Well my fellow readers, I have crossed the finish line! I am officially DONE with school here in France. Byebye FAC! I won't miss you at all! I must say, the ending after my last exam yesterday was bittersweet... I was so ecstatic that I went to the grocery store and got a celebratory box of good old American pepperidge farm, double chocolate chunk cookies, along with a bottle of tequila for tequila Friday. However, as soon as I got home I got a message from my friend who found out the grades for our history class that we all despised. All of us, of course, failed... Ok, so we didn't fail, but two of us got D's (5/20 on the French system) and the other two got 6/20. Just like that, my celebratory box of American cookies & bottle of tequila turned into a food/alcohol binge moment of "F*** France". I must say though, after that, it made me all the more happier to be done here at the Fac.
School here was one of the only things I disliked about this country. The 3-4 hour long classes once a week, professors who are unavailable and get pissed at you when you email them (if you're even lucky enough that the professors gave it to you in the first place), and professors who don't give a crap whether or not you succeed! I cannot wait to get back to the States and resume my American education. If there's one thing I've learned from this, it's how much I appreciate what I have back home.
My whole entire life (ok, since I was 10!) I have lived & breathed French. I've wanted nothing more than to move to France, become fluent in the language, marry a French person, and "become" French! Since being here, I've learned that I'm proud to be an American. Ok, not proud to be an American in the sense that I feel the need to wave my American flag around everywhere and sing that god awful, cheesy "And I'm proooud to be an American, where at least I know I'm freeee!" song, but I learned that there are different ways to be proud of your country. For example, in France, you'll almost never see a French flag flying around except at government buildings. The other day (and I still haven't figured out the reason why) the French flags were hanging up and flying all around the city. My reaction was: WTF? And then my friend texted me and asked me: "Is it a French holiday today?", and my response was: "No, but I'm guessing you're referring to the flags all over the place, right?". Instead, the French are patriotic in the sense that they take pride in things like their cuisine. They are proud of their 350 or so different kinds of cheese, their wine, and, of course, their bread! I don't know what I am going to do without my baguette next year. It is going to be painful...
But, alas, all good things must come to an end, right? I have only 8 more days left in Aix. Looking at the bordel that is my chambre, I don't know how I am going to pack this all up into just 2 suitcases! How did I obtain so much stuff since being here!?!? Good thing there is a Red Cross donation center here, I can get rid of some of these clothes that are now two, even THREE sizes to big for me! Yes, another great thing about French cuisine! So much better for you than American cuisine. It's almost paradoxical when you think about how much bread, cheese, wine, and butter these people consume. But regardless how much of these things I have consumed here, I have still managed to lose almost 40 pounds! I just have to make sure I can keep that off when I get back...
In the meantime, I plan on enjoying these things as much as possible while soaking up the beautiful, provençal sunlight. I am going to miss this place. But at least I know that anytime I am having a bad day, I have these wonderful memories and this wondeful place to go escape to in my head.
The Aix chapter may be coming to an end, but another chapter is just beginning. France has shaped me into a whole new person (mentally AND physically!) and I can't wait to come back to the States and share it with everyone else!
Peace,
"Doog"
Wonderful post hun! I can't wait to see you <3
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