Reese Carlson is a fourth-year student studying journalism with a concentration in environmental and health reporting. She is from Grand Ledge, Michigan. Here, she talks about her experience studying abroad.
I applied to the MSU Sports Media Education Abroad program to France on a whim. It wasn’t until I clicked “accept" that I realized that I have never visited a place where I didn’t speak the language. Looking back, I probably should have signed myself up for a Duolingo French language course, but that never happened. So, at the end of May I got on a plane to Paris with my only French knowledge being “Bonjour!” This was the beginning of many “firsts” for me.
I had never been to an Olympic host city. I also had never eaten an authentic French baguette and had never traveled so far away with so many people I didn’t know.
It turns out that going to a foreign country without knowing the language was one of the best things that could have happened to me. Was it super confusing about 90% of the time? Yes. Did I anger a lot of Parisians when I didn’t know how to order a coffee? Also yes. But did I learn how to adapt in unfamiliar situations and communicate across language barriers? Yes! And because of that I am forever glad I didn’t know French going into this experience.
There was a restaurant just around the corner from our apartments. The first night that we were in Paris, my classmates and I visited this restaurant with lots of outdoor seating. The waitstaff was confused when we sat down and asked if they spoke English. One server even went as far as to say, “Why are you here?” They all spoke perfect English, as many Parisians do, even though they claim that their English is not so good. When they heard we were American, they had what seemed like millions of questions about American culture and life.
They were so welcoming to us on our first night that we returned many more times after that. They always allowed us to select the music on the speakers at the restaurant and often stopped by our table with even more puzzling questions about America. They were fascinated to learn about our yellow school buses and cheerleader/football culture. On our very last night in Paris, they even posed for a group photo with us and our Spartan flag. It’s amazing to think that I now have friends living in Paris, France.
A few weeks later this city was going to be in the worldwide spotlight during the Olympic games and I was envious of my friends in Paris. When I was there, the games were two months away and it was exciting to see all the preparations for the biggest international sporting event of the year. There were signs everywhere from street pole banners featuring famous Olympians, updated information for riding the Metro during the games and Olympic souvenirs in the gift shops.
In the Metro, Paris’ underground subway system, the maps included the Olympic competition venues along with a miniature set of the Olympic rings. The park in front of the Eiffel Tower was closed down to set up for the beach volleyball courts. Of course, there were also the literal Olympic rings on the top of the Eiffel Tower. I felt like everywhere I looked, evidence of the upcoming games was taunting me.
Now that I’m back at home, it was even cooler to see all those places I visited being featured on broadcasts watched all around the globe.
As a class, we were able to visit one of the Olympic venues: Adidas Arena. When we visited, it was still home to Paris Basketball, the professional basketball team based in Paris. For the 2024 Olympics, it is the venue for badminton and rhythmic gymnastics, along with the Paralympic events of para badminton and powerlifting.
Going on this trip was one of the best decisions I ever made. As I head into my final year at Michigan State, I feel more confident about the unknown and being more comfortable with the uncomfortable. Anytime I come across something new or unexpected, I can just think to myself: you survived France without any French. You’ve got this!