Things I WILL and Will NOT Miss About Being in Paris

There are a few things that I will miss and not miss from my teen summer language camp in Paris experience. Luckily, what I’ll miss out-numbers some of the frustrations of my time in France.

What I Will Miss:

1. All of My New Friends:

It was so great to meet so many new people in France from so many different countries!  I learned a little bit about my friends’ cultures and lifestyles and I made some of the best friends I will ever have.  It was times like the last day when I was so thankful that my parents let me have Facebook so I could keep in touch will all of my friends, even though we are separated by vast oceans and time change differences.

2. The Wonderful Food!:

The cafeteria food at the school may not have been haute cuisine, but the food I was able to partake in during our time shopping was truly phenomenal.   I enjoyed the BEST banana, Nutella and Chantilly crème crepe of my LIFE, as well as some other traditionally French foods such as Coq au vin (Rooster in a red wine sauce) and Mille-feuille (a dessert with custard and lots of very thin pieces of pastry paper.)  For more food, check out my post on French food!

3. Seeing My French Exchange Student from Last Summer:

It was wonderful to see Anne again and hang out with her in her hometown instead of mine.  I was able to spend the evening with her and some of her family, and I got to practice my French a lot with her and her mom which was fantastic!  I was super sad to say good-bye to her, but I am certain that we will meet again sometime.

4. Language Classes:

While extremely challenging, the language classes were a really good way to boost my comprehension of French as a whole.  The concept of school in the summer is difficult for sleepy brains to imagine and the constant heat combined with no air conditioning made it hard to concentrate sometimes. I do think that I learned a lot from the classes, and I am excited to put into practice what I have learned this summer.

5. The Metro:

I may not have loved the smell of the Metro, but I loved being able to take the Metro places.  Those little ticket things are wayyyy less expensive than gas!  Also, I got to know my way around the Metro pretty well within the first week.  I was almost better than one of my counselors….oops.

6. My Counselors:

Marie and Quentin were the best counselors ever!  They were really nice people and always kept us laughing.  Well, Quentin did anyway.  He was a goofy person who liked to sing rap and Disney songs on the Metro and in public.  Marie was quieter, but just as nice and silly once you got to know her.  I miss both of my counselors a lot, but hopefully if I ever go back to Paris in college I will be able to see them again.

Now for a few items I won’t be missing from my time abroad….

What I Will NOT Miss:

1. The Beds:

These beds were so awful.  They were gross and mine had hair on it from whoever had been sleeping in it last, it hurt my back, and there weren’t ladders to get into the top bunk.  My friend Erika had to monkey herself to get onto her bunk and I had to climb onto a stool and then onto a table and then hoist myself up.  Seriously though: really uncomfortable.  I have been camping in the woods sleeping on tree roots and these beds were barely above that.

2. The Time Change:

The time change itself wasn’t awful, but the fact that the sun DIDN’T SET until 10:30PM was really irritating.  Because I couldn’t sleep with sun coming in the window and I had to wake up early to go to class.  It was a problem.

3. The Metric System:

How am I supposed to know how hot 30 degrees Celsius is?

4. The Picnics:

Every single day we would get the nasty sack lunches.  You ate it if you were hungry, but you cringed the entire way.  Fortunately our counselors would let us go to the grocery and get food to eat, so that was nice of them.  See my blog post on French food if you want a more detailed description of nasty sandwiches.

That’s all I have to complain about.

It was WONDERFUL to be in Paris this summer and I am so sad that it is over.  If anyone reads this and wants to go on a language camp, do not hesitate to sign up!  There will be bad things and good things but it will be such a special experience regardless!  I’m sure you will never ever forget it.  I know I won’t!