In my time in France, one of my favorite things was adapting to the culture around me. In general, Europeans do a lot of things differently from Americans. In France, and Paris especially, the locals frown upon Americans for acting Americans. For example, things like loud talking in public places is not custom and people give you funny looks when your conversation rises above a low level. Another interesting cultural difference is the fashion and what people wear on a daily basis. Paris is known as one of the most fashionable cities in the world and I could certainly see that walking around at any time of day. People are never seen wearing athleisure and always look presentable when leaving the house. Parisians also do not tend to wear a lot of patterns or bright colors. Most people I saw were wearing neutral colors or even all black. Another interesting difference in culture is that they do not drink their beverages with ice. Even when most places have no air conditioning and the sun is blazing, they prefer their drinks to be room temperature. At first, as an American who is used to being greeted at any restaurant with a large cup of ice with some water to fill the gaps, this was weird. However, after living there for some time, this became my new normal and I didn’t think as much about the temperature of my water. Overall, I really enjoyed the culture of French people and realized that as Americans we are often very catered to and somewhat entitled. The people in France do not expect to have special treatment and I think this shows in a lot of how they live. One time I experienced culture shock, but in a very good way, was one of my first nights in Paris. Canal St. Martin was right by our hostel, so a few friends and I decided to go hang out in the area. When we arrived, there was a sea of people on all sides of the canal all the way up and down. Everyone was laughing, drinking, and having an amazing time enjoying the outdoors simultaneously. I had never seen anything like this in America before. To have so many people in a community outside and lively on a weekday night is not something I was accustomed to. It was so cool to see so many happy people coming together to sit and enjoy what was right in front of them. In America, we are taught to always be busy and never learn to sit and enjoy life for what it is. I think this was one of my main takeaways from the trip and a cultural aspect I will implement into my future life.