Reflections on the Homeland

While it was great to be back on American soil and revel in all the English being spoken however I had a few thoughts and observations:

1. My family was putting on the full court press for me to come home and that made me feel all sorts of guilty. Do I quit Paris to please them or do I stay and continually be selfish and live out my dream. That experience makes me not want to return to NYC for a while.

2. I never realized how hardened New Yorkers can look. I don't know if it's the current economic crisis, the season or their nature but some of the people riding the subway with me looked downright scary. Seriously. Where are the subway riding lovebirds when you need them?

3. The vibe is the city is definitely different. When I was getting my haircut in Soho last week I noticed that the streets were damn near empty. The streets in NYC are barely empty when there's a blizzard. And even though most stores had significant markdowns prominently displayed in the windows there were hardly any shoppers in site.

Happy Thanksgiving

So it's Thanksgiving again and I'm fortunate enough to be spending the day with my family in New York. I've been very fortunate over the past year and this being able to be in the US to celebrate with my family is just icing on the cake.

Last night I went out and met up with some friends and I had an absolute blast and I'm thankful to have them in my life as well. I'm also thankful for all the friends that I didn't get to see during this visit.

Surprise Surprise

On Wednesday I decided to use my return ticket to fly to New York City to surprise my family especially my sister. Normally, it's incredibly hard for me to keep secrets but because I decided at the absolute last minute I was able to pull it off. The reaction on my sister's face when she saw me was totally priceless. I'll be in town for about two weeks and then back to Paris for me. I've got one more surprise to pull off on Sunday and hopefully it's as good as the first.

I spent the day pampering myself getting my hair done with my mom, pedicure, shopping and massage. No, I didn't win the lottery I just thought it would be nice to take advantage of the weak dollar. I also hand delivered my application for the FACC program and was able to meet the person that would be handling my case on the US end. So now my fingers are crossed and hopefully everything will be wrapped up in 5 weeks or less.

And So It Is

As of Wednesday my 7 month teaching contract has unofficially come to an end. Technically my contract is valid until April 30 but next week my schools will be testing thus no classes for me and after that is spring break. My last day was as uneventful as my first but I did have to fight back some tears as I left because believe it or not I really grew to like most of my students and I will miss them.

In other news the maternal unit is arriving in exactly 2 weeks and I'm not prepared at all for that visit. She'll be here for several weeks and I need to find creative ways to entertain her. If anyone has any suggestions on places we should visit in France or Europe please drop them in my comments box. Also, if anyone is willing to entertain her for me for a few days as well that would be greatly appreciated as well (I'd even be willing to pay a small fee). *

*Mom, I'm just kidding I would never pawn you off on the highest bidder. Actually, it depends on the price especially since my income was so low for the past 7 months.

And It's Back to Work for Me

After a lovely two week hiatus I head back to work tomorrow for my last six weeks. I cannot believe that my assistantship is coming to an end in six weeks. It seems like yesterday I was fretting over getting accepted to the program and then fretting over all of the administrative stuff. Knowing that I only have six weeks left is really leaving me stress filled and uncertain about my future.

On top of that I have a string of back to back to back visitors starting next Friday. Between now and the end of April there will only be one weekend which I will have sans visitors. As much as I am looking forward to seeing my friends and family members that plan to visit I am also stressing about it. Some visits will overlap and I'll have a lot of juggling to do. Additionally, having visitors usually entails doing touristy things and doing touristy things involves spending money. Oh and I'm just starting to roll up my sleeves and get into a good study routine and I know it will be disrupted with a constant influx of visitors.

Ah, what's a girl to do? I know that in the short term I need to come up with some lesson plans for tomorrow's classes or else I'm screwed.

Big Sister Blabber Mouth Spilled The Beans

So my big sister whom will henceforth be referred to as Blabbermouth has spilled the beans to my Maternal Unit that I'm considering staying in Paris for an undetermined amount of time after my contract expires. The thing is, subconsciously I knew that by telling Blabbermouth the news would eventually make it way to the Maternal Unit because that's just how things work out in my family. Now that I think about it I told my sister because I wanted her to do my dirty work for me.

So, now that I have decided that I want to stay in Paris it's going to be an uphill battle trying to figure out a way to do so and to earn a living. Last month, I was actually offered a job as Project Manager for a small consulting firm here in Paris but I turned it down. I'm kind of kicking myself now for turning it down but I had my reasons and at the end of the day I'm sure it was the right decision for me at the time. One of the reasons why I turned the job down is because I'm currently focused on getting all of my ducks in a row to go back to school. Finding the self discipline to study and fill out applications.

So there you have it universe my intentions in writing for the world to read and to hold me accountable to.

Hot Off the Presses

Big Mama aka the Maternal Unit(henceforth referred to as MU) is coming to Paris and she's staying for three full weeks!! Just to clarify that the MU is neither big nor do I call her mama but that's besides the point. She's coming at the end of April during my spring vacation and will stay for three weeks. Did I mention that she will be in Paris for three weeks?

Count 'em with me ya'll:
One (Un)
Two (Deux)
Three (Trois)

Anyway, we should have a good time but I'm afraid that I'll run out of things to do with her after a couple of days. Oh, and did I mention that her trip coincides with my spring vacation so I won't be working either!

Let's do the math:

MU+ 3 weeks+ No Work = ???

*Disclaimer: MU reads my blog and we both discussed the length of her visit and I'm ok with it really I am. I swear!

La Poste Ate My Care Package

My dear (read crazy) mother sent me a care package from New York on November 3rd. According to usps.com said package arrived in France on November 7th and has yet to make its way to my doorstep.

The contents of said package include:

1 cozy Black Dog sweatshirt from Martha's Vineyard
3 packs of Orbit gum
3 sticks of Dove Invisible Solid deodorant
2 black belts
2 toe separators
Toothpaste
Chapstick
1 copy of Paris to the Moon by Adam Gopnik
1 copy of Better Reading French : A Reader and Guide to Improving Your Understanding of Written French by Annie Hemingway

Now I have no idea why the French government would be holding my package hostage or why they think it contains contraband. Maybe there is an obscure law about importing deodorant or wearing deodorant on the Paris metro for that matter (as an aside le trafic des trains reste perturbé for yet another day).

When I went to the post office to try to track my package the woman helping me told me that it wasn't yet in the system and had not arrived yet. I tried to convince her that it did in fact arrive in France weeks ago but she wasn't having any of it. When I asked if it was possible for me to call customs to try locate the package her response to me was "there's nothing I can do, you'll just have to wait."

And so I'm waiting. In the meantime I'll just freeze in my apartment because I cannot control the heat and I have no warm clothes. I'll also continue to use the nasty licorice toothpaste that I purchased at my local super marché.

Priceless

Current credit card debt: $x,000
Airfare to New York: $630
Being home for the holidays: Priceless

A Shoutout

As I sit in MacDo using their free wifi I'd like to give a quick shoutout to all family members that figured out how to read my blog. I heard it through the grapevine that a certain aunt of mine checks in on me daily. I must say that I underestimated your web 2.0 savy and I am truly sorry for that. Now show me what you're really made of and start leaving me some comments.

My Big Sis*

Moving to Paris has always been a dream of mine and not one that I readily shared with those around me. It's always been something that has been completely mine in my dreams and fantasies until recently. Now that the wheels are in motion and I'll have the opportunity to live on French soil do I feel comfortable enough to share that dream with others. And while I'm completely ecstatic regarding my temporary move to France there's another side of the story that I'm in sort of denial about.

My sister went away to college in upstate NY when I was 15 years old and looking back it didn't seem like that big of a deal at the time I was more looking forward to not having to share a room with her any longer. Time has changed that and our relationship has grown and blossomed in ways I never thought possible, I am no longer the bratty kid sister and she is no longer the overbearing older sister (occasionally we do regress back to these archetypes).

When I told my sister that I would be moving to France for seven months she was happy and excited for me but there was a shakiness to her voice that spoke volumes about how she really felt about my leaving. During a recent phone conversation she asked me if I will be returning home for Christmas and my response was "I'm not sure yet and I don't know if I will be able to afford it." And her immediate response was "Well I'll just buy your ticket." I have depended on my sister tremendously in the past and at times have used her as a crutch which may have thwarted development in some areas of my life. And while I appreciate her offer to buy me a plane ticket, an offer that I may more than likely take her up, I'm not sure that if it will be the right thing for me to do in terms of my experience living abroad. Who knows, maybe when the time comes that's the exact thing I need in terms of fulfilling me.

Will I miss my parents, family and friends while I'm in France? Of course but I don't think that will really hit me until after I've been living there for a while and I realize that I'm not there on vacation. However, the person I will miss the most is my big sister and not having her within a three hour drive scares the beejeezus out of me.

*This post is dedicated to Rho my one and only big sister.

The Thing About Moms

Back in May when I first told my mom that I would be moving to France her initial reaction was "I hope you don't think I'm going to come visit you while your there." She couldn't understand why anyone would want to visit France let alone live there for 7 months. And as such she didn't speak to me for a couple of days. After the initial shock set in she called me back and apologized for her initial reaction but she still insisted that there would be no visits from the maternal unit.

Ignoring her decree I composed an email to her, several other family members and friends outlining my vacation schedule for the school year as well as the steps and extended processing times for obtaining a US passport. To which my mother replied:

"...just in case you're interested I'm going to get my passport. Maybe I'll take a trip to somewhere. Not sure where yet but by the time I make up my mind as where to go I will at least have it. Not that I'm coming to France or anything but you never know..."

I thought to myself "wow she's actually lightening up on the idea, she'll get her passport in no time."

Fast forward to today, my mom applied for he passport using the expedited service which means she will probably receive her passport before I even receive my renewal. Recent conversations with the maternal unit went something like this:

Maternal Unit: So I'm thinking of coming to Paris either in February or April. How long are your breaks exactly, I don't want to fly to Europe for only 5 days. I"m thinking of staying for 2 weeks or so.
L'Étrangère Americaine: *dead air*
L'Étrangère Americaine: errr, uhmmm, oh two weeks huh? Are you sure you want to stay that long? Do you think you want to visit some other countries while you're here?
Maternal Unit: Yeah, I wanna visit Germany, Italy, Spain, England, Greece and Australia.
L'Étrangère Americaine: AUSTRALIA? AUSTRALIA? Mom, the flight to Australia is 24 hours.
Maternal Unit: Oh, maybe not Australia.
L'Étrangère Americaine: Ok so I guess we'll be going on a European World Tour 2008.

So mom has been converted, who am I kidding, she knew along that she would be visiting me in France even without my prompting. Now, to get the ball rolling for my sister. Does anyone have any suggestions as how to overcome a fear of flying? She refuses to take pharmaceuticals to aid in calming her nerves.