Sunday, May 20, 2012

Life after study abroad

Behold, I'm back! After a bit of a hiatus from writing, I am going to try and get myself back into the groove of crafting posts that you all will hopefully find interesting! It has been almost two weeks since I have returned from my life in Europe and the transition has been pretty smooth. Although, I have been experiencing some post-partum pains. Every time I enter into a supermarket, I sulk through the bread aisles, yearning for my crispy and still-warm baguettes or viennoises. When I pass a bakery, the tartes look deflated and dull. The wine is acidic and lacking the air of expertise that all French wine labels seem to bleed. When I drive - and think how much easier it would be to take the metro - I secretly hope that the Eiffel Tower will poke out its peak at wave at me. I feel Paris calling me and I want to scream its name from the Long Island tree tops.

Don't get me wrong, though. Being home has been a treat, as well. There is a comfort that comes with home that no other place can replicate. I am not going to lie, when we touched down in New York - JFK airport, I teared up as I stared out the window. I was back in my Motherland, and I felt like it was welcoming me with these warm and welcome arms. Being away from the United States, a country I value in a way that cannot be put into words, only made me appreciate it even more upon my return.

Being abroad has been an unbelievable experience, one that I have been having a hard time admitting is over. I had been waiting for that adventure since I was in kindergarten, planning my college career around it, and in the blink of an eye, as if it were a dream, it is over. They always say it is better to have loved and lost, than to never have loved at all, or that all good things must come to an end, but I have always been a fan of having my cake, eating it, and then eating it again and again and again. In a way, I feel like I was breaking up with Paris after a whirlwind springtime romance. I left him behind, despite the fact that he loved me well and taught me invaluable things about myself. In the back of my mind, I am hoping that there is still something left for him and I, Paris and myself, but for the time being, I will just take the lessons we learned from our time together and continue on with my life.

My last bit of time in Paris can be described as desperate, but not in the way you would assume it meant. Desperate to grasp all the culture I could, desperate to see everything my eyes could take in, desperate to not miss out on anything that would leave me kicking myself later on. I ran around the city like a starving man, gulping down everything about my surrounding world that I could because it seemed the only way to give my wonderful Paris the proper goodbye. My parents came to fetch me and spend a little time after my semester finished with me in Paris and it was wonderful. The part of my world that was pulling me back home had arrived in the city that I had grown to love madly and everything was perfect. I had tried crafting the perfect excuse to drop everything and move there - nothing was holding us back! After an amazing extra week in Paris with the homesickness dissolved, it made it that much harder to leave. Another week was spent in Spain on the island of Mallorca. It was an island paradise that differed from the hustle and bustle of the French metropole. It was the greatest place to go and wean myself off of Europe and ease myself back into the life of a suburban New Yorker.

When I graduate from Boston University, just like the class of 2012 did today, I know that I will forever know that I accomplished everything I wanted to in college and mainly because I fulfilled my study abroad dreams.

This summer, I am trying to continue with the quick speed of life I lived in Paris by spending 5-days a week in the heart New York City, my favorite city in the world (sorry, Paris, you're a close, close, close second). I am interning for MTV Networks (specifically, VH1) and for a super cool start-up, Outbrain Inc. Both are going to be amazing learning experiences where I will continue this trend of learning about myself and what I am capable of. But, more on that later...(sorry, that was SO future/Bob Saget Ted Mosby of me)

Since I guess this concludes my study abroad aventure, this blog is going to be taking a less European approach and going to detail my adventures in the most dreamed about metropolitan city in the world. New York City, practically the Holy Grail of metropoles. The blog will be undergoing a name change (same URL, though!) and perhaps an aesthetic change very shortly. I can't wait to continue chronicling my journey as a girl in her 20s because, as those of who you have lived through it or at least watched an episode of HBO's Girls, things can get awkward, hilarious, and inspiring.

Check back in soon because I promise I'll have a story to tell. Until then, for the last time...

Bisous!

9 comments:

  1. A semester! A lousy semester!!!! You go right back and do three years at least, so you can leave as a resident, not as a tourist!

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  2. Uh.. you know you will forever know that you accomplished everything you wanted to in college and mainly because you fulfilled your study abroad dreams? Seems like being a broad has done wonders for your self-awareness. Bravo!

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  3. How about an experience of being in England for one and half years and coming back to the gorgeous heat of India... :)

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  4. I'm moving back to the states after 6 years in Asia and am absolutely dreading it. I really really hate living in the states. I'll cry everyday for the first 6 months I'm sure.

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  5. I take it you did a semester in Paris last year--2012. Did you go to Sciences Po? Much success in your future endeavors. I like your positive and curious approach to your adventures. No whining, no criticisms etc. You will undoubtedly have your personal and professional goals achieved in no time.

    I just happen to come across your blog by chance and because we have a daughter who just did a semester in Paris and a 2 month internship in Brussels right after, I saw the similarities in your stories.

    May all your wishes come true!

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  6. "the most dreamed about ..." etc. So 20th century.
    Never been in London, Shangai, Sao Paulo right?
    cheers!

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  7. Emigrate... and then you will really know what it's like to be an expat.

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  8. why not try Afghanistan next summer?, and maybe you can blog us about that country and their violent culture?

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  9. a blind man describing an elephant after touching only the tail.... that's what's going on here...

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