When I close my eyes, I can’t believe that a month ago I spent the day in our closet laughing, crying, talking, and reminiscing with Laura and Theodora.
One month ago Bo and I climbed the stairs to our new home in Geneva, Switzerland bearing 8 large suitcases filled with clothing, bedding, shoes, running gear, and a few other things that at the time I considered to be essential for living until my air and sea shipments arrived in Switzerland.
I don’t recommend listening to Lifehouse or Oasis on the Revolve Sunday Morning Spotify list when making a realization like this.
It may just result in tears.
But then, a moment later, I realize that tears are natural but they are more from an emotional stand point. A lot has happened in a month. But, I have very little, if anything, to cry about. Sure, every moment isn’t puppies, peonies, and rose. People have asked how things “really” are outside of happy Instagram pictures. Seriously, they are going better than I could have imagined 90% of the time. 10% of the time I miss my family, friends, husband, and New York like crazy. I miss Sunday night dinners with Meg or random workout dates in the city with friends. I miss my work buddies. I hate that friends have to think whether texting and/or calling me will result in crazy phone bills. I miss peanut butter. But, that is seriously a maximum of 10% of the time.
Let’s focus on the other 90%. If you told me I would meet two other American gals who are or have just gone through the exact same emotions I’m going through right now within weeks of moving here, I would have called you a crazy optimist.
I found a running partner who is a morning person and lives less than a quarter mile away. My friends who are locals have been more helpful than I could have ever imagined. I mean seriously, have you ever taken a document to your office and asked someone to read it because you can’t translate four pages of a legal document that is in French? Moving to a new city has been so humbling as I have no idea where to go for happy hour or much less a simple dinner with friends. Luckily, I have colleagues who have turned into friends and are willing to answer emails and text messages at all hours. My air shipment arrived on the exact date the company predicted and even better, my very organized husband spent half a day unpacking it and creating a system while I was at work. So sure, there are ups and downs and moments that just make me laugh out loud but at the end of the day, I can’t really complain about the transition at the one month point.
Yesterday I saw this quote yesterday on a blog post and immediately shared it with Bo and Theodora because it really puts into words this crazy journey we’re experiencing.
So there you go, life isn’t perfect right now but the Instagram, blog posts, Twitter, and Facebook posts are all pretty true, other than the cultural adjustments which are pretty normal and the few other things that have humbled me.
Thank you for being here and continuing to read! You all are one of my many support networks!
