Author: rschlueb@rollins.edu

Having been home for two weeks now, I’m surprised by how easily I fit back into my old routine. I expected the lack of my French lifestyle to hit me like a sack of bricks, leaving me in a state of disappointment regarding American food and a number of our over-blown customs. But I didn’t….

There are five girls I’ve hung out with this whole time in Aix. They are all wildly different and wildly fascinating to listen to. I spend different parts of my day with these remarkable women and I’m learning more and more about them at every instance. Part of the dream of studying abroad is meeting…

This coming Friday, I will leave for my third weekend trip to Paris. The first trip I took was in October, as part of a field trip with my European City in Lit and Film class. We visited the Bonne Marche department store, Gallery Lafayette, Musee D’Orsay, and the Marais District of Paris, where we…

This weekend, I was blessed enough to have my parents and brother fly to Paris to visit me and take me to Disneyland Paris. It was such a lovely time – both my family and the park gave me little snippets of home to cherish with me in my last few weeks as a French-American…

I am thankful for the world of opportunity that I’ve been given. I am thankful for the people I’ve met and the history I’ve seen. I am thankful for home, too. France, obviously, does not do Thanksgiving. The fact that the IAU tried was lovely – we ate strange turkey (we think?) and stuffing and…

I’m at the halfway point in the semester where I’m feeling a lot of things about my abroad trip. Aix has become a home to me – not to the same extent as my home home, but enough of a home where I can crave my bed even whilst gallivanting around metropolitan Scotland. I’m happy to…

Happy Election Day! I’m over in France, terrified about the state of the world in the next twelve hours, as is every other study abroad student at my school. What a way to celebrate. Let’s not think about that. In other news, I have just returned from Fall Break, a ten day pause in life…

I’ve been here for over a month now. I still feel like a guest in France’s home, but Aix-en-Provence is definitely settling into my bones. I require real French cheese at least once a day. I’m sad when the outdoor markets aren’t open. I’ve also developed an addiction to madelines, some sort of God-sent muffin-cookie…

It’s bizarre to think I’ve only been in Aix for a little over a week. Both my housemate and I agree that in spite of our unwavering awe with being here, we feel as though we’ve been here for ages. I’ve got the walk through Cours Mirabeau down. I know the general suggestion-rule to stay…

Welp. Here I am. Not in France yet, but closer than I’ve ever been before. I’m sitting in London Heathrow, waiting for the afternoon to arrive so I can board a plane to Marseille, a city a half-hour from Aix. London Heathrow is a familiar yet unfamiliar void, filled to capacity with crowds and shops…