Comfort Zones

A couple of months ago I heard the delightful song "Southern Comfort Zone" by Brad Paisley on the radio and felt like it was calling to me.  This was mostly because I heard the lyrics wrong and thought that every time he said Dixie Land he was saying Disneyland (still a little disappointed that's not actually how the song goes).  He also talks about Europe, though, and I felt like this song had been written especially for me because it was all about traveling the world and seeing new places.

However, what I have come to realize is that when you study abroad you aren't traveling somewhere new, you are living somewhere new.  This probably seems like common sense to most people, but I only realized the significance of that difference today.

For example, when you are traveling abroad it is totally fine to only speak the basics of a language.  Being able to ask, "Where can I find..." or know when to say bonjour versus bonsoir is not only acceptable, it's pretty good.

When you are living abroad the basics that got you through a week are no longer good enough to get you through four months.  It's a bit overwhelming.

Now that I'm living abroad I have to start doing 'everyday living' things that I was allowed to ignore when I was just traveling.  This is hard because I don't know 

how to buy civil liability insurance or how to open a French bank account so that I can buy civil liability insurance;

where to buy nail trimmers;

where that one store was that had the spiral notebooks;

or where to go to buy an umbrella.

And for the record, Google does not understand the question, "Where can I buy an umbrella in Lyon, France," nor does it understand "Umbrella Store near Lyon, France."

So this evening I was walking around looking for a boulangerie -- naturally -- and I started thinking about comfort zones.  I've always been a bit confused why people always make such a big deal about going outside of your comfort zone.  I love going outside of my comfort zone.  I feel like I'm my best self when I'm in a new place surrounded by people I don't know.  For me, it feels like an opportunity to rise to the challenge and show myself what I'm capable of.

But as I kept thinking (and kept trying to find a boulangerie) I realized I don't love going outside of my comfort zone, I just have a weird comfort zone.  I'm not really comfortable surrounded by things that are never changing, nor does it appear that I am as comfortable as I thought being completely surrounded by the unknown, as my experience at the bank will testify to.  My comfort zone is so weird I don't even know what it is.

But then I bought a baguette, and no matter what my comfort zone is, I am positive that it includes all boulangeries.  And as I walked by an old Gothic church I realized that my comfort zone also includes Gothic churches.

And while I may not have originally put the bank in my comfort zone, there is a Gothic church just down the road, so I think I could stretch my comfort zone a little to fit around the bank.

In fact, with all the churches and boulangeries around Lyon, I'm pretty sure I could stretch my comfort zone to fit around the entire city.

So that's what I'm going to do this semester.  I have no intention of leaving my comfort zone; I'm just going to keep stretching it little by little until everything that I'm not comfortable with can fit inside.

Which means that I'm going to have to visit a lot of churches and boulangeries -- obviously.