France: Not What I Pictured

Submitted by Michelle Ferreyra on the 2018 summer session program in France and the Netherlands sponsored by the Department of English …

Today, we arrived in Paris and it was not as I expected it to be. From a very young age, I had always pictured what Paris looked like and it always focused on pastry shops and the Eiffel Tower. Yet, when we began roaming the town after taking the metro from out hotel, I realized that it’s like any other modern city. There were fancy stores like Gucci, normal stores like H&M, Apple, etc. and restaurants on every corner. To me, this  was a culture shock in a different way because it surprised me that it was so similar to home. Another cultural similarity that I realized is how diverse Paris is. It is filled with people from all over the world touring or living there. Due to that, at the stores/restaurants, employees would automatically speak to me in French. Being bilingual in America, I never had the issue of not understanding a language, but being in Europe has made me realize how it feels to be the stranger in a new country and has given me more respect for others who come to America.