Lessons à Paris

As my third week in Paris commences, I'm finding that having Tuesdays off from school is extremely therapeutic. I make it a point to wake up no later than 9AM so that I can sit at my desk and organize my schedule, homework, room, and most importantly, my thoughts.


I have never been a big fan of school. You can ask my parents and they will vouch for this. Obviously I understand that it is important and in today's society mandatory to have an education so I always strive to do my best, but ultimately my mentality is always "I just want to get this over with". One thing that I'm finding pleasantly surprising in Paris is that I am genuinely enjoying my classes. I'm taking subjects such as International Business, Intercultural Management, and Global Marketing. This may not sound exactly exciting, but here it's totally different. I am taking these classes with students from all over the world including France, Germany, Denmark, Finland, Mexico, Africa, etc. Needless to say this brings a whole new spin to class discussions.


I'm learning so much, but not only in my classes. People who have gone abroad have told me I'd learn a lot about myself in the process. I already believe this within my first few weeks. I like to think that I can have everything figured out. If there is a problem I prefer to sit down and fix it all in one sitting and then continue on. I'm learning that it just doesn't really work like that. Even when I thought I had everything figured out, I didn't. It consoles me to think that this holds true for every person and not just myself, however it is quite eye opening. I've realized that I have complete control over all of my actions - but to sit down, plan concrete action steps and follow them accordingly is simply not going to happen no matter who you are or how structured you think your life is.


One class I took in my college career is Psychology 101 and if there is anything I retained it's a quote from my professor, "We see our past selves and our future selves as strangers". This is why without any hesitation we say things like "I would never do that" or "I was so stupid". However, in the present moment we are much more sensitive to our feelings, desires, emotions. In the present moment we don't judge ourselves so harshly. So we can plan ahead as much as our hearts desire, but the truth is it's more fun to take it one moment at a time. It's more important to have a positive attitude and be open to new and challenging experiences than have a detailed design of expectations which will only lead to disappointment.


On a much lighter note, this weekend I experienced something incredible - the Scène Electro & Danse - Techno Parade. I have never seen anything like it. Thousands of people on the streets simply moving to the music that is blasting from the buses, and as the music moves throughout Paris, so do the people. When I say people, I mean all different types of people. Men, women, transgender, old, young, handicapped, every ethnicity, every nationality, eccentric (in every sense of the word). Dancing on the streets, on buses, hanging off of traffic lights, and any other way you can possibly dance. I tried to capture this as best as possible:

And for a more realistic feel...