Light, love and firsts: reflecting on Paris and a new experience like no other
By Caleb Wiegandt, Journalism Junior
The City of Light, the City of Love and a city of firsts. When my first-ever venture abroad began, I never thought it would have so much impact on my life.
I knew almost no one in the CJC group, much less anyone in France or an inkling of the language. I had a pretty rough travel day on my way across the pond, but when I finally dragged my luggage out of that first subway station over 24 hours after leaving Gainesville, I looked up and saw the Canal Saint-Martin–my first glimpse of the beauties of Paris–and thought my luck might begin to change.
This wasn’t just my first journey abroad; Paris is also the biggest city I’ve ever been to. Without a true visit to New York, Los Angeles or Chicago under my belt, navigating the metro was foreign.
Once I got the hang of my trusty map, though, I was amazed at the power of good public transportation. It whisked us away to landmark after landmark in the blink of an eye.
As a traditionally exceptionally picky eater, I had my parents and friends worried about me starving over there. Much to my delight, I felt more comfortable branching out my eating habits there than I ever have in the U.S.
Every place we ate in had its own kind of charm. In every arrondissement (or neighborhood) in Paris, you could walk down the street away from the center and never go into the same cafe twice.
Most weren’t grand in size and didn’t have eye-popping theming or decor. However, all made it clear the meal was the attraction, that the fastest connection to Parisian culture was through the stomach.
Through every place we visited, intentionality jumped out at you. Whether we were in the dressing room at the Stade de France, the media area of Roland Garros or in Europe’s fastest elevator leading to the top of Montparnasse Tower, design intricacies could seem small, but the rich history and purpose of every small thing was present.
Viewing everything through this lens of carefully balanced nuance made me appreciate the French culture and customs more.
Circling back to language, my Frankensteinian, half-Southern, half-Midwestern accent can be a functional challenge at times even in Gainesville. I was most worried about trying to catch up to the point of speaking broken French and ensuring the language barrier wouldn’t turn into an impasse.
Going forward, though, I found success giving in to the humility of the learning process. When we had to painstakingly interview sources for our story who spoke only French, the process was slow, but finding the small victories in understanding was incredibly rewarding. These gave me more confidence to be cognizant of my out-of-place situation. Overcoming these challenges gave me more confidence when I ordered coffee or asked for directions.
More than anything, going through Paris learning as a group was the awe-inspiring takeaway. It’s one thing to go alone or with family to a foreign place; it’s another to have a group of 26 people who you don’t know all that well share the same laughs, struggles and memories as you.
Getting to know them was incredibly rewarding. It was a good outlet of instant analysis when you’re humbled by the newness of it all.
Though I don’t think the typical cliche of coming home “different” after a study abroad applies to a six-day experience, the short-term program still sparked a lifetime of self-evaluation for me. From there, I’ve taken back hard knowledge and a looking glass through which to continue my own globalization.
Caleb Wiegandt is a UF junior studying journalism and artificial intelligence. Follow Caleb on Twitter at @CalebWiegandt.
Posted: March 6, 2023
Category: NBA in Paris
Tagged as: NBA in Paris, Paris, sports, Sports@CJC, Study Abroad, Study Abroad experience
