Imagine

       As I walked around trying to find ground transportation with two of the program’s student representatives that greeted me at the airport, I quickly peeked into the McDonalds on the second floor of Charles de Gaulle Airport, and saw four very handsome men with beautiful hair behind the fryers. Wow, people weren’t exaggerating when they said French men were good-looking.

       After 20 minutes of walking around, I was able to spot one of the recognizable blue “Airport Shuttle” shirts from far away, and quickly told one of the representatives in broken english that I was sure that that was the person I was looking for. I wasn’t feeling confident enough to speak in full sentences in french, so instead, spoke like I couldn’t speak english and sounded even more confusing when I realized I was talking like an eight – year – old would after a dentist appointment. She ran after him, and was able to get me on the shuttle to my host family’s house.

       While I waited in the van with the driver, he turned around and started talking to me. Luckily, I anticipated the questions during my seven-hour flight while I was on the plane flying from Boston to London and was able to practice my answers in perfect french for a few hours while playing the game ‘Who Wants To Be A Millionaire’ on the plane’s game system. He’s going to ask me, “Where are you coming from? Why are you here in Paris? What are you studying? How long will you be here? Do you study in the United States? Can you speak french, english or both? Where are you living?”

       I practiced my answers over and over on the plane, and when he finally asked me where I was flying from in french, I knew it was the time. My answers came out as smooth and perfect as it would if I had answered in english. He must have been impressed because he then thought I was fluent in french and started to speak to me in very fast, mumbling french. I clutched onto my purse and realized that I didn’t imagine him wanting to have a full conversation  after the question, “Can you speak french, english or both?” I quickly looked at him, and in french said, “Yes, I can understand french, but I have a really difficult time speaking it.” He looked at me, laughed and said, “You sound perfectly fine, Mademoiselle!” Little did he know that while I was on the plane, I lost ‘Who Wants To Be A Millionaire” three times because I was practicing my answers to the questions that I had imagined him asking me.