Why does everyone expect so much from 22 year olds?

I usually don't write serious posts questioning society and whatnot, but I guess I felt like it today.  So here's my rant about how everyone should get off everyone else's case and do whatever they want.  Oh, and there's random pictures of Paris - there's really no connection whatsoever.  

As a recent college graduate, I understand the pressures that society puts on young twenty-somethings to hit the ground running after finishing school.  Since high school, people have been asking me what I want to do with my life.  During college, every time I would tell someone that I was majoring in French and in history, people would ask, "what do you want to do with that?" with that judgmental tone that made me want to scream.  And the absolute worst was during entirety of my senior year, everyone from classmates, friends, family members to complete strangers asked me what I planned to do after graduation.  Well, it's been almost a year since graduation, and guess what, I still have no idea.  

Maybe I was avoiding tough decisions and situations by moving to Paris, or maybe I wanted one last adventure before becoming a certified adult.  Either way, it's been the best decision I've made so far (besides deciding to go back to being a blonde after accidentally dying my hair black... that still has to be the best one).  As I discuss in my guest post  on my friend Val's blog The In-between Life, not everyone is required to follow the path that is expected of them.  I still do not understand why people expect so much from people in their early twenties, and why are we all required to become so serious so quickly?  We go from being complete screw-ups in college, and then we're suddenly forced into the expectations of adulthood.

I'm not trying to say that we should all stay care-free and immature for the rest of our lives, that's not my argument whatsoever.  All I'm trying to say is that everyone is different, a snow flake if you will, and we can't all be forced down the same path as everyone else.  I know what people think when I tell them what I'm doing, but quite frankly, I don't care.  I'm not going to lie and say that I didn't use to - people's negativity toward my decision to become an au pair really bothered me for awhile, but I think the most adult thing I've done so far was to choose not to listen to them anymore.

Please check out Val's blog The In-between Life where she writes about being in your early twenties fresh out of college.  Also, check out my guest post about my life after graduation and what lead me to my decision to move to beautiful Paris, France.

People I hate on the metro

I have been in Paris for more than three months now, and as much as I still love the city, some of its mystique is starting to fade.  When I first came here, I thought the metro was the best thing ever because it was just so easy.  I was also completely unaccustomed to mass public transportation because I lived in a small town in the US, so the fact that I could get almost anywhere by just swiping my Navigo was absolutely amazing. However, although the metro is still easy, while sometimes frustrating, my love for it has diminished mostly due to my fellow passengers.  I'm hoping that most of you who have experienced the metro will agree that these people are the absolute worst, or if you haven't, that you will be thankful that you have never encountered them.

Accordion players or anyone else with an instrument, microphone or stereo

At first, I thought accordion players were charming, and they would make my metro ride instantly more enjoyable and Parisian.  Now, after hearing the same songs countless times, I want to stab their accordion repeatedly, throw it on the rails and wait for another train to run it over.  Maybe it's a bit harsh, but seriously, accordions are super annoying.  All I want to do is sit on the metro and eavesdrop onto people's conversations in peace, but no, someone has to get on the metro and try to sing at the top of their lungs.  I have, one more than one occasion, changed cars to get away from their terribleness.  

People who don't give up their seat

Obviously I don't mean to me.  I am lucky enough to be a young, healthy person without any disabilities. However, I have on many occasions witnessed an elderly man or very-pregnant woman come on the metro, and no one has given up their seat for them.  Who are you??  I know you play Candy Crush better when you're sitting down, but come on, please try to be a decent human being for twenty minutes out of your day.

People who haven't taken a shower in, let's say, five years

The only thing worse than being stuck on a crowded metro train where you're packed like cattle because we obviously all have really important places to go, is being sandwiched next to some one who smells like death rolled in shit.  It's the only time when you'll actively wonder if you actually need to breath in order to survive the next ten minutes.  For the love god, just smell socially acceptable.  You don't need to smell good, you can even still smell bad, just not THAT bad.  

People who talk on the phone in the metro

1. How do you have service?  My phone is completely useless when I'm half-way down the stairs entering the metro, how in the world can you be having a coherent conversation with someone?  2. What is so important that you have to have this conversation right now while the rest of listen?  It's not like I can really choose whether or not to overhear it, and in case you're wondering, it's never an interesting conversation. 

People who get on the metro before letting the others get off

This is simple logistics - you have to let people get off the train before you get on or else no one can really get on or off, and it's just complete chaos.  Calm down and wait the five seconds for everyone to exit. Patience is a virtue, my friend.  But you're not patient, so you look like an asshole, and everyone hates you.

There you have it - just some of the people who I hate on the metro.  I think I've become more cynical since I've been here because I actively had to prevent myself from writing about 25 of these.  Let me know who you hate on the metro, and then we can be friends and hate them together.

Am I an adult yet??

I think everyone goes through this awkward "not a girl yet not a woman" period where, yes, the government recognizes that you are in fact an adult by law, but in real life, you feel like you are hovering around the mental age of 19.  I think you officially know that you're all grown up when you have moved past the denial of getting older and accept that you are a responsible human being.  However, I don't think I'm quite there yet, but I wanted to give you some examples of what my daily life is like.  You can decide for yourself if I'm an adult or not.

I moved out of my parents house

I think this is a huge determiner of being an independent, responsible person.  If you still live with your parents, you are not a real adult (unless you moved in to take care of them or something, in which case you are more of an adult than I'll ever be).  After 23 years of paying for school, living rent-free, and being fed, clothed and sheltered, I am officially no longer being supported by my parents.  Although that sounds super grown up, I now work for a family who pays for my cell phone, my metro pass, and I don't have to pay rent. I never said that my parents no longer supported me because I was financially stable and self-sufficient, I just said they don't pay for my shit anymore... someone else does now.  I really have no idea where this puts me on the adult scale.

I still cry when I'm tired

You know when a two year old doesn't get enough sleep, and the next day he will be cranky and cry over anything and everything?  Yeah that's still where I am in life.  If I'm tired, I will cry over everything.  Last week I cried because I couldn't find eggs in the supermarket.  I will cry if anyone says anything remotely nice to me.  God forbid I talk to my mom, I will cry out of homesickness for the next hour. As you can see, I really am a basket case when I am sleep deprived which is definitely not a sign of a well-adjusted, "I have my shit together" adult.

I take out the trash on a regular basis

Gone are the days when I would let my trash can overflow onto the floor and be totally cool with it.  I now take out the trash like a normal human being, meaning before it turns into a disgusting, hoarderesque situation.  I really shouldn't be proud of this, but I've just come so far.

I don't do my laundry until I run out of underwear

I really hate doing laundry.  What do I hate more than doing laundry?  Folding my clothes and putting them away.  I try to avoid it at all costs which means that my outfits become more and more desperate, and I eventually wear bathing suit bottoms as underwear.  I think I did more laundry in college than I do now, so that should really tell you something about my maturity level.  

I cook almost everyday... and not just Ramen noodles

I am particularly proud of this achievement considering the size of my "kitchen."  If you read my previous post First Week and a Half in Paris, you know that my kitchen comprises of a mini fridge and a hot plate.  I have recently added a toaster oven... which I primarily use to make pizza.  Anyway, I do cook almost everyday, and not just simple pasta dishes (although I do eat pasta with butter and cheese quite frequently). I actually put effort into my meals now, and at least try to cook something healthy.  I no longer spend the majority of my paycheck on crappy takeout when I'm too lazy to cook, mostly because I'm too poor for other people to make my food.

I still procrastinate until the last second to do almost everything

I don't care if I have five hours to get ready, I will still probably be late to where ever I am going.  My thought process is that if I have twenty minutes to get dressed, brush my teeth, and do my hair, I can still squeeze in ten minutes of Youtube or Facebook time.  Sometimes when I try to figure out why I was late getting somewhere, I truly can't remember, but I just assume that I was doing some nonsense on the internet. I am never late because I am doing something productive.  I have never said something like "oh sorry I'm late, but I was tweeking my resume and lost track of time."  Usually I've been stalking my ex boyfriend's best friend's younger sister because it looks like she might be pregnant in her profile picture.  This is not adult behavior, and someone should revoke my internet privileges. 

So there you have a few adult/not-so-adult examples of what I do on a daily basis.  I could probably write parts 2, 3, and 4 about the questionable things I do.  Am I a real grown up?  I have no clue, but probably not. 

I would love to hear some of your ridiculous adult/non-adult behavior, so please comment!

Sometimes you need to have a pillow fight in the street

First of all, Saturday was an absolutely beautiful day here in Paris, and I spent a significant portion of it in my apartment writing a post about Cinque Terre, Italy.  I'm not complaining, but it just didn't feel right, so I was happy to learn that there was something weird and completely random to do in the afternoon.  I went to a massive public pillow fight that took place at Republique in Paris and was organized (according to its Facebook invite) by Flash Mob Party (Paris).

Before I go on, and I'm not sure if I mentioned this in my Dankerque post, but I absolutely hate crowds of people.  They are the worst, and I hate them, and I wish they would die.  I usually try to avoid them at all costs - I refuse to go shopping on the weekends, I don't really go to concerts, and I most definitely don't throw myself into a mob of people who are physically attacking each other.  However, as neurotic as I am about it, I am equally self-loathing because I did it anyway.

There's not much else to this story besides hundreds and hundreds of people smacking each other in the face with suspiciously hard pillows, but I would like to make one observation - the French love dressing up. After Dankerque and this event where people dressed up for literally no reason, I have realized that the French are just into it.  I wish I was some intellectual psychologist who could make some assumption like "so much is demanded from French society that its people like to defy cultural norms with costumes."  However, I have no idea what I am talking about.

Hitting people with pillows got old pretty fast for me, especially when I started assuming that people took personal offense to my face, and that's why they wanted to hit me so hard.  I personally just didn't feel the need to attack anyone, so the fight was pretty one-sided.

Why you need to go to Cinque Terre, Italy

With the arrival of warm weather, I've been thinking a lot about where I want to go on vacation this summer. I will most definitely be coming home in August, but I also want to spend about a week travelling in Europe. If you have any suggestions, please let me know! I'm thinking Spain.  

Anyway, my goal is to have an equally amazing time as I had in Italy last summer.  I traveled along the Mediterranean coast, and everywhere was absolutely beautiful.  Although I have so many recommendations for the other places we visited, today's post will focus on Cinque Terre.

Cinque Terre is an area of five small villages located on the Mediterranean Sea.  All of them are almost inaccessible by car, so you typically take a train or hike between villages.  Before everyone jumps down my throat for saying that you can't really travel by car, let me clarify and say that you can, but the roads are terrifying.  Most of Cinque Terre is comprised of cliffs, and swerving on windy roads that overlook 600 foot drops is not ideal for most tourists.  I'm sure the locals have mastered it, but not me.  Also, parking's a bitch, so just walk or take the train.

The views are absolutely beautiful and hiking in between cities is a must.  I wasn't as ambitious as most, and we did not hike to each city.  We hiked between two villages and I believe it took an hour an half. However, if you are really into that, I would definitely suggest walking to each of them.

Also, after you've hiked, you will be hot, like really hot, so reward yourself with some of the amazing gelato that Italy is famous for.  I think we ate at least two gelatos a day, and it was awesome.

Then after your gelato, you can go swimming in the sea which is obviously beautiful and really refreshing. You can always find a public beach, just keep a look out.  The only downfall to public, or free, beaches is that you will be laying on sharp, uncomfortable rocks, and you will most likely be discreetly (at least trying) changing behind a towel.  Private beaches feature lounge chairs and changing tents.  We went to the beach in Monterosso although I believe all of the cities have accessible places to swim.

I would suggest going to Cinque Terre in the spring or fall because it was simply just too hot during the summer.  You will be constantly uncomfortable in the summer.  Although this picture was taken in Monaco, you can see that I have finally hit my breaking point and had a minor temper tantrum due to the heat.

One more suggestion: EAT! I ate so much, and I have zero regrets about the few extra pounds I put on. The seafood you will eat was probably caught less than 1km away from the restaurant, and the Buffala mozzarella is a must - they know what they're doing when it comes to mozzarella.  Please eat as much pasta, pizza, seafood and focaccia as you possibly can.  Oh and gelato, definitely eat a lot of gelato. And pesto! I could go on forever.