Returning to Civilization

Well, it's been about a week since I got home and I thought I should do one more post, just to wrap everything up. My last few weeks of France were busy and bittersweet. I spent most of my time thinking, "This is the last time I'll go to this park. This is the last time I buy something from Monoprix. This is the last time I'll go to class." It makes one rather melancholy. Nevertheless, I was eager to get home. It's strange, as I expected going to Europe would give me the hunger to go and live in other countries. France is beautiful and lovely, but I'm not sure if I want to live there forever. And while I do have a faint desire to travel to foreign places, it's not the burning passion that I was expecting. At this point in time, all I wanted to do was go home. When I arrived in the airport in the US, there was a giant American flag hanging from the ceiling and tiny flags on every passport checkpoint. There was no question as to what country I was in. It's strange coming home. Everything is bigger and farther away. The people are bigger, louder and wear sweatpants. Sometimes, I don't understand what they are saying and my brain panics and tries to translate the noises they are making into French, rather than English. Despite all of that, I am happy to be home. It is wonderful to be back with my family, to see my friends again and (most importantly) stroke my kitties. So in conclusion, I am very glad that I studied abroad. True, some parts were less than comfortable, but all in all, it was really an excellent experience and I highly recommend it. People say that travel broadens the mind. I'm not sure if my mind is broader, but it certainly is more full. Thank you for reading!