never be in a hurry to eat and run because eating is a social outing, the servers do not work for you
-businesses usually take from 1pm to 3pm for lunch everyday
-work days typically start around 10pm and last til 6pm or 7pm
-servers are paid good so tipping is not necessary
-Parisians drink wine at every meal
-Bread is offered everywhere
-French meats are a lot different than American meats, coming from meat country that is difficult
-Everything is a la carte
-It is true, Paris is huge but everything is small, even restaurants and stores
-It typically is cloudy during winter so it is a pleasure to see the sun
-A lot of bars and clubs are open until 5am or even 8am (going to have to get used to that)
-You can drink on the streets
-Almost all Parisians smoke
-Most people do speak at least a little English, I try to speak French to start so I can at least practice but they can spot the accent and usually respond English
-French is such a beautiful language, I hope one day to be able to speak fluently
-It is really a challenge to go off of a paper map, I am good with directions and got lost multiple times already (WHICH WAY IS NORTH DAMN IT lol)
I am sure that will be an ever changing list but just to give you a little taste of Paris for those of you who have not been here! My mom is still here until Sunday and tonight we spent this evening at the Eiffel Tower for dinner. What a beautiful beautiful place 🙂
More to come later on this weekend! Bon weekend 🙂
Kels
Live Love Wander 