Part 10: Milestones, Realisations, And A Dog.

This was the first week of holidays in France and it served up some memories, milestones and new thoughts. It was spent quietly in Paris where I realised that my diet has completely changed to mandarines, bread, foie gras, pasta and yoghurt. 
And Mentos. Don't forget the mentos.
The realisation I had is that I think Christmas is very underrated for everyone our age because the only meaning of it now is just spending another day with your family and getting some presents. Though for me it was spent in a tiny village in the French countryside, and it hit me that what if that was taken away from me? What if Christmas was taken away from me? The tiny little village with the cold and the french countryside around me reminded that it was taken away from me. I had no family, though I did get presents - a book, a candle and a recorder. Party time.
So I came to the conclusion that nowadays lots of people aren't very enthused by Christmas because it is just another day where you gather around a tree and open presents, enjoy a meal with your extended family, go down to the boulevard and see the christmas lights; however you spend your christmas, but ask yourself would you be enthused by christmas if all that was taken away from you? Would you miss your family and a christmas in Melbourne?
The answer to those questions came to me in the form of a dog. A little dog who came up to me and then when I walked somewhere else it followed me. This little dog looked up at me and I looked back at it and felt something I haven't really felt since I've been here - affection. A lot of you might be thinking wow this is incredibly awkward ben is writing about his love affair with a dog, but if you were on your own in a country on the other side of the world speaking a language you don't speak, and a little dog came up to you and wanted to stay with you, you might have reflected on the affection of Christmas and  the real meaning of it all - family. And perhaps receiving kick-ass recorders. It came in pieces so I had to put it together myself :)
...
Though Christmas did bring one very enjoyable present, the milestone that I am now over halfway into this trip. Now I am starting to talk better, to understand better, now I am starting not to think about the memories of my year with my friends but the memories we will create when I get back, now I'm thinking positively about the trip and am preparing to make the most of it, knowing that I am edging  ever-closer to those important to me, waiting in the sun of Melbourne. I was excited to return to Paris after two days away and my brain referred to it as 'home', so I can only picture the excitement I will have when I touch down on January 30, and until then am prepared to enjoy my time here as much as possible.
Christmas now may not be about Santa, putting milk and cookies out and getting excited to watch Carols by Candlelight (or Candles in the Domain for the West Heidelberg folk), but it is about the importance of remembering that you celebrate the day with your family, your friends, and that it could be taken away from you at any time. Maybe Christmas is about thinking of those in developing  countries or adverse situations who may not even have a family to celebrate it with. In any sense, Christmas is about Underestimation - how to avoid it.
And for me, it only gets better from here.

Paris, France

La Grande Roulière, France

Kicking it...

...In -2 temperatures...

...with Ms.Funfgeld.

 More photos of My Life In Europe can be found here:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=248416&id=563348423&l=723ed11648