Bonjour!
Today marks the day of one giant step closer to a dream come true. When I woke up I was super excited but at the same time nervous. I had jitters about what we were going to do, how many people were going to be there, being in a place where I knew absolutely no one, and the list goes on. Then I began to think to myself “Why am I nervous?” This is the easy part. Everyone is still speaking English. After going back to a more excited state of mind I got in my car and drove to meet up with another AFS exchange student who will be studying in Switzerland for a full year and an exchange student from Germany who was going to the same place for a departure back home meeting. Upon our arrival we meet up with the other students who were going to be abroad with AFS. To my surprise, including me there were only five of us. Two girls who were going for three weeks this summer, a boy for 2 months this summer and then the girl going to Switzerland. The first activity in which we did made everyone feel a little uncomfortable. We had to stand facing our partner with the tips of our toes touching. Then we asked each other questions such as where we were going and what we were most excited about. Then when we got back into a group we had to say all of our partners answers to the rest of the group. Standing toe to toe was definitely not something I would recommend when talking to people on an everyday basis, but it did teach us a lot about situations we will encounter abroad. When abroad we will be put in awkward conversations, meet new people where we have to remember their name, mess up on the language and many more situations like these. Then we got a huge packet of a ton on information regarding what to do in different situations, how to prepare for exchange, etc. After starting to tackle this packet we got a break for lunch. During this lunch break our instructors at the orientation asked us to ask what advice the exchange students in America wish they had when coming here and what their advice was to us. One piece of advice that I received, on the less serious note, was that I should tell everyone I am Canadian, because all Europeans love Canadians. I definitely do not think that I will tell people this while abroad but he advice will definitely be remembered. After finishing our lunch we all gathered back to finish the packet. We also took a quiz on the country in which we were going to and I found that I knew a lot more about France than I thought but I still need to look up a lot before arriving there. After the six hour orientation we rushed back home because I had prom that night. Just thinking about already finishing the first of three orientations before I meet my host family makes this experience feel less like a dream and is quickly coming my reality. In March when I got accepted to go to France and received my host family there were six months before my intended departure. Those six months felt like they would never be over and that my departure felt way too far away. After this orientation I quickly came to realize that those six months turned into four and soon to come I would be stepping on a plane to start a life I only imagined.
à bientôt
xoxo Gina