Dix et Dix

With twelve days remaining in my semester here in Paris, I can't help but have mixed emotions about leaving...Part of me is so excited to come home and the other part feels like a week and a half is not nearly enough time to have left...So, I've created a list of ten reasons why I wish I could stay longer and ten reasons why I'm excited to go back to California...aka a top and bottom 10 of Paris, if you will:

Top Ten Reasons I Am Not Ready To Leave:

1. I haven't done everything I wanted to yet! I'd have a good amount of time left if I were just spending it sightseeing and traveling, but the large part of my time here will be spent in the library, writing papers and studying for my five exams. While I don't mind the work, and I've been lucky so far with not having as much of a work load as I am used to, I feel like I won't get to see everything I wanted to see, or learn as much as I could have.

2. The good weather is just starting...Spring has arrived, certainly, but a lot of what makes up spring here is rain. I arrived in cold weather, and it has lasted most of the time I've been here. While there have definitely been a few gorgeous days, most of the time it is overcast. The weather has been a beautiful backdrop to Paris, but I wish I could see Paris in its summer beauty as well!

3. I haven't perfected my French yet, and I feel like a few more months would really help. The process of becoming fluent has been stop and go...sometimes I accelerate in my learning, and other times I feel like I can't speak at all. I have improved SO much since arriving and can speak French with much more ease now, but I still haven't quite reached the point where I can speak without really thinking about it. I will need to find ways at home to keep practicing.

4. Paris is a great city to live in...the public transportation is fantastic, there is so much to do, the buildings and streets are beautiful, and it is easy to walk here. I love stepping outside my building every day and being in such an amazing city!

5. The food...I will definitely miss the food. The cheese especially is a new experience every time. Madame buys different types every week at the market, but I still haven't yet been able to try all 365+ kinds of French cheeses! And Madame's cooking will be sorely missed when I return...my parents are great cooks, but Madame makes me a multi-course meal every night for dinner, I'm so spoiled.

6. The boys. Ok, at first I didn't really like French boys, I thought they were weird and their clothes were too tight. But they have totally grown on me. Now I look at them and see style and elegance, and of course, great accents! When I come home, American boys will probably seem a little sloppy. Where else but France will a boy ask if you want water, and bring it to you with a glass pitcher and two glasses on a tray? Neurotically fold your coat and drape it over a chair when you dump it on the floor? Speak in poetry about your eyes and the wonders they behold...?

7. The easy accessibility to the rest of Europe. When you're in Paris, every other European country is a hop, skip and a jump away. It is so easy to travel places for just one weekend, and to experience so many different cultures, something that is much more difficult in the US.

8. The language. I truly think that French is the most beautiful language there is. After being surrounded by it for four and a half months, I have developed a love for listening to it and the nuances it acheives. Anything you say in French sounds ten times prettier than in English. And simple sentences can be like poetry. Tonight at dinner I said "April showers bring May flowers" in French: "Les giboulets d'Avril ammenent les fleurs de Mai," and Madame almost shed tears for the sentence's beauty.

9. Proximity to literature and culture: Everyone in France knows so much about their own history and the artists that have lived here. People are so much more knowledgeable about intellectual topics than the average person at home. They are also much more inclined to be politically aware and know what is going on all over the world, not just in France. At first this seems like a sort of pretention or opinionism, but French people are simply in tune with knowledge, and I really respect that.

10. The magic in Paris is everywhere you go, and overwhelming. Walking through the city is a picture-perfect experience, no matter what the weather, who you're with, or what time of day it is. There is so much to discover, and to see, and to hear and smell and learn. It is truly the perfect, and most amazing city in the world, in my opinion.

Beauty around every corner:

Top Ten Reasons I AM Ready To Leave:

1. I can't wait to see my family! While I get to skype them often, and keep in touch well, it is simply not the same as being together. I've never gone so long without being home, and I'm really looking forward to returning to my own bed, and my own house.

2. My pets! Kind of ties into number 1, but I am so excited to see my babies, they must think I abandoned them! After seeing so many people in Paris with their pets, it makes me jealous that I can't be with mine, and I have to fight urges to steal peoples' lap dogs.

3. On that note, I will NOT miss French people letting their dogs poop everywhere and not picking it up! It is a hazard! I have only experienced one mishap with this, but it is really quite disgusting and I wonder how such a clean city full of clean people get away with this. This is an example of how French people can sometimes be a bit publically rude, and it will be nice to step away from that.

4. The people in California are so friendly! I have grown to like the kind of anonymity you can have in a city like Paris, and I think it is nice that Parisians are not fake-friendly before they really get to know you, but it can also feel lonely, and I'm so excited to be in friendly California where you can smile at a stranger and not be followed by them for four blocks...

5. The WEATHER! When I come home, it will be summer time, and while I will not be used to it, I will be so happy to be in constant sun. I'm definitely a victim of the weather, and so while I am happy to be in Paris, the gray sky can sometimes get me down.

6. Speaking English...while I do want to continue to learn French, my brain will hurt a lot less when I get home. It will be strange not to have to think about translating words in my head for the first time in months, but it will be a great brain vacation, and I can free it up for other things!

7. FOOD: I know I said I would miss French food, but I'm also really happy to finally eat good Mexican and Japanese cuisine! I have been craving Chanos, my favorite LA Mexican drive-through, since February, and I can't wait to eat some decent, well-made and fresh sushi. I'm even looking forward to my parents' scrambled eggs!

8. Driving. I love the metro, and I like being able to be green by taking public transportation and walking everywhere, but I do miss driving. While I'll probably need a week to actually remember HOW to drive again, once I do, it will feel so liberating to be able to go wherever, whenever!

9. Being able to have a job. Here, I only have a student visa and cannot work. But when I get home this summer, I'll be able to work and make some money, and my parents won't have to shell out as much. Paris is SO expensive, not only because of the exchange rate, but because the city itself has an astronomical cost of living. So when I get home, everything will seem so much cheaper!

10. Being in the place I love best, and taking all my experiences with me will be so great. I feel like I have an entirely new perspective on life now, and I will love to share it with my friends and family, and be home in Sunny California, continuing on with my life there. This experience in Paris was amazing, but overall I am ready to return, and I know that I'll come back here one day soon.

I will NOT miss all the greves, or strikes:

All in all, I think I will be ready to come home when May 30 hits. But for now, I just have to live it up while I can! Today was fabulous -- for a while it got very warm and sunny, and I walked to Sorbonne from my apartment for my last class there, on the way buying some antique postcards, an poster of an old drawing of a map of Paris, and a straw hat! And here is a picture of my Sorbonne class...my professor is in the middle with the white collared shirt, and I'm on the bottom right:

Until next time, A bientot!