Hi Again,
One of my first blog posts was about culture shock. I wasn’t prepared for it to happen to me, which is why it’s a shock I suppose. What I really wasn’t prepared for was the reverse culture shock that was to come.
There was a weird feeling that came along with being home. I was happy to speak English and see my friends, but I was not thrilled about the idea of leaving my new life behind forever. I had a whole other world that no one knew about other than myself and the people in Paris with me. It has started to feel perfect, and then it was gone.
The weirdest part about being home is all of the English. I didn’t expect that to feel so strange. When I go into a store, I can understand what every person is saying perfectly. On the reverse side, people can understand me perfectly as well. I had gotten so used to being protected by a wall of language. I know people in France speak English very well, but I still know that they won’t be able to entirely keep up with me. I didn’t really have to keep my voice down when talking about private matters and now I have to relearn that.
I am happy to go to American grocery stores again though. In France you have a few grocery stores, but they are no where near the size of an American one. You can also get what you want whenever you want it in America. In France if you want a turkey at a time they don’t eat turkey, good luck finding that.
I am so glad I spent four months in France, and to be honest, I feel like I did everything I wanted to do. I mean I could know French a little better, but as far as Paris goes, I would never feel lost in the city. It’s such a cool thing to know that I can feel so comfortable in a city so far away.
Being abroad really opened my eyes to see that people aren’t that different. Everywhere you go, you can feel comfortable because we are all looking for pretty much the same things.