At the start of this semester in January, I remember feeling nervous. This was the longest time I have ever been away from home. I was going to be in a new country at a new school with a lot of new people. So many unknowns! I was a little worried about how my trip was going to go.
Luckily, all my worries were not necessary. I enjoyed exploring my host city of Grenoble, France. One of my favorite parts was traveling to different parts of the country like Nice and Dijon during a few weekends. My experiences at my French university helped me work on my French speaking so that I could talk more with locals and other students. Also, I met so many new friends this semester! Meeting so many nice and welcoming people was the best part of my trip. Living in the student dorms, I was able to meet students not only from France but all over the world. I’ve made friends that will last so much longer than this semester.
While there have been so many good things about my time abroad, there were some challenges, too. Learning a new language is hard and it takes a lot of patience and a sense of humor. There was also some cultural differences that I had to adjust to, like later meal times and longer classes in France. These were small things that I had to get used to.
