A Whole New World in France

My first day in Carcassonne for my study abroad program in France was great. I was greeted from the train by a friend of my host mother who is really sweet and speaks English (which is a bit of a relief in case anything serious happens I can just ask her).

My host mother is very kind, and so far I have been greeted with dinner and an amazing outdoor party with Spanish music. I met my host sister, Lanna, as well. She was shy at the beginning, but I brought paper and a pencil so we could communicate with little French and by drawing pictures.

Carcassonne is a really cool city, with a giant, historic wall around the old city, although now people live outside of the wall. An interesting fact about the walled city is that it was the inspiration for Disneyland and Disneyworld in the United States. Inside there are a lot of touristy things to do. A lot of food, souveniers, and shopping.

One thing that is interesting, is that I have a friend Tobias from Germany who has come to France and he has told me he has a friend who is also living in Carcassonne like myself. When I arrived at the train station his friend in Carcassonne and host family pick me up because they are friends of my host mother (small world!) and I think we may also be in the same classes.

I have to say that I am a bit scared of going to school and not speaking a lot of French, but the most important thing is confidence. I know this but it is still nerve-racking all the same.

Something that I really enjoy is having a lot of siblings. At my home in Canada I have five siblings and here in France I have two in my host family, but also two other exchange students from Mexico and Germany, they are also my brothers. We spend so much time together and can understand things a bit differently than most so it is special to share experiences with them.

School starts in a couple days and I have no clue what classes I take so…. wish me luck!