Lessons learned

Well, folks those of us on the ISEP program are 1/3 of the way done with our stay here in Chambery. Crazy, huh? What’s the really crazy part about it is that this was the generally “slow” part of the trip. We have things planned for the next two weekends and then the weekend after that is our last one here. I can’t believe that this trip is going so quickly but time flies when you’re being culturally immersed in a new country, I suppose.

Just a warning – this is going to be one of those ‘authentic’ blogs. So if you wanted to read about the fluffy fun things I do every day then you may want to skip to the end. In all honesty this past Monday/Tuesday was not the best for me. Monday night was a bit frustrating because I met my roommate who is French and speaks little English – paired with my little French it was a bit overwhelming. I also got some bad news from home about my dog so that didn’t really soften the blow. Class on Tuesday wasn’t that great either. It’s so hard to know what the professor wants from you when you don’t speak the language. The fact that I was told you didn’t need to know French for this program wasn’t necessarily true. So it just gets to the point where she’s asking me a question that I don’t know how to answer and I get frustrated. C’est la vie.

The class thing on top of the roommate thing was just like the breaking point for me. So I came back and cried on skype to my mom for a bit. It happens. But it got to the point where I knew I needed to just suck it up and get back in the game. So after all that I went downstairs to my friend, Andy’s room where a bunch of us usually have dinner together – which is a great tradition I absolutely love. A few of the guys had gone in on a guitar so we were listening to them play. Music is such a wonderfully magical thing, getting a group of people together to sing songs and just enjoy each other’s company is so comforting. So I was already feeling a lot better by this time. Later that night Andy’s roommate, Germain – who’s French – came back, and was hanging out with us. It was getting late so we had said how we were going to go to bed and Germain was telling us how when he was in the States he was so surprised how the Americans say hello and goodbye to each other. Such a quick affair.

The French, he told us, make it a something special every time they said hello or goodbye to someone. They take the time to say hello and shake hands or kiss cheeks and when he told the reason it was exactly what I needed to hear after my bad day. Tomorrow is a new day with new opportunities but it’s also a day that isn’t necessarily promised. So the French make the best out of every hello and goodbye because you don’t know when you’re going to see someone again. Isn’t that a beautiful idea?

The rest of my week went really well. I think I had mentioned it before but I’m taking things one day at a time, and trying to soak up as much as possible. On Thursday we went to the Chartreuse liquor distillery and cellars. It was really interesting to see and it was pretty good too. They’ve been making Chartreuse before America was even a country…actually with the dates they gave out I think they could have been making Chartreuse before France was even a country.

But to end on a light note, things are getting better. Last night I had a broken conversation with my roommate about tattoos. She has three – one of which is a 5 pointed crown which is amazing – and I was showing her mine. She’s really nice and we’ve been getting along fine which is really reassuring. The people on this trip are amazing, I’m so glad that we all are getting along. Last night four of us went to one of the local bars and just sat there for a few hours talking about everything and anything just taking it all in. It was great. We head out to Mount Blanc next Saturday and I’m really looking forward to that. I’ll be sure to keep you guys posted on my French adventures!

Hope all is well in the States!
Miss & love you all!