Jour un

My first day in Paris was quite awful, honestly. I basically cried all day. I missed my friends, my family, Starbucks, PCC, I even missed seeing fat Americans in drive-thru lines. I wondered why I thought it was a good idea to ever leave Seattle, land of beauty and perfection (or so it seemed as I wiped my tears away). I told Lauren that I was coming home asap. The family I am staying with picked me up from the airport and, I will blame it on the language barrier, was not welcomed with open arms. The family has four children but I will only be taking care of the younger two (ages 10 and 5). The parents have not been very open with me and I rarely see them. Needless to say, it seemed as if this was about to be the beginning of a very long year. We had family dinner together last night so that seemed to be something that would get conversation going and perhaps cause these academic folks to break a smile now and then. Nope, guess I need to bring out the big guns with these ones. Overall, it was a very lonely, sad day.

Off to Paris!

So, I recently signed up to live in Paris for a year. Sure, sounds like fun, I have always wanted to go to Paris! But now, with bags packed, an empty room and a worried mother, I wonder if I have made the right decision. I mean, I know I have, but it's scary. The feeling I have been having is that of numbness. I can't really be going to live in Paris. Only really cool, fashionable, adventurous people do that. So I guess I need to figure out how to be that person very quickly. I realize that I will have to say "see you later" to my friends and family that I love very much. But, later in this case is much later than any other trip I have ever been on.
Who knows what this trip will bring but I am so exited to see. I hope that I get along well with my family that I am working for and that they can teach me wonderful things about the French language and culture. But, I also hope that I can share a bit of the American in me :) I am excited for the adventures I am going to have, the food I will eat, the fashion I will see, the people I will meet. But, there is so much unknown and it is hard to get excited for that. I honestly have no idea what the next year has in store for me. So, basically, they year is a huge gamble. But, I am ok with that. That's what being a young twenty something is all about, right? Here's to Paris!