May is in 2 Days…

Bonjour! Comment allez-vous?

I hope you all have had a lovely April as I know none of you have heard from me! Spring showers are definitely in full force here, but to think that May is in 2 days and summer is quickly approaching is the craziest thing I’ve heard yet…

So, with the approach of May, it comes time to face my impending departure from France. I hope to post another blog post before I go, but know that if ANYone wants to talk about Study Abroad or France once I return, I will be more than willing as I can only imagine how much my friends and family are going to be listening to my stories for months to come.

I spent my spring break in a few different places. Seeing Jackie and Efi and trying new foods and listening to new languages were incredible experiences, and the 3 week “euro-tour” as my host mom likes to call it, concluded with my mom and brother Tony coming to visit me! We pondered Paris as we took in the sights, foods, and tourists, then trekked it by train to Normandy to see the D-Day beaches (powerful), then imagined the luxury life at Versailles before venturing East to the place I’ve been calling home for 9 months. My mom and Tony stayed with my host family and I for a few days, which was amazing and slightly awkward because my mom and Tony don’t speak any French, and half of my host family speaks very little English. So that was an experience! But overall, it was an amazing time being able to show my family around Strasbourg and even better that they got to meet my host family. When they left, I was hit with saddness, though I knew it would be one short month until I saw them again. It also brought feelings of “ready to go home,” which is hard to fight as the Holy Cross students start leaving the 8th of May, while I am here until the 24th. This experience has been the absolute best, with all its up and downs, but the familiarity of home and comfort of family, friends, and English is pulling at my heart. However, my mom’s leaving reminded me of my own impending departure and I immediately was saddened by the thought of leaving my host family. But as a friend said, “you can always go back” and I know that there will be a place in their hearts for me, which is a beautiful thing!

So what’s in store for the next few weeks? Well, for starters: exams. One for French language and another in French, but about Art History, yikes. Then comes a family vacation with my host fam to Bourgogne- I am so so excited. After that, seeing as I have 2 more weeks with no classes or responsibilities, I will be jetting off to the beach with a few Holy Cross students in the South of France! Then it’s my final week in France which will be largely enjoying Strasbourg and family dinners before I leave for a Scouts Weekend and then leave France for the United States.

Bear with me for these next few weeks as things are bound to get messy and emotional, but in the end, that’s how life goes: c’est la vie. 🙂

Jess

This entry was posted on Friday, April 29th, 2016 at 10:30 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

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