It's been a little over a week and I already feel like I have been here for months; a feeling that I am definitely finding comfort in. Although everyday is something new, the feel of the town is welcoming and a bit mysterious. In my first few days here I have found quite a few mysteries within the French culture, I don't think I would call it culture shock, but the differences are obvious and a bit astounding.
Where to begin? Where to begin?
Where to begin? Where to begin?
I suppose the best place to start would be with the long journey to Aix-en-Provence. To say it was a long day would be an understatement, but I found out for myself that I can actually make it through on my own. The morning of my flight was not entirely as difficult as I had anticipated, granted there were a few tears that I quickly tried to hide and quite a few more tears in my mom's eyes; the goodbye was sad but a necessary one. The first of 3 flights went by quickly, although the 3 hour layover did not, but again I survived it. My next flight from LAX to LHR, wasn't too terrible aside from my aisle neighbors who needed to get up almost every 25 minutes (oh the perks of the aisle seat!). The food was surprisingly decent, the movie selection was delightful, and it was a solid flight. The last flight was filled with IAU students, so thankfully that made it very hard to get lost on the way. Met a few really cool people on that flight, twas brilliant. Upon arriving in the small airport in Marseille we were all herded out into a bus and taken to meet our host families! I'm really lucky that I have a housemate, because I would have been so nervous had I had to try and facilitate French conversation on my own on that first night!! But I can honestly say that our host family is so precious! They are simply just the nicest of people. I think I am going to dedicate a separate post to the host family life and the first week in AIX. My little travel story isn't too interesting but, that's all for now folks! XX