Around the World...and then some

A Return to Normalcy

After my first week in Poitiers, I remarked that it felt like the first week of high school. Things went smoothly and, overall, seemed to make sense. That feeling has really continued throughout my whole first month here.

I don't know if it's because I spent all of last semester in Moscow, experiencing a life so completely different from anything I had ever known. I don't know if it has to do with the size of Poitiers - in general it feels much more comfortable and manageable because, in my life, I've always been used to smaller cities. I don't know if it is because of the familiar feeling of a college campus where I recognize people as I walk through the halls and spend my lunchtimes in a noisy, crazy cafeteria that looks nothing like Proctor or Ross, but reminds me of both. The truth is, everything here is different. I mean, it's France for goodness sake! People walk around with a long baguette in their hand; you hear the words "Oh la la" at least twice a day, and when we take a break during a class, the majority of the class goes outside to smoke a cigarette. France couldn't be more, well, French. But at the same time, life has gone on at a very familiar beat. I still spend days in class and nights procrastinating from doing work. I still hang out with friends whenever I get the chance (mostly American ones... we're still working on those French friends). One thing that has really struck me during this round of study abroad is the fact that it may be study abroad, but it's still life. I still get bored; I still have to find dinner every night. Study abroad is not just one waltz under the Eiffel Tower after another. It's your life, picked up and moved to completely different surroundings. And while those different surroundings affect you and change you and make you think more than anything ever has before in your life, you're still walking through every minute of every day, living it.

I don't mean this to be a good or bad judgment on France. I've just realized that my ideal "living abroad in France" situation always ignored the fact that I actually had to live it. Life is still life, even with the baguettes.

posted by Becky @ 12:05 PM