My bags are almost all packed for our trip across the country. Kaitlyn and I leave tomorrow for North Carolina… for a few days before going home. This time, this trip from LA seems harder. This time, France seems farther away than it did a year ago.
I don’t dislike living in France. I’m getting used to the whole language thing, and at least feel comfortable in most situations in which I find myself. I’ve started to make friends and so has Kaitlyn. Some of the things about the culture that are so different don’t seem so strange to me anymore. Like only drinking coffee at the end of your meal. And that’s one I didn’t think I’d ever adjust to. Or no school on Wednesdays. I’ve started to enjoy those days with Kaitlyn. Or stores being closed on Sundays. I like that family time. No errands, no days spent in the car driving from the grocery to the hardware store to the mall. Just time together. Even if that time is just hanging out, it’s still better.
The thing about France that is getting harder instead of easier, though, is the distance. For years and years, I’ve lived a plane ride from my family. But it was always in the same country. That plane ride could be made in a hurry (and has been). A phone call made even at the worst time of day wasn’t so bad… nothing like when your time zones put you 9 hours apart. I’ve always marveled at how close I’ve managed to stay to my family despite the physical separation. But this time when I get on the plane to head back toward home, that separation feels bigger. Those 9 hours seem so very far apart. The challenge lies with each side of the divide not to mind the gap… but to ignore it…. and to reach out as often as possible.
Yes, with email the time lines tend to blur. Not that typing becomes a substitute for a hug or a smile. We need to work on a camera hooked to the computer to store a small packet of video to attach to emails, to at least make the communication seem closer.