Friday, June 29, 2012

Le Bon Coin

Based on my previous entry, you might guess that currently I'm not living in Jakarta anymore. 
Some people know that I had been taking french course for quite a while, 
but I guess my decision to move here in early May sounds a bit sudden.

I preferred to keep the news under the radar just few days before my departure. 
Only few of my closest ones knew already, 
though I feel kinda guilty when I received tons of messages and calls,
asking me why I didn't tell them earlier.

That day I was really nervous.
I've never been so far from my family before. 
So I've no idea how my life would be once I got there.

And I might sound like a sore loser, 
but before I came here I didn't know how to apply for bank account, life and health insurance, monthly transportation ticket, basic house chores, and other basic stuffs that I didn't bother to worry about back then in my home.

And about living alone? Guess I underestimated it way too much. 
Having the obligation to take care of myself in a country far, far away from my home is way harder than I thought. 

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Don't get me started with the weather. 
Coming here in Spring/Summer time, I thought I'd be fine with jeans and t-shirts, 
but on the contrary, I need to stuff my shopping list with coats and jackets.
 It's been cold, rainy, and pretty much windy through the weeks.

Talking about the citizens? Screw stereotypes. 
I think it's safe for me to say that people here are (mostly) really, really, really nice. 
I think in every part of the world there will always be annoying arseholes and ignorant people,
so stereotyping people solely based on your personal experience and comparing their culture with your own culture is obviously not fair. 

But even so, I sometimes still miss Indonesia's hospitality and food. 
They sure have lovely selections of food here, as french is known for their gastronomy varieties. 
But nothing beats the ones we had where we grew up in, right?

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It still feels kinda weird, but in a good way, you know?
Somehow it feels like I'm starting my life all over again here. 
New places, new faces, new personalities, everything's new.

I stayed in Paris for quite a while and left some of my stuffs there before I moved to Nantes.
Been settling myself down, doing this and that. 
I know this sounds incredibly cheesy and maybe slightly, too early? 
But I think I'm starting to fall in love with this city. 
I don't know if that's even possible, but I think it does.

(PS: Sorry for random photos of me, or other things, I put here and there in this post. I left my camera in my friend's house, for all of this pictures, the credit goes to Grace. Thanks for letting me using them!)

4 comments:

kadek arini stepitula gayatri said...

hi hanna, so glad you've back to be a blogger. i'm a fans of your blog anyway. Based on your latest post, so you are currently living in france now ? is it just for a several time or for a long time ? what do you do for ? i mean, do you have a college or something ?

Unknown said...

Have a good life out there Hanna. I'm proud of you

Hanna said...

@kadek so nice to know that they're actually someone who reads stuff you write, so thank you!
yes, i'm currently living in france, i'm crossing my fingers it will only be for quite a while (read : several years) and yes, most of the stuffs i do here are educational purpose :)

Hanna said...

@miko hello there old friend, thanks for your kind words!