move to Paris

3 years, 7 e-mails and many thousands of dollars later, I’m moving to Paris!

Yes people, you read correctly. I am going to be living in Paris this summer. I cannot even believe that it’s happening, but it truly is. I’ve dreamed about this moment in my life for over 3 years now. I’ve planned, researched, planned some more and continued to hum and haw over finances, apartments and dates. It all came down to taking the opportunity, even if it was a scaled down version of my ideal dream of experiencing a whole year there. I’m looking forward to dew filled mornings along the Seine, afternoon slumbers under the shade of green filled parks, decorative sweets that look too perfect to eat and evenings strolling along boulevards in the ‘city of lights’.

It feels less like a possible dream and more like a reality. I’m reading whatever I can get my hands on when it comes to living/working/being there. I just finished reading “Almost French” and it helped with painting a picture of what daily life in Paris might be like. I’ll admit, however, that life here is pretty great too…it’s all in how you look at a situation…or place! It’s all about mentality! I still want to be there but, til then, being here ain’t so bad.

and no, those aren’t part of the lyrics to 5 Man Electrical Band’s, “Signs”...rather it’s what seems to be happening to me lately about this goal. I know that they say that when you’re aware of something you tend to take more notice to it’s happenings…but I can’t help but keep thinking that it’s all a sign. Here are a few examples: I went to my local library and was searching the catalog on a computer in an aisle, but it was going soooo slow and it screwed up at one point, so I moved to another one down another aisle…looking to my left on a book shelf was the ‘live and work abroad’ section…so I picked up a few books; My daily horoscope keeps mentioning a great move, new adventure, different home…; Movies I watch keep referring to Paris, either through the music that is played throughout the movie,(Something’s Gotta Give) or where the movie has been shot (The Bourne Identity). Is it all a sign?

I need to be there. Just finished watching “House Hunters International” and I was jealous of the dude buying a house in Paris…I need to be there.

I don’t know if it’s the idea about the city itself, my experiences in the city or my need to experience something new…maybe it’s a mix of the three…what I do know is that having been there less than a month ago and coming home again I have realized one thing more strongly than I had before…I would like to call Paris home away from home…even if only for a little while. I don’t know if I would live there forever…a man that i don’t personally know said that I wouldn’t return, and that I would stay there…and I would have to admit that the idea kind of scares me…not so much for my family, although I would miss them like M-A-D…it’s more the idea of calling somewhere other than here, my home. That’s a powerful word, home. No matter where I have gone, no matter where in the world I have traveled, this has always been my home…I was always going to go home…couldn’t wait to share things with the people back home…Would I have to call Paris home?