Think – Restless Spirit Syndrome

Here We Go Again

What is it about coming back to the familiar that leaves one completely distracted and disoriented?

It’s September now, about 3.5 months since I stepped off that plane and onto American soil. I can’t say that I experienced reverse-culture shock so much as I just got thrown back into the daily grind and lost myself in picking up where I left off.

Sometimes I look back on my travels and think that it was all just one long, extensive dream. Then I check my bank account and know that it definitely wasn’t.

It’s shocking how quickly one can fall back into a routine. I only have two semesters left for my undergraduate degree and this summer has been a flurry of finding an internship, getting an apartment (major big-girl step – YIKES!), preparing (ok, procrastinating) for thesis, and trying to resuscitate my bank account. I met a few really interesting people since getting back and didn’t get to reconnect with half the friends and family that I promised I would. I even squeezed in an adventure or two, but I didn’t record them (Shame! Shame! Shame!).

I still have a lot to share about my travels, studying abroad, and traveling in general (my whole Spring semester is still undocumented… whoops) but the funny thing that I’ve learned about time is that it doesn’t stop. I insist on blogging about the adventures of last semester, belated thought they may be, but I also want to start incorporating some current material. Restless Spirit Syndrome more accurately reflects my personality than one year of my life, so here’s to keeping the good times – and the posts – rolling.

This and Facebook will be how I avoid writing my theses.

Parting Thoughts

It’s 3:53 a.m. in Paris, France. At 5 a.m. a taxi will be coming to take me to the airport to begin the first leg of a journey that will land me at 4:35p.m. (10:35 p.m. in Europe) in Newark International Airport.

This is a time of struggle… Today I struggled to find all of the gifts I wanted to bring home to loved ones, this evening I struggled to cram 9 months worth of clothes, souvenirs, and gifts into a very limited luggage space, and right now I am struggling to comprehend that in less than 24 hours I will be in my own bed, I will have embraced my family, nearly smothered my dogs, and I will no longer be in Paris, France.

Between you and me, Internet World, I’m not sure how I feel about this. Parting is such bittersweet sorrow (or something to that effect), but being gone for nearly 3/4s of a year has been no small task. I’m struggling to figure out if I’m devastated to be leaving or if I’m elated to be coming home. In the interest of avoiding frantic mood swings, I’ve just been in denial.

Today, however, I made a point to visit my partner-in-crime, Dana, and say good bye to her home-stay; a group of some of the most amazing people that I have ever met (I’ll have to get into them later). When I communicated how upset I was to be leaving Paris and wonderful people such as them, Yves, the father said,

Don’t be upset to leave, because leaving means that you get to experience the joy of returning when you come back.

It was such a profound statement, and Yves shortly followed it with some sage advice to live in the moment. So, that’s what I’m going to try to do; live in the moment, appreciate each second as it passes and revel in as much of this wonderful experience as I still have left. Right now, in this moment, my life demands that I break into the collection of pastries that I stowed away for this morning.

Le Blog

When I started this blog, my plan was to have it updated and complete by the time I returned home. Clearly that is not going to happen, but I still feel compelled to expound upon all of my adventures, so I will be maintaining Restless Spirit Syndrome until at least that goal is accomplished.

À bientôt!

The Countdown Commences

I left the States in late August of 2012 to embark on the European adventure of my dreams. I’m a very very lucky girl who has had the time of her life but, let’s be honest, I’m just a little bit ready to go home. May 18 will be the big day and I find myself daydreaming about smothering my family with kisses, suffocating my dogs with hugs, and convincing someone to take me to my all-time favorite Mexican restaurant to absolutely gorge myself… jet lag be damned.

Daydreaming about all of the people and things that I miss has been my best defense against a small but recurrent bout of homesickness that has been ailing me since Christmas. Ever the list-maker, I thought I’d share my Top 20 Things I miss the Most to celebrate my one-month-til-homecoming. And, no, I won’t be including people here because – let’s face it – there are too many of you. But you all know who you are.

20. Target – for obvious reasons
19. Drug Stores/Pharmacies – how is this not a thing here?? Who wants to go to 3 different stores for toothpaste, sunscreen, and nail polish? No one, that’s who.
18. Standing Showers – You’ll never know the limits of your flexibility until you figure out that you have to hold the shower head to rinse… and that the neck is about 4″ shorter than you.
17. Salsa – for obvious reasons
16. Cooking and Baking – buy extra large sweatpants now, family and friends; I plan on going all Julia Child on you!
15. Money That Doesn’t Look Like it Came Out of a Game of Monopoly – I miss you, George. And I’d really like to get to know you better, Mr. Franklin.
14. Foodnetwork Marathons – The dearth of food related contests in my life is pitiful. Also, I still plan on taking Anthony Bourdain’s job.
13. My Watch – it was on the list of things I didn’t dare to bring and haven’t yet ceased to miss
12. Nachos – no description necessary
11. Wawa – also for obvious reasons
10. Real Breakfasts – Despite nearly 9 months of toasted carbs and coffee to start the day, my stomach still balks and demands eggs, potatoes, yogurt, oatmeal, waffles, pancakes,… all the good stuff in real-person portions.
9. Having Disposable Income Again – enough said
8. Any and all Mexican food – see the opening to this post
7. Driving a Stick-shift Vehicle Down a Winding Backroad of Pennsylvania, Windows Down, a Close Friend in the Passenger Seat, and Jamming to This Song – just listen
6. Eavesdropping – there’s nothing quite like actually being able to understand people…
5. My Dad’s Sausage Egg and Cheese Breakfast Sandwiches – I’ve begun to drool…
4. To-Go Coffee – I admit that these Europeans really know what they’re talking about when it comes to a cup of Joe.. until you try to put that Joe on-the-go. Pitiful.
3. My Aunt’s Carrot Cake – more drooling… lots more drooling..
2. Señora’s Authentic Mexican Restaurant of West Chester – see the opening to this post. I plan on binging on their pineapple salsa ASAP
1. My Dogs – oh, Jack and Jill, how I’ve missed you so!

Oh and that fabulous collection of friends and assorted loved ones that I have? Brace yourselves, because I plan on making up for every single lost minute of these past 8-odd months. This is not optional.

Coming to Terms with Reality

Oh hey!

So, if you’re reading this then you probably already know me. And, if you do already know me, you’ve probably picked up by now that I’m a bit of an idealist… and more than a bit of a perfectionist (oh, and don’t forget procrastinator!).

Which explains why, nearly six months into my nine months of studying abroad, I am just now sharing this blog. It’s still behind (a fact that I’m trying not to dwell on), but a new friend – who’s wisdom I’m appreciating more and more – convinced me that it was just time to go for it.

So here she is, all unfinished and ‘work-in-progress’y. Let me know what you think and, please, don’t be shy about harassing me to bring everything up to date already!