Paris vs NYC

It is interesting to me how depending on the personality, each person will have a different opinion of what the greatest city is. For me, there is no competition to New York City being the most exciting city on the planet. As much as I love Rome for its ancient beauty, Paris for its romance and London for its edgy eccentricity... New York is the place with the excitement, the art, the massive diverse culture, the in-your-face, fast paced excitement that I thrive off of in life. I am learning more and more that I can find a shop or restaurant of anything I may be seeking...of course I will never forsake traveling to the actual cultural origin (traveling is my first love) but for a place to call home, New York takes the cake.

I discovered this graphic artist Vahram Muratyan last week who has done a wonderful rendition of Paris vs New York and I think it is a great graphic print series. You can find more prints as he adds them on his blog Paris vs NYC.

Au Revoir France

Well I have made it, and I can't believe it has been a year. Living abroad has been the craziest roller coaster of emotions and experiences I have ever packed into one time period. I have stretched my soul past boundaries of comfort and learned to be an ever present outsider.

Living only in your home country, you take for granted the ability to express yourself and feel intelligent. You don't even realize the comfort you have that no matter where in your country you travel you have an immediate sense of community; an eternal sense of camaraderie. As you throw yourself into a different nation you suddenly don't get the jokes, you don't understand the culture's mentality, and in my case can barely speak the language. But let me tell you how rewarding it feels to complete a personal goal of this magnitude. I can speak French and its incredible and it still makes me smile thinking about it. I love being able to carry on conversations with strangers and switch between English and French with no thought. This year has been without a doubt the hardest thing I have ever done, but I am stronger now that I have reached the other side.

France is a special place. I have loved it and hated it here, and pushed myself to be a more open minded, courageous person. The ability to travel at the drop of a hat is a dream come true and I have seen 6 new countries this year because of it. Trying to understand a culture that feels so alien to me has been very hard. I have expanded my palette to an array of new cuisine, some indescribably good, and some that still ties my stomach in knots. I will miss the smell of fresh bread from the millions of bakeries that rest in every town. And although I hate to admit it, I will kind of miss the laid back feeling of this nation. My internal clock is very New York, so its nice to live in a culture where being late is normal and it forces you to slow down and enjoy life.

Today I am flying home and there is a torn, bittersweet feeling lying at the pit of my stomach. I have missed my family, friends, food, and wonderful nation, but France has left an imprint on my soul. But, I know this will not be the last time I cross these borders and that makes me hopeful for the future.

Farewell France and thank you for the memories.

Missing America

Spend anytime away from home and you will begin to make a mental list of things you miss from it. Some come quickly, like a glass of sweet tea filled with ice, others aren't so obvious until later, such as simple things like notebooks that are lined for writing...not grid paper. But it is unavoidable to miss things that you used to rely on. So for you amusment and general knowledge, in no particular order, here is what I have missed from the good ol' US of A this past year.

What have you missed while living somewhere else?

Heart Divided

Happy Memorial Day to you all!

*thanks tumblr*

I hope you all had a wonderful holiday weekend! I'm getting a late start on posting this week, as I have had tons going on lately. Lucky for you a good bit of it deals with new products for the Embellished shop! I will report more on that soon, but in honor of Memorial Day I thought this would be the perfect moment to start a new series: Heart Divided.

Upon arriving here in France I immediately (and naturally) formed a list of everything I missed from the States. Now that I've been here for 8 months I have a second list of things I know I wish I could bring back with me when I finally move home. I hope you enjoying learning a bit about the goods of other cultures, and learn to also appreciate the wealth that rests around you!

Memorial Day was of course Monday, I realized this...Sunday night. There are lots of things that I just don't have pushed in my face on every billboard anymore, therefore I am constantly playing catch up. For all the recent political changes, entertainment buzz, and even little things like American Idol, I have to devote time to researching to try and stay adrift in my own country. There aren't commercials on TV in France like in the States, the commercialism is much more played down. That of course has good and bad points, but alas I will unavoidably cover those very soon.

On the flip side, it is really interesting to be cognizant of so much that goes on outside the States. I feel much more informed, much more intellectual, and as an educated person I enjoy learning other people's cultures and points of view (whether I agree with them or not).

What's your International Know-How?