adult life; lost

I'm definitely one of those people who is having a very difficult time being an adult. And I know I'm not the only one. I have many, many friends who drew out the college experience by taking semesters off/traveling in between/slacking off as an excuse to not have to face the world I am currently facing.
I did not draw out the college experience. I made it a point to get in and out in four years. Why? Not because I didn't love college and enjoy the process of it all (believe me, I'm one of those weird people who would be very happy going to school for the rest of their lives), but rather I didn't want to create more debt than I really needed to. So I graduated. Back in the summer of 2010. It's been a year, and that is a very scary thing for me. I left the east coast as soon as college was done, and like most graduates thought the smart thing to do would be to move home in order to save money and find a job in my field.
Ah hah! I never found a job in my field. I lived with my parents (a very hard thing to do when you go from coming home at 3am with no one to bother you, to your frantic mother insisting the "streets are filled with crazies" and to please make it home earlier), returned to a well paying retail job in my home of Los Angeles, CA and started chipping away at my loans/hunting for jobs. I applied for over 100 jobs. Nothing. I started applying for internships. Paid internships (I mean c'mon, I'm a college graduate!). Nothing. The only interview I got in the field of journalism was an unpaid internship at a pretty prominent fashion website. I even considered working unpaid for 6months and hating myself in the process just so I could get experience. But no, nothing.
Now I am at a new job (well not that new, I've been here for over 6 months) that pays me well. It gives me enough money to live on a tight budget alone in a one bedroom apartment in the city. But like all people who take jobs outside of their passion, who also still hold the naive dream that they will one day be successful doing their passion, I am not scratching my head wondering "what am I doing with my time?"
I'm trying to suck it up and stay at this assistant job for another year. I figure it will give me good experience on paper, and maybe then someone in the field of media will want me.
I have plans. Plans to stay at this job, then hopefully go to Europe next summer with three years of french under my belt. Look for a job there. If nothing comes of it, move to New York to live close to/with my best friend and scower the streets for a career. That should work, right?