Whelp. Here is the start of an
adventure. The start to a new chapter and I could not be more excited.
For those of you who may not know,
my name is Nathan Laudan and this summer I will be going to Toulouse, France to
study abroad for 8 weeks! After that I hope to use this account if I find some
random piece of inspiration I feel like could be shared in a context that needs
more effort than just a tweet or Facebook post. Also a huge thanks to everyone who responded to my Facebook post and tweet about blog names. They were all great but thanks to Heidi Hurtig for her inspiration for the blog title.
So where to begin…
Last summer I got the chance to
live with one of my role models and people who I aspire to be like when I
become older (key here, not grown up, just older. I don’t plan on “growing”
up). Annarose had gone on a summer study abroad after her freshman year at
K-State. I also had attended a study abroad trip during my freshman year going
to China as a part of ILSSO (International Leadership Seminar for State
Officers). This is a program offered through the National FFA Organization for
State Officers and Past State Officers that allow them to experience
agriculture through an international perspective. It was this trip that sparked
my interest to study abroad again. This time however I knew I wanted to go
somewhere for a much more extended stay and get a more full immersion into the
culture there.
After listening to Annarose rant and rave about her
experience I knew that this experience was for me. For Rosie, myself and many other College of
Agriculture students the program is called Purpan. Reason being is that I will
be in Toulouse, France studying at the Ecole d'Ingénieurs de PURPAN.
A little background on
the program, it is 8-weeks long (woooooooooooo!!!!!!), 4-weeks at the
university and 4-weeks living with a host family and doing an “internship”.
There are two tracks to this program and I have chosen the “Viticulture &
Enology” track, which hopefully means working on a vineyard for the
“internship” portion of my study abroad experience. This part has not yet been
confirmed but I do know that I will be working on some sort of farm/production
agriculture background.
I cannot tell you how excited I am to begin this
journey and new chapter to my life and share with you all the experiences I
have while over in France. Some quick notes for all the readers of this blog. I
like food… A LOT! So if there is an unnatural, odd, strange amount of time
dedicated to the food that I get to try over in France, please do not be
alarmed. I find delight in some quirky things, which I think lend itself to you, as a reader, getting the true LAUDan(d) CLEAR experience while I am across the
pond. I have never really done a blog just about life, things, experiences in
general so this will be a new experience for me and we will be learning
together.
I am excited for this journey and I cannot say thank you
enough to Annarose, my on-call packing expert and guide, my parents, thank you
for your willingness to allow your son to try new things and inevitably learn
life’s lessons on my own, and to all my incredible friends and family, thanks
for being excited for me even when I get nervous about not being able to speak
a lick of French.
Another note, my goal is to try and end every blog
post with a quote or maybe multiple. Please note that this quote(s) may or may
not be relevant to the content of the post and may be just one (or five) that I
am feeling like at the moment.
“The proper function of man is to live, not to exist. I
shall not waste my days in trying to prolong them. I shall use my time.”- Jack
London
“I propose we add a new day to the week and call it
“Someday”. Just think of all the awesome stuff that would happen on it.”-
Robbie Tinker
“Those who live in equal terror and wonder of the world are
the ones who taste it sweetest.”- Ellen Collingwood
