Life is full of questions - I dare to ask them and hope for answers.

Tuesday, April 7, 2009

My Parisian experience - Part II

As my stay in Paris is about to come to an end I have started to think about what this city means to me.
Then I remembered that I posted here my thoughts about Paris after 2 weeks in the city and I wanted to kind a go back to them and see where I am today!

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Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Parisian experience
Tomorrow I have been in Paris for 2 weeks already. It just feels like 2 days.

I haven't been much around the city, I haven't been doing much outside AIESEC and I havent meet many people that are not AIESECers. Despite those facts, I'm having the time of my life here.
How can I not?
I'm living in Paris :)

This morning, on my way to the office, I started thinking about my perceptions of Paris.
- it's crowded city
- some places smell like Pee
- there are more homeless people here then I have seen in other cities
- it's so alive 24/7, people are everywhere
- so far it's only rained once ( and then it really rained )
- Random men talking to you on the street "Belle" "Bonjour" "Ca Va" etc.
- When it's sunny outside the city is so pretty
- People read all the time, I really enjoy that
- wine culture is big
- sitting at cafés all hours is generally accepted by the French people
- good coffee
- good bakary food
- beautiful language

So far this is what I'm thinking of Paris.
My first 2 weeks are just the way you would like your first 2 weeks in a new country to be like.
I'm ready for the next 2 weeks :)

- With Love -
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I still feel blessed for having had the chance in my life to live in Paris. I love this city and even though my experience here hasn't been as pleasant as I hoped, the city somehow never let me down.

So what comes to my mind when I think about Paris today - almost 7 months later!

- diversity in people, Here you can see people from all over the world and I love that they still dress in traditional ways as they would in their countries. It brings a lot of colors to the crowd.
- amazing bakery products. It's dangerous but so worth it :)
- people kissing, no matter where you are, what's the weather people always show affection and kiss in public.
- Good coffee.
- reading in the metro - it makes me feel less stressed and I love it
- Amazing parks where people gather to enjoy the weather, each other company and see and be seen.
- beautiful buildings. Although I'm not into architecture I love to see beautiful buildings and Paris has enough of them
- lively city - it doesnt matter what time I am walking around there are always people walking along, sitting somewhere and making the city so alive.
- random parking. Paris is over crowded and its hard to find a parking so people park their cars everywhere

These are just few of the first things that came to my mind when I thought about what Paris means to me.
But more than this Paris has another meaning for me as well.
It's the place where I realized how ready I am for the life outside AIESEC.
It's the place where I have shared 7 months of frustration, pain and hurt but still I love the city.
It's the place where I learned how strong I am as an individual and it made my relationship with family and friends stronger as well.
For that I will also remember Paris fondly.

I know I will be back here someday in the future.. for what I'm not sure.. but I love this place too much not to come back!

- with love -

2 comments:

Unknown said...

I quite like your metablogging post! That's an opportunity for a blog to truly be helpful, when you can revisit your old self and see where you came from where you're going and how you got there. But what happens today? (cf. your FB status?)

Disa Skvisa said...

My friends are coming over to Paris ALL the way from Denmark :)