I feel as
if I have lived a lifetime since leaving Paso Robles just ten days ago. When I
think about how far I am from the Friday night lights watching the Bearcats
dominate the field or acting my heart out in an audition for A Christmas Carol,
it feels strange. Leaving PRHS was honestly very hard for me. The beginning of
this journey was bitter-sweet, but I think, or I hope, that I am making my
school proud.
My journey
started with a plane ride out of Oakland, CA and it has ended up here in Lugny,
France. It was short in time, but very long in experiences.
My first
stop after Oakland (besides a short layover in Boston) was New York City. In
New York, there was an orientation for 200 American students who were studying
abroad in many different countries this fall. It was exciting to meet everyone
and I made a lot of friends during the two days that we were there. On the
fourth of September, we boarded our flights to which ever country we were
headed to. In my case, the flight was to Paris! I, along with 50 other American
students, found my seat on the huge aircraft and settled down for a nice six
hour flight. Once we got there, we were on our own. It was hectic trying to
find our luggage, hopping aboard the tram, and finally going through customs
and meeting the incredible AFS France volunteers.
In Paris, teenagers
from all over the world were arriving at our orientation sight country by
country. As each group arrived, we
greeted them with cheers of “It’s the Italians!”
or “Look, the Brazilians!” We were
assigned roommates from all different countries who would live in the same area
as us in France. When everyone had arrived, there were 288 students of all
different nationalities anxiously awaiting their trains to their host families!
This
orientation was helpful, exciting, and eye-opening. Getting to know people of
all different races and cultures gave me a new sense of empathy and a more
global outlook on life. We toured Paris
on my sixteenth birthday, and YES it was the most incredible birthday I have
ever had. The most interesting part of this orientation, in my opinion, was the
fact that we were connecting. Teens from 50 different countries had the same
ideas, fears, humor, ect. It was truly life changing and it had a bitter-sweet
ending. We were all excited to meet our host families, jet-lagged to death, and
sad to leave our new friends so soon. As we boarded our separate trains,
numbers were exchanged, hugs were given, and faces lit up with excitement and
nervousness.
My train
was headed to Dijon with twelve exchange students aboard. This train was…
difficult to board. Just imagine twelve teenagers with very little French language
skills carrying three suitcases aboard a train which was already crowded.
Difficult to say the least, but an experience that I can say I got through
without too much stress. Arriving in Dijon, our hearts were beating faster and
faster as the train pulled into the station. Our nerves were quickly whisked
away by the bright smiles of our host families and the AFS volunteers. Everyone was excited to meet us and we all
headed to lunch where my host family presented a birthday cake and gift to me.
I felt welcomed at once and could not wait to get to my new home in Lugny!
Lugny is the cutest little town, the epitome
of French with stone buildings, narrow streets and a bakery just steps from
your door. My life here is simple, which
I very much enjoy. There have been some exhilarating moments on my journey so
far such as hearing hundreds of teenagers from all corners of the globe sing
happy birthday to me under the Eiffel tower or being mobbed and interrogated on
the first day of school. Those were some amazing moments, but my favorite moments
are the little ones. The quiet hike up the mountain near my house with views to
die for, the gathering of my French family around the bread and cheese covered dinner
table, and the flashes of light that come through the skylight in my room from
the lightening storms. These have been my favorite so far.
I am
immersed in a whole new world of cobble stone streets and three-course dinners
and I just wish that I could send a care package bursting full with every
scent, taste, touch, sound and every sight I have seen to my loved ones because
I have no words to describe the joy they have brought me.
When I made the decision to study
abroad, I did not fully understand the gifts it would give me. Ten days. In just ten days, I have been filled with this culture and I love every bit of it.
I have also learned a few lessons:
1. Go with the flow.
When all of us got to the train station in Paris, luggage in hand, ready
to board our trains, we were given the news that we would have to wait another two
hours before our trains arrived. Did we complain and talk about how we could
have slept in longer? No! We decided to start a card game right there in the
middle of the train station! The two hours flew by too fast and we became even
better friends!
2. Just eat it; it (probably) won’t
kill you.
Yes, I ate sausage made solely of cow stomach. Did I like it? Not at
all. Did it make my host family happy that I at least tried to indulge in the culture?
Yes! Did it kill me? Not yet!
3. Take every opportunity.
If I let my fear of failure hold me back, I would not be in France, I wouldn’t have had any of the most incredible
experiences of my life, and I wouldn’t be happy.
