Confidence (For You I Will)

Mes cheries,

So these past couple of days I’ve been trying to think about a new blog topic, and it’s been strangely difficult. Sure, I’ve been busy, but nothing seemed important enough to post on the internet. But then today I realized that I’ve had nothing to write about because everything that was once so foreign and different to me has become somewhat normal. Sometimes I actually feel like a French “native” (that’s what my mom calls them), just with a limited vocabulary and a foreign accent.  

Take today. My mom essentially sent me on a scavenger hunt to pick up a book from her friend’s coworker at an office 30 minutes away from my own, and I ended up getting caught in rush hour traffic on line 1 (word of advice: don’t do that.). When before I probably would’ve “shoved” some people for some personal space, I just found my little space and listened to my iPod as the woman next to me blatantly picked her nose and another woman’s chest was pushing onto my arm and I couldn’t move. 

After bearing through this cramped metro ride, I went and finally got my hair cut. I had been really nervous about getting my hair cut by someone who doesn’t speak English, mostly in fear of not being able to fully explain how I want my hair to look, but then today I realized I didn’t even know what I wanted for my hair, besides it being shorter. As my classmate accurately described it, I just had to bite the bullet and get my hair cut in French. I’m happy to say that my hairdresser, Marie, was super accommodating of my limited knowledge of hairdressing terms and that I like the cut. All it really took was some confidence in my ability to speak French and it worked out well. 

While these aren’t particularly exciting things, these are things that I have to do. I’m not on vacation, and daily tasks don’t just go away once you go abroad. I’m reaching a point where I know where to go and what I’m doing. Paris is really becoming a second (or third, after W&M) home for me. 

And while this is awesome and a huge step for me, I then realize that in two months from now, my program will be over, my brother will be in the country, and I’ll be back to being an American tourist obnoxiously speaking English all the time (well let’s be honest I never really lost that last title to start). Two months seem like a while from now, but at the same time, these past two months just flew by. On the bright side, that means two more months until I see my friends and family again. Skype is great and all, but I can’t wait to see these people in person, because these are the people who have gotten me through my rough days and celebrated my little victories with me. 

So to those people I’ve Skyped with, thank you for everything. For those I haven’t talked to yet, I still have two months here! We’ll chat soon.

Dana

P.S. please say someone got the Teddy Geiger title reference? I thought it was oddly needed…