To open endings...

I'm baaaaack!! YES!

It's been about 4 months since I returned to the US. Yes, things here seemed foreign at first, and yes, I believe I've changed at least a little within the past year, but I think all this is to be expected. I mean, how is it even possible to live somewhere else for a year ( foreign country or not) and not come back with some new habits and new ways of seeing things?

I adjusted back to the American culture better than I thought though. There was a little bit of homesickness for Paris, but I was mostly just happy to be able to see my family again and my boyfriend and to not be afraid of going to the bank anymore (it's really disconcerting to only understand about half of what someone in control of all your money abroad is saying). I was a little stressed out right when my classes at Georgia Tech started again just because the teaching methods are so different and they demand so much more work from us students. But now I'm used to it. I think the only thing that throws me off still is, ironically, the way that people my age speak to each other. I realize that this is a weird thing to feel foreign. Then again, the average GT student is at least slightly nerdy and might not have the social skills anyway.

The main thing is that life has continued on. Within the past few months, I've moved into a new apartment close to campus with Hunter, been hired to work as a Student Assistant for an office at Georgia Tech that helps other students find work in other countries (how fitting, right?), and started my final year before graduating with my B.S. (YES!).

By the way, here are some pictures of our new super trendy apartment:

Hunter talking with our leasing agent as we're touring the building.

View from our side. Nice, right?

Our beautiful terrace (we have to share with everyone else in the building, but I don't mind).

Still on the terrace- the grill and TV.

But I definitely haven't forgotten Paris. I still hang out with the other students who went on exchange with me last year, and I've met the students coming from Sciences-Po who are on exchange at Georgia Tech this year. In fact, we all have formed a kind of group and every now and then someone organizes an event in Atlanta (I organized the Halloween party!).

And as for Monica, we still keep in contact with each other and I hear that she's really happy now. When she first returned home, I think she had a harder time adjusting back just because her hometown is significantly smaller than Paris (for me it was easier since Atlanta is still a fairly lively city with several things to see and discover). But she's also started classes again, gotten a job, and I hear she's pretty happy with her personal life too. We're definitely planning to get together soon - I think I might be taking a trip up north to see her sometime within the next year.

So yes, I am back from Paris, but Paris for me is not over. It lingers around in my life with newly adopted habits, pops in unexpectedly with a message from one of my Sciences-PO friends, and lately it's been resurfacing with friends who have been staying with Hunter and me for a weekend to visit us and explore Atlanta.

As a result, I've decided that anything that happens which is reminiscent of Paris deserves to be shared and posted on this blog. So who knows when this blog will end. I can't help but enjoy posting about things that inspire me, and since Paris continues to inspire even from across the Atlantic, I think it's fitting to leave this blog to an open ending...

Until the next 'Paris' reminder...

Bisous XOXO