“A visitor cries twice in France: once on his arrival, and
once at his departure.”
If you had told me on January 27 that I would be crying as I
left Nice, I would have laughed in your face.
Despite my posts about all the happiness that comes with abroad,
there have also been some hardships. I won’t deny that I was homesick a lot of
the time, or when I first got to France that thought I would be on my way back
to the US within a matter of days.
Yet here I am, more than four months later. I just got back
from a dinner with friends here, some who I knew before, others who were just
strangers. My roommate was one of those strangers- we cried together on the
first night about wanting to be home. Now, she’s one of my best friends. We’ve
grown so close that I forget that we only met on our flight here.
This post is difficult to write because there are so many
emotions. I’m beyond thrilled to return to see everyone, but I’m so sad that I
have to go. I’m ready to be home, but I’m not ready for this to be over.
Today, my roommate and I ventured through Nice to the
markets, down the promenade, and back to our practically empty apartment. It
couldn’t have been a more perfect day. The weather was gorgeous and everything
about it was amazing.
Afterwards, we went to a café down the street that we eat at
all the time for lunch. We always get a quinoa salad to go. So today we walked
in and the man who works there already knew our order. I told him that it was
our last day in Nice, and we talked about our stay and how sad it was that we
were leaving.
When we left, we found two surprise desserts in the bottom
of our bag. I went back and thanked him, and he just gave me a wink and a
smile. And that was exactly how I was picturing my last day in Nice.
I guess it hasn’t quite hit me yet, and I don’t know if it
will until I’m back in the US for a week and realize I won’t be coming back
here. My experience here has been unbelievable. I traveled to eight different
countries, dozens of cities and have been on 22 flights these past four months.
As cliché as it is, I know I’ve grown up so much here.
The weirdest thing for me is that “studying abroad” is over.
This is something that I’ve known I was going to do for so long, and all of a
sudden it has ended. People always say that the best four years of your life
are in college, and the best semester is when you study abroad. It’s weird to
think that it is over.
I knew I would fall in love with France. I knew I would
start to find my place and figure things out eventually. I knew I’d meet a
people who would share this experience with me forever. I didn’t know that I
would consider Nice my home.
Next time I’m back in France, it will be for only a visit.
When I’m older, I’ll tell people that I lived in France for half a year of
college. And despite all the hardships, the tears, the homesickness and the
struggles, I wouldn’t trade this experience for anything.
For those of you who have stuck with me since the beginning,
thanks for keeping up with this little blog of mine. I’ve loved sharing all of
my experiences with you and I hope you enjoyed reading.
Well, I’m homeward bound now, so I guess this is it! I have
a list of “Abroad Advice” that I’ll post sometime soon for those of you
studying abroad in the future!
I love you, France.
Until we meet again,
A
