COLUMN: There's no going home for the holidays
I’ve known for a while that being abroad for an entire school year means missing important and valued events with family and friends.
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I’ve known for a while that being abroad for an entire school year means missing important and valued events with family and friends.
I got back from a chilly vacation in central Europe, froze for a week in Aix-en-Provence, France, because winter decided to suddenly show up, and then, because I’m a masochist, I went to Norway for the weekend.
The second part of my weeklong adventure outside France began and ended in Austria, the German-speaking neighbor of the Czech Republic where I had just spent the last few days.
Writing on the train to Salzburg, Austria, and reflecting on the three days I spent in Prague is a little bit of a surreal experience because of how much has happened in such a short time and how positive my experience was there.
After multiple weekends in a row of traveling around the country combined with university classes and impending exams, it was a relief to take it easy the past couple of days.
I did the one thing I said I wouldn’t do during my study abroad this weekend: visit somewhere I had already been.
I may have a distinct opinion on what the French do and don’t succeed at, but there’s no denying they know wine and how to make it.
“What do you hate about Aix?”
Coming from a huge country like the United States, my mind automatically, and mistakenly, considers France a small country. Consequently, each time we plan a trip inside of France, even in the same region of southern France, I’m shocked that it’s a five-, six- or seven-hour journey.
Even though I’m halfway across the world, I can’t help but draw parallels between my life in Bloomington and my new life in Aix-en-Provence, France.
In the short time I’ve been abroad, a major lesson I’ve learned is to take the good with the bad.
As another weekend in Aix-en-Provence, rolled around, another opportunity to travel this beautiful country came my way.
My second weekend in France, and the first time since arriving here that I truly had no obligations, called for a little bit of celebration. That obviously meant two friends and I planned a trip to the beach. When in the south of France, eh?
In just five short days since arriving in France, I’ve gone from living out of a suitcase in a hotel room to tanning poolside in my new homestay.
On the drive to the airport, I felt the first hint of doubt about leaving my friends and family to spend 10 months in France.
About 16 weeks ago, I wrote my first column on making more time to read this semester.
If you know me, you know my obsession with all things “Pride & Prejudice,” whether it is the book, the movie adaptations or the BBC mini-series.
It’s no secret that the literature industry has been taken over by the Internet bug that has affected so many already.
When I was about 80 percent through “The Nest” by Cynthia D’Aprix Sweeney and hadn’t read a single reference to birds, I was a little disappointed.
For the past few semesters, I’ve taken on the daunting yet exciting task of literature courses.