Last week I said my final au revoir to Paris, as I prepared to leave for my winter break. As I shared with you all, I was, toward the end of my stay, sad to leave the city. As the day for my flight back to America neared I found myself romanticizing the city once again—stopping to take photos along the Seine and listening to the sound of French being spoken in the streets, with a smile on my face. I noticed while being abroad that I can become quite cynical about my surroundings. For. instance, after a few weeks of the same routine in Paris I began to notice the trash on the streets more than I did the beautiful buildings! Taking the metro was no longer exciting but instead a dreaded part of my daily routine. While I think the pessimism of study-abroad is an inevitable experience, it does not have to be a permanent one. It was by reconnecting with the city and working on altering my perspective that I was able to get myself out of my Paris rut this past semester. It started by exploring new parts of the city—crossing into new neighborhoods, riding on new metro lines, and visiting different museums. Through my visit to the Immigration Museum for example I was able to visit a new neighborhood in Paris near the Bois de Vincennes park.
