After having walked for a few hours, we decided to take a quick break outside the entrance to the Louvre and sit down beside one of the pools there. Ziming and I were talking in French about how different Paris is from Nantes and how I was trying to decide whether or not I would come back to the city to study or to live when a group of 3 women sat down beside us all dressed alike in black and talking very about insipid things - parties at beach houses, tanning, shopping, and where to eat dinner that night. And to make everything worse they were talking so loudly that it made talking to Ziming, less than 2 feet from me, nearly impossible.
"I hate American tourists - so loud, so stupid."
There was a brief moment and then a sudden intake of breath as I realized what it was I just said. American tourists - and just what did that make me exactly?
I've come to the point where I've lost all my borders. I am definitely not French, but no longer do I feel completely like an American. Or perhaps it's just that I have moved on, transcended nationalities and labels.
There has been change at least.
Before I came here in January, I would have probably been among those women all dressed in black, blabbering away about pointless things that wouldn't matter come tomorrow. Now I am more of a watcher - quiet and observant. I realize now that not everything needs to be said and that some things belong in silence.
I would call this growth, but honestly that word still scares me. So I'll leave it at change and hope that word suffices.
"I hate American tourists - so loud, so stupid."
There was a brief moment and then a sudden intake of breath as I realized what it was I just said. American tourists - and just what did that make me exactly?
I've come to the point where I've lost all my borders. I am definitely not French, but no longer do I feel completely like an American. Or perhaps it's just that I have moved on, transcended nationalities and labels.
There has been change at least.
Before I came here in January, I would have probably been among those women all dressed in black, blabbering away about pointless things that wouldn't matter come tomorrow. Now I am more of a watcher - quiet and observant. I realize now that not everything needs to be said and that some things belong in silence.
I would call this growth, but honestly that word still scares me. So I'll leave it at change and hope that word suffices.
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