Three weeks

.......................................................................Is this real life? Like, is it possible to live in constant surreality? It's only been three weeks, but it feels like months and at the same time it's FLOWN by already. That's scary because I don't want the rest to fly by so quickly! It's a relief to know I have the whole year here but I've learned from the past two years in college that time passes so fast and it's truly the weirdest feeling to look back on the start of something and when you get to the end of it, it's like, wait, did alllllll that really happen? Like freshman year of college, moving into my dorm and meeting all my new friends and going through rush and joining Phi Sig. Or sophomore year when I moved in with one of my best friends (shout out to Kendra Barton! ^^) It's crazy to think about how much can happen in such little time, so I am trying to appreciate every second here because (not to be all depressing) but it will end at some point. I just try not to think about that, I try to think about how this experience is the best thing I've ever done for myself. There was a time when I was afraid to leave Linfield for a year, I thought, maybe a semester will suffice. But I stuck with my gut and I'm so glad I did because as much as I miss everything and everyone at Linfield, I'm happy I have this place to revel in for a year :)

 The three girls I've become friends with here are done at the semester in December. That makes me sad because I will be here the whole year and they're leaving me! haha I hope I will get along with the next group just as well. I can't forget though I'll have two Linfield girls joining me (shout out to Suzi and Julia! :))! I'm really excited to see them and show them around Marseille, which I know they'll come to love as much as I do. 

This past weekend we went to the Luberon, a beautiful region in Provence north of Aix. We went to a couple small villages and even took a little hike in a cory where the rock they were extracting was red and orange, kind of like in Utah or Arizona. It was so beautiful every where we went! We met the other AUCP class in Aix, too. The girls seemed nice, I met two girls that will be coming down to Marseille next semester so that was nice to meet them since I'll soon be spending lots of time with them! haha These girls seemed to try the hardest to get to know us Marseille kids and they also spoke French with us, but most of the girls though were speaking English. Or Franglish. A lot of girls would say a sentence but throw 'like' in the middle."Je veux aller au magasin, like, demain." Hahaha. So funny. It was really weird... In Marseille... NO ONE, not any one of us, speaks English with each other. We respect our language contract which requires us to only speak in French. But besides that, we WANT to speak in French all the time, that's why we're here! That's why our French is getting so much better.... and that's the point. I wonder what their intentions are with coming to France because some of them were talking in English so much it was like they thought they were on vacation. I mean, hell we're in France, it is a vacation. But there are conditions, and most of us came here to fulfill those conditions. It was just weird to here English, after speaking French all the time it sounds so ugly and harsh to the ears!

Side note to anyone who wants to study abroad/travel, for any length of time: If you are afraid to do it because you don't want to leave your friends/boyfriend/girlfriend, STOP. Studying abroad is about you and what the experience will do for you, not your friends or your significant other. It might be hard to leave them for any given amount of time but if they are true friends/s.o.'s, they will support you and be there for you when you get back. We are only young for so long and we are responsible for just ourselves for a short amount of time before we have to put our families first. This is the time for us to be selfish. Like I said in a previous post, you will thank yourself later!! I think my experience is a perfect example, not everyone can be gone for a year but if I can do a year, anyone else can do any other amount of time. You just don't know what it will have in store for you, but it's always good, and that's exciting. I have had the funniest, most fun, crazy adventures with my new friends here, French and American, just like I would at Linfield only different cause I'm in France haha. I have had great conversations with people of all ages who were raised with a different mentality, sometimes I agree and sometimes I learn something new. I have already improved my French (obvi) since I'm speaking it 24/7. I already feel like I've gained a sense of more independence and confidence in myself, in a lot of different ways. And I already felt like a fairly confident and competent person before. This kind of experience just does something to you that you can't replicate any other way.  If it's money that's holding you back, money can always be figured out later. I'm by no means "comfortable" and  I'm always watching what I spend because I'm spending my own money over here. School isn't easy to pay for either. But this, this is worth it all and 958049234098 times more.

Gotta head to school now for a study sesh, my next post will be with pictures and in French and English, and I'll talk all about my amazing weekend a lot more :)

Bises,
Katherine