Life without France...sort of.

The month of May was a little crazy. It's safe to say I've really made the most of the month, with mini-holidays to the south of England, festivals, seeing friends and family.

I've really enjoyed catching up with so many different people! It's fantastic to hear how their year has been and to try and settle back into the crazy place we call home!

My grandad has recently told me that I probably will always be at home in my house, no-matter how far I go, but that I've become too foreign for England - but not French enough for France. This really made me consider that being so imbedded in French families and their life styles is bound to affect the way I now see the world, so I guess I'm part of two cultural spheres now - kinda cool really.  They say you should never forget your roots however, and I certainly never will.

After getting used to going back to the pub and going to bars with friends, sunny Bloxwich was at 25 degrees and feeling fine! Summer has recently been up and down with the weather, but the perfect time to catch up with old friends, as well as new ones! 




The 'reverse-culture shock', as they call it, was finally less of a thing towards the end of May, with less French words creeping into my vocabulary...just in time to go back to France!

France was as lovely as always and I have to say a huge thank you to Caro and her family for putting me up again - merci ma deuxième famille! I had an absolute blast of a time and I am a firm believer in photos speaking louder than words so....

                                         

 

  I then took the last day to spend at my tutee's house, where we went on a 2 hour bike ride and ventured into the biggest park ever... it was very pretty

My ten days in France ended with my tutee coming to stay in England for the last ten days of June, so it's safe to say, June was extremely French.

 A trip to Cadbury World is never a bad idea..especially when it's basically on our doorsteps! We spent the week showing Ninon our "British" culture as it were, showing her of course, all the major sights to see in Bloxwich, Birmingham and then a trip to Liverpool!

Possibly the most exhausted I'd ever been after ten days! I think what I had forgot, was that my brain liked to speak either French, or English all in one go, and not both at the same time! It was a really good test of what my year abroad had given me! 

The first weekend in July lead to a camping trip to a free music festival - Godiva and now we are approaching MID July...where has the time gone? So the million dollar question is what am I up to now.

Now there's a question... The research has already began in depth into two difficult, yet rewarding, French papers for Master's applications and for next year. I really didn't want to be working on finals as well as my future applications too much at the same time, so the pressure will hopefully be eased. Scarily it is 12 months this month that I will be graduating next year, so I'm really pushing to read as much French and educate myself as much as possible. The future is French. In between this, its about making up for lost time, seeing family, friends and planning trips up and down the country...no time to stop!

Until next time :D

JR 

xxxxx