Last week I geeked out a bit on the New Horizons mission to Pluto, however I felt that a post updating on life in Paris was in order as well. This past week marked the halfway point in my contract with the OECD. Talking with a few friends and family back home recently they remarked their surprise as to how time flies. And while in part I agree with that, it equally feels to me like I have been here for MUCH longer than 6 1/2 months.
In part that feeling is no doubt because a lot has happened in this relatively short period of time. Aside from the adjustment to a very different environment, including a new job in a new organization, I’ve also had the chance to travel more than I expected and thus get a glimpse of a number of new places. Since my last update I had the opportunity to spend a few days in Amsterdam and then a few weeks later zip across the Atlantic to spend a couple of days in Quito, Ecuador where I was presenting on open data at a conference of Supreme Audit Institutions.
I’m now enjoying a period of about two months of uninterrupted time in Pairs itself, which is a blessing in that I feel like this past while I haven’t really had much of a chance to explore the city itself. There is a pretty steady trickle of visitors coming through Paris over the next couple of months (one of the benefits of living in one of the big international cities of the world); it will be good to see some familiar faces and a great excuse to get out and explore a bit more.
So what’s next? Already the next few months are starting to fill up. I’m going to be making a short trip to Germany at the end of August, followed by a return to Slovakia in September and then a much bigger voyage to Japan at the end of September for one of the major projects I am working on. There will likely be family coming for a visit in the fall, and perhaps a few friends as well. By that time, I will be well on my way to having to make some decisions as to my answer to the question “what’s next”. As is often the case in life, there will no doubt be some different paths that present themselves. For now, the best I can do is try enjoy the moment and follow my gut when the time comes.
