Four months down the lane ... two years later!

"A new year, a new start! It has been four months since we've arrived in Paris. All our belongings have found their place in our new home, the various satellite broadcasting systems installed, the curtains & lights are up, the local supermarket, bakery and postoffice have been located. I found a hip hop class for my daughter, a football team for my son and a gym class for myself. We have made new friends and still miss our "old" ones but have definately moved on. Yet another chapter has begun and we are writing it (literally) as we go along."

This is a post I had started two years ago but somehow never got around to finishing. I stumbled across it today and decided to pick up where I left off.

The apartment still looks exactly the same but the inhabitants have changed. They have evolved, matured, assimilated and are still digesting their not-so-new way-of-life. They have acquired knowledge about their host country, made friends with locals and learnt a new language. They are still working on the French attitude.

My feeling is that we are pretty much in the middle of the book right now and have lived through quite a few chapters since I wrote the above. Somehow, this assignment has turned out to be longer than expected. This is not a bad thing. For the first time after two and a half years in Paris - my family returned to the flat after the Christmas holidays - it finally felt like coming home. If I am totally honest it still isn't home-home but I do see the familiar gestures that have become habits and I can detect little things that reveal my kids and I have carved ourselves our niche in this city. We have reached the point where Paris will always be a part of our life, no matter when or where we move onto from here. The children will always know their way around this city and the longer we stay the more it will become home for them.

My poor hubby on the other hand just keeps working and working and working away. I am trying to carve his niche for him since he can't find enough hours in the day. No matter how long he'll be pursuing his career across the globe, for my Neapolitan "Amore" Switzerland will always feel like home.