Happy Anniversary

Well, today is my one year anniversary of moving to France.  It's interesting to look back and see how far I came.  When I moved here, I didn't speak a word of French, but now I can understand most (simple) things I read, write an email, and have a conversation with a patient French person.  Speaking French is probably one of the hardest things I have to deal with on a daily basis.

When I first moved here, everything was intimidating as heck.  Now, I can pretty much navigate the metro with my eyes closed and know the ins and outs of how things work.  The first time I used an ATM machine, I had to call my husband and ask him what buttons to push!  When I went to the bank, I punched in messages into google translate on my iPhone and showed it to the tellers.  Now, I know how to do banking in France, both online and in the bank (and at ATMs!)  When I first moved here, I had a hard time finding pretty much anything in the grocery stores.  Now I've learned to cook some awesome French dishes.  And I know when and where to shop for the best deals.  I know about the morning markets and where to buy international food.  I routinely give out advice on where to go in Paris for tourists.  I know the best way into the tourist attractions, avoiding the lines, and the ones that most of the tourists don't know about.  I even signed a new lease with a landlady that didn't speak English - something I definitely would not have done a year ago! 

I've traveled all over Europe in the past year - England, Germany, Scotland, Greece, Holland, Luxembourg, as well as many places within France.

I've watched fireworks around the Eiffel Tower on Bastille Day.  I've eaten escargot and kangaroo.  My circle of friends include people from Germany, Syria, England, Chili, Spain, Portugal, Italy, and many others.  

Living in a foreign country is not easy.  Especially when you can't communicate with people around you.  Especially when you have to deal with a brand new (and evil!) type of bureaucracy.  But it's nice to know that even though sometimes I get so tired of it and just want to go home, I have grown a lot as a person since being here, and I have had some pretty cool experiences.