Am copying and pasting my post from reddit, since it applies here as well:
Hello hello, everyone. I'm CQ, and I'm an American girl (20) who fell in love with a Frenchman (27) while studying abroad in Paris.
I came to Paris last May as part of Boston University's Paris Internship Program, where I was placed working the desk at a dance studio (I'm a modern dancer, so I was beyond thrilled about this). I've studied French since I was 11, have been to Paris once before, and have always been fairly good at speaking French. Even though I very quickly realized that spoken French is almost a different language and I stuck out like a sore thumb as maybe not an Ugly American, but definitely Not French, Paris agreed with me--I loved my internship, found a café with a patron who was amused by Anglophones and would correct my pronunciation errors, and in general I just watched people a lot and tried to immerse myself as fully as I could in this culture that was frustrating and interesting and wonderful. I know I sound cheesy as hell, but I had never been so happy. I didn't think it could get any better.
The boy and I met over OKCupid in mid-June--I had changed my city from New York to Paris and was browsing it on a whim--and when we got to talking, I knew there was something about him--he was funny and not afraid to gently poke fun of me. We agreed to meet at L'As du Fallafel in the Marais, since it was one of the only places guaranteed to be open on a Sunday, and it was one of the most awesome nights of my life. We talked about everything--our families, our likes, our dislikes, and when we got to our favorite memes it was all over. We proceeded to drink a little too much at a pub in the Bastille, and he kissed me for the first time right outside the pub on the cobblestone street. We spent the rest of the night walking across the bridges on the Seine, kissing and talking. From then on, we were inseparable--I spent nearly every night at his apartment, where he played the keyboard for me and we watched The IT Crowd on his computer, cuddled under the blankets on his bed eating takeout pho. We held hands and walked everywhere. He's taught and shown me so much and challenged my worldview in so many incredible and interesting ways. I realized very quickly that this was something incredibly special, and busted my ass to find a way to stay for the rest of the summer--I was originally supposed to leave the 17th of July. I found summer classes and a place to stay at the Cité Universitaire dorms, and we told each other that we loved each other right before I left for a weekend trip to Berlin in early July. I even stayed with his family in the south of France for the last two weeks before I had to go back home to start my last year of university. I was completely shattered when I had to leave him--I sobbed in front of the security line at the Côte d'Azur airport and I'll never forget the look on his face as he watched me go. I would've done anything to be able to stay, I had (and still have) absolutely 0 desire to return to the US.
I'm now almost two months into what will probably be a nearly year-long LDR: I finish college in May, and after graduation I plan on returning to Paris to start a master's degree to hopefully be able to teach English (if all goes to plan and I get accepted, of course, I'm in the process of applying right now). I just bought tickets to see him in Antibes for three weeks over my winter break (for $100.64, no less, frequent flyer miles are a gift of the flying spaghetti monster!) and we're going to spend Christmas and New Years there before heading back to Paris for another week and a half. I'm beyond thrilled--not only will I get to be near the love of my life again, I'll be back in Paris with lots of time to go back to my favorite places. It's going to be a well-deserved break from what is turning out to be a stressful and hectic semester.
That turned out much longer than I expected, so, my apologies. Very nice to "meet" you all!
Hello hello, everyone. I'm CQ, and I'm an American girl (20) who fell in love with a Frenchman (27) while studying abroad in Paris.
I came to Paris last May as part of Boston University's Paris Internship Program, where I was placed working the desk at a dance studio (I'm a modern dancer, so I was beyond thrilled about this). I've studied French since I was 11, have been to Paris once before, and have always been fairly good at speaking French. Even though I very quickly realized that spoken French is almost a different language and I stuck out like a sore thumb as maybe not an Ugly American, but definitely Not French, Paris agreed with me--I loved my internship, found a café with a patron who was amused by Anglophones and would correct my pronunciation errors, and in general I just watched people a lot and tried to immerse myself as fully as I could in this culture that was frustrating and interesting and wonderful. I know I sound cheesy as hell, but I had never been so happy. I didn't think it could get any better.
The boy and I met over OKCupid in mid-June--I had changed my city from New York to Paris and was browsing it on a whim--and when we got to talking, I knew there was something about him--he was funny and not afraid to gently poke fun of me. We agreed to meet at L'As du Fallafel in the Marais, since it was one of the only places guaranteed to be open on a Sunday, and it was one of the most awesome nights of my life. We talked about everything--our families, our likes, our dislikes, and when we got to our favorite memes it was all over. We proceeded to drink a little too much at a pub in the Bastille, and he kissed me for the first time right outside the pub on the cobblestone street. We spent the rest of the night walking across the bridges on the Seine, kissing and talking. From then on, we were inseparable--I spent nearly every night at his apartment, where he played the keyboard for me and we watched The IT Crowd on his computer, cuddled under the blankets on his bed eating takeout pho. We held hands and walked everywhere. He's taught and shown me so much and challenged my worldview in so many incredible and interesting ways. I realized very quickly that this was something incredibly special, and busted my ass to find a way to stay for the rest of the summer--I was originally supposed to leave the 17th of July. I found summer classes and a place to stay at the Cité Universitaire dorms, and we told each other that we loved each other right before I left for a weekend trip to Berlin in early July. I even stayed with his family in the south of France for the last two weeks before I had to go back home to start my last year of university. I was completely shattered when I had to leave him--I sobbed in front of the security line at the Côte d'Azur airport and I'll never forget the look on his face as he watched me go. I would've done anything to be able to stay, I had (and still have) absolutely 0 desire to return to the US.
I'm now almost two months into what will probably be a nearly year-long LDR: I finish college in May, and after graduation I plan on returning to Paris to start a master's degree to hopefully be able to teach English (if all goes to plan and I get accepted, of course, I'm in the process of applying right now). I just bought tickets to see him in Antibes for three weeks over my winter break (for $100.64, no less, frequent flyer miles are a gift of the flying spaghetti monster!) and we're going to spend Christmas and New Years there before heading back to Paris for another week and a half. I'm beyond thrilled--not only will I get to be near the love of my life again, I'll be back in Paris with lots of time to go back to my favorite places. It's going to be a well-deserved break from what is turning out to be a stressful and hectic semester.
That turned out much longer than I expected, so, my apologies. Very nice to "meet" you all!
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