I can't believe that I've been living in Paris for three months, and completed the first semester at Uni. It's such a cliché but time has gone by so fast. It seems like yesterday that I was hauling my suitcase up the stairs to my new accommodation, feeling a bit sick with a mixture of excitement and nerves.
I'm coming to the end of my three week Christmas break at home, and it's been beyond amazing to see all my family and friends. I don't think I quite realised how much I missed you all until I saw you!
Truth be told, on the Eurostar home a little voice in my mind kept asking, 'What if I've changed? What if everyone else has changed?' I did, and do still, feel very different to the nervous, converse-wearing girl clutching her one-way ticket to Paris three months ago. As I didn't go home during Reading Week due to work commitments, I'd gone longer than most others without seeing my parents or best friend in real life, as opposed to Skype.
(Side note- if you move abroad, WiFi quality is of the utmost importance. The connection always seemed to fail just as I was having a deep chat with my parents, or was in fits of laughter with one of my friends. It seems trivial, but it reminds you how just far away from your loved ones you are. At some points I was ready to drop kick my laptop. Moving on....)
However, I needn't have worried; from the moment my mum and I coincidentally met on the doorstep, me laden down with a suitcase and a violin fresh back from Paris, and her coming home from work, it was like I'd never been away. The only thing that has changed in my hometown is the big, shiny new Burger King. Apart from that, it feels like no time has passed since I left!
I'm going back to Paris this weekend, and I'm looking forward to it. I've missed my friends over there, both French, English, (and Polish- cheeky shout out to Ola) and the two children that I babysit and their lovely families. I'm excited to cycle down the Boulevard Saint-Michel, to buy a baguette from my favourite boulangerie, and to stroll around the Sunday markets in Montparnasse.
This semester, I've resolved to go swimming five days a week, to eat more fruit and less pasta, and to do all the reading for lectures (Unlikely, let's face it, but worth a try). Thanks to an amazing book my dad gave me, I also have loads of ideas for jaunts out of the city on the RER. I've also been reading a book about Paris during the occupation, which has inspired me to visit the Musée de la Resistance Nationale in Champigny-sur-Marne, just outside of Paris. Hopefully I'll get there soon!
I'll update as soon as I can- I have a feeling that this semester is going to be even busier than the last.
K x
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