6sous

Tuesday, August 08, 2006

Being a stranger [etre une etrangere]

I have been at Daniel's birthday party last WE. It has been a very nice moment and what Daniel said during his speech touched me a lot.
[J'ai ete a l'anniversaire de Daniel le WE dernier. Cela a ete un tres bon moment et Daniel nous a fait un petit discours qui m'a beaucoup touche.]
He explained that being a stranger in a country makes the friendship something really very special and precious. We don't have the family around to live with even if we stay in touch, so the friends are even more essential to make our life be a nice one.
I totally agree and felt grateful he expressed it so well.
[Il a explique que vivre dans un pays etranger fait que l'amitie est quelque chose de vraiement special et precieux. Nous ne vivons pas avec nos familles respectives meme si nous restons en contact, du coup, pour la vie de tous les ours, les amis prennent une place primordiale. Ils sont un element essentiel pour faire que l'on se sente bien dans nos vies.]
Maybe because my life was quite nice in France with some very good friends and an incredibly sweet family, and maybe because I moved in the US quite late without really any plan to move away one day... I feel more fragile and sensible in the US than I was in France. That doesn't mean I regret my choice, on contrary, that just mean I'm more aware of the importance of the relationship with people, the ones in France and the ones in the US....
[Peu etre parec que ma vie etait tres agreable en France avec quelques tres bons amis et une famille adorable, et peu etre aussi parce que j'ai demenage aux US plutot tard dans ma vie sans que je n'ai jamais planifie de m'expatrier un jour... Je me sens plus fragile et sensible aux US que je ne l'etais en France. Cela ne signifie pas que je regrette mon choix, bien au contraire, celsa signifie juste que je suis plus sensible a l'importance des relations que l'on peut avoir entre personnes, aussi bien ceux en France qu'aux US.]
The fact I'm in this situation just force me to challenge myself a little bit. And give me the opportunity to meet some very nice people.
[Du coup je me retrouve a me bouger un peu plus, avec un peu plus de challenges dans ma vie. Cela me donne aussi une opportunite de rencontrer de personnes tres riches en experience et que j'apprends a beaucoup apprecier.]

2 Comments:

  • And as you are yourself a very nice girl I'm sure that you will allways find new friends even if you decide to go in an other country !
    Personnaly, I feel allways a little bit strange and as you wrote it fragile when I live France even if I enjoy the experience a lot !

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 3:10 AM  

  • Just so you know. Erica and I love having you come round. Seriously, imagine if it was just Jan alone all the time....
    :)

    By Blogger Geoff, at 11:02 PM  

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