My story...

I left Vancouver on April 4 2010 to live one year abroad. I arrived in London- spent a week with my cousins, headed over to Ireland to see some more cousins and tour the country, back to London for a day- and arrived in Paris on April 28th, 2010. I found an apartment and started working on May 10th. From May 2010 until February 2011 I lived the Parisian life and took advantage of living in the epicenter of the world by traveling and exploring numerous nearby countries such as: Algeria, Portugal, Switzerland, Spain, England, Ireland, Northern Ireland, the south of France, Belgium, Morocco, and South Africa.
This blog takes you into the wonderful adventures of my life with stories and pictures galore.
I was due back to Vancouver on April 1, 2011- where I took my position back after my one year leave. I flew back to Vancouver on March 27, 2011. It has been good to be back- I am so blessed as I am surrounded by such great people!!! So good to see friends and family again after 1 year!
Just because I'm back in Vancouver to what was my "normal" life... doesn't mean the adventures and blogging stop here. The adventures will continue I'm sure... so the only way to stay informed with my random experiences is to come back to this page! So add it to your favourites.

last updated: April 2, 2011.

Thursday, 17 June 2010

Fitting in


This is ultimately what I want to do…fit in. Now how to do that… If I really want to be french, I have to make some changes. I have to consider buying glasses with neat/designer frames. Now I have 20/20 vision… so they would have to be non-prescription. What else… I will need to pick up smoking. Everyone smokes here…especially the girls, I think it's more of a status/popularity thing… Okay… how about walking around in 3 inch stiletto heels… I have no issues wearing heels and can appreciate a beautiful shoe when the time is right… but daily?! And on my way to work!? I have to walk A LOT!!! And trying to walk along the cobble streets in these?!

What about giving people attitude?! Now this one I can't master for sure… but it's a dog eat dog world out there… I just might to have to put on my b*tch face… hahahahahaha… I'd burst into laughter, I'm sure of it!


Ultimately I just wish I could be myself and be appreciated. I wish I could wear whatever I want and not get stared at. Why are people so obsessed with material goods here?! Who has the latest phone, the latest frames, designer handbag…. okay, I appreciate beauty too, don't get me wrong. I give into buying nice things too… but can't imagine spending loads of money on certain things… maybe it's just because I don't have that kind of money!!!??? But a dear colleague of mine put it all into persecutive for me in one sentence after I told him I was going to live in France for a year:


"The only thing you can take with you {after you pass away} are your experiences."


So I'm not going to buy those designer frames, I'm not going to pick up smoking, and I'm not going to buy 1000EUROs shoes that I can hardly walk in because of the cobble streets. I'm going to go to travel instead. I'm going to travel around this world and meet people in other countries who will appreciate me for who I am and all that I have……… on the inside.


The great thing about blogging is that I can say all this now... but then watch, in 4 months I'll totally be one of them!!! Blogging is a great way to watch myself and my thoughts develop!!!!

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3 comments:

  1. Mum18 June 2010 at 18:12

    Farida - now is the time for you to truly enjoy yourself to the fullest.....enjoy it to the fullest...remember this too will pass and before you know it, you'll be onto other things. You can't ask for a better city to experience aloneness than Paris....so enjoy it....Love you

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  2. My Favourite Things18 June 2010 at 23:44

    Farida! Do not change for anything or anyone; let your experiences shape you, not change you. Plus, you are PERFECT the way you are...in flats!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Yvette20 June 2010 at 14:28

    This is a wonderful, TRUE quote, Farida, "The privilege of a lifetime is being who you are"

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