I've spent the last five months living in France and traveling around Europe and after a wonderful semester abroad I am finally back home in Austin, Texas. It's such a strange feeling to be back here. I'm back to having to take 30 minute car rides to get anywhere instead of just walking everywhere. And instead of fresh food markets I'm back to shopping in large grocery stores over-packed with junk food. I guess I'll have to look into the Austin Farmers Market. But despite the overly long car ride home it was nice to spend my first night back resting on my back porch, listening to the summer cicadas chirping and feeding a deer that walked up to me bleating for some bread.
I'm sad to have left Europe. I'm going to miss how easy it was to travel to different countries (everything is so much closer together there!), I'll miss the French language and the food, I'll miss being able to walk everywhere, I'll miss all the people that I'd met.
I've grown a lot as a person in the past few months. My grasp of the French language has improved tremendously (though I still have a long way to go). When I first arrived I remember being confused on how to answer the simplest of questions and was stunned when my host family spoke in nothing but French. Only later did I realize how much they simplified their vocabulary and slowed their speech so that my housemate Niki and I would be able to follow. By the end of our time there they were speaking much quicker to us and I was able to follow and even translate for others.
My family (mom, brother, and uncle) came and visited Aix at the end of the semester and got to meet ma famille d'accueil (my host family). My wonderful host mom prepared an apéritif for us at her house. I translated for both of my families.
With the ending of such a great experience, I've gained a few new fears. I'm scared that I'll lose a lot of the self-confidence that I gained while I was abroad. I'm scared that I won't continue to meet new people and that I'll become a recluse. I'm scared of forgetting all my French. But then I think back on how scared I was coming to France in the first place and how easy it was for me to push that fear aside once I arrived in Aix. Then I think that these new fears are not that bad. I already traveled half a world away to live on my own in a foreign country and was able to survive that. In comparison this will be easy.
Sure, I'm going to miss France, but now I have the motivation to work even harder so that one day (hopefully sooner than I think) I'll be able to go back there. Maybe even find myself an internship or job and live abroad again (at least for a little while).
I'm sad to have left Europe. I'm going to miss how easy it was to travel to different countries (everything is so much closer together there!), I'll miss the French language and the food, I'll miss being able to walk everywhere, I'll miss all the people that I'd met.
I've grown a lot as a person in the past few months. My grasp of the French language has improved tremendously (though I still have a long way to go). When I first arrived I remember being confused on how to answer the simplest of questions and was stunned when my host family spoke in nothing but French. Only later did I realize how much they simplified their vocabulary and slowed their speech so that my housemate Niki and I would be able to follow. By the end of our time there they were speaking much quicker to us and I was able to follow and even translate for others.
My family (mom, brother, and uncle) came and visited Aix at the end of the semester and got to meet ma famille d'accueil (my host family). My wonderful host mom prepared an apéritif for us at her house. I translated for both of my families.
With the ending of such a great experience, I've gained a few new fears. I'm scared that I'll lose a lot of the self-confidence that I gained while I was abroad. I'm scared that I won't continue to meet new people and that I'll become a recluse. I'm scared of forgetting all my French. But then I think back on how scared I was coming to France in the first place and how easy it was for me to push that fear aside once I arrived in Aix. Then I think that these new fears are not that bad. I already traveled half a world away to live on my own in a foreign country and was able to survive that. In comparison this will be easy.
Sure, I'm going to miss France, but now I have the motivation to work even harder so that one day (hopefully sooner than I think) I'll be able to go back there. Maybe even find myself an internship or job and live abroad again (at least for a little while).
Advice
I'll think I'll end this final journal with a bit of advice for anyone else who is going abroad.
1. If you leave all your medicine at home and get sick (I'm not sure why but I happened to be sick most of the semester), don't panic! There are a ton of pharmacies which are marked by a green cross and the people working in them are very helpful. For the record, I definitely recommend Stodal if you can't stop coughing.
2. Have a way to backup your computer and back it up often! My computer died while I was there and I had to take it into the French Apple store (off Cours Sextius near IAU), but they were not able to save my files and I was computerless for over two weeks. Keywords: disque dur: hard-drive, sauvegarde: backup
3. Go out! Even if you aren't much of a social butterfly. You will get to know fellow students better and this is also the way you'll meet French students.
4. Pack lightly! You can always buy toiletries and other simple items while abroad. The more space in your suitcase the more room you will have for souvenirs and cute new French clothes.
5. Visit some of the surrounding towns and take advantage of the IAU excursions. You'll end up going to some pretty amazing places.
6. Hike Mont Sainte-Victoire while you are there. It was a wonderful hike and the view from the top is amazing. Make sure to bring some food as well (you can pick up bread, cheeses, meats, and fruits from one of the morning markets). Oh and if you plan ahead you can even spend the night at the old abandoned monastery near the top of the mountain - you'll need to bring your own blankets and stuff. I wish I had spent the night but I didn't learn about this until I was already hiking up.
7. Have picnics and sunbathe in the park. It's relaxing and great way to de-stress.
8. One of the glace shops on the Cours Mirabeau sells macarons with ice cream in the center. Eat as many flavors as you can while you're there! Despite how plain it may be, the vanille/vanille one is my favorite.
1. If you leave all your medicine at home and get sick (I'm not sure why but I happened to be sick most of the semester), don't panic! There are a ton of pharmacies which are marked by a green cross and the people working in them are very helpful. For the record, I definitely recommend Stodal if you can't stop coughing.
2. Have a way to backup your computer and back it up often! My computer died while I was there and I had to take it into the French Apple store (off Cours Sextius near IAU), but they were not able to save my files and I was computerless for over two weeks. Keywords: disque dur: hard-drive, sauvegarde: backup
3. Go out! Even if you aren't much of a social butterfly. You will get to know fellow students better and this is also the way you'll meet French students.
4. Pack lightly! You can always buy toiletries and other simple items while abroad. The more space in your suitcase the more room you will have for souvenirs and cute new French clothes.
5. Visit some of the surrounding towns and take advantage of the IAU excursions. You'll end up going to some pretty amazing places.
6. Hike Mont Sainte-Victoire while you are there. It was a wonderful hike and the view from the top is amazing. Make sure to bring some food as well (you can pick up bread, cheeses, meats, and fruits from one of the morning markets). Oh and if you plan ahead you can even spend the night at the old abandoned monastery near the top of the mountain - you'll need to bring your own blankets and stuff. I wish I had spent the night but I didn't learn about this until I was already hiking up.
7. Have picnics and sunbathe in the park. It's relaxing and great way to de-stress.
8. One of the glace shops on the Cours Mirabeau sells macarons with ice cream in the center. Eat as many flavors as you can while you're there! Despite how plain it may be, the vanille/vanille one is my favorite.