Goin' back to Cali

It's with a sad heart that I start preparing to head back to Los Angeles for six months. My boyfriend and I are going so that I can work and make some "real money" before we set out on more traveling adventures through Southeast Asia and Indonesia next year. Although it's only for six months, I'm sad to leave the French way of life which I've grown very accustomed to now. In many ways, France feels more like a home to me because of the way they see life. Enjoying each day, traveling regularly, taking time to prepare a wonderful meal for the people you care about, lazily sipping a capuccino for several hours outside a cafe, enjoying a picnic or a weekend away with friends where you talk for hours, all the beautiful architecture and amazing history everywhere you turn, and of course, the food-- oh how I love the food.

I'm not exactly sure how this new way of life will fit in with my American roots, but I will try to incorporate my French values into my American life. My biggest shift being the way I see family and friends now and the importance of taking time to share your life and experiences with those you love. I was never someone who enjoyed rushing from one activity or appointment to another or felt a need to busy myself with lots of things, but I've definitely had a long lesson in really enjoying the company of others and just enjoying the moment. I've also had a big lesson in flexibility and learning to allow each day to unfold as it wants. To be open to a different way of living that is more fluid and can bring many unexpected surprises. Some of them bad and some of them good, but they all bring a rich color to your day-to-day life.

As I've said before, the importance that French people give to family and friendship is something I greatly admire and will take with me. Seeing another way of parents relating to their children and seeing children happily walking down the street singing a song or entertaining themselves while at a picnic with their parents and other adults, is wonderful to see. Seeing fathers everywhere, especially on Sundays, with their children, talking to them, teaching them things and just playing with them-- this is what life is about. In short-- sharing. Sharing moments, ideas and just time together. Of course, always managing to share with lots of good food and wine close by. 

However, I won't miss the close proximity to all the crazy people in Paris, the smells on the metro, and the endless tourists. Ha! Yes, the real mark of becoming a Parisian is when you begin to curse the tourists in the metro who can't seem to figure out where they need to go. It's quite ironic I understand since I haven't lived that long in Paris, yet I find myself acting "Parisian" sometimes when I'm whizzing through the metro, when I'm saying "oui" instead of "yes" while speaking English, buying my daily baguette or indulging in my ongoing love affair with French cheese.

Yes, definitely conflicted feelings about going back to Cali, but I know I will be back in France again soon. The French way of life is in my blood now and it will stay with me wherever I go. Merci France! Je t'aime!