If someone had told me this time last year that I would be writing a summary after spending three months studying abroad in Paris, I would have laughed. However, the joke is on me because that’s what I’m doing. I’m so lucky that I was able to make my dream into a reality and my first semester in Paris was incroyable. 

Here are some of the highlights:

• Museums: Such a fun thing to do on a Saturday afternoon, especially when it’s kind of bleak and drizzly. My favorite was definitely the Musée d’Art Moderne because they had an Andy Warhol exhibition. I also really liked the Musée d’Orsay because the building itself is incredible. The Musée de la Vie Romantique is a small, intimate space filled with trinkets and treasures that make you want to go back in time. Les Arts Decoratifs is massive and takes you through time; I visited several times for my fashion class, and had the chance to see the Korea Now! exhibiton, which made me want to take a trip to Korea ASAP. Of course, the Galliera (Musée de la Mode) is a must-visit, their current exhibition is on the Countess Greffulhe, a powerful socialite whose wardrobe spans several decades.

• Shopping: I didn’t do much except around Christmas time and went to some cool places even if it’s was just to window shop. Galeries Lafayette is a must visit to find all your favorite designers from around the world in one place. Le BHV is a super cool department store in Le Marais, which is just generally a really cool area for shopping. My favorite place to go though was the Carrousel du Louvre,  it’s really easy to reach by metro (Line 1 “Palais Royal – Musée du Louvre”) and has a variety of stores. And of course, the Champs-Élysées, which has anything and everything.

• Travel: I had the opportunity to visit some breathtaking places. I visited Lille, Lyon, and Normandy in France, it made me realize how big France is as a country-it’s not just Paris. I also got to visit two cities in Belgium: Bruges and Ghent, which have to be some of the quaintest cities in the world.

My time in Paris also had a low point, and it was not just experienced by me, but the whole city and to some extent the entire world. I am talking about the terror attacks on November 13.  I recently was rewatching one of my favorite episodes of The West Wing, and when discussing terrorism with high school students Sam Seaborn remarks about “the 100% failure rate” of terrorism and how it usually succeeds in strengthening whatever the terrorists are against. I think Paris was an amazing example of this, the whole city came together and was stronger than ever. Below is a blog post I was going to publish as a reaction, but the Internet was already inundated with reactions and analysis and was not really happy with the writing. Now rereading it, I think it’s an accurate reflection of my experience. #JeSuisParis

A Confrontation with ‘The New Normal’

It’s been one week. One week since 8 people caused the whole world to stop. If you don’t know to what I am referring, then you have probably been living under a rock. Maybe you’re lucky, and maybe there is some truth to ignorance being bliss. 

I grew up travelling following the 3-1-1 rule and having to take my jacket off. Walking through metal detectors, and later pausing for 3 seconds as a machine did a full-body scan. It’s normal for me, I can’t remember a time not having to do this. Of course, things were not always like this. I’ve grown up in the ‘post 9/11 era’, a phrase that I have read too many times this past weekend. Terrorism has always been a part of my life, sure it was distant, but always present. It was a word I always heard and thought I understood, but now I realize I didn’t. 

 Now I’m back in Paris for my second semester, and I’m so excited to go out and see all the things I didn’t have a chance to see the first time around. I have made an Excel document with all the places I want to see and what date I plan on visiting them. There are so many things to see and do, but I know if I can’t see everything then that just means scheduling another trip.

It’s amazing to be able to live and experience a culture that is so different from your own. Although there are a lot of differences, it has also helped me realize humans have more similarities than differences. We are all just people trying to get through life the best we can and to me that is beautiful.