Continued from Paris...
It's been over 7 years since I've sat here, in the courtyard at Paris III: Sorbonne Nouvelle, Censier. Feels really strange to be here. It actually feels surreal to come back here. Looks exactly the same as it did back then. But somehow it seems smaller. Did I really grow that much? What the hell? Anyways, the deja vu continues. The weather is the same as it was when I started class, it's the same time of year. Chilly and sunny. I walked through the foyer past the auditioriums. This would be the first place I met any friends here. It was a pretty amazing moment: people from all over the world who don't know each other, meeting for the first time not knowing that they will build friendships and memories that will last for years to come. Little cliques at first, the spanish instantly recognize the spanish speakers, same with the italians, then soon you have a big group of spanish and italians hugging each other and laughing. I love these cultures...so friendly and welcoming. Doesn't really happen in Canada like that.
I met my friend Adeel for the first time here, the only english speaker I hung out with for the first few days; we eventually became great friends. Adeel is one unique guy: half Japanese, half Pakistani. Doesn't have a hometown as he grew up on a ship. Two completely opposing cultures...must make for a challenging upbringing.
Then I met 3 Canadian girls who helped me keep my canadianism while living here. I like being immersed in a totally different life, but it's important to stay connected to what you know. Not everyone has a hometown per se, so I'm grateful for mine.
The cafeteria still smells like burnt cheese. Cigarette smoke lingers in the sitting area. The old beat up piano still sits in the corner. One time between classes I came and sat down and someone jumped on and played "La Valse D'Amelie" from the movie; everyone stopped to listen. I'm pretty sure the same lunch ladies still work there. I grab a coffee from the machine for 50 cents, and head out to the courtyard. Still mainly girls who go to school here. And everyone is the age I was when I was there, around 20 years old. Most of them smoke, and when you're a student on a budget, you buy in bulk. They all have packs of raw tobacco and keep the filters inside. I like how they all have the same method to roll one; they hold the filter in their lips while they pull out a paper. You can walk around town and always see little white things hanging out of the corners of peoples mouths.
Deja vu again: the girl sitting next to me has a Counting Crows song on loop, I can hear it through her headphones. I went to their concert with my friend Rosie while I was here back then. I talked to the girl for a bit, she was a bit surprised to be sitting next to someone who wasn't french, pleasantly though. I told her about the concert...she asked me if I liked it here, I said yes, of course. I soon let her get back to her break, and her song on loop.
Kids pile out into the courtyard in groups after class, light up a smoke, check their phones. Just like any other school really. I'm starting to feel like my time has come and gone. I was here, had an amazing year, and left. And it's over. And I'm cool with it. Because this trip has been so amazing so far, and I've had great new memories.
I think it's really easy to get stuck in the past, especially when one is very sentimental, like I know I am. But you have to blindly trust that when you do new things, those are new memories...which very well might be as good if not better than your old ones. And if you do more new things, you don't look back at that "one time" that everything seemed to be perfect; you look back and realize it's just one moment among many.
So I've let go of "La Sorbonne Poubelle", but it's time to check out some old spots, and some new ones, and meet some old friends...and some new ones too...
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