Goodbye & Bonjour !

Greta Jarvi
Sep 4, 2018 · 9 min read

I didn’t know when I would realize when this new chapter in my life would feel really real. I knew I was leaving that day, 28th August 2018, but I still couldn’t comprehend everything that came with it.

For the past week I had been saying my goodbyes. Some of them made me cry more than other did. And I felt like should be crying more, but I knew that what I would be experiencing across the Atlantic would be too exciting for me to be sad about leaving what I called home for 18 years.

My goal in this post and in my future ones is to share the things I see, the thoughts and feelings I have, and to document my personal growth this year in France. I hope you enjoy! Love Always, Greta

Grandma Sweet Heart and me.
A very sweet welcoming to the last family gathering I would be at for a while made by my sister and niece ❤
A family photo from the gathering.
At the last family gathering, we all picked little cards that each had a word on them from a basket. Somehow the card will relate to what you are thinking about. I was thinking about my new journey. I think the word I chose was very fitting.
On my last full day, I took pictures of many things. Including, the “last” sunset I’d see in Fitchburg for a while.
This is what my backyard looks like, in case I forget.
Of course I needed to get a picture with Calvin. He will be so much bigger when I see him again in person!
Before I left I completely cleaned my room so when I returned I wouldn’t have to deal with any clutter. Coming back to my room after one month felt weird. I can’t imagine what it’ll feel like for almost a whole year.
Last but most definitely not least, a picture with my wonderful parents. My dad is wearing a shirt that says “Taking my time, enjoying the journey.” Over time that phrase has grown on me as well.
I got new luggage for this trip because I did not want to carry a duffel bag as a carry-on…they get heavy after a while.

I left Boston Logan Airport at 7:10 pm, and I arrived in Paris at 8 in the morning. This flight went better than my previous flight to Belgium because I luckily fell asleep with the help of Benadryl, I had a window seat, there was free supper and breakfast, and it was a non-stop flight! However, there a crying baby (maybe several) during the flight, but the engines drowned them out a little bit.

I flew with Air France, and they had these really cute complimentary things for its passangers.
The view from my seat before the plane took off.

When I arrived in Paris there was a very long line to go through customs, somewhat similar to what it is like in the U. S., but not nearly as intense, just very long. It took me a while to find my luggage because I initially went to the wrong area, oops. When I exited into the arrival area, I was immediately greeted my a W.E.P. member which was a relief. She was waiting for me with another student. We walked a decent distance to the meeting point, and by this time I was sweating profusely.

The group at the airport, at the point, consisted of many Australians, and a couple other nationalities. As soon as we settled down with our things some of the Australians came over and talked to us. The most popular things we talked about were where we are from, our journey to France, and we where going. We waited in the airport for at least an hour and within that time I had conversations with people from Italy, Austria, Australia, and Denmark! Most of the conversations were held in English, with the exception of one-on-one conversations between people from the same country. I was truly amazed at how many people spoke nearly perfect English, while I only speak English and am still in the process of learning my second language. One of the friends I made, Sara, had never spoken English before except for what she learned in school, but I could have easily believed she spent a year in the United States!

After everyone we were waiting for had arrived, we loaded on to a coach bus to go into the city and have lunch. I think every single person was hungry and the moment that we sat down at the restaurant was the best moment of the day so far.

The restaurant we ate at was a very quaint, classic Parisian-style restaurant. We had an entree of mixed vegetables and the main dish was beef that we individually cooked over a fire on a hot stone. For dessert I had an apple tart.

A little blurry screenshot from a video I took of the restaurant. The ceiling was painted with scenes from Le Petit Prince. There were many paintings and mirrors hanging up on the walls. I felt like this would be the kind of place F. Scott Fitzgerald would spend his time in.
The main dish was beef that we cooked on this hot stone. It was lots of fun to cook the food and eat it too.
The delicious apple tart I had for dessert.

When we finished eating we went back to the bus and drove around Paris because at this point it was somewhat rainy.

Paris in the rain.

The rain cleared up within half an hour or so and we made our way to the Arc de Triomphe.

l’Arc de Triomphe

The rotary that goes around the Arc de Triomphe is incredibly busy. I was trying to picture how our big group of people would cross it. Logically, there was a short underground tunnel you take to get to the Arc de Triomphe. I didn’t think we would climb to the top, I thought we only came here to take pictures, but in fact we did end up climbing to the top of the monument! When we first started climbing, we were all going at a rather speedy pace, but towards the halfway point (or even before) we were really out of breath.

The spiraling stairs we climbed to the top of the Arc de Triomphe.

The views from the top were absolutely incredible. First, I recognized Montmarte and was blown away by its timeless beauty. The Tour Eiffel was very close from my view point as well.

La tour Eiffel

One of the interesting things I noticed was the way the streets sprawled out from the Arc de Triomphe. I enjoyed the mixtures of whites, oranges, tans, and sprinkled green that made up the view of the horizons. Walking down the Arc de Triomphe proved much easier, and after we made it down we were given free time to explore and shop along the Champs de Elysees.

A tired, slightly jet-lagged, and happy Greta.
Sara and me. A funny story, while we were taking this selfie one of the staff members was recording us taking it (they took videos of us doing many things to promote the program) and then showed it to us. It was a very amusing visual commentary about the generation I live in. I promise the majority of pictures I have taken since I’ve been here are not selfies.
Looking at the underside of the Arc de Triomphe.

Sara and I walked down the streets and made a stop at a bakery. I got a pain au chocolat and a cappacino. We ate the food and people watched, a fun thing to do in any city.

The pain au chocolat (or as they call it in the south of France ‘chocolatine’) is in the bag, and it tasted quite amazing!

Then we continued on and went into Sephora, this Sephora was HUGE. At the door there were two security men checking bags. I think this is common for many stores, museums, and other places in Paris, measures like these have been put in as an extra precaution. Neither Sara nor I bought anything in the store and walking around in there was a little stressful because of the amount of people there and the cost of the products. Our time given to explore the street was coming to a close so we headed back to the meeting point.

Now we were finally en route to our hostel! I imagined the hostel that I would be staying at as some grungy, cramped, old-fashioned boarding school housing, but my imagination was completely wrong. The design of the inside of the building was completely modern and the atmosphere was nothing like I had felt before. I received my room key and went up to put my things away. The building had elevators, which I was extremely thankful for! I shared a room with six other girls. I slept on the bottom bunk closest to the window. The beds were quite nice, each one had a light and charging station integrated into the bed, along with a locker to the side. We barely spent much time in the hostel besides to eat breakfast and sleep. After our things were all put away we came back downstairs and were assigned to our groups that we would be with for the following days in Paris. One of the members, Oscar, suggested that we sit together for supper down in the hostel’s cafeteria. I had a pizza for the meal and bread and cheese as a side!! I was incredibly excited when I saw the cheese. I don’t what kind of cheese it was, but I truly missed real cheese. For dessert I had this milk pudding thing with egg-white fluff.

During the meal I made friends with Larissa. She’s a very friendly girl from Brazil. Initially, I thought she was from Australia at first because she spoke English really well, had a little accent, and many of the English speaking people were Australian. However, I learned that the reason she speaks English so well is that she spent last year in the United States, and now she was doing another year in France! In addition to being fluent in Portuguese, Spanish, and English, she was learning French! I was truly amazed and inspired by all of the stories she shared with me. After supper, Larissa and I explored the hostel. First, we went outside and found a Foosball table. We couldn’t find a ball so we went inside and practiced our French, we asked the concierge if he had ball we could use. He understood us, and he also had a ball! We played several games, and I think I lost every single one. There might have been one game where it was relatively close.

Outdoor activities had to stop at 8:30 pm. So at this time Larissa and I went to explore the inside of the building. Downstairs there was a little art gallery. We walked through that and heard some music and ping pong sounds. We opened the door the sounds were coming from and there was a group of young boys all hanging out, one was from Thailand, another Japan, and one from Finland. I don’t think they knew each other before coming to this hostel and yet they were all having such a good time. We stayed there for a couple of minutes watching, but then left because we didn’t want to play nor were we super confident in our ping pong skills. We continued walking through this area to see what else we might find. I felt very much like I was in Alice in Wonderland. In a couple of seconds we came along a girl practicing the violin. I believe she was from South Carolina. Next to her was a piano and Larissa asked if she could play it. I think the girl might have been a little annoyed that we interrupted her practice time, but we didn’t stay for too long.

When Larissa sat down to play I immediately recognized the song she was playing. I knew I knew it really well, and at the same time I was confused how I knew a random song so well. Then I realized that she was playing “Hey Jude” by the Beatles. Hearing this song at that moment brought some small tears to my eyes. That song has a special place in my heart because I always listen to it when I am down, and it is my favorite song my dad plays. After that song she played “I See Fire” by Ed Sheeran, and then we continued on our way. We went upstairs to a lounge area that had modern art hanging around its walls. We sat there for a good hour and talked about our lives and experiences. She shared a video with me that inspires her and inspired me too. The video is called “Yes Theory” which was an introduction into the videos that a group of guys make and why they make it.

Around 11 pm we decided to call it a night and head to bed. It was crazy to think that less than 24 hours ago I was still in Massachusetts, and within the course of 24 hours I was in a new country and made friendships with people from all over the world. If all of this could happen in less than 24 hours, I eager to see what would happen in a whole year.

Greta Jarvi

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My Year in France

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