Melissa Regan expected herself to move to New York, get a job there and enjoy “living in the big city.” But in 1999, she signed up for a term in Vienna, Austria and “accidentally” ended up studying in France.
When she was a young adult, she’d visited the French capital twice. At that time, France wasn’t necessarily one of Regan’s favorite places. However, during that term in the south of France, she appreciated French culture and said it “opened my eyes in a way that changed my life.” “In France, if you go to have a coffee, it will just be like the world stops for hours.”
On returning to her country, Regan signed up for an international MBA program. It would allow her to spend a whole year in France.
Once she graduated, Regan was offered a position as an intern (实习生) at a company in Paris in 2002. It provided her with the chance to live in the French capital. “I thought that was incredible,” she says. “And it would be silly to pass by.”
As she got used to life in Paris, Regan was attracted by its culture, particularly the city’s restaurants and museums, and “just how much fun you could have” there. She says that she planned to live and work in the European city for a year or two at first.
However, Regan fell in love with a Frenchman named Julien. They got married in 2007. “I had already been in Paris for three years,” she adds. “So I was really enjoying my life. And at that point, I had a group of friends. So it wasn’t even like I met him and it changed everything. But he became the main reason for me no longer wishing to go back to my hometown.”
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