After my first week in Paris, I have learned that the best way to be efficient and effective in society is to be the calm within the chaos. Through observations, I have learned that native Parisians are very calm and collected in nature. To fit into the mold of Paris, which is a collection of tourists from all over the world, it is pertinent to take on this role and balance the calm of Parisian attitude with the chaos of trying to see everything with fresh eyes. Naturally, it is not always easy or successful.
The idea of maintaining calm through chaos also pertains to how I manage my time here. Obviously, it is Paris. It is saturated with beautiful architecture, new culture, and enough attractions to keep busy for weeks at a time. Coinciding with the desire to explore is the necessity of working and maintaining my mental and physical health. In other words, it is chaotic in nature to tackle at once, in only 8 short weeks. Therefore, just as my method of maintaining composure, my facilitation of time management involves keeping calm within the chaos. Luckily, French work culture has mostly strict lines of work and life balance. The French tend to work hard during their working hours and take their weekends and post-work activities seriously, in order to maintain a sense of peace. They work to live, rather than living to work like many do in the United States. Because of this structure, it is rather easy for me to integrate into their normalcies, and work hard at work while enjoying my time outside of work.
One issue that I did not expect to be exceptionally difficult, that has proved to be so, is working from home. My company has designated asynchronous days on Monday and Friday. Although this is nice in theory, I find it difficult to motivate myself to do work when I am at my desk in my room. Going to the office provides me a reason to get ready, leave the house, and focus on my tasks for the day. Consequently, it is important for me to find a cafe or leave my room in order to complete my tasks on those days.
On the days I do go into the office, my supervisor often delegates me tasks to complete for the day. The structure they generally follow at Éclosion is one task or project before lunch, then a separate task or project after lunch. A lot of the time, the difficult comes with comprehending what exactly they need me to do, rather than having the organization to do it. Although I speak French, it is not my mother tongue, and I have never used it in a business sense. Therefore, there are obviously some misunderstandings between what they ask me to do and what I understand it to be. Additionally, perhaps the French, or maybe just my company, are not generally explicit about what they want a project to look like. Therefore, I find myself spending hours on a project for it to be incorrect and having to redo the work I did. Furthermore, the organization I often have to concentrate on is the organization of myself: my thoughts, my tasks, and my comprehension skills. Despite the fact that this can be frustrating and difficult to manage, it is worth it to better my French skills in the long run.
Overall, my experience in the first week has been invigorating and has gone by way too fast for my liking. I can not wait to learn and explore more throughout the next 7 weeks in Paris.