A day in Paris
I was stuck in the middle of the bunch of people standing in the Paris metro. That lovely sunshine in fact tortured the people inside where no air conditioning was available. I was waiting for a word to come out from the announcement, 'République, république!'. 'Two more stops to go'. I felt relieved. My first summer in Paris was pretty harsh that it was exhaustingly hot. I sighed, and all of sudden a man looked at me and said with a French English intonation "So tired to be standing in this train isn't it?". I froze while I said, "Yeah it surely is." To be honest, I was scared. When I first left for travel all alone to Europe, everyone said 'Do not speak to anyone you don't know, especially the man who smiles at you! That's a trick'. But for some reason, it was quite exciting to have a conversation with someone for the first time in maybe 5 days in Europe.
This summer, I made a big decision to leave for a month adventure all by myself. I visited Europe several times with my family and friends but this time I was all alone! I chose 9 cities in 5 countries and started my journey from Helsinki, Finland. However, from the scratch I knew that the highlight of my journey is definitely going to be Paris. That's why I spent almost more than a week in France.
Finally, I'm in Paris talking to this stranger who looked quite smart and even a little handsome. I decided to be brave and carried on our conversation. I said, "So, Are you French? How come you speak English so well?", He said, "I lived in London, I've done my masters there.". So, in one minutes we found the common facts between each other. Then he asked me "Where are you heading to?" and I froze again thinking 'Uh oh, should I tell this stranger where I'm going now?' but soon the announcement said 'République, république'. I had to get off in this steaming train and République was my destination. I quickly told the man "I am on my way to Canal Saint-Martin, Au revoir (Good bye)." Few minutes later, when I was on my way walking down the street the man grabbed my shoulder and said with a big smile "Hey, actually my home is right around the Canal, and I think you are walking the wrong way down. Let me guide you for this evening." That moment, my most memorable evening walk had begun.
Hello! I'm Dohoon. While reading your writing, I felt like I was reading a novel. The direct quotations you used made me actually imagine the situation very well. Moreover, in the final paragraph, you described how the man, who you talked to, looked, and it made me picture his image in my mind. I liked the first sentence, because the word 'stuck' implied that you were in an uncomfortable situation, and I wanted to know what kind of situation you were in.
ReplyDeleteHi, I'm Bo-won Kim It was as if I was in the Paris when I read your writing. Descriptions and direct quotations seemed so real and made me feel like I was with you. Your first paragraph was very good in a way that it caught my eyes and was interesting. You used past tense in your writing overall because it is a story from the past but used present tense in the direct quotation and it seemed much more real so I liked it. But I want to know more about the last paragraph, about the walk and how it was memorable to you. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteHi, I'm Youjung KIm. I really enjoyed your writing. As another student commented above, I felt as if I was reading a novel. I especially like that you used direct quotations in the first and last paragraphs. The last sentence 'That moment, my most memorable evening walk had begun.' makes the reader more curious and let them imagine the ending themselves, but I think it would be better if you explained a little more about what happened after. Great writing!
ReplyDeleteA day in Paris
ReplyDeleteI was stuck in the middle of the bunch of people standing in the Paris metro. That lovely sunshine in fact tortured the people inside where no air conditioning was available. I was waiting for a word to come out from the announcement, ‘République, république!’. ‘Two more stops to go’. I felt relieved. My first summer in Paris was pretty harsh that it was exhaustingly hot. I sighed, and all of sudden a man looked at me and said with a French English intonation “So tired to be standing in this train isn’t it?”. I froze while I said, “Yeah it surely is.”
To be honest, I was scared. When I first left for travel all alone to Europe, everyone said ‘Do not speak to anyone you don’t know, especially the man who smiles at you! That’s a trick’. But for some reason, it was quite exciting to have a conversation with someone for the first time in maybe 5 days in Europe.
This summer, I made a big decision to leave for a month adventure all by myself. I visited Europe several times with my family and friends but this time I was all alone! I chose 9 cities in 5 countries and started my journey from Helsinki, Finland. However, from the scratch I knew that the highlight of my journey is definitely going to be Paris. That’s why I spent more than a week in France.
Finally, I’m in Paris talking to this stranger who looked quite smart and handsome. I decided to be brave and carried on our conversation. I said, “So, Are you French? How come you speak English so well?”, He said, “I lived in London, I’ve done my masters there.” So, in one minute we found the common facts between each other. Then he asked me “Where are you heading to?” and I froze again thinking ‘Uh oh, should I tell this stranger where I’m going now?’ but soon the announcement said “République, république.” I had to get off in this steaming train and République was my destination. I quickly told the man “I am on my way to Canal Saint-Martin, Au revoir (Good bye).” Few minutes later, when I was on my way walking down the street the man grabbed my shoulder and said with a big smile “Hey, actually my home is right around the Canal, and I think you are walking the wrong way down. Let me guide you for this evening.” That moment, my most memorable evening walk had begun.
Our conversation was about everything. We talked about our daily concerns and even the world peace! The walk to the canal took about 20 minutes. It was indeed too short to have some descent conversation with someone. So we sat by the beautiful canal where the golden sunset was reflecting on the water. Because of the good weather, there were many people around the canal. Then after few minutes I found out most of them are local people. I said, “I thought this canal was a tourist spot but for some reasons I feel like I am a Parisienne now!” then he replied with a gentle smile, “Actually, that’s probably the reason why I am staying with your right now. The canal is famous but it’s not really the place where tourists want to spend a time in a tight schedule. Interesting!” I was satisfied by the decision made earlier that day. For that moment I was the Parisienne.
ReplyDeleteTime flew so fast but all of a sudden it started to rain cats and dogs so we had to leave the canal. The man guided me to the station again. It probably took pretty much the same amount of time to the station, but I felt like I was teleported to the station.
“Good bye, thank you for all the great moments tonight. I won’t never be able to forget every single moment.”
“Oh, before I leave, there’s one thing I want you to have in your mind. I know that many tourists have fear of talking to strangers to avoid from the danger. However, how sad is it not to have a such a great conversation as we did tonight? We look different, we live in a different place. But believe me, we are all the same. We are living a life worrying about what to eat for dinner tonight, complaining about the school and work and so on. So don’t be bothered to talk to people you meet during your journey. It won’t be easy but it will worth it.” I froze, again but this time in a different sense. I said, “Oh, wow. That was a long speech. But thank you again for your sincere words. I will keep your words in mind.”
“Au revoir.”
“Au revoir!”
The day in Paris was over. The man and I had a great time together. At first, I thought I might have some romantic experience in Paris. But now I am sure that I had much more memorable experience during the walk with the unknown wise man. One thing that left in my mind was the last grand speech of him. How many times did I avoid people trying to talk to me when travelling around Europe? Simply worried about being in danger. How silly was it to kick off the chance to be part of the local people in the city? The man really gave me the big lesson in a good way. During my rest of the trip in Europe, I bumped into many opportunities to meet new local people that I was able to make many friends from all the cities, making unforgettable memories from Europe. I will never forget that steaming hot day in Paris.