Summer is over...

And the speed with which is has gone amazes me just a little bit. When I worked out that I had been back in the United Kingdom for five whole months before I went back to France for a holiday, I had to stop and work out where the time had gone.

Life after a year abroad

To anyone kind enough to drop in after my long absence, hello.

More travelling: USA

Apologies for my recent absence from blogging. It started with having little to share with you, but ended on just being too busy!

When sometimes negative can be positive

Change comes to us all, in whatever format you might imagine. Change can be bitter, it can be worthwhile, it can be terrifying, and sometimes it can be just about the best thing you ever did.

Perhaps where you live might change, who you’re dating, what job you’re doing, or with whom you are friends. We can choose to accept it or fight desperately, although the latter seems rather futile to me.

Try not to roll your eyes; I am perfectly aware that I am only twenty-one and have plenty more to do in my life, but here is my take on things:

France

If you have been reading this blog at all over the last few months, you will know I have had a love-hate relationship with France. My stay there is now over and, as with any ending, I like to reflect.

There are things about France I surely am pleased to leave behind. Living in Bolbec without a car for escape is one of them. Nor will my heart ache for the bureaucracy - after seven months I still haven't been fully subscribed to social security, or received my Carte Vitale. I am perfectly happy to say au revoir to French people who do not want to make an effort to understand me when I am struggling my way through a unforeseen conversation about a topic I had never previously considered in English, let alone French - I'm not a native, apologies if I do not know the French for "supercollider". Actually no, no apologies. Equally, I am not going to miss the people who can't even put themselves out there to try to understand me because I made a tiny mistake in pronunciation. And I'm definitely not going to miss the expensive energy prices for my flat when I spent months huddled under blankets, not receiving the benefit for what I spent. I won't miss being away and unable to get home for friends' birthdays. Et en plus, Paris, je ne t'aime pas.

I will miss the community of assistants. A few of us in a certain area got into the habit of overcoming our transport difficulties to see each other as much as we could, and became much more resourceful and adaptable because of it. But probably more importantly, we made friends. Lauren and I quite possibly have a Bolbec bond for life even if we do literally come from opposite sides of the globe, and I feel able share almost anything with Tatiana - and what I can't I don't feel able to share with anyone. I will miss our evenings as a group spent discussing anything and everything, laughing and eating and - as far as I could tell - not being judged. I will miss the encouragement to go and see something new just because somebody else wanted to go, when I probably wouldn't have been bothered alone.


I will miss a lifestyle of wandering in and out of my own flat whenever it suited me. Sure sometimes boredom from solitude set in, but it is great to have your own place, and live how you want to live. Although I suspect there is more of this to come in my future, so it is perhaps not as terrible as all that.

I will miss certain foods. I was most disappointed to have discovered a great new cheese just days before the holidays - and now I cannot remember the name, but I could find it for you on the shelf in the supermarket. I will miss the habits of going into Carrefour and knowing where everything I wanted was, and never having to go back there again. I dislike immensely the thought of another assistant replacing me next year where I had fitted in, and I don't want them to replace the decorations and students' work I put up to brighten up one of my classrooms. I will miss the opportunity to speak French whenever I wanted, although it is great to be always understood and to understand. I guess it is the habits you get into that I will miss.

But I will miss my French friends. On my penultimate night in Bolbec, the teachers at my principal school had organised a drinks party, for which I was prepared, and a meal out, for which I was not. Fifteen teachers and members of staff signed up to come out to say goodbye and many more signed my goodbye card. I would never have believed fifteen people would want to go anywhere for me like that. They had collected money, and put time into considering what presents to buy me, and had finally bought me a new watch (because mine had been lost at gym class), a new purse (as mine was falling to pieces) and a new memory stick with a keychain (because I had been constantly losing one of three all year round). There was leftover money to give me because more people had contributed at the last minute. People wanted my email address and I have had to promise to countless people to keep in touch. I don't believe I have ever felt so appreciated.

I hate that this is our only photo
because I look terrible.

Most of all, I will miss my professeur référent. She is an absolute gem, and now, I can say, a friend, one that will not be losing me in a hurry (and make no rude comments, because she doesn't mind that!). And that, although my university probably would point to my language skills, I think is the main point of my French experience. People enrich your life, and it is essential to hold on to the ones you like and learn from.

Normandy vs WGHS

Approaching the end of my working and my stay in France, it has occurred to me that I have spent more than a couple of conversations with members of staff trying to explain why this school is so different from the school I went to.

Surprising yourself

I admit, I am absolutely brilliant when it comes to finding reasons not to do what I don't want to do. I am equally good at forcing myself into things I know I should do, but also don't want to do. Imagine, therefore, the constant battle which occurs in my head.

How is this still happening?

After four days of travelling on my own in Switzerland and the southern half of France, I returned to Paris on Thursday night, safely back in the north that I recognise, with plans to visit a castle - my first French château - in nearby Pierrefonds, in Picardy.

It was onboard the train to take me to Compiègne, from where I was to take the bus to the castle used in that popular BBC show Merlin as Camelot, that the subject of this post really came through. I had been mulling over thoughts until it all came together.

Back on the exploration bug

I begin writing this as my French bank card is once again refused. Try not to start me on this topic if you ever happen upon me in real life or have means of contacting me. My bank here has a €160 limit on debit card spending every seven days. Except it isn't a Monday-Sunday limit, and it is incredibly annoying. I will not go on on that note.

What Is the Point of A Year Abroad?

There is lots of discussion about years spent abroad during your degree; lots of thought about great work experience, improvement of your foreign language skills and an amazing CV on your return home. All of this is true - although you may not be taking a year out in a country which speaks another language - but I cannot help feeling that these people are missing some other, equally valuable, points which are worth considering in conjunction with your employability.

Looking Back

Many people are prone to doing this. Many others, equally, dismiss it as a waste of time - why would you look back on your past, when there is so much ahead of you with which to occupy your time?

Overcoming Embarrassment

Whilst there are many uber-confident beings in the world of languages, I, like many others I'm sure, have struggled with a deep sense of embarrassment when it comes to actually using my language skills.

From Russia With Love

Unpleasant happenings always seem worse during the festive period.

Having followed other friends' year abroad blogs, I have begun to have some understanding of how the world works in other countries, and one of those is Russia. In Russia, I learnt, they do not celebrate Christmas, and perhaps it is for this reason that their concept of timing seems off to us, but to them would not be a problem.

What on earth am I talking about?

A Happy New Year... for most.

Admittedly, this is not an entirely happy message. Whilst Christmas was great and New Year celebrations promised to be eventful for most, events unwound throughout December in other parts of the world that for many in their daily lives may have gone unnoticed or, at least, was not really thought about.

I refer to the gang rape of a young woman which took place on a bus in New Delhi, in India.