"For years, I treated belonging as a measure of my worth. I believed that if I spoke well enough, adapted carefully enough, and paid close enough attention to other people's expectations, I would eventually earn my place. Living abroad in France taught me otherwise. Not suddenly, and not dramatically, but slowly, through repetition. I learned that language, effort, and proximity all have limits."
"I was born in China and spent my childhood moving between three Chinese cities. After graduating with a journalism degree from a university in central China, I moved alone to Paris in 2015. Inspired by a love of cooking and shows like "Top Chef," I decided to study French cuisine. My father supported the leap, while my mother initially pushed for a more conventional path. Eventually, she came around. At 22, I enrolled at Le Cordon Bleu."
Born in China, she moved between three Chinese cities as a child and later earned a journalism degree before relocating alone to Paris at 22. She enrolled at Le Cordon Bleu to study French cuisine after being inspired by cooking and shows like "Top Chef." She arrived with limited French and found Paris different from earlier impressions, with reserved personality making local friendships difficult. Years of living abroad taught her that language, effort, and proximity have limits and that doing everything "right" can still leave one slightly outside. At 33, she believes meaning can exist without permanence, a view her mother disagrees with.
Read at Business Insider
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