It’s hard to feel sad about ending a vacation when there is still a full day of travel ahead. The stress of going to the airport, getting through security, the exhausting eight-hour flight, and making it through customs. It all makes it hard to miss a place and reflect on my experiences, but I will try as I sit on the plane, trying to pass the time until we arrive home.
I didn’t have that many expectations for the trip before we took off. I just packed my bags, went to the airport, and told myself to wing it, meeting challenges as they came. I wanted to go in with an open mind, just to let it all hit me as I encountered new experiences. Maybe it was ill-advised to not do a lot of research, but I think it actually made me challenge myself in a new way that I’ve never done before. I am usually a heavy planner, wanting to know everything about the place I am going and mapping out every minute of the trip. Due to the format of the course with only a loose calender of class meetings, I ended up with just planning day to day. I don’t want to say something sappy like, it made me “live in the moment” or I let myself “savor every minute,” but I truly let things happen without feeling the need to plan everything out.
This trip has done wonders for my confidence in social interactions, because I don’t think I can have a more embarrassing social interaction than a few conversations I’ve had in the past month. Legitimately, no conversation is scary or embarrassing after having to explain to a security guard who speaks no English that I got locked out of my room twice in one night. The same goes for being embarrassed about looking out of place, because I was forced to be an outsider and tourist for a month. I have realized its okay to stick out, as long as I try my hardest to respect the place I am visiting. I’m so glad I went on this trip as a rising sophomore because I think I have grown in my self-confidence and independence.
There are definitely things I will miss about France, but it makes it easier when I remember that all good things have flaws that I will not miss. Public transit is great, but the RER B is always delayed at peak times when all you want to do is lay down and finally rest after a long day of exploring Paris. Excellent bread and pastries came along with having to order them and sometimes have the most embarrassing social interactions. And even the great cappuccino can sometimes have too much milk and be so hot, they burn your tongue. I’m sure those flaws will feel small in comparision (especailly public transit when I think about the traffic I will have to sit through after leaving the airport), but its good to know there are things for me to love in America.
I’ve had such a great time in Paris and am so happy I decided to come on this trip despite not being in the historic preservation major that long. I cannot wait to recommend this trip to future students and apply what I learned to my future preservation courses, as well as my everyday life. I hope I will be able to drink a French cappuccino again someday, but if not, I had a great experience this time around.