The End (for now)

As my final hours in France (for the time being; I will be back, there is not doubt in my mind about that. In fact, if all goes well, I'll know by December if I'll be back for my Master's) pass, I can't let my insides sit still long enough to process everything; to fully feel the emotions. I am happy to see my family and friends back home, but at the same time I am incredibly sad to be leaving this wonderful place. So everything is just being suppressed into a ball of electricity that's got me feeling wound up and ready to spark.

The places I have been, the people I have met, the things I have done; this semester has changed me. I have let myself free to live my life the way I want to. I don't hold back anymore; I go out there and grab my present and my future by the reins.

I will be back. I have to come back, or else I'd going on living my life with a piece of my heart missing. I have fallen in love with Europe, and especially with France. In France, people work to live, they don't live to work (which is the American philosophy). Yes, I won't make nearly as much money in France as I would in the U.S., but I'd be living in a country where free time is valued and not seen as a waste. I'd be living in a country where my children could go to one of the best universities for less than 3,000 Euros per year. Meanwhile I didn't even bother applying to the best schools in the U.S. because the last thing I wanted was to go into hundreds of thousands of dollars of debt. Hell, I would have never been able to afford coming to France if I did that.

If I never came to France...my life would be very different right now.

Coming here knocked me out of my old bubble of perspective, and helped me to make decisions I knew were right but couldn't bring myself to make.

These have been the most adventurous, fun, and crazy five months of my life. I would even go so far as to say the best thus far. The memorable moments are countless, but I'll try to cut it down to a top 5.

Not in any particular order:

• Riding a bicycle 30km through the French countryside from Bayeux to the American Cemetary at Omaha beach with Erin, Tim, Matt, and Joe because it was Easter Monday and no public transportation was running.
• Getting stuck in an elevator for 20 minutes between the 55th and 56th floors of Tour Montparnasse (the tallest sky-scraper in Paris).
• Watching the sunset from Piazzale Michelangelo in Florence with Erin, Morgan, Joe, Paige, Matt, and Tim (and the walk back to the hostel :P)
• The Colosseum Pub Crawl. Ask me about the details; this is a story that needs to be told in person.
• Hanging out with ENSEA folk. The parties, the bus rides to the parties, the BBQ/pool party at Adrien's, etc, etc.

In conclusion, France has given me the time of my life. I would not trade these last five months for anything. In the words of the Frenchman David Guetta, "those will be the best memories."

Au revoir, et a bientot. Bisous!