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Why did I study abroad?

French has long been my favorite subject at school. When I was 15, my French teacher took interested students on a trip to France and my parents thought that broadening my horizons was important enough that they helped me pay for it. We had a short family stay, then toured around the country in a bus for two weeks. When I was a senior in high school, I decided that I enjoyed French enough that would major in it in college.

So I asked my French teacher how to look for a college with a good French program. The big answer that I got was that they were all pretty similar in terms of classroom-learning, but the best way to learn French would be by going there. So my main concern in choosing a college was Do they have a study abroad program? Most do, but some are more encouraging than others. Albion seemed to have a good, established one, with their own program in France. And I liked Albion. So there I went.

My freshman year, we went on a 10-day trip to France with my first-year seminar, which only made me want to study abroad more.

Why France?

The obvious answer would be "I’m a French major, duh...." But there are a wealth of French-speaking countries in the world, ya know. Well, Albion didn’t have any programs there. (Not true: they have one in Sénégal, but I think I didn't know about it). I picked France because they speak French there, Albion had programs there, and because I liked it when I visited in ‘96. They don’t push the Sénégal program as much as they should. I had actually thought about doing only a semester in France and another semester in England or Scotland, since I was more interested in the UK than France. Silly girl.

Why Grenoble?

I don't like Paris, which was my only other option in France. I don't dislike Paris, but I’m not a big-city kind of gal and besides - it's expensive. Albion's Paris program is for internships, too, and I wanted a more academic atmosphere. I'd come to Grenoble with the freshman seminar and didn't think much of it, but I figured I'd survive. I think I must not have been looking up, because there are hellalovely mountains around.

Why did I stay with a host family?

Albion made me. That's the only reason. I'd had negative to mediocre host-family experiences in the past and was scared about doing it again. But I'm incredibly glad Albion made me, because I made some great friends by doing so, and they really do feel like a second family. Also, living with a host family is excellent when you're in a foreign language atmosphere because you pick up on the language a lot better. At the CUEF, you're with students from all over the world - except France. So this was my opportunity to meet French people and hear French as it's normally spoken.

Why for a whole year?

Once again, that would be Isabelle's (my teacher from high school) influence. She said that doing a semester almost wasn't worth it and that I would regret it if I didn't go for the full year. Which I’m sure I would have. Most of the friends I've talked to who only did a semester regretted not staying. Grenoble was cheaper than Albion tuition, so I was actually making money with my generous lunch money and reimbursements. So cost wasn't really an issue. And since I have only one major and had only one requirement left to fill (damn you, Gender credit!), there was nothing to hold me back academically. It's one of the last experiences like this one could have - after graduation, you have to organize your own trips and could never actually live temporarily and study in another culture. The only thing that might have held me back is that it's sort of depressing to be away when you friends graduate (or get married). And it's a bit of a downer when all of your friends are off-campus, gallivanting around the world and sending you postcards first semester, but then second semester, they're all back together and having adventures without you. But what kind of adventures were they having? Were they anything like being hit on by Americans who think you’re French? Staying in a hostel inside the walls of the medieval city of Carcassonne? Setting up an Easter egg hunt on the grounds of a converted abbey? No, they were trudging to Baldwin in the snowy Michigan February while I was at the Pont du Gard with my sleeves rolled up. Ha ha!

What did I get out of it?

I am not the same person who left the United States a year and a half ago. Being in a foreign culture with not a lot to do, I was very introspective. Which I've always been. But for some reason, it worked. I definitely came out of my shell, which I think comes from thinking in France, 'Why the hell couldn’t I order pizza myself? At least the pizza man speaks English. Stop being such a wimp.' I became more comfortable with the language and the people, and came to love France more than I'd previously loved the UK. I made friends - both in my host family and in my classes. I had a lot of amazing experiences I never would have had here. I decided I didn't want to be a librarian - I still don't know what I did want to do - but that isn't that. I became more comfortable and confident of myself.

It all sounds clichéd but it really did change me, and if you have the opportunity, you should do it.

srah - Thursday, 20 December 2001 - 10:26 AM
Tags: france, french, grenoble, host family, my favorite posts, study abroad

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