A few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to travel abroad as part of the Department of Speech Communication’s “Researching Lived Experience” class. I’m halfway through the applied communications master’s program and was thrilled the department offered this class to students.

The Office of International Services and the programs abroad department helped plan the trip, and Dr. Julien Mirivel led our group of seven students to Paris for a week in May. Once in the City of Light, we immersed ourselves in the culture and learned about interpersonal communication and phenomenology, a perspective focused on interpreting the meaning behind an experience. But you probably don’t want to read about methodological perspectives, so let’s skip that and focus on the good stuff!

First off, the French sure know how to cook. The food was beyond amazing, and these pictures will simply fail to convey the deliciousness. I made sure to try different things and step out of my comfort zone. No hamburgers or turkey sandwiches for this girl!

This is what I ate and drank every single morning:

A scrumptious montage of some of our lunches, dinners, and desserts:

Are you sufficiently hungry yet?

But it really wasn’t just the food that was incredible; it was the entire dining experience. Here at home, meals are typically hurried through. Sometimes it feels like a race to the finish line, and if a waiter doesn’t immediately bring us our ticket at the end, we get a little frustrated. At least I know I do. In Paris, however, a meal is not something to be rushed. Meals are about spending time talking with people and truly savoring the food. A dinner typically lasts two to four hours.

At first, this was a little hard for us American students to do. After an hour and a half, we were tapping our foot or drumming our fingers on the table wondering why the waitress hadn’t brought us our ticket. We had to remember this was Paris. It was okay to just sit and talk, even if our plate was empty and our stomach was full.

Going to a restaurant wasn’t simply a place to fill up on food — but a place to fill up on conversation. It didn’t take long for us to adapt to this aspect of French culture. Soon we were enjoying the lengthy meals and were happy to know a waitress wasn’t waiting for us to get up and leave.

These were the times we really got to know each other. It was there, sitting at the little tiled tables eating crepes, that I formed friendships I know I’ll keep for a very long time. It was a chance for us to laugh and share stories and talk about the amazing places we had been that day.

This is one aspect of French culture I hope to carry over into my American world. I hope I can remind those around me it’s important to savor the moment and not just the food.

Stay tuned for part two and see some of the incredible places we visited.