I’ve only been here for a little over two weeks, and I’m in love with the city. I live in Paris, and that really hasn’t hit me yet. I’m an ocean away from everyone I love, but it doesn’t seem that way. Somedays, I’ll be running through the metro to transfer trains to meet up with my friends, and when I stop to take a breath, I look around at the mosaics in the tunnels and all of the people around me and then for a split second, I understand that I am somewhere amazing, and this is a opportunity that most people will never have. Two weeks is nothing compared to the rest of my stay, but I already feel that living here has changed me. I’m okay with being by myself, I appreciate the small details, I’m willing to go out on a limb to meet new people and have adventures.

When I go back home, I won’t be the same person, I will have grown, and I’m not sure if my friends and family will completely understand. I wish they could see what I see, and maybe then they could understand what I’m doing. Another au pair said that she feels that when she returns, she won’t completely fit in with American life. I’ve felt that way since I moved to the USA from Europe, but I know that I’ll feel it even more once I return. Come to think of it, I don’t really fit in anywhere, but it doesn’t matter. Everyone is different.

I’ve been here for such a short time, but already, part of me doesn’t want to leave, and I know that part of me will expand. I know there’s a chance that I might stay here for a year or more, but until I have to make that decision, I want to take it one day at a time. There’s no need to rush important things like this.