Okay so as I've previously said... I suck at blogging. Once again, I'm going to give it another try.
I've been in France for over a year now and I'm still very happy here. I constantly get asked if I'm ever going back and the truth is I still have no idea. I mean, yes, I'm going back, but when? Now that's a good question. I have no idea. A lot has happened. In case you need a recap or don't know. I arrived in France last year in September. I came as an au pair. I found an amazing family who has truly welcomed me and made me feel as I'm part of their family. My contract was for September until end of June, but at some point mid-year, the family asked me if I was interested in staying another year. We talked and planned things, and we weren't sure if it would all work out, but here I am... a second year. :) I remember at some point when we weren't sure if me staying a second year would work out, we were all sitting together at the table having dinner, discussing the future when someone just says "You know Ana, I can't imagine next year without you here" and then the whole family agreed and we all had a moment where we just thought to ourselves how different things would be when I had to go back. Bref *, we all agreed that we hoped things would work out and I'd stay, and so things did.
Things that happened last year, I did a bit of traveling, but not much. It's not easy to travel on an au pair budget, but I did manage to visit Amsterdam, Lille, Bruges (in Belgium), and the Côte d'Azur (Cassis, Cannes, Nice and Monaco). I also visited a wonderful place this past summer, I went to Corsica. It was absolutely amazing! I'll make a note and blog about that vacation at some point.
During the summer, I got a waitressing job in Paris. It was quite an experience. I just recently quit the job and now I'm an English teacher's assistant at a high school.
Summer was a bit sad and lonely because the majority of the friends I made last year were au pairs and as the school year came to an end, au pair contracts ended and everyone went back to their home country. I met sooo many people. It's incredible. I feel fortunate to have met such incredible people and be able to call them friends. We all shared and experienced things, that most people just don't get. Cool thing about me staying in Europe another year though is that now I get to go out and visit some of these European friends. For example, next week I'm going to Amsterdam to visit my friend Sarah. She became me best friend in Paris and I'm ecstatic to see her again. :D
Anyway, this is me trying again at this... until next time. :)
* Bref: The French say this quite often during conversations. It means "in short, to make a long story short".
