Foreign Familiarity

I'm back in Paris after a couple months living in the USA. Despite being gone for a while, it is nice to experience a degree of familiarity upon my return.

Of course it helps that we continue to maintain our apartment in the suburbs, so coming home is literally like coming home. But beyond that there is still a degree of familiarity here in Paris that I do not associate with my US accommodations, despite the similarities in people in culture.

We have been living in Paris for about 8 months before we left for the states, and it has been a mixed bag of experiences. I love the age and culture in the city. I love the amazing things I have seen, but in that time we have yet to really develop a real sense of belonging.

It is one thing to feel familiar and comfortable, but it is entiely another to feel as though you belong. My work goes a long way to creating that sense for me, since it gives me daily direction and a built in community among my co-workers. The same cannot be said for Aja, who has suffered far more from the isolation.

We are only back in Paris for a few days to do various VISA/Immigration paperwork, then we return to the states for a few more months. We will change up our clothes, sleep in a comfortable bed, then hop back on a plane before we have managed to shake off the jet lag.

Before coming I had a phone conference with my boss and we discussed what comes next for me, as my contract expires in the next couple months. The conversation was framed poorly, due to the language barrier, and I felt it was a "should we renew your contract" discussion. This gave me trepidation going into the conversation, but it was short lived once it was made clear that it was more of a discussion around the options we have when renewing it.

Long story short, I opted to take a 6 month extention to my current contract type, which has a lot more legal flexibility under French law regarding changing positions or locations within the company.

I love my job, it is unlike any I have had before, but I know that no matter how great it is, if it does not serve to benefit both myself and Aja, it must be re-examined. The extension buys us the time we need to complete my mission in the US and return to Paris and really ask ourselves if this is where we want to be.

Paris is wonderful, but maybe it is just not somewhere wonderful for us. This time in the states helps give contrast, and really find out if our issues are ones with Paris, or just living abroad in general.