This past weekend, 5 friends and I traveled to the Alps for a weekend full of skiing. Two girls had never skied before and the other four of us had differing levels of ability. Despite this, we still all had a great time. Saturday we started early, the sun was shining, the air wasn't too cold and it was absolutely beautiful. We spent a couple hours, skiing, learning to ski and trying to figure out how to use the Teleskis instead of chair lifts without falling off. Unfortunately, not many of us made it the whole weekend without falling off the teleski at least once.
After getting back into the rhythm of skiing, I ventured to the very top of the mountain to try the slightly harder trails. A little bit of the way down, I found a picnic bench that allowed me to rest and see all the surrounding landscape. The view was gorgeous and I probably could have stayed all day sitting on that bench but as my feet began to freeze, I knew I needed to start skiing again. But while I was resting there, the profoundness of all of this hit me, I'm able to be here, skiing in the Alps, spending my weekends traveling around, and the weeks in Aix. A year ago, I never even imagined I would be studying abroad in France and skiing in the alps. But here I find myself, sitting at the top of a huge mountain, living and exploring in a beautiful old city, and all I can do is thank God for all the opportunities he has given me and all the beautiful things he has created. Sitting at the top of the mountains brought me such great peace and recharged me as I was beginning to feel a little homesick. I needed this moment to remind me that what I'm doing right now is amazing, and while I may miss my bed at home, my friends and my family, I'm having a once in a lifetime experience here.
We woke up Sunday morning to fresh snow and unfortunately it was still snowing pretty hard so we weren't able to ski as much as we wanted. Half the group had a blast sledding while the other three of us hit the slopes for a couple runs on the lower slopes. The wind and snow was just a bit too much to brave the top of the mountains but it was great for the lower slopes with their 4 inches of fresh powder.
Overall, it was a great weekend and we all agreed we could have stayed there all week, which we secretly hoped for as the snow continued to fall all day long. Sunday 5pm came too fast as we loaded the bus to return to the real world. We had papers to write and multiple exams to study for as we began midterm week this morning.
After getting back into the rhythm of skiing, I ventured to the very top of the mountain to try the slightly harder trails. A little bit of the way down, I found a picnic bench that allowed me to rest and see all the surrounding landscape. The view was gorgeous and I probably could have stayed all day sitting on that bench but as my feet began to freeze, I knew I needed to start skiing again. But while I was resting there, the profoundness of all of this hit me, I'm able to be here, skiing in the Alps, spending my weekends traveling around, and the weeks in Aix. A year ago, I never even imagined I would be studying abroad in France and skiing in the alps. But here I find myself, sitting at the top of a huge mountain, living and exploring in a beautiful old city, and all I can do is thank God for all the opportunities he has given me and all the beautiful things he has created. Sitting at the top of the mountains brought me such great peace and recharged me as I was beginning to feel a little homesick. I needed this moment to remind me that what I'm doing right now is amazing, and while I may miss my bed at home, my friends and my family, I'm having a once in a lifetime experience here.
We woke up Sunday morning to fresh snow and unfortunately it was still snowing pretty hard so we weren't able to ski as much as we wanted. Half the group had a blast sledding while the other three of us hit the slopes for a couple runs on the lower slopes. The wind and snow was just a bit too much to brave the top of the mountains but it was great for the lower slopes with their 4 inches of fresh powder.
Overall, it was a great weekend and we all agreed we could have stayed there all week, which we secretly hoped for as the snow continued to fall all day long. Sunday 5pm came too fast as we loaded the bus to return to the real world. We had papers to write and multiple exams to study for as we began midterm week this morning.