friends visiting paris, reflections

yeah! chang soo and nina are here!
visiting from the good old bay area, cs and nina decided to use us as an excuse to take a vacation out here in paris... at least we say that to make our egos a little bit better, but really, who needs an excuse to come to paris.

i meet them at laduree of course, for some macaroons, and a visit to the arc de triomphe.


there's of course a mandatory break to McDonalds for some 1euro menu and 2euro chicken sandwiches, and after a bit of hanging out it's off to the metro to head back home.


welcome to paris CS and Nina! glad to have you with us!!!

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well aside from me frantically searching for my scarf that grace bought me... (ugh!!!!!!!!!!), and meeting up with grace for lunch with cs and nina... today was relatively unproductive. it gave me some time to reflect in the short time i've been here.

Europeans, as almost everyone who has visited here can tell you, are very different from Americans. from my brief few fleeting moments that i've had here, i can say for sure, that as americans... we have it all backwards.

i see the american dream as a persuit of materials. our pursuit is toward material objects as a definition of our success here on Earth. we work hard, toward success, so we can buy nice things. our dreams are for nice white picket fence houses, with 3 car garages, multiple stories, a nice car to drive ourselves to work in. and the only way to get all of those things, is to work really hard at whatever job we currently carry. it's not a one-to-one match to say that our work defines us, but in a way it does. we work... to get money... and with that money... we buy the things that define our dreams that swirl in a mad rush of what we think makes us happy. the white house. the nice car. putting our kids into presitgous schools. going to eat at nice restaurants.

so we work hard. and we work harder. we put in long hours. we are amibitious. we are successful. and we are 'happy.' we are defined.

here in paris... it's backwards. it's not what we do that defines us. it's what we experience. do people work hard? sure they do. they also take 1-2 hour lunches. they walk the streets en force during the mid afternoon. they go to restaurants with their friends to sip on cups of coffee, un cafe creme, un expresso. they don't drive nice cars. in fact rarely will you see anything other than a pugeot, or a smart-car. you don't see mercedes-benz (unless it's a taxi), you don't see BMW, or Lexus. you see small cars, that probaly are $12k US.

and they chat. they talk. they hang out. they experience. they may not be millionaires. they may not have a really nice house. they may not be sending their kids to presigeous private schools or home schooling. but, they live for each other. for experiences. for moments and memories. if the average parisian doesn't spend more than 3 or 4 days a week hanging out with their friends at a local cafe, or restaurant, or street corner, i would be stunned. they live life... with each other.

how many times can we as americans say that? i would say i see my friends back state-side, perhaps, once a week. sometimes once a month. it feels like our lives are defined by... going to sleep. waking up. going to work. working our tails off. MAYBE grabbing a beer, but usually not. going home. cooking dinner. sleeping. maybe see our friends on the weekends... maybe not.

lather. rinse. repeat.

are we, as americans wrong in our culture, lifestyle, ambitions? we have the largest GDP of the ENTIRE world. in fact, our GDP is greater than most european countries... combined. we have technology that moves at the pace of light. we strive for greatness, the desire to achieve better than our predecessors. we are successful, rich, and defined. defined. defined by what we accomplish and what we leave standing here on earth long after we are gone. legacy. no one is as powerful, as secure, as accomplished, as the USA.

but... do we live life? or does life live us? do we die living? or do we live dying... and at the end of the day... what's more important to us? our experiences? or our accomplishments?

of course there are no right answers. questions like these never have a right answer because it's so subjective to the individual that even asking what the right answer is... is absurd.

but one must wonder. what is more important. experiences or accomplishments.

even i do not know.

but for now. for the next couple of months. i have no accomplishments. i have no ambition. i have nothing that ties me down to the culture of the american dream.

i shall let go.

and live the life of pure experience.