Paris holds the key to your heart

It's so nice to be getting back in the swing of things around here! Vacation was such a lovely treat, but having so much free time makes it really easy to think about home, and all the people and places that I dreadfully miss. I'd rather be out of my mind with busy-ness than have so much spare time that I start to want to go home. So I've been making the most of my freedom and deliberately spending each moment, soaking up the nuances of this enchanting city. 

During this first vacation I spent time with a new crew, and had a blast listening to their melodic English accents and commiserating about the challenges of life abroad. My blond British boys are absolutely delightful: what a blessing to have two chivalrous, hilarious, beautiful young men to spend time with, as well as their charming group of friends. We frolicked up by Sacre Coeur, dancing and singing HSM3 tunes; we saw VickyCristinaBarcelona and Quantom of Solace (so cool); we ate Chinese food and pizza and Thai food and crêpes and quiches and croques and gelato and réligieuses and so much more; and we explored the meandering streets of this gigantic yet increasingly familiar city. A special treat was that I got to have dinner with Betsy and her parents who were in town. It's so nice to be around family for a while, even when it's not actually mine - good for the soul. It's amazing that in a metropolitan ville that's home to millions and millions of strangers, you can run into a friend just on the way to a café. That's the beauty of life here: this big city doesn't seem so huge anymore.

Speaking of what a small world it is, after all... I went to Disneyland!!! EuroDisney, right outside of Paris. On Halloween four other assistants and I went and played our little hearts out in the most magical place on earth (at least on this continent). We rode on Indiana Jones and the Temple of Peril, Thunder Mountain Railroad, the Teacups, the Haunted House (how brave am I?!), tons of other rides, and Space Mountain 2 twice - it actually goes upside-down! We had pizza-burgers for lunch, cool idea but not as delish as it sounds like it could be, and I got my favorite treat: cotton candy! Or as they say in England, candy floss, or in France, barbe à papa. Sweetness for the tummy and the soul. It was rainy and cold and could have been a miserable day, but since we were in the happiest place on earth, we had the happiest day - wahoo!

Teaching is going well. On Thursday and Friday I had the pleasure of my first train strike... fortunately, since they're scheduled grèves, you can usually track down the schedule and see what trains are running, when and where, but on Friday everything was conspiring against me. It was raining and I was an instant late each step of the way (I literally ran up just in time to watch my train pull away), which caused me to be thirty minutes late to school - eek! Thankfully I have such kinda teachers who gave me extra grace since the trains were wacky, and overall it ended up being a fine Friday. 

Babysitting's going wonderfully, as well. I am completely crazy about the kids that I take care of, and I think the feeling is mutual. :) Georges and I have the greatest conversations. I love the matter-of-fact way in which he sees life: everything is so simple and clear to him, even when it's not the same as the reality familiar to adults. It's refreshing for me to see how honest and earnest he is. When he's happy and he loves you, you absolutely know it. When he's unhappy or cross at all, you know it, too.  Fortunately, he's generally joyful, and his playful spirit reminds me so much of Hunter (my precious cousin and best friend for life) that it makes my heart soar! It's such a treat to have a little substitute to play with while I'm so far away from my actual family. Georges looks a lot like Luke, my other wonderful cousin, so I have sweet family coming from all sides to keep me company over here. 

This weekend I went to worship at Hillsong Church, a glorious and spirit-filled house where passion and love truly reign. I'm really excited about getting involved with that family, starting with the Welcome to Church party this Saturday night. One really cool thing about this church is that it's the same group as Hillsong United, one of my favorite worship groups, based in Australia. We've sung a few songs over the past couple weeks that I've loved, but when I googled the lyrics to try to download them, they're not even published yet! So we get to experience worship songs while they're still a work in progress. What a treat. It feels so earnest and heartfelt since it's not studio-censored or commercialized... just pure, joyful, singing love to God. 

Okay, that's all for now - time to go to sleep so that tomorrow morning can be productive with laundry and a visit to the préfecture... soon I'll be a legitimate, short-term French citizen! :)