The one thing I heard the most when I told people we were moving to Paris was, "Oh! Are you excited?" Truly. I heard that a million times. Ok. I'm prone to exaggeration here, so forgive me. But I did hear it a lot. And I can't blame anyone for asking that. I may have very well said the same thing if someone told me they were moving to PARIS. One woman I told thought I meant Perris, California. I didn't bother to correct her because I didn't want to answer her next question which would have been, "Oh! Are you excited?"
The truth is, I WAS excited...the first time my husband and I talked about it...10 months ago. It sounded cool and neat and, well, exciting. But the bottom line is, a move's a move. Regardless if you're moving down the street, to Paducah, Kentucky or to New Delhi, it's a move. And moves are hard. However, moving to another country is extra hard and, as much as I wanted to be, I wasn't always "excited" about it. I felt bad about that. Should I have always been excited? When you're leaving the only country you've ever lived in, when you're saying good-bye to all the friends and family you have there, when you're going to a place where you speak just a little bit of their language, when you have to sell your house, your cars, get rid of all your appliances because plugs aren't compatible (hey, I miss those lamps), sort through all your crap, move three animals and convince your 2 year old that she will LOVE her new home, new friends, new everything, even if you're not sure that will be the case...well, it's just hard to stay excited about all that. So, when you're in the actual moving phase (as in, trying to leave your old home) you just put your nose to the grindstone and power on, every day, and hope it all works out. That's all we can do with everything in life, really, but a move to another country compounds it and slaps you in the face with it. KA -POW!
So, here is yet another blog. I am a reluctant blogger in a way because I hardly think I have much to say that hasn't already been written a million times (there I go exaggerating again) before. But just today, I went A- Googlin' (Yes, we can do that in France. And, yes, I can still be on Facebook!) to find a store where I could buy/order kid's clothes that weren't out-of-this-world expensive. This was after trying on several pairs of pants on my little girl that looked like they could maybe be capri pants or whatnot but were in reality just too short. She grows like a weed. Which reminds me of our garden here at our new house. But I digress. So I found some great shops on someone's, yes, blog. And it's a great blog, too! http://postedinparis.wordpress.com/2010/09/08/clothing-your-kids-without-breaking-the-bank/
Lo and behold, we went to Saint-Germaine-en-Laye today and I saw almost every one of the stores she mentioned on her blog. I felt, for the first time since moving here, familiar with something! Truth is, I think blogs are great. I really enjoy other people's blogs and, well, I'll leave it at that.
I guess I'm off to a late start. We have been living in France for just over three weeks and I just started blogging! What's wrong with me!? Oh, right. We have a toddler and we just moved across the world. We live in Le Vesinet, which is a pretty village on the outskirts of Paris. It takes us 10 minutes to walk to the train station and 20 minutes from there to get to the Arc de Triomphe and Champs Elysees. So, to say we actually live IN Paris is a tiny bit of an...exaggeration (I warned you!) but not a huge one. It would be like saying you lived in Los Angeles when you really live in Sherman Oaks. This reference only works for people from LA, sorry. But it's all sort of the same experience (living in or around Paris, when you first come from the U.S.) and I hope to share that here. But living in our unique little community is also part of my story and that's worth talking about, too.
Whether you know me personally, are checking out sites for clothes for your newly French kids, or just want to know what it's like to live here or move to another country, I hope you enjoy my little blog and my effort to relay what it's like to pick up your life and that of your family, and plop it all down in an entirely different WORLD.
(I also want to talk about decorating our new house and stuff. How do you take a big, empty house and make it your own? Check in here. And how does a former pack-rat finally get organized? What's it like dealing with a Socialized healthcare system? Is the food really better/healthier here? How does an American mom who has never read Bringing Up Bebe survive in France? And how to find Cheez-Its. I want to talk about those things, too.)
Thanks for stopping by!
