Lyonly Planet

It's odd but in its own way, being here can be quite lonely.

Don't get me wrong - everything is fantastic. I'm having beyond a wonderful time, especially considering there's a lot of travel coming up (more on that later).

But after you meet all of these people, and meet more and more as the days go by, you're not particularly close to any of them. Maybe this claim is a little premature considering I haven't been here for that long. But in my case, there's Paulina. I don't know what I'd do without her. Living alone seems so strange and terrible after living with her for these few weeks. We have nightly conferences over food that will probably be a fond memory long after this semester is over.

I finally caught up with all of Mad Men last night. I sold my OL ticket because I thought I'd have a class that let out too late but it was canceled this week. Oh well, I don't regret it. Even though Lyon won against Florentina, it was cold and wet yesterday. I was, though, all by lonesome last night considering Paulina had a rendez-vous with Sebastian, a non-icky French boy. Probably because he's not a boy at all, but a 27-year old dude. Very sweet though. Bought me tequila shots. Instant brownie points.

I came here thinking people would be different, especially after leaving New York and it's deep abyss of nauseatingly repetitive personalities. Maybe I will be surprised. Maybe they will be different. I haven't been here nearly long enough to decide if they or if they aren't.

What I can say is that I thought I would be blown away and seriously intimidated by the amount of international smarts I would encounter. I'm not. A lot of these people are as dumb as a pile of bricks. That landed on a billy goat. So, so stupid.

Although most of the students I've met here have significant others back home, I can't help but feel that they're all looking for someone special. I can't blame them. Maybe I am, too. There's a lot more hope in a new, fresh setting. I suppose under all of my layers of cynicism, part of me is still stupidly a romantic.

It's just so easy to feel lonely.