The absolute, heavy reliance and need for public transportation has been one of the biggest things that has stood out to me about my host country in the month and a half of being here.
After looking it up, I found that Parisians use public transportation 11,267,000 per day on average. Whether that be the bus, the metro, RER train, or public bikes; in order to get anywhere in the city you need to use at least one of these modes of public transportation. Of course, there are the residents of this city who own their own cars, Vespas, or motorcycles to get around, but the main form of transportation still remains to be public. I myself need to take the metro every day in order to get to school and back.
At first, the commute on the metro was a big adjustment for me and a good learning opportunity for my time management skills. At Rollins, I live on campus and never have to worry about calculating my life two hours before my class is supposed to start. In Paris, I need to take into account how long it will take me to get ready and how long the commute will take in order to know what time I should set my alarm in the morning.
But commuting has now become a part of my daily life here and has honestly given me a sense of community with all the other commuters in the city. No matter the time or metro line I am on, I know there will always be people on it just trying to get to their next destination. The metro ride back after a long day of classes or out used to bother me a lot since all I wanted was to be back in my apartment, but now that I see other people who also just want to be back home after a long day helps and makes me feel more in tune with the community and understand the people around me a little more.