luxembourg pix

this goes super nicely with my sya blogger post that sort of talked about luxembourg... i promise I'm going to write more about the conference soon, but the link to what I've done so far is below. http://www.chroniclesofasmalllife.com/2016/03/taking-advantage-of-proximity-sya.html

*on learning to laugh at myself and eudaimonia*

Once upon a time a seventeen year old girl called her mom from her bedroom... But it wasn't a lazy call inspired by a desire for cookies from the kitchen downstairs. See the girl, she's me. And when I call my mom on FaceTime , it's because I'm 6000 kilometers away from where I used to call home. For the past five months, I've been lucky enough to live a dual life - the sixteen years I spent in my birth family in the United States and the time I've spent in France. When I refer to my home now, my friends have to ask if I'm talking about Virginia or Chartres. I consider myself to have four siblings - two French brothers and two American sisters. When I send text messages, autocorrect will scramble everything until change the keyboard to the right language. The duality has created an overlapping, far more vivid version of myself.
I've spent five months abroad - only two percent of my life so far - but I've begun to recognize the impact it's had on me. I've developed a tradition of telling at least one funny story each time I call home...and often it involves me learning from some mistake I've made. At the beginning of the year, missing a bus was enough to have me choking back tears on the phone with the school director. Now, accidentally temporarily staining the couch blue remains awkward, but afterwards I could barely tell my mom the story because I was laughing so much at how frightened I'd been. I used to think I knew how to laugh at myself , but I was wrong. It's something I've mastered here in France. It's gotten to the point that if I call home and don't tell a story about some bizarre "learning experience" I get asked if everything's okay.
My new environment - and being alone in it -  has also given me the opportunity to learn who I actually am , and what was more a factor of the environment I'd always been in. I've begun appreciating even unfortunate events, because even the very worst offer something to learn from or laugh about. I've even learned a favorite word - eudaimonia- from a book for English class. It's a Greek word that usually gets translates to mean "happiness" but is actually closer to "human flourishing." I loved the definition but it took me a while to realize that it fits with so many other discoveries I've made this year. Happiness sometimes means just success , while flourishing means more learning and progressing , mistakes included. These months have taught me the value of difficulties mixed with success. Uncertainty , challenges makes success far more meaningful. At seventeen, I know I'm probably at a pretty resilient phase of my life but I hope I can always carry this crooked appreciation for overcoming difficulty with me. That alone would make my year ten thousand times worth it.

***This was an SYA Blogger post from February that I forgot to post :) it's here now

*Taking Advantage of Proximity*

My year abroad has taken me far away from home, but at the same time has brought me far closer to certain things. I'm closer to knowing what I want to be when I grow up, who I am. I'm closer with my American family in certain ways, despite the distance. I've become close with my French family. I am closer to French cultural and linguistic fluency. The list goes on and on, but recent events make me want to mention one specific thing - being in France has brought me closer to so many undiscovered places. 

I've visited Paris, somewhere that used to be a faraway fairytale but is now only a few hours away. I traveled to Prague, and didn't even change time zones. I've been to so many fantastic French cities that before we're not even a part of my imagination, but now are practically in my backyard. I'm planning my spring break with a friend, and we're talking about going to Barcelona because it's "close." Currently, I'm riding the train home from Luxembourg. 

I list all of this not to make you jealous , but because I am realizing the immense fortune I have to be so close to such a diverse array of places. My trip to Luxembourg truly emphasized this idea - I was there for a Global Issues Network conference. The conference was absolutely incredible - student run, with fascinating keynote speakers and student presentations. But despite the incredible innovations and ideas shared with me, what really struck me was the diversity of origins. I was there from France, but also as an American. In many settings, this would be considered confusing or abnormal. 

At GIN, my peers were of Spanish-French origin studying in Switzerland - to give one example. SYA Italy - formerly a distant group of similarly minded students - attended as well. (Getting to meet some of them was incredible and a bit surreal!) Me being nearly trilingual was average. Students from Dubai, Turkey, all over the European Union had assembled with as much nonchalance as a group of east coast American schools. However, this group of schools offered most valuably, in my opinion, the incredible wealth of knowledge and world perspectives that this facilitated. One of the most discussed topics was the refugee crisis - and we had the opportunity to discuss it with asylum seekers in Luxembourg , as well as Germans and Greeks, some of the key players, not to mention so many other perspectives. Each of the different perspectives enriched the conversation immensely, even though the opinions were very different at times. The unique mix caused so many stories were told and fascinating discussions to develop - I have never been so inspired by people my own age.

The train ride to these inspiring conversations took only a few hours, yet upon arrival I was immersed in a different culture and a completely different atmosphere thoughtful discussion. I felt truly lucky to be so close to such a diverse group of students that allowed for multifaceted discussions. Europe seems special to me in that it contains so many unique cultures in such close proximity. For me, the conference truly highlighted this. In the few short months I have left, I look forward to continuing to explore my new country and continent - and I encourage any one else that has the opportunity (at you , SYA class of 2017) to do the same.

SYA Blog - March Post 

***photos and more thoughts on the conference will appear soon

a brief explanation // more thoughts

as I've become more and more used to my life here , I have noticed myself forgetting about my blog. perhaps the reason behind it is that I've forgotten to be amazed by my surroundings but it also struck me that this has become my life and in doing so is no longer a series of events I want to share with anyone and everyone. the most profound things that are happening to me now ... those are becoming sometimes uncomfortable reflections , life lessons specific to me. en bref - not always the things I want to share on a blog. as I continue through my year , I've admittedly left out so much from my blog - some purposefully but much simply due to lack of attention. therefor from now on I will post anything and everything I want (see the last post ... great example of me doing "n'importe quoi" or you could call it being inspired mid snapchat conversation / by a sweatshirt emblazoned France) which might mean some pretty random stuff. and of course - the chateaus and independent travel posts that I've missed will eventually appear. and the English class assignments will continue , etc etc. 

anyway , a mini reflection on blogging abroad. things are about to get very causal - just about as casual and melangé as they can be - on the blog and hopefully that will mean more (realistic) content. I am so so fortunate and I hope to document it in a way that is worth looking back at years from now...but at the very least I will have some fantastic memories. I'm tired . Good night :) and à la prochaine !

I took a selfie // and had a quick thought

someone told me to come home today and it made me realize that i have two now. two homes worth missing , real homes. 

then i realized the impossibility of simultaneously inhabiting them , and my heart broke a little as I realized how lucky i am. 

*this was almost an Instagram post