I’m in Amsterdam now, and the past few days have been a whirlwind of packing up and saying my goodbyes.
It started last Thursday at my Each One, Teach One meeting. It was my last week, so leaving was actually pretty sad. It’s become one of the highlights of my week. I’ve met some really great people there, and I’ll definitely miss them all. Over the course of the next few days and exams, I said goodbye to most of my classmates, too. I guess I just wasn’t expecting it to actually be sad.
The worst was saying goodbye to my host family. Though I’ll be back for weekend later this month, Friday was my official last day with them. They had an incredible going away party for me, and that’s when it finally hit that I’m leaving. Sophie made an enormous Indian feast all from scratch. There were 8 of us there, and despite the crowd and the intense conversation, I felt so comfortable being there with them, almost like I was there with my own family and friends. After months of awkward situations and not knowing what to say, I felt like it was my reward for a semester of hard work. John (Sophie’s boyfriend), Jason (his son), and Fabian (Chloe’s boyfriend) were all playing guitar and everyone was singing, dancing, laughing and having a great time.
Despite the many challenges that come along with studying abroad, It’s been a great semester. I’ve been so looking forward to my own bed, my own room, and just having my own space back, that I keep forgetting all the wonderful things about my day to day life in Nice.
Back a couple months ago I made a list of things I missed from America. Now, a list of things I know I will miss from Nice:
Dinners with my host family- You just can’t beat the home cooked meals every night. I’m convinced that it’s the hours we spent around the dinner table that improved my French skills the most. The guitar sessions afterwards were also one of the highlights of the semester.
The rock beach-Despite the fact that the sun hates me, I really do love hanging out on the beach in Nice. The fact that it’s rock and not sand makes it so much easier to stop off and lay down for an hour without getting disgustingly sandy. I’ve never lived 2 minutes away from any body of water, let alone the electric blue Mediterranean.
Shops being closed on Sundays- Though initially (and still sometimes) frustrating, I love the idea of there being one day each week where almost no one has to work and they can spend the day relaxing with family, friends, or just doing their own thing. Growing up where almost everything (Except Chick-fil-a) is open almost every day, it took some getting used to. Now I’m just not sure if it’s worth it. Anything you’d need in an emergency is accessible. Everything else can wait a day, can’t it?
Cheese and Nutella are cheap- Enough said.
The street market- I love all the fresh produce, and walking through the flower market at the end is amazing. It’s one of the few places in Nice where people will actually always speak French to me. Restaurants and other businesses typically revert to English, despite the fact that I always initiate conversation in French.
The coins here that actually amount to something- Due to the one and two euro coins, pocket change here is actually valuable.
Speaking French- In case it comes as a shock to you all, I actually love the French language. It’s been a real challenge to communicate solely in French (except for with my American friends), but when I’m with only English speakers I really miss mixing the two languages. Using French in the classroom is just not the same.
More to come on Amsterdam, Geneva, Copenhagen, and Barcelona, as well as my last weekend in Nice, and my return to the USA on June 20th!
