Halfway to Homesick

Contrary to popular belief, bad days still exist when you’re living in France. I’ve had a short string of tough days, and a longer string of frustratingly sleepless nights. For some reason, sleep has been elusive lately, so in an attempt to let out any feelings of nostalgia, or homesickness, or even bitterness for our adventure having to end some day that might be keeping me up at night, I thought why not write a quick post about home.

Maybe because it’s the halfway mark, maybe because I’m homesick, maybe because it’s January, but whatever the reason, Ive been thinking more and more about home and home life recently. Naturally, I’m torn. I don’t really want to go back to ordinary life. I love being able to jet (or rail) off to a foreign city almost every month, and come back to a relatively low stakes job where I get to teach goofy kids (usually) cool stuff about my home. The hardest part of life lately is waking up at 6 a.m. when the sun is still sleeping and making the chilly trek to the bus stop to get on a bus full of sleepy teens who smell a bit like puberty. It’s not the best start to the day, but I’ve had bigger problems.

But while life here is exciting and romantic and enriching, I didn’t come here to escape my life back home, so there are loads of things I miss, and lots of happy memories that pop into my head that I would be reminiscent of even if I weren’t in living in a foreign country.

Sometimes I go through old pictures on my computer or phone to indulge in reminiscence for a little while. I found a photo Alex took of me at our two year anniversary dinner last year at Spoon & Stable, and I look so happy in spite of having just had my car totaled a few hours prior that same day. There are loads of pictures from Kansas City from a trip Alex and I took last spring. Cute pictures of Austen, Sarah, and me at Red River and Can Can make me smile so much.

I miss my family and my friends, first and foremost. I really can’t wait to go home and see them all again. But excitingly, Austen is coming to visit at the beginning of April, and recently I found out my family is planning to come and visit me at the end of my trip, which makes my heart swell.

I miss the Twin Cities, both of them, and look forward to going back to my favorite spots this spring when the weather is nice and everyone is happy. Cahoots, Red River Kitchen, Highland Grill, Keys, the Conservatory, Como Park, Harriet Island, Lake Harriet, Mojo, MIA, Walker Art Center. I could go on.

I miss being able to go shopping at Everyday People and never having to spend actual money for clothes and shoes. I miss our movie nights at Trylon and Ramen dates at Tori. I miss Sweeney’s and their fish & chips, and even when I go to countries known for fish & chips, it never manages to match up.

All this being said, I think I may feel differently when we actually do go home. I know I’m going to miss living here immensely; in fact I’m kind of dreading that longing feeling. But I’m glad I have good things to look forward to when we go home. Until then, however, I’m going to enjoy the rest of our time here and soak it up as much as I can.

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