One Month In, Some Hugo, and Lots of New Friends

One month ago today, I boarded the plane that would take me thousands of miles away from everyone and everything I had known. I didn't quite register that fact until about 8:00 this morning when, seated cross-legged with my class in EPS (PE), one of my French friends turned to me and said, "du coup, Julia, t'es arrivée il y a un mois demain, non?" (So, Julia, you arrived a month ago from tomorrow, no?") "Si, t'as raison. Je n'avais pas encore réalisé ça!" (Yes, you're right. I hadn't realized that!) We laughed, turned around, and I proceeded to be absolutely slaughtered in a badminton tournament. It's a good thing that I am such a gifted hiker.

The rest of the school day went by as any other. I learned some new slang, some new words about which I was cautioned "non, Julia, tu peux pas dire ça," (no, Julia, you can't say that), and I struggled through an essay revision session with my French teacher. In my lycée, every Thursday, a handful of students are selected to attend a class called Accompagnement Personnel. Basically, either the math or a French teacher, depending on the week, will give extra exercises and attention to students who need a boost or a different explanation. This time, the French teacher had asked that two people come: myself and one other girl in my class. After math, we found our way to the correct classroom (it was quite a struggle) and slid into two seats near the front of the room. The teacher started with me; as soon as I was seated, she whipped out my attempt at a French paper, on a double feuille (double page - it's a type of paper mainly used for tests), of course, and placed it on my desk.

The paper in question is about "Oh! je fus comme fou...," a poem from Victor Hugo's Les Contemplations, and is the, admittedly sloppy, result of an hour-long French test. Last week, our teacher handed out the poem, which we had never before seen, and asked us to analyze Hugo's use of des figures de style (stylistic devices), le champ lexical (lexical field), and punctuation to demonstrate Hugo's chagrin (grief) and bouleversement (devastation). Allow me to let you in on a little secret: I am fairly certain that whatever my capacity is for the written word in English, it is about a third of that in French. "Oh! je fus comme fou..." is a stunning and nuanced poem, and I am pretty sure that the most insightful thing I managed to write about it was that "I get the vibe that Hugo's daughter, like, might have, like, died, or something." That is not a direct quote, and a bit of an exaggeration, but I was definitely no Shakespeare. Or Molière. As you like it (😉).

In short, my teacher and I spent about thirty minutes picking apart every phrase of my paper. I will paraphrase here, but she expressed that she could tell that I had an "extraordinarily high" level of comprehension, but that she noticed that I "have some difficulties with expressing your interpretation of the concepts." I have no disagreements with that last statement. As for the first, it is extremely likely that she was just being nice.

I have heard tales of exchange students who have had teachers who do very little to push them academically, and I am incredibly grateful that my situation is different. In America, as many of you know, I love reading and writing in English. As I told my French teacher here, I would very much like to learn to maneuver words and ideas in French with the same facility that I am able to in English. If anyone can help me to make that happen, it would be my extremely eloquent French teacher.

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That turned into a far larger digression than was intended. Whoopsies. Let's bring our attention back to the whole one month down, nine to go aspect of this post. As I was saying, the day passed like every other. However, my soul was, for some reason, a little heavy after the morning's realization. When I arrived home (at 14h- early, as it is a Thursday), I dropped my unreasonably heavy bag on the floor and headed upstairs to clean my room before I leave for the weekend. Midway through unpacking my overnight bag from the past weekend's Rotary shenanigans (but, of course, 4-D-less shenanigans. Don't worry, mother), I received a message from a very dear friend asking if I was free to catch up. With the six hour time difference, any time when my friends from home are free to chat and it is not midnight for me is a GREAT time to talk. So, I gingerly placed my bag of adorably tiny toiletries on the ground and FaceTimed my friend. After talking, which was wonderful and so so good for my, now no-longer-heavy, soul, I finished cleaning my room and flopped down on my bed.

And so, I began thinking, lying there and looking at the Alps, about how paradoxical this month has been. It has been the shortest, and longest, month of my life. I am exhausted 90% of the time, but I never want to close my eyes. I miss my friends and family back in the States, but I wouldn't leave where I am now and return home for all of the maple syrup in the state of Vermont. My friend had somehow reminded me, with her beautiful smile and heartwarming laugh, of the reason why I needn't feel worried about sacrificing something significant by spending a year abroad. The reason is this: my friends and family back home are the absolute best. They are truly spectacular, loving, supportive, and one-of-a-kind, and they will still be there, and as wonderful as ever, in nine months when I return.

Boy oh boy am I glad that I picked up that FaceTime when I did, or this evening might have been one of far less productivity and far more snickerdoodle-eating (which I made, with much hand-washing, during yesterday's sick day. Apparently cold-season exists in France too. Grrrrr).

Highlights of the Week(ish): The Rotary Weekend

I had the joy of meeting 42 other inbound exchange students during an integration weekend in a stunning vacation village called Le Pré du Lac, situated just a stone's throw away from the Lac d'Annecy. We hiked, ate, danced, talked, and played bonding games. It is safe to say that we are sufficiently bonded, and I can't wait to see them all again on October 14th!

These posts take a little bit of time, and I apologize for the length of time in between them. Would you prefer that I published fewer longer pieces? More shorter pieces? Something else entirely? I am open to suggestions. Leave a comment if you have an opinion, or you all know how to reach me!

Gros bisous (but from afar, because I am still a little bit snuffly),

Julia