Well everyone, I have made it back…
Still not quite sure how to feel about it quite honestly.
Let me be perfectly clear here. I
love being able to see all my friends and family and especially being able to
eat American food (aka BBQ, peanut butter, ice and popcorn). But my ideal
situation would be to take all of you with me for a few weeks and go work in
the vines again. That is how much I loved this summer and if I could I would do
it all again the exact same way, no regrets!
I guess I will start it off with my
time as I got on the train until now.
In Lyon, Shannon Higgins, another
Purpan study abroad student, and myself reconnected. This was the train station
where we last saw each other before beginning out internships. Turns out
however it was the last time in a month that Shannon had spoken English!
Shannon’s primary goal for the internship was to practice her language skills
in French and man did she sure get it! She not only was conversational but was
starting to even think in French! Crazy to me! As we were talking on the train
we both realized in the time we were gone, our English had deteriorated! For me
it was due to rarely speaking in full sentences and not using my full range of
vocabulary and for Shannon it was due to not speaking English at all. Even when
we were speaking English she would slip random French words in. This was
especially hilarious, because unless she pointed it out I didn’t even notice!
We got off the train and took a
taxi to the new residence that we were staying in for the night. After checking
into our rooms we immediately began to look for our friends from the program!
After a little searching we found them all and basically it was the most incredible
reunion that I have been to in a long time! A lot of hugs, talking about our
host families and just overall an incredible time to see everyone again.
The next day we gave our final
presentations to the class about our internships for credit and lunch was
arranged for us. After the final presentations, Noel, another one of the
students had one last presentation for us. Earlier in the program, before we
all left for our internships we were given surveys to do a Purpan Superlatives-
As Voted By You. This translates as those things people do at the end of high
school that was like “most likely to succeed” “most likely to get arrested.”
The difference was ours was focused on the study abroad trip and were a little
bit more hilarious. Areas included “Most American”, “Best Butt”, “Fratstar”,
“Sorostitute”, and “Most likely to lost their passport.” I was awarded “Mr.
Congeniality” and “Social Butterfly.”
After this it was time to part ways
and since many of us had flights to catch the next morning a hotel had been
rented to us walking distance from the airport.
A lot of us piled into taxis and made our way after saying our last
goodbyes and got ready for our flights the next day. This included packing our
bags so that way our wine bottles wouldn’t break in our luggage and so they
would be under 50 lbs. Not an easy task I will tell you!
Bright and early the next morning,
3:30 am, bright and early a group of about 7 of us walked to the airport and
kissed our last goodbyes to France! I was on the same flights from Toulouse to
Frankfurt and Frankfurt to Philadelphia as Lauren Moore, another girl on the
trip so we were able to talk to each other in between flights.
Finally I boarded my last plane to
head home to the land of good BBQ, beef and the “Land of Ahhs” Kansas. The guy
I ended up sitting next too was this straight out of college Ford parts dealer
who visited dealerships all across Kansas helping them to know what to improve
about their services end of the business. Basically a consultant to give them
ideas on how to give better oil changes, is how he jokingly described it. What
was funny was that when I told him I had been out of the country for 2 months
now he laughed and asked if my family would be there holding a sign. I said I
sure hope not since that would be embarrassing! This was one of the last things
I said to him as we were getting off the plane.
And what do you know… My
incredible, loving, awesome family was there for me…. Holding a sign to welcome
me home! As embarrassing and geeky as it sounds, I loved it! Even though I was
embarrassed it is exactly the kind of homecoming I wanted and let me know that
I was truly home, with a family that was not afraid to embarrass me!
We exited the airport and as soon
as I sat down, I was handed a bowl of popcorn and a jar of peanut butter. Thank
the lord for family! Not only that but we headed straight towards some good ol’
KC BBQ! As good as the French are at cooking, nothing beats a rack of ribs or
succulent brisket that has been prepared KC style with that thick spicy sauce
that everyone loves!
Like I had mentioned earlier I had
some trouble with my English since I wasn’t speaking too often in my time at my
internship. Having conversations with my parents soon to be hilarious for the
whole family since I would forget words or need help at times on how a sentence
was worded. This still to me is crazy
and I can’t believe that I had that issue. My mom said that she could even tell
in my blog how the grammar of my sentences had become much more broken in my
time among the vines.
Since my time back I am pleased to
say that I have had all the foods I was absolutely craving since I had left for
Europe! Got my sno-cone fix from the Douglas Co. Fair. Had Chinese food with my
parents when I was helping Dad move some stuff for Rylan’s house in Fort Scott.
Ate Tex-Mex when I was with my mom and brother shopping for a new computer for
Rylan. And even got some fried chicken and mashed potatoes in with Granny for
lunch one day.
My time in France was something
that I know I will keep with me for a lifetime. The memories made here and the
experiences I have had are unlike any other that I will get to have at any
other point in my entire life. For that, I just wanted to say Thank You to the
incredible people who made it happen.
Mom and Dad- first and foremost I
just wanted to say Thank You for allowing me to travel outside of the country
and for being secure with knowing that even though you didn’t know where I
always was, you knew that I could be trusted to be responsible. Thank you for
putting up with me getting you late information or not always knowing the
details you need to know. Thank you for instilling me a sense of adventure and
a willingness to try new things. Without both of these traits, studying abroad
wouldn’t have been very fun and to be quite honest I probably wouldn’t have
even gone. This trip was once in a lifetime and I could not have had it happen
without you both
Ry and Mo- thank you for giving me
something to want to come home to. Having my time abroad is great and all but
spending time with siblings and a family that I know is always going to be
there for me and laugh with and at me is something that I will always treasure.
Study Abroad Crew- to say that you
helped make this experience one to remember would be an understatement. It is
you all who made this experience even possible, because lets be honest without
each and everyone one of you on this trip, it could have been entirely
different. I cannot thank you enough for being such kind, genuine, open people
and for always being willing to try new things with me, even if it looked a
little scary at first. Thanks for being awesome and I know that when our lives
cross again, I will be able to look back with fond memories on the times we
had. And hey, if you ever find yourself in the Sunflower State, don’t hesitate
to let me know!
Fevre Family- Even though your name
is hard for me to pronounce, just as all “r” words in French are, I cannot
thank you enough for housing me for the full month in my time in Fontenay. You
blessed me with so many incredible experiences that I still can’t believe how
much I have learned and done in the past month. Thank you for trusting me to work
hard and learn from my mistakes. I hope that I get to come back soon and visit,
hopefully even work if possible during harvest! Thank you again for being my
family while abroad and I cannot wait to see hear about all the exciting things
going on for you! If you are ever in Kansas don’t hesitate to say hello!
French students and friends- Wow! I
cannot say thank you enough for welcoming me and all of us study abroad
students into your country with such open arms! Part of my whole experience has
been due to you all being such incredible people and being willing to talk and
learn about us. Seriously, you all cared so much to get to know us and were so
willing to share about your culture! Thank you for being college kids just like
us and for showing me that people are people and kids are kids no matter where
we go! I hope that we run into each other soon and that we stay in touch!
Au revoir France! I hope we meet
again soon and I cannot thank you enough for all that you have given me!
“Don’t cry because it’s over. Smile
because it happened.”- Dr. Seuss
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