蜜芽TV

I had Google Translate downloaded on my phone even though my mom told me I didn鈥檛 need it for our upcoming trip. 鈥淵ou took French!鈥� she said, 鈥測ou can speak French!鈥� Yes, I took French. Why do you think I had Google Translate downloaded on my phone? I don鈥檛 know French. I used my phone for every single homework assignment and my eyes never failed to wander over to whoever鈥檚 paper was next to mine during quizzes. I cried during my verbal exam because I hadn't a clue in the world what the teacher was asking me. I don鈥檛 know French.

 

You know who does know French? My perfect older sister who was studying abroad in . My perfect older sister with her perfect GPA and perfect French speaking skills and perfect boyfriend who was about to propose at the  in Strasbourg. Jealousy ran rampant through my veins whenever I thought about my sister. I never understood why it seemed that she got everything. Anyway, I was not thrilled with the idea of visiting her in France for spring break my senior year of high school, though looking back I certainly should have been. I was extremely fortunate to have this opportunity. Unfortunately the 17-year-old girl problems took over and I鈥檓 relatively positive I was the most bitter and negative travel companion one could possibly have. Then my mother鈥檚 appendix burst.

 

It's probably a good thing we were still in the U.S. when it happened. I have no idea what appendix is in French, nor do I know how to call an ambulance or speak with anybody at all. We had a layover, so we had settled down at a restaurant in the airport. I鈥檓 sure I was unhappy with the choice. My mom had ordered a drink, and she let me have a taste, so when I watched her disappear on the stretcher with the paramedics I was convinced that sip of alcohol had gotten me so messed up I was hallucinating. She ended up in surgery, but made a very quick recovery and we were still able to take our trip at a later date with a few altered plans. I doubt I was any happier about it.

 

So we eventually made it to Paris, and indeed as everyone always says, it was beautiful. I鈥檇 never seen such narrow, winding streets filled with people who couldn鈥檛 care less what you were doing. There wasn鈥檛 a moment I was alone without the constant chatter of a language I couldn鈥檛 understand. Everyone around me seemed to know exactly where they were going and what they were doing. I had no idea what I was doing. I grew up in Wyoming, I鈥檝e never been a big city kind of person. It was all so intriguing, even though I felt insanely out of place.

 

Somehow my sister had it figured out though. She easily navigated us through the incredibly confusing , though to be fair it was probably only incredibly confusing because I don鈥檛 speak French. She spoke her effortless French to all the locals and somehow knew every single fact there was to know about every sight we saw, including the breathtakingly beautiful , pictured to the right.

 

Of course the city was beautiful and extremely interesting, but I was so focused on how out of place I felt that I forgot to notice it. My silly little pangs of jealousy and what grew to be overwhelming inferiority kept me from appreciating the rich history of the architecture and how good the food actually tasted. It blurred my vision as I absentmindedly observed the groups of people lounging on their blankets and sitting at their outdoor tables chattering away. 

 

The idea of traveling to Paris always seems to be full of romance and passion. While there is no denying its charm, it has a certain something about it that has attracted tourists, specifically American ones, for a very long time. As Gregory Rodriguez discusses in his article 鈥�,鈥� Paris represents a place where we can escape and imagine things we can鈥檛 imagine while living our normal lives, which I suppose is true of any place we travel to. Rodriguez also mentions the unsettling nature of this particular fascination, something I certainly felt throughout my travel experience. The article credits Gertrude Stein with the words 鈥渢he brilliance of Paris鈥�is its ability to imbue foreigners with the 鈥榚motion of unreality.鈥欌�� As I recall my experiences now, the lack of connection to reality that runs through the city seems to be what made me feel so out of place.

 

During this time, I was at a place in my life in which I was extremely unsatisfied. Nothing had the power to make me happy or truly satisfy me, so when I took a step back and examined the way of life here my eyes were opened. As discussed in Ajiri Aki鈥檚 article 鈥�,鈥� the phrase 鈥渏oie de vivre鈥� that means 鈥渢he joy of living鈥� is what drives many aspects of culture. Aki describes how pleasure is found in just simply being, just existing. Pleasure is found through the building of meaningful connections with other people, food, conversations and simple time spent.

 

I certainly observed this simple joy of living throughout my time in France, and the aspects that forced me out of my comfort zone ended up becoming my greatest lessons. While I felt disconnected from others through a language barrier, and from myself through my lack of comfort in an unfamiliar space, the experience gave me a greater perspective with which to view my own life experience, and that of those around me. I still, however, do not speak French.