I’ve been counting down the days for sometime now. It’s quite fascinating how when you are in the moment time can feel so slow, but now looking at it, I keep asking myself where has my summer gone? With only hours left in the states I am feeling a whirlwind of emotions. At times I am ecstatic, at times nervous and at other times sad. I’m not really sure how to describe it, but I guess, it’s all finally hitting me now. I am going to be living in France for 9 months. WOW.

I’m not going to lie, I have been daydreaming about how great France will be. With all the bread, cheese and wine. I’ve tried to learn as much as I can about my host culture before I leave. I am trying to minimize the culture shock (I’ll let you know how that turns out!) As I’ve discovered in my google searches, I expect the French to be very reserved, calm and passionate. A culture that ultimately loves the finer things in life. I expect them to wear nice clothes, eat good food and overall be very conscious of their quality of life.

The most concerning part of their culture is how reserved they are with strangers. This is what makes me the most anxious about going abroad. I hope to find new friends abroad that I can share my experiences in France with. I am sure all the other international students will be eager to make friends, but I also really want to make local friends. I believe this will be the only way to truly learn the culture and their way of life. Hopefully living in a house with all French students will give me a head start! Lets just hope for my sake this is the case!

But enough of that, it’s too late in the game for concerns or uncertainties. I’ll just have to go with the flow and hopefully adapt quickly to my new home in Lyon!

Till next time,

Au revoir!