I love Paris, but I largely believe I’m lucky to have experienced Paris ONLY after the Olympics when the city got cleaned up a lot. Today I coincidentally happened to run into my 2008 Europe travel pictures and I saw pictures of Rome. Rome is magnificent and is definitely filled with grandeur, but I wasn’t able to appreciate it back then due to its… Griminess? that comes from the city’s age.
Maybe it’s just that I take bad pictures.
Paris has public trash cans and public restrooms but I hear that this is a relatively new development. Many people in the past told me Paris is super dirty and inconvenient and I get it, if I couldn’t pee anywhere and the city was filled with cigarette butts and rats I would hate it too.
Fortunately for me the city changed and there aren’t streets filled with trash. But one thing that surprised me: our entire apartment building had one trash can that was smaller than the trash size of our LA house. How the hell does that work?
In general I find that Europe is less generative of trash and people are eco-conscious. Along with that, I think the biggest difference is this: no Amazon culture. Because there’s no one ubiquitous online shopping platform that dominates the market, there aren’t recycling bins filled with cardboard boxes.
This means people shop in person, and this seems like such a trivial thing but after spending many many years unconsciously consumed by online shopping in-person shopping was a fresh breath of air. And the highlight of that experience is the marché in every arrondissement providing fresh foods and random goods to the neighborhood.
The French donut peach is known as a delicacy in Korea so we enjoyed fresh peaches. Strawberries, blueberries, figs were also my wife’s favorites. The fromage blanc from the cheese vendor was ridiculously fresh, the potatoes and aubergines… Telling the vendor what you want, getting recommendations, exchanging smiles, and walking home with a great set of fresh produce; it’s a wonderful experience I miss already.
My wife also took me to a flea market near the south of the 14th arrondissement. I think this was my first actual flea market and holy crap did it have literally everything and beyond.
This flea market made me wonder if all the things I make, all the things that I do will stand the test of time. I’m not much of a physical goods maker, so I’m always fascinated when my wife does crafts to create resin artworks or bracelets out of thin air.
I am a student of the Buddha, and his dharma has persisted for over 2600 years. The things I make may not stand the test of time, this writing may disappear when the world experiences some kind of a big EMP boom by random chance. Maybe it never even reaches your inbox and your eyesight. But the Buddha’s dharma I continue to spread, that will stand the test of time and I know that for sure.
After coming back home I miss these indirect human connections the most. I chatted a lot with the cafe owner near our place, but that’s different from the mini eye contacts I make with the people who are eating outside on the terrace. The small smile I make when I let a person on the metro know that they can take my seat. The small “goodbye-conversations” I have with store workers as I leave (my personal favorite is “au revoir, bonne journée”). These are the small human interactions I grew to appreciate and hope to give to you with my writings now.
Billy Seol
July Life Coach
julylifecoach.com
