It is hard to believe that a month has passed already. It's a beautiful thing to be here in a new city, learning new things, meeting new people and gaining new perspectives. Each day holds adventure and challenge; and it has been rejuvenating to have time and space for reflection. I do miss certain comforts, skiing in the Rockies, our dear friends and family, but am SO thankful for the internet and letter-writing! So, here goes my one-month blog-reflection...
Happiest surprise: I have been surprised by how much I love this city and "big city life". I thought I would be missing the mountains and open spaces much more, but it probably helps that we have a forest and river nearby, where I run almost every day. I love all the walking and commuting (over 2 hours every day), getting lost and discovering new places, knowing that revolutionary (no pun intended!) things have been happening here for thousands of years and I am among the buildings that have been witness. Something about it all is so invigorating and inspiring: being in a place of such dense life, creativity, change, history, culture.
Most difficult: The hardest thing for me has been the inability to express myself, due to language barriers. I long to connect more with the acquaintances around me- the boulanger, the girl whom I regularly pass on runs, the house cleaner at my job- and to be able to eavesdrop on the metro :) but am still finding it hard. Sure, there are little victories in conversation, but usually those come after much thought and script-planning! It is hard to feel like you are less of yourself, simply because you just cannot express it. But I am very thankful that we have friends who speak English, because without them we would be much more lonely!
On that same note, I am looking forward to learning more French this month...the month of love, why not focus intently on the language of love?! My goal is to find a friend to exchange 1 hour of English for 1 hour of French, at least every week...I let you know how that goes.
Scared of: Well, thankfully I do not have to get a haircut! I did wake up in the middle of the night awhile ago, with the dread of realizing that if I had chest pain or couldn't breath, we would not know the number to call. But that was easily looked up; it is 112. So now I suppose, I have nothing to fear.
Biggest upcoming challenge: Write more blog posts! I have been under-representing the female perspective here and aim to improve on that. I find it hard to write to an audience of more than one, because there's so much to say to each one of you. But I'll try. :)
No comments:
Post a Comment