“Abandon the search for truth; settle for a good fantasy.”

Today marks my six month anniversary of living in Switzerland. This week was also the week where I finally completed my Pain-In-The-Butt-Never-Moving-Out-Of-The-Country again list. This is a huge accomplishment! I guess this means we are finally "settled".

Yes, I carried around this post-it note in my purse for six months.

Reading books about being an expat, this time period is known as the "second settle" where you are used to your new surroundings and can get around, but now you have to thrive and grow as a person. Before it was just survival.

Now is when things that used to seem overwhelming (see post about opening the bathroom door in the office, for example) are boring. We are supposed to make friends, plan adventures, and really integrate ourselves into the local culture (good thing we squeezed in the cream soda last weekend...). I do feel very settled. Actually my boss told me I was the quickest person he'd seen get settled in a foreign country. John says he feels settled too, so we're settling together.

But now I have to carry around new a post-it to-do list with "personal growth" on it. This sounds much more difficult.