Student Blogs

         This is the time where weeks start to feel like days and days start to feel like minutes. They all say the last three months go by incredibly fast, and they're right. However, I still have time here, and I am making the most of it.

         The weather is beautiful, and I am enjoying every minute. When it was snowing in my hometown in the US, I was outside in just a light sweater. The tennis courts are repaired now, so as soon as possible, I will be more than extremely happy to use my racquet again.

If you decide that you want to blog, then that’s great! There are many different reasons why people blog. People blog to share their experiences to the world, to inform others about topics they are passionate about, to write their opinions, etc. No matter what the reason why you want to blog, there is a couple of things to keep in mind.

In a few months, I will be going back to Europe for the third time! The past two times I went to Europe, I traveled to Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Liechtenstein, Belgium, Holland, and Denmark. This time I will be going to Austria, Germany, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Slovenia, Italy, Luxembourg, and France. 

Today is March 17, otherwise know as St. Patrick’s Day or St. Patty’s Day. When most people think of St. Patrick’s Day, they think of green, shamrocks, leprechauns, pots of gold, parties, festivals, parades, and beer. Today is supposed to be a day of rembembrance for Saint Patrick, a patron saint of Ireland. It is said that Saint Patrick helped bring Christianity to Ireland in the 5th century. He died late on March 17 in the late 5th century. The day of his death became a public Irish holiday in the 17th century. 

          It must be March. We're back in school again, the students are lessed stressed because the TPE project is almost over, and it seems like we haven't seen the sun for days. Ok, we saw it for three minutes the other day before it started thundering. I am told that March is the rainy month here in France opposed to April for me in the US. That's funny. In my other region, September and October was the rainy period. I guess it's good I don't mind the rain!

            We might have longer school vacations in France than in the US, but at the end of the day, or in the morning, I should say, it all seems the same!

              Mountains, Switzerland, school vacation, more progress in French and wonderful people around me are what continues to tell me life is beautiful.

            If there is one piece of advice that I've clung on to, it's to study hard but to enjoy the experience abroad. In fact, I don't even know if anyone told me that or if I just knew that mindset would be necessary. Most people told me before I left, "Enjoy yourself. You're going to have the time of your life. I am so jealous!" Deep down, I knew that it would be an unforgettable year but a lot of work and it was a choice that came with lots of sacrifices. Sometimes I wonder if people actually realize that studying abroad does not mean going on vacation!

              It is now true that I am practically exactly at the halfway point of my experience abroad. I am five months in and I have only five months to go.  Here's what I've noticed this month.What I am going to say may be similar to this past month but I know it's totally different than what I said  in September or October.

          Not all beginnings have to be hard, and the past week and a half has been a reminder of that. School has never been so enjoyable for me, even in comparison to the US, and I love my host family. That's about all it takes to make me happy in this point of my life.

           
                My temporary host mom looked at me as we sat in the train station Friday afternoon and said, "You can't keep a bird from flying." Ten minutes later, we said our goodbyes, and I was in the train for a new town and a new chapter of my AFS experience.

               Chapter 2 may have only lasted for eleven days, but there's no doubt in my mind that it was just as important as the other four months, Chapter 1. During this time, I met another family who I now consider as part of my own, which was the most fulfilling part of it all, but that's not even a portion of what else I experienced and learned. I see my very life changing before my eyes, and it's been through the hardest times of my voyage abroad that everything seems to be coming together. Of course, in January, that's a prime time to have that moment where everything clicks.