It has officially been a month since I arrived in France and it has been absolutely crazy. In good, bad, ugly and beautiful ways.
Obviously, let’s start with the good. For starters, I’m in France, so, who can really complain about that? But more than that I’ve met some incredible people and seen some of the most beautiful places. I will always say that it takes some serious courage to pack up and move halfway across the world, but making friends here who are in the same exact boat as you really changes the game. We might all come from different backgrounds, different places, and different times in our lives but we are all still connected through the same struggles. I know that I can rely on my friends here. What’s more, there is a literal castle in the middle of town here. Who else can say “yeah I went and saw the castle this morning because I passed it on my way to get coffee”. Like, hello??
Now onto the not so great things. Inevitably there are going to be things that are hard to get passed or things you struggle with. One of the biggest things, in my opinion, is mental health struggles. So far I’ve been doing good but I still think it’s important to mention. You are far away from home and don’t have the resources you are used to. Thankfully though, as far as I know, most study abroad programs have systems in place to help students who need it. Another problem that I especially have been struggling with is comparing my experience with that of others. Being in Europe makes it easy to travel to other countries and a lot of my friends have been able to see other countries/ towns every weekend. It has been really hard for me to not feel jealous. But, I just have to remind myself that I am having my own experiences that are unique to me and I’m still in freaking Europe. I am so blessed to have this opportunity and I will have fun regardless of what others are doing.
Now onto the ugly. I wouldn’t necessarily say that anything is ugly here per se but there have been some things that are not the best. For starters, because Nantes is a city there aren’t a lot of parks. This means that people who have dogs walk them in the city, and these dogs do have to do their business, and their owners usually leave it behind. So, definitely watch your step. Another ‘ugly’ thing is that here in Nantes it is really common for it to rain all week, which does kind of suck some days. Really, though, it isn’t so bad and every day is what you make of it. You can choose to have a bad day because it’s raining or you can decide instead to go dance in it.
And finally, the beautiful. I mean what else can I say, I’M IN FRANCE. I’m here learning a language I’ve loved for seven years now and I’ve met friends for life. As I write this I’m sunbathing in the host family’s house drinking a cappuccino and eating a croissant. Truly, I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else and this entire experience has been so beautiful.
I do want to finish this out by saying that ‘the bad’ and ‘the ugly’ are really not the best way to describe these things at all, it’s just how I decided to frame this blog post.
Mais, profite bien et passe une bonne semaine!