Paris, Are You Ready?
I've always waited for the moment I'd get to experience Paris. For as long as I could remember Paris has felt like my home, yet I had never even been, how odd?
Certain things in life just feel right. They align with you, they put you at ease, excite your soul, and warm your heart. That's what the thought of Paris did for me.
As I sit on the plane, I am overwhelmed with emotions and excitement. I could cry with happiness for how proud I am of myself & that I, Sloan Koester, will be living in Paris for the summer. I started studying French in ninth grade and it was always my favorite class and also my most challenging. Those professors and teachers kept me in line like no other and pushed me to reach my full potential. They opened my eyes to the wonderful opportunities that lay all over the globe.
From France to Canada, to Morocco, to Rwanda, or even to Haiti, the opportunities in the French-speaking world are never-ending. This language has helped me grow into the person I am and helped me form many of the ideas I have about the world. The sense of community and love I feel from being a part of different niches, cultures, and languages is something that has built me from the inside out.
Many people tell me about the dangers of Paris, the rudeness of the French, the smell of smoke overpowering every other sense, and how you must speak French to survive and I'm here to say I am perfectly okay with all of that. In fact, the idea that you can go somewhere and simply judge their ideals and customs without reflecting back on your own is truly what is rude. After all, I didn’t fly all this way and continuously learn a language for it to sound like English or look like the United States.
I am ready to immerse myself in the French culture and fall in love with Paris for who Paris truly is, not for what people judge it as if isn't their cup of tea.
I am ready to meet people from all over the world, make friends who are different than I am and find my way in the world.
As for the French, I hope you are ready for the American who loves you and who will continue to practice her French until it is up to par.
As for any culture, language, country, or group of people, vast assumptions will get you nowhere. You must experience life and your travels with an open mind and open heart. You must let in all the love, new ways of life, food, and happiness that other people and places have to offer you.
So finally at 22, I say to you Paris, I am ready for you. Please teach me everything you can, and if there isn't enough time, I will find a way to stay. I love you already, Paris, are you ready?
To me, this is the true American Dream.
