Are you really happy or just really comfortable?

The other day I came across this picture:

This scares me. 

The moment when I finally thought I was happy on exchange was when I became comfortable. When I first went out of my comfort zone at the beginning of this exchange, I wasn't truly happy. I was more excited about all the new things that were happening. As these things grew less and less intimidating and daunting, I found myself becoming more and more comfortable. 

There are people out there who say that it isn't good to stay comfortable for too long. I have to say that I disagree -- sort of. What we have to do rather than avoid our comfort zone is expand it. I am aware of how weird this sounds, but I'm going somewhere with it... I think. When you leave your comfort zone, you have to adapt. Eventually, you will adapt so well that this new experience will be within your comfort zone. Now it isn't some instant gratification, but it's something you have to work for. 

My life before exchange was within my comfort zone. My family, friends, high school, lifestyle, and everything else there was all in my comfort zone. At the beginning of my exchange I had none of that. I had a host family, no friends, a new high school, a completely changed lifestyle, and so many other different and foreign aspects that had transformed in a matter days. Needless to say, France was (literally) 5,329 mi (about 8576 km) outside of my comfort zone. 

Around the two and a half month mark, I had adjusted to the family, had made a few friends, and sort of liked the high school. The lifestyle, however, I had not adjusted to, as well as the language. In fact, around the two month mark I was just starting to fully (well relative to before) understand the French around me. 

At this point (5 months in...ahhhh) I feel completely comfortable. I love my second host family, I have made friends (who I HOPE will stay my friends long after I have to leave again), high school is just kind of high school now, and the language I think I've got a pretty good understanding of. The lifestyle has been a difficult thing to adjust to, but now I think it's pretty normal. 

Communication is one of the most important things in all of this. Being unable to communicate with people was definitely out of my comfort zone. Coming to another country with a very very basic understanding of the language is frightening. The moment when France was added to my comfort zone (wow that still sounds weird, but I don't know how else to put it) was when I felt that I had a grasp on the language. 

Basically what I'm trying to say is that it's good to be in your comfort zone, but you need to reach out and take a little more of the world in for yourself. I swear to you this made sense in my head. Hats off to you if you understand what I'm trying to say. 

Basically: Change is good, but eventually that change won't feel any different.

This may have just been me trying to express my feelings about being closer to the end than the beginning... Maybe I'll have an interesting story soon :)

Amelia