My New Life in France
It has been five months since I moved to France as a teaching assistant, and you're probably thinking about my last article when I was "losing it" and depression was slowly creeping in. Scary, right? However, it gets better — it really does. All it takes is reaching out, and that's exactly what I did. Before I knew it, I had friends who stay near me. Yes, they might not be my age and they might have been married as long as my parents have, but community is community, especially if it feels like home. So let's look at life abroad through a different lens — well, in this case, my lens.
We're going to look at this in rounds, like a boxing match, and at the end of each hack, I get some points. Fun, isn't it?
Round 1
I decided to just be outside. Whether I'm window shopping at the supermarket, heading to Paris to see the Eiffel Tower AGAIN, visiting my friends in the city, or even going out to Spanish clubs and getting lost in music I don't really understand — that is my first remedy. I'm not really a fitness person, so no, I can't run or take a walk, and it's too cold outside. I have this rule: if I stay indoors one weekend, next weekend I better be out anywhere. The good thing about my city is that transport is free every weekend, so I can always go to Nantes and take a ride on the trams heading nowhere in particular, just admiring the city before I alight at the second-last stop and wait for another tram heading a different direction.
Ro 2 – loneliness 3.
Round 2
Food. I can confidently say I'm a better cook right now. I could write a recipe book — no, seriously, I might. I realized I might not get all the foods from home here, but I can come up with my own dishes as long as it's a balanced diet! Free will, baby! Besides, I've already found the "hidden gems" of where to buy groceries at really affordable prices. The best thing about living alone for me is I get to eat a lot of snacks anytime I want. I didn't get that as a kid, and I vowed that when I became an adult, I would be eating crisps every day. Some people might say I've gained massive weight since I got here, but it's definitely AI.
Ro 3 – loneliness 2
Round 3
Talking. When you live alone, you might end up a whole weekend without saying a word — maybe even forget how to speak. Talk to your family back home by calling them or sending voice notes long enough to be music tapes to your friends. Record yourself on Snapchat and post your daily encounters on your Instagram and WhatsApp stories. Heck, start a TikTok live talk to your five followers. And most importantly, talk to yourself. It seems absurd, but it's very helpful. Direct and act out a scene — maybe you have it in you, but you'd never know if you didn't try.
Ro 5 – loneliness 1
Round 4
My favourite of them all — my kids. The students I teach, that is. They give me so much courage. When I got here, some were not confident enough in their English; others just had it so difficult. But right now? Oh, you should come to one of my classes — you'd want to remain a student there! They are so good. They even love English (they didn't at the beginning) and are always looking forward to our next activity. Watching myself impact them positively really motivates me to keep showing up every day. I've never taught a whole lesson in my life, but the "Thank you, Miss, for today's class" and seeing their smiles after motivates me. Maybe I should take teaching as a career? I've already really lived a thousand lives anyway. You guys should hire me as your tutors; I can confidently say I'm so good.
Back to my daily life: it's winter season, probably the most depressing season, but I'm acing this. Shocking, even to myself. This opportunity has really shaken my core beliefs, my strengths, and weaknesses. Every life lesson I learned growing up has come back to me here to see if I actually paid attention.
All in all, I managed to come out of my comfort zone and build a different comfort on a different continent. I won't lie — it was tough at the beginning, and I knew it was crazy when I wrote an article about how I was sinking, yet I'm the fun writer! I make people laugh through my stories! Life is never that serious! (It is.)
And with that:
Ro 7 – loneliness 0
I WIN.