I’m currently studying abroad in Cannes France! It’s been an amazing two weeks. Before reaching Cannes, we stopped in London for two days, which was great. I felt that I made the most out of those two days; I met up with a friend, and met my cousins for the first time. I got to see a lot of London, and I hope to go back soon!
(plane food: British Airways)
Visiting London was nice, but Cannes is AMAZING, very historic, and beautiful. I’m literally right by the Mediterranean sea (french riviera). Everyday there are cruise ships and people relaxing on the beach, It’s truly paradise.
I live with my host mom, who is also amazing, she’s super sweet, and has made me feel right at home. I haven’t felt homesick at all. The house and my room are wonderful. She’s hosted a lot of students from around the world, so she’s a very experienced host; which I could tell when I walked into the house. She had everything a student would need, including wi-fi and the password ready to go :D!!
Pictures of the house
(so my host mom painted these…AMAZING!)
(my room)
The program I’m traveling with is called AIFS, and we’re studying at The College International de Cannes, which is a very tiny school that focuses on teaching french language. Students from around the world come to the school to study french. I’ve meet students from Switzerland, Germany, and Japan, which is very cool, but there aren’t a lot of french students there, so I haven’t made any french friends yet . Also most of the non-american students stay for shorter periods of time, like a few weeks, which stinks because right when you make a friend, they leave.
Thus, my goal is to meet some local cannes folks my age, this will be accomplished by joining the local gym that my host mom goes to (she told me that a lot of young people go there), and checking out classes at the local MJC (which is kind of like a community center…I think lol)
On Saturday, we had a day trip to The Verdon Gorges (a French Canyon), where I went paddle boating down the Sainte Croix lake. After spending a few hours there, we went to a little village of Moustiers Sainte Marie that is very famous for it’s ceramics.
( free climbing in the verdon gorge)
My experience so far has been great, but one thing I realized is that I really need to set an agenda for what I want to accomplish while I’m here. It’s really easy to get caught up in having fun, and forget things that I need to accomplish this semester. This is my last year of college, so I really need to make the most of it. However, I want to make the most of this trip, I want to see Europe, and I hope to visit:
The Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Greece, Spain, Italy, and Switzerland. I’m getting ready to plan those trips.
I want to experience a lot while I’m in Europe, as well as stay on track with my entrepreneurial goals. My dream is to be able to work on my businesses remotely from around the world, so I feel like this is a mini test…can I handle being abroad and staying on my grind?
Being in Cannes and being on my grind has not been as easy as I thought it would be, for instance the huge time difference has made it difficult to schedule a time to meet with my partner via video chat. We’re still working on choosing a set time each week for us to chat. Also it’s difficult to stay focused being in a new country, and in such a beautiful city…I just want to go to the beach all day!
I love that I’m doing a home stay because I feel like it gives me an escape from the buzz of what’s happening on campus, I have my own room/space which has given me the opportunity to clear my head, step away, and get my creative juices flowing. I’ve been asking myself, what is it that I want to learn while i’m here (aside from french of course)? What do I what to take away from this experience?
I have some answers to those questions, but I still need to think about them more in-deptly and jot down a concrete list.
I know that I want to leave this experience with some new ideas, I plan to observe ideas and trends here in France to see what I can bring back to the states.
So that’s pretty much it for now.
A bientot!