Christmas in France with my Best Friend

This holiday season, I was blessed with the most wonderful gift that I could have never imagined; my sister. KJ arrived on the 22^nd of December after a few slip ups in travelling that included being rerouted through an extra country and a lost bag. I was fortunate enough that she was able to stay through the 8^th of January. While this sounds quite a long vacation, it flew by and I feel as though I blinked and it was over.

We kept on the move nonstop. We saw the Christmas markets of Metz and Strasbourg, drank a beer in Germany, gallivanted around Paris and had a wonderful time. We spent Christmas with my host parents and host family and it was such a beautiful moment. I am such a lucky girl to be able to claim that I have family here that treats me like one of their own. We also had a few dinner parties with other French friends of mine. I tried to give KJ as many chances I could to have her practice her French and to meet the people who love me here. Then, we travelled to Paris and rang in the New Year's at the Eiffel Tower drinking Champagne. We filled every possible moment with a new adventure creating memories that will always be cherished.

For Christmas, I took Kaley to Disneyland Paris. I surprised her and to be honest, it was the proudest I've ever felt. I'm a horrible secret keeper and it took everything I had in me to not spill the beans. I bought a Disney puzzle and sorted through it and wrote that we were going to Disney on a few of the pieces. Waiting until we finished the puzzle to tell her was hard but worth it! It was even more magical than I could have imagined it being. It was her first time to a Disney park and everything was perfect! We rode Space Mountain, Buzz Lightyear, Star Wars (I loved it, she hated it lol), Pirates, Dumbo, teacups, Indiana Jones, and so much more! I can't wait to go to another Disney park with my best friend!

One set of memories that I will always hold dear is the mess that was my food in Paris. Unable to order anything relatively edible, Kaley had to put up with me, various tears and some pretty disgustingly weird things sitting across from her on my plate. Three meals in a row were a failure for me. Lunch one day, I unknowingly ordered raw beef. Unable to find the steak on the plate, I promptly realized that the red stuff around it was the meat and not a garnish. Even though I like my meat on the rare side, the cow was basically still mooing on my plate. Then, at supper, I looked up expecting to find scallops on my plate and instead, was greeted with three HUGE shrimp with their heads, eyes and legs still attached. I've never felt so lost and hopeless in all my life. After tears sprang up at my eyes, Kaley, who had ordered a cheeseburger and was so happy, hastily grabbed my plate and proceeded to earn her sister of the year award (1 day into the New Year) by deheading my dinner. Lunch the next day provided me with a raw egg cracked onto the top of my pasta. Needless to say, Paris wasn't the culinary capital that I had imagined/hoped it would be.


Having someone in my life finally see, with their own eyes, the life that I live here was so wonderful. I only wish that she could have stayed longer. Getting back into the rhythm of life here without her was so difficult but, slowly, it's getting better. While I wish that I could be with her and the rest of my family that makes up my life in Ohio, I'm so happy to have the opportunity to feel a little heartbreak; it keeps me grounded in the moment and makes me appreciate everything that I am missing.