Faites-le! Do it!

Friday morning I woke up with a sore throat and a bit of a cough so I took it slow in the morning and then left for the international students lunch at ICP!* I wasn’t sure if I really wanted to go, because I didn’t know anyone else who was going, and it was 30 degrees outside! I made myself get out of the apartment, however, because it was already eleven and I was wasting a day in Paris! Plus, why wouldn’t I go to a free lunch, after all, and I had nothing else to do! I was disappointed at first, because it wasn’t a free lunch, but a casual gathering in the cafeteria for international and French students to “se melanger,” or to mix, instead. It was nice though, because I spoke with two French students for an hour, which not only made me feel great about my French, but also because they were nice and gave me inside information about life in Paris and at ICP! We exchanged names and numbers, so hopefully I will meet up with them again. They genuinely seemed interested to speak with me and willingly to see me again in the future, but even if they were just being friendly, it made me feel more confident! Now I am determined to make some French friends while I am here, or at least to engage them in conversation!

I think that the most important result from my chat with the local students was learning that some French students have the patience to speak with non-native speakers, and that it is possible for me to make French friends! Suddenly I am just excited to be here, and to be learning so much every day, regardless of whether I step foot in a classroom! It is entirely possible that I fail this semester, and yet I will never regret this experience! Even if I must donate a kidney to pay off another semester to graduate, and or to come back to France in the future, I will! In my opinion, nothing is more important than perspective, and in only three weeks, I feel like a more open and a more adventurous Hayley. Yes, I still over-analyze situations and worry about insignificant details, and yet, I have become more confident in myself, and equally as important, in other people, than I have ever been. I can almost say that I intuitively feel “c’est la vie,” echoing from within, and that, less and less, it is a contrived phrase that I numbly repeat. I promise to abandon any “I will try’s” and “I hope’s,” because life is too short to sit around and think!

Would the Hayley that you knew in America be sitting by herself and drinking a cup of rum, water and sugar that her homestay mother in France made for her because her throat was sore?! No, she would be wondering how much sugar was in the tea, and about the rum to water ratio, and decide that she would rather not drink it! It is actually extremely delicious and my throat feels a thousand times better! I feel like I will pass out as soon as my head hits the pillow! The only thing keeping me awake is the wonderful feedback that I have received from all of my dear family and friends, who insist that they are enjoying my blog, and the fact that there is so much that I wish to share! The hardest part about being here is that only I am experiencing these new and wonderful opportunities!

I only hope that my cheesey, however absolutely genuine words inspires a reader to do something that they wouldn’t ordinarily do today, tomorrow, or maybe even every singe day from now on! I encourage at least one reader to eat the carrot cake that that they have been thinking about, but that some inner voice has been dissuading you from digesting the calories. Chances are that if you eat it, and promise yourself that you will not regret it, you will at least learn something valuable about yourself in the process. You are the only person that inevitably controls what and who you choose to be, and only you can make life the beautiful!

P.S. I think that I am a little intoxicated from the rum because I feel funny, and I can barely keep my eyes open! Plus, I am making all sorts of silly typos! Ten points for Hayley because this may be the first time that she has been tipsy, and it was a 60 + year old French woman’s fault! ; )

Bon soiree! =)



*ICP – L’intitut Catholique de Paris