It was great to have Luke and Kath to stay with us this week. Luke was stopping off after his internship in New York and Kath after having spent some time sussing out the life of a Washington foreign correspondent for the abc.~~~~~~~~~~~~
We managed to sneak in some outdoor ice skating in front of the Hôtel de ville, some Chinese food (a very traditional French meal), a walk around montmatre (obligatory), a beer in the Marais, some really nice home cooked dinner conversations, shopping at Z(th)ara and a trip to the Rodin Museum. More than the things we did however, I can say that for my part, it was just great to have some friends here with whom I have already shared a past and to whom I could show my present.
When you're in a foreign society, I find you have no real sense of perspective, no "standards" to compare yourself and everyone else to. Everything is new, so you have to take it all at face value. You can't judge or stereotype people because all the stereotypes that you have grown up with ( your key indicators "What school did you go to? What are you studying? Where do you live? Phillip Ruddock is cool - Discuss") no longer exist, or at the very least, are different.
Having Luke and Kath here gave me, for the first time, something to compare myself to, that is, the me that I was with them in Sydney. Having them here made me realise that I have "changed", or perhaps less melodramatically, "adapted" to my life in Paris since leaving Sydney.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
On the way to Charles de Gaulle airport to pick Kath I remember thinking that 10 years ago I met Kath during rehearsals for the school musical Oliver! and now we were meeting up in Paris for a few days. That's the great thing about old friends. You grow together through a shared history. Bring on the future and many more such friendships. 
No comments:
Post a Comment