coeur de lyon (lionheart)

And here I am, in a new city, once again, wondering what to do with myself exactly, kind of wishing I had friends, kind of glad to be alone. My week and a half in the countryside was so great, wrote a lot, read a lot, kind of hiked up a mountain, wandered into Switzerland and back; absolutely no complaints, and I felt ready to leave and be in a city and around people and activity again, but now, I am feeling a little under the weather, (even though how I feel completely matches the weather, a little gray and a little cold). I was ready to go out and this is such a cute city to be out and about in, but, last night I just decided to go to a movie after wandering the river banks a little bit. So, I found a film in English and found the theatre, running a little late, but I made it. I don’t know if all theatres in France are like this one, but it was so strange to me that all the popcorn are already in boxes, just sitting on shelves, rather than in a popcorn machine waiting to be scooped… but I guess I didn’t have to order, I just picked up a box and went to pay for it. I found the theatre first and then went to get popcorn, but that is obviously not something that is really done because it was a little complicated to do so. It was not my favorite movie going experience, but it was good to see a movie after 3 months of not. Also, here, like in Korea, you have to pick your seat, which I really don’t like. I miss my local Logan Square theatre. 

I wandered around the city a bit afterwards and it really is adorable. I stopped in  MonoPrix to grab something relatively healthy for dinner and picked up some quinoa and pomegranates, had some flashbacks to living in Paris and spending too much back then, and then just went back to my hostel. It is a new establishment, only a month old, and I think is more of a hotel/restaurant/bar, and I was glad to only be staying there one night because I didn’t like that it didn’t have a hostel vibe, and apparently no kitchen or hanging out area to eat my own food. The bar was packed, but I found a seat and got my free welcome drink of red wine (actually my second welcome drink because they didn’t take my monopoly money coupon when I first checked in and got one, but I felt okay about this because they overcharged me for my bed). There were a bunch of bartenders, all pretty cute French boys, but only one was very nice to me, and told me about his travels and how he likes to find somewhere to live and work for about 6 months at a time, and had just gotten to Lyon after being in Nice. A guy sitting at the bar asked me if I was from the States, and proceeded to tell me he was from Georgia, and I was like oh, cool, briefly thinking the state, and then realizing he meant the country… And I admitted to him that I knew nothing about Georgia, and he replied that yea, its small, and not many people do. I went to bed shortly after that, wanting to watch Shameless on my phone and realizing the internet connection probably wouldn’t let me. There was only one other girl in my room, French for sure, who reminded me of the goth girl from the movie The Breakfast Club, and the next morning persisted in sitting with the window open, even though it was like 50 degrees and cloudy. I was really happy to check out and go find my other hostel, on the other side of town, because the first one was too expensive on a Saturday night, and I wanted more of a hostel like hostel anyway, and my next one is called Home Stay Hostel, and was immediately more of what I wanted; huge, but with a nice hang out area, a kitchen, and a cafe, with good deals for guests. And a computer to type up my thoughts…

Honestly, I feel like a brat lately, especially after that movie I saw; I, Daniel Blake. So many people have it so rough, and here I am, just wandering around trying to figure out what to do with myself and my life, because I have all these options and can’t make up my mind. What a brat I am. I feel like it has taken me awhile to really decide on a career path, because like anything I set my mind to, I do everything I can to make it happen, (studying abroad in Paris, doing well in college while having 3 jobs, teaching in Korea, traveling like I am now), so I want to be really sure of the career I want before I throw myself into making it happen. I did have a kind of epiphany last week, it felt like that anyway because I couldn’t even sleep, but suddenly I felt super motivated that I should really try to get my Masters of Arts in Counseling, so that I can help others embrace life, and be happy to be alive. In a sense it’s something that I’ve been doing already, always wanting to make people happy, my friends, my family, my coworkers, my customers, and in the service industry, that’s the point, and honestly it is work that I truly enjoy, but I don’t want to be doing it forever, mainly because of the hours and the lifestyle it lends to. But, the point is, that I want to help people in their search for happiness, even if its as simple as the best beer to accompany their mood and their meal, because that makes me happy. Obviously I like working with people, I travel the world to see new places and meet interesting people. In my own search for happiness and fulfillment, I go on adventures. Can I help people go on adventures so that they can feel better and more fulfilled with the life they’re living? Anything big or small, as long as its out of your comfort zone, can be an adventure. Adventures help us realize what we’re capable of and what the world has to offer, which is so many things. There are so many ways to enjoy this world. I want to help people find theirs. Do I go back to school? Do I figure out how to work in adventure therapy? Do I go to school online? Do I go to school abroad? How quickly do I act on this? Is this real? Is this what I really want? Am I actually figuring something out about myself from this trip?? Has this actually been a good and productive experience??

My sister asked me if I would recommend doing something like this to others, and sure, if it’s something that is already on your mind, go for it, but I can’t say that traveling solo for an extended period of time is for everyone. I am so lucky in the the friends I’ve had and met along the way, that has made a huge difference in the excellence of times that I’ve had, but I do definitely recommend that everyone travel and go on adventures. What new thoughts will it lead to? Here have been some of mine. :p