The end of an era

For those of you who don't know for the past ten months, I have been living and working in Paris as an au pair whilst studying french in the local college.  I began this experience as a shy eighteen year old girl who had never lived away from home before, and I leave it as a nineteen year old who knows far more about herself than she did before. My time living abroad has given so much to me including the time to pursue my passions all while being in the company of interesting adventurous individuals and the backdrop of one of the most beautiful cities in the world.

For me, this time abroad has not come without its challenges. Being separated from your family and put in a world where you are unable to fully comprehend the language is mentally and emotionally draining. There have been days and nights, where I have wanted to give up, where I have wanted to buy the cheapest ticket I can back to the UK, where I wished I would have gone to University straight away or stayed at home and worked-the way many of my friends did. However, those days are not the ones I will remember and will stay with me for the rest of my life. The days I will remember are the times I walked along the champs elysees in the sun with friends or bathed in the sun in buttes chaumont with friends and complete strangers singing la vie en rose. Those nights I cried myself to sleep because all I wanted was my family will be forgotten and all that  will be remembered are those times I walked through Paris in the dark and saw how the lights reflected off the Seine. How I spent evenings by Canal St Martin watching the world go by. 

Ultimately, anything in life worth having is worth working for and these ten months have shown me that more than any other time in my life so far. I am leaving this place with fantastic memories and knowing so much more about this wonderful city. I am leaving this place with a much better sense of self and a pride in my interests and achievements. I am leaving this place with friends who come from different places and different walks of life, but have bonded over their love of travel, disney, art and life.

I was uncertain for a while, if I wanted to share this post. It is different from anything which will have been seen on this blog before. To be frank, I don't know if anyone will read this post, but the reason I posted it is for some reason someone finds it and they are unsure if they want to study or work abroad. I want you to read this and know that it will be hard, but know it is worth the risk. You may in fact have one of the best years of your life.