October is here, and I am beyond excited. Not because of Halloween (well, kind of), but because I get to go home to Paris in two months.

It has been a year and I miss my country a lot. I spent the whole summer in the United States for the first time and I am not sure if I will be able to handle this again. Thank God, I have great friends who made it fun for me, but it just wasn’t the same. All my friends back home expected me to come home, as usual, but because I had to handle school business on this side of the ocean, I wasn’t able to make it.

I missed two holidays that are important to my heart, the music festival, which is celebrated nationally June 21, and our Independence Day, July 14.

During the music festival, Paris is animated all night. My city never sleeps, but on this day, it sure is awake. There are concerts all over the town and you can hear and enjoy different genres. The subway is such a fun place to be around that time. We all forget about the smell, trash and graffiti. Everyone is having a good time.

On July 14, my friends and I used to go watch the fireworks downtown or at the Eiffel Tower. I’ve never seen better fireworks than in Paris.

However, and most importantly, I missed my dad’s birthday for the very first time. Being a Daddy’s girl, it was frustrating. Phone calls are not the coolest. I actually found myself very homesick this summer as the months were passing by, which probably explains why I was so moody.

I wish I could go home every weekend like my schoolmates, but at the same time I get to laugh a little bit when they say they are yearning when their house is no more than three hours away. My best friends are counting the days and we are already making New Year’s plans through Skype.

When you are so far away, you realize that you miss the smallest things. I miss waking up and going to my brother’s room to jump on him, obviously knowing that he is still tired. I am the big sister, I can do whatever I want, you know how it goes. I miss my Mom telling me that I need to clean my room, and hearing my Dad asking me to come check out the groundwork in our backyard. I can’t wait to get in my little twin bed. I wouldn’t trade it for a California King; I’ve been sleeping in it since I was 3.

The craziest thing is that after three weeks of being home, I’m ready to come back to the States. Both are two different worlds that complete me. There is a famous French proverb that says “Les jours se suivent et ne se ressemblent pas”; which means that the days go by but they’re never the same. My mind and my body are literally never on the same page.

That, my dear, is one the advantages of being a citizen of the world.

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