Hey everybody!
So, if you’ve been reading my blog for any amount of time, you’ve no doubt heard me talk about how blessed I feel to be experiencing such wonderful and incredible things each and every single day!

At Thanksgiving time at home, we always sit around the table right before we share our meal…and we go around the table and everybody says what they’re thankful for. I used to think it was silly when I was younger…but the older I get (and the more Thanksgivings I spend abroad!), the cooler I think that tradition truly is…How important it is to be thankful for each of the wonderful things we’ve been given.

Anyway, we always spent Thanksgiving at home in Iowa growing up, and all of our family in Keokuk would come over to our house. Inevitably, when we would talk about what we were thankful for, the people we around us were always at the top of the list. I sometimes hear about people with the nightmare famiy members…but I can’t really relate. I mean sure, we’re all a bit wacky…but hey, that’s called humanity, right?

The reason I’ve brought this all up, is that tonight…I feel thankful for my family. I have SUCH a beautiful immediate family, incredible siblings, and AWESOME parents…but I also have such an amazing and generous extended family. As I’m currently abroad, I love to hear from them….and tonight, I got the best email from my Aunt Rhonda.

Now, let me warn you…I don’t normally publish anything that people email me…You can leave me a comment on my site if you’d like, but you can also use my contact page to share more private things with me. Having said that, I am certain my aunt won’t mind if I reprint this…and can I just say, how amazing is she? Seriously. Read on.

Adam- I was just checking your web page for a new post and saw the picture
of you with your ballot.  You look incredibly thin. Are you getting enough
to eat? Do Uncle Ross and I need to send you some Iowa steaks? Can we even
do that by mail? If so, do you have a place to put them? These are all great
questions. Let me know if this is possible. Love you- Aunt Rhonda

Now that my friends… is one awesome aunt.

Adam

Mailing my ballot this afternoon!

Hey everyone-
Just wanted to apologize for the brief downtime this evening on the site. I’m doing some major overhauls (about time, eh?) and part of that means temporary downtime occasionally, which I despise. If you ever do come upon the site at one such interval, try again later!
Have a good one!
Adam

At the mall…H&M in France is identical to the stores in the States…I know it is a Swedish company and all, but should I find this copycat marketing across the globe comforting or disheartening? Is it okay to enter a store and not know if one is in Paris or the suburbs of Chicago?

Hello all!

Wow, it has certainly been a crazy night! It all started with a church party that was basically like a club scene….It was in the top of this Italian restaurant, and there were tons of strobes and thumping dance tracks, which were almost all American artists I recognized…funny to think clubbing in the States and in France is probably rather similar….

I was there from about 7:30 to 10 or so, at which point, a girl called Lynn from Canada (who I met last Sunday) called to see if I felt like being a bit cultural and walking around Paris, as tonight is the Nuit Blanche, when cultural exhibitions and music fill the streets…It lasts all night long too! WOW!

We met at Gare de L’Est and saw some cool exhibitions there, before going to the Champs-Elysées, browsing through some stores (open past 12!) and looking at all of the incredible pieces of artwork (and bits of planes, eh Lynn?)….

I just got home, about quarter to one….and thought I’d share some of the photos I snapped with my phone…I so wish I’d had my camera tonight! Anyway, enjoy the few shots I’ve got!

Picture One: One of the lighted globes in the streets.

Picture Two: An exhibition at Gare de L’Est

Picture Three: A really cool projection at Gare de L’Est

Picture Four: Just because….Disney on the Champs-Elysées

Enjoy the rest of your weekend!
Adam

Ah the joys of college life…scratch that…life in general. Man, do I miss the days of doing laundry in the comfort of my own home though…for real, what am I supposed to do for 1.5 hrs at the “laverie?” Blog apparently.

The most bizarre scenario is taking place in my life. I’m transitioning from the life of a child to an adult. I suppose this revelation is a bit delayed, as I spent the last year of my life living in London without my family, and now I live in Paris. It’s been a year filled with adventures in the little things…from grocery shopping to doing the laundry. And suddenly, I find myself living a life that is not just an “extension” of myself, but truly my life. Let’s see if I can try to clarify that statement for you.

Last year in London was truly fantastic. I met so many wonderful people, had so many incredible experiences that I am so thankful for, and departed the British capital with a renewed sense of understanding regarding what this life is truly all about. I could fill pages describing the lessons I learned there, and the challenges I surmounted.

At the end of the day, however, I was still living a partial life. England was my home for but a moment, and it was something I was perpetually aware of. I had a little clock on my desktop counting down until the day I would go home for Christmas, and I continually called my friends and family, just to be reminded of what was waiting on the other side of the ocean. I was living a ‘temporary’ life of sorts.

Perhaps I did a lot of growing up over the summer, or maybe I’ve simply had a subtle perspective shift…whatever the truth may be, my outlook on life is so different right now. I can’t begin to describe how beautiful the city of Paris is, nor how hard my heart has fallen for it. From the little boulangeries filling the city streets with the most delicious aromas to the cafés bustling with people on every street corner, this adventure feels like one I want to follow for a bit.

I am inspired wherever I go, I’m so incredibly challenged in everything…and I’m overwhelmed with how happy I truly am. Do you know that feeling? Where you wake up in the morning and just want to jump up and down, scream at the top of your lungs, and do a little dance? I don’t feel like a stranger in a foreign land. I feel home.

I suppose one might find it a little odd that I seem so determined in this newfound revelation, particularly as I’ve only been here for a month. Who really knows what my future holds? I stopped trying to figure it out a long time ago…I just know that there are so many amazing things down the road just waiting for me to experience them, and that alone, is so fantastic. I’m filled with excitement for life.

And little by little, the lines that define my life are starting to fade away. One particular example seems to be regarding “age.” As the days go by, the concept becomes so much more fluid. My peer group is finishing their degrees, getting married, entering the workforce…and suddenly, the gap between 20 and 30 or 40 feels miniscule…it’s somewhere along the lines of “who cares?” Age is irrelevant. Adults are adults.

Okay, now obviously, we shouldn’t get too carried away with that principle, I’m obviously young! What I’m attempting to say is simply that people are people. Another example of this, is my interactions with people in French. I’m speaking to people who don’t speak English, who don’t know what the English world is like! And guess what? At the end of the day, they’re people like you and me…living their lives in much the same manner as the rest of us.

I suppose the lingering question is, “What defines each man or woman?” I’m discovering that more and more, it’s not about culture, citizenship, race, language, or age…so where does the answer lie? A rhetorical question, though one that I desperately want to answer.

For the time being, I’m simply overjoyed with life…and that feels fabulous my friends. And when people ask me, “So how long do you plan to stay in Paris?”, fully expecting me to say “a semester” or “the academic year” or something of the sort, I think perhaps I’m beginning to surprise them…for only recently, I’ve changed my answer.

Indefinitely.

Be blessed wherever you are…defining who you are with the content of your heart, not the generic statistics. Thanks so much for following this crazy adventure of mine and have a great day, wherever you are in this great big world of ours.

Adam

P.S.-I had to mention one of the most heart warming things I’ve seen all week. Some of you may know that I have an odd obsession with Kathie Lee and Hoda Kotb on the Today show…well, they’ve just started a segment called “Everyone Has a Story.” The first story is about a man who is 38 years old and is paralyzed by a rare form of MD. He can’t do anything…but in his own words, “I feel like I’m the luckiest guy in the world because I’m blessed with the greatest, most self sacrificing and loving father that I think has ever existed.” I promise you, this video is so worth watching…and if you’re anything like me, you won’t be able to stop crying. Seriously. Watch it. Click “A Father is Honored” or the image to view it.

A father is honored

I bought my first “journal” in French for an assignment! Aujourd’hui en France! Yay for real world learning experiences!

Look what I got in the mail today! I must say, it seems quite official, doesn’t it!?

I went to the supermarket and I’m psyched! Look what I’ve found! I told my dad that I’m sick of strong, moist cheese yesterday and that I miss dairy products I recognize…he said that was a little white trash…but hey, at least I’m not buying velveeta!