Going to France will be one of my most prized memories. It wasn’t always easy, but the skills and knowledge I have gained made every moment worth it. I have come back more confident, relaxed and mature than ever. It’s priceless- what I’ve learnt about not just another culture, but about myself as well. These past three months have been both the best and worst of my life. Being away from one life and starting another is such an amazing feeling. I could suddenly see everything from a different perspective, and it opened my eyes to things that I never would have otherwise had the chance to see. Overall, I cannot find one regret that would have made me want to spend those three months any other way. I am so thankfull to CERE, France and my host family for making my exchange the best it could have possibly been. I would do it again any day.
Bisous
La France, c’était une expérience vraiment incroyable!
Pas seulement pour les raisons évident, comme pour améliorer mon français, faire des amis en France, explorée la France etc, mais aussi pour découvrir un peu plus sur moi même! Je trouve que je sais beaucoup plus maintenant de ce que j’aime et qui m’intéresse dans la vie.
C’est vrai que ce n’était pas tous toujours facile et super amusante, il y avait les différences culturels d’adaptée a et les différences de les différents style de vie, mais c’était pour ça que c’était si intéressante! J’étais vraiment dans mon élément avec la culture française; l’art, les vêtements, les gens, c’était vraiment tous que j’identifier avec, alors c’était vraiment géniale d’exploré! En Paris, j’ai pleurée en voir toutes les bâtiments parce qu’ils étaient tous si jolie- je pleurée de joie!
Je suis encore (et j’ai l’intention de continuer pour toujours!) en contacte avec tous mes ami(e)s française, ils et elles étaient tous super gentille avec moi et j’ai beaucoup rigolé avec eux!
Je SAIS que je retournerai en France bientôt! Je suis si heureuse d’avoir faire l’échange et j’espère de faire quelque chose comme ceci dans le futur.
Is that long enough? I could go on forever but I’ll save it for at the meeting! Would you like me to bring photos of my time there for the meeting?
Thanks!
To those of you who want to participate in the three month CERE exchange next year,
Don’t panic. It’s amazing, just remember:
1. Yes. It will be different.
2. Avoid judgment! Take everything in and enjoy the amazing experience.
3. DON’T BE SHY! It wastes too much time! Put yourself out there, everyone is super nice and they all want to meet the new foreigner 🙂 Good luck and have a blast!
Thank you for all of your organization. It was truly the trip of a lifetime for our daughter. She was so warmly welcomed and embraced into the family in Marseille. We had pictures sent to us every day with details of what activities the kids were up to. Elizabeth was fortunate to have been on the Cote d’Azur where she swam, caved, scuba dove, cliff dove and had a lot of hikes around their property. However for me as her mom, the very best part was that the entire family (grandparents, aunts, uncles and all the cousins) lived within walking distance and they all embraced her into their family. She interacted with everyone and had many opportunities to get to know the whole family. One of the grandmothers bought her souvenirs and a little cousin cried on their last evening together before the trip home. Liz wrote down in a journal all of the new foods she sampled and every new word and expression she heard. She felt great when English words were becoming harder to retrieve ! I received a note from the mom saying that the family is a little worried about their son as his English is not at all at the same level as our daughter’s French. It’s always nice to hear that the years spent in Immersion actually do pay off.Again, on behalf of myself, husband and our daughter Elizabeth, I want to thank you all for your awesome organization and having made this trip so easy because we understand that it would have been a huge endeavor to have made it look so flawless! Congratulations to all of you.
Very sincerely,
