Je pars pour Paris... huit

I will have weekends off, so I plan on spending a good percentage of my Euros on travel—into the city and to a few places of interest. I need to smell the air in Switzerland. I think I’d like to try to visit the south of Spain around our Halloween time. I need to try real Belgian beer. My sister’s boyfriend is in Germany, so maybe there for “thanksgiving.” And my friend, CJ, is in Bulgaria, and I’m gonna make him host me. I have a layover in Dublin, but it barely counts compared to how much of Ireland I’d like to enjoy—so many people have contacts in Ireland, I feel like I’ll be there multiple times. A friend will be an au pair in Sweden, too. And there you have the short list. Anywhere I miss during the year, I’ll get to next summer…

Je pars pour Paris... sept

So! France. One of the smaller steps for this woman, kind. I will be an au pair for three children outside of Versailles, which is very close to Paris. The family is British/French, and we’ve spoken a few times on the phone. They have a girl and two boys, ages 3, 6, and 8. I will be with the family for 10 months and as of next summer, backpacking around the places in Europe I couldn’t get to throughout the school year…

Je pars pour Paris... six

I’m not a doctor or lawyer or financial expert. Not that anyone has the right to call his or her self a financial expert these days. Yesterday, a friend reminded me that it isn’t good to live above our means. Simply stated, we should make more than we take. But how do we insure that our lives are producing something of substance? So much of our daily routines—facebook and twitter and youtube—are about constant creation, but there’s a certain threshold where creation takes a backseat to narcissism or insecurity and constant reinforcement. Without sacrificing security for plans of future moral neutrality (and an eventually positive balance of Goodness), I need to start understanding that growing up means growing slowly, accruing knowledge and competencies and putting in the hard work that goes along with helping people. Yes, the goal is to learn about (and dare I say help) the places in this world that are worst-off, but I want to take the right steps, and I need to come to terms with my lack of experience…

Je pars pour Paris... cinq

France. I applied for a Fulbright Scholarship this past fall, and I probably could have been more realistic about the program that they’d accept. I’ll have a better shot if I apply again having learned French with a less ambitious destination than Rwanda. I have this personal policy about the right amount of action—act too fast, and you’re likely doing more harm than good. The turtle and the hair, I suppose—or as Goofy would say, “slow and steady, steady and slow”. I had little interest in France until I started watching French movies and started digging the idea of an entire culture almost… buying into the idea of happenstance. Why not? It makes things so much more beautiful, and less complicated to be honest. It’ll be a good experience to follow Babson—it will make for a good balance.

and a little bonus… http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XBW-UEbOfyQ&feature=quicklist

Je pars pour Paris... quatre

Europe. I applied to jobs by sending my profile to families in Spain, France, and Switzerland. I kept an eye out for other places, but it was easiest to focus on three, like the agency asked. Spain, because Daina insisted. The language would be easier to pick up since I studied it in school. France, because of my new-found curiosity in French culture. Learning French would also help me out with the list of countries I’d like to visit in the future. And Switzerland, because I still have family there. Europe, because I’ll appreciate it, I’ll learn independence without too much culture shock, and I’ll convince my parents slowly to let me go to other continents. Gardens. Museums. Mad liberals. Revolutions. The concept of ancient civilizations and building them up and down and around and new ones up again. And I’m so glad I’m not too young to understand it and not too old to feel the true depth of the grooove and what it means for the future…

Je pars pour Paris... trois

Ok, I’ve been to Canada, and not to downplay the country, I want to go somewhere further away, in distance and difference. I feel like if I don’t get out of this country now, I never will. Besides, California is broke right now. I decided to look for Au Pair jobs through an agency online; this is one of the first questions I get. There are a bunch of agencies like this on the internets. I made a profile, I have lots of childcare experience and references, and I sent my information to families after viewing their own profiles. Deciding on being an au pair accomplished a few things: I’d go to Europe, I’d stay out of the “business” world, I’d have minimal expenses and be paid regularly…

Je pars pour Paris... deux

I think about it as a step—the next place I’ll hang my hat—a move up, carrying with me all that I’ve achieved to date. A diploma from Babson, too many friends to count or name (<3), a unique home-life experience from where I draw my clarity and creativity. I’m not running away from anything—this is the first time in my life where I feel like the next choice is mine, all mine, and could be absolutely anything! I know I want to avoid business (for now), and I know I want to see the world (preferably as much of it as possible). I want to be a student who doesn’t have to get so attached, so political, so involved, spread so thin. I want to live learning! I want to do Good. And I want to write, write, write, write. But I’ve barely been outside the U.S…