Funny little feeling.

I’ve been back home for now 3 months. I still feel like life goes by faster than it should.

It has been easier than I thought, which doesn’t mean it’s always easy. Because it isn’t, but for good reasons.

My summer went by so fast, but it was so wonderful. It felt good to come back, and I had so many plans.

I saw my family again, even if I had to wait two weeks before spending time with my baby brothers, who are definitely way to tall now. I saw my best friends again, it felt good. It simply felt good.

Then, Daniya came to visit. It was funny because we both had the feeling that we had seen each other not so long ago, even though it had been over 6 months. But it felt right to be together, everything was so easy. Showing her a bit of Grenoble and its mountains, wandering into Paris, spending hours to talk about our lives, taking loads of pictures. Oh boy, I need to go to Russia. As soon as possible. She’s one of the sweetest person I’ve ever met, and she’s truly amazing. Who can talk french when you only studied it for 2 semesters ?! She was even able to have conversations with kids. Kids.

 

So I did spend few days in Paris, it’s becoming a summer routine, and I will never get tired of it. Wonderful city, but most of all, I get to be with the nicest people in the world. Including my goddaughter obviously ; ) -Going back soon-

 

After that, we went, the 6 of us, in the South-West of France. A place I had never been before. So pretty. I just fell in love in my country, again. I just love family vacation, I guess we get along pretty easily in the end. Got to take pictures with my sister, got to just enjoy my time with them.

We headed a bit more south, to meet up with Rick, Trish and Louise, and the rest of my mom’s family. The place was lovely, the surroundings were maybe not as great as 3 years ago, but it was still fun. And let’s be honest, I could FINALLY speak english again. (You have no idea of how bad I miss it…). And most of all, it felt good to see them again. Felt like my journey wasn’t over yet.

 

(They brought me back all the stuff I couldn’t carry, more books, more things. Still wondering how I got to that point : ) !)

It was hard to see them go, being friends with people living abroad is probably one of the best things and the hardest things in the world. I’ve learnt that.

 

Then I was back in Grenoble, trying to settle down as much as I could, I knew things would be different at home as well since Valentine was moving out. I was not yet ready to be back, took me until mid-september to tidy things properly (and I anticipate your jokes, it doesn’t mean it’s tidied today, but things are at least where they should be). I still felt like I was in vacation in my own town, in my own house.

 

So many things have change over here, but I’m back to the same place. Still trying to accommodate.

I helped Valentine moving out of the house, helped her moving in her first apartment in Dijon. It was fun, and I know that even if it isn’t easy for her everyday, she’s gonna make the best of it, she’s just the greatest. No matter what : )

And school started. Despite all the mess it was to get an official paper saying I graduated and to apply to my masters, despite all the mess it still is because they have modified the masters over the summer and we still don’t really know what the national test (« concours ») will really be, it was good to start a new year.

It takes me a lot of time, I’ve around 30 hours of class per week, I also do some tutoring, as for now I’ve 4 students (3 in english, and on in … maths… which is pretty funny, but I just love teaching maths, weirdly.). Basically half of my classes are english classes (literature, civilization, translation, linguistics) and the other half is more about pedagogy, didactic etc etc.

It’s a lot, because it doesn’t give me enough free time to study on my own for the test, which will begin in April, and I still have mid-terms and finals to take and to pass hopefully, but I really enjoy it. I know it is truly what I want to do, no matter how hard it will be, no matter how little the recognition that we get from is.

We started the internship last tuesday, for the first part, it will be every tuesday during 6 weeks. It’s only observation as for now, practice will come in January. But it’s so interesting. And scary, but interesting !

 

I’m already trying to plan when I could come back to the US. It isn’t that easy, but I just can’t stop thinking about it. I miss speaking english everyday, I miss the people most of all, I miss being abroad, traveling, I miss the excitement, I miss the whole experience.

But one thing at a time, I’ve already taken my plane tickets to go (for the first time!) in the UK and meet up with Emma, Jyoti and Matt around New Year’s Eve. Which is gonna be more than amazing.

 

That’s how I deal with my life for now: making plans in the future to reunite with my amazing friends.

Because I know it is okay to miss all the things that happened back there, it is okay to meet the friends I’ve met along the way, or the people that I already knew and helped me over there. I know that it is normal for it not to be so easy, being back is great in so many ways, I mean I’ve a wonderful family and amazing friends here as well, but no one can truly understand what it was apart from them*, but you still have to move forward, because life goes on, and lots of beautiful things are still happening.

And it was only the beginning of the story.