So, its been over a month now and we're closing in on the second month here so I thought it was time for some reflection. The magic of Paris has come, as promised, and settled over me like the North Face jacket I wish I had not forgotten in Connecticut over the summer. It is the middle of October and already consistently low 50 degrees outside here. As a born-n-raised Californian who left the beach and its surf for a once in a lifetime MA program in Paris, I am completely unprepared for Parisian life. Mentally, materially, physically, and linguistically. Lets talk about this, my reflections on being an newbie-expat living in the city of lights. material disconnectsMaterially, I was so vastly unprepared for winter its appalling. I brought with me a jean jacket, a blazer, and one heavy turtleneck this is all as far as the overcoats go. This isn't to say that I just left all the heavy coats at home. No, its just that I never had need for a heavy coat and so I never purchased one. mental unpreparedness...Mentally having to convert the time from Paris to the time in Los Angeles every time I want to text my friends or family is strainous. physically fit ???Physically living in a 7 floor walk up on the 6éme étage sounds romantic but in reality I dispise those stairs I climb twice (sometimes four times) a day. mais bien sûr (?), je peux parler français... un peu... Linguistically my grasp on the french language is like a 7 year olds. Quite literally I know this for certain because one of the children I babysit here is 7 years old and she is learning how to use, write, and conjugate the futur, passe compose, and présent tenses. These are concepts I understand but still struggle with distinguishing them orally in conversation.
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This is it, the beginning of my year abroad, where I'll studying in a city I never expected to see again and living alone for the first time in my life. Armed with the same Birkenstocks I wore last year follow me as I chronicle my journey from LAX to JFK to ORLY to Paris. Let the grand adventure begin.
It's already been 4 years?
I like to think of my past as a series of chapters in a book. Within the last 4 years I feel like I have completed 2 chapters: there is the time I had at MVC and the time I had at UCLA. When I was creating the outline for this posting I was stupefied by the outrageous amount of things I've done and learned in such a short period of time. Not all of it could fit in this post but I tried to talk about the highlights, here's the rundown: Chapter I starts with MVC, my reintroduction to social interactions, education, and the professors who changed my life. Chapter II is about UCLA, the home I built without knowing it, the people who touched my life forever, and personal growth. Then the conclusion, which talks about the life lessons I gained from the past four years. |
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