France: The Sequel
When I was in elementary school, my parents decided it’d be fun to take their two young daughters on the classic summer vacation Euro-trip. Because if anyone would enjoy the daily dose of culture, it’d be the girls that wanted McDonald’s for all three meals of the day. To put it lightly, I had a pretty terrible time. No matter how much bribing is involved, no 11-year-old will understand how lucky they are to spend a month waiting in lines at museums, climbing up stairs of national monuments, and visiting an ungodly (godly?) amount of cathedrals. But my mindset and take on traveling has drastically changed in the decade since, and I can’t help but thank Northeastern for opening me up to the vast possibilities of life abroad. Because exactly 10 summer vacations later, I am boarding a plane and going to the exact same place that made me dislike traveling as a child. France at Hand, here I come!
All jokes aside, June 30 could not have come sooner, as I am more eager to begin this next adventure than I ever was before leaving for NUin Australia. Even though the location was not a big priority for me, I had only heard great things about Madame Ziane and the fascinating excursions she planned all around the country. And although I now consider myself a very adept and adventurous traveler, there is one obstacle I could never bring myself to hurdle. Perhaps due to that unforgettable experience in France in my younger days, I have been both reluctant and absolutely petrified to test my spoken French in real-life situations. But now that I’m about to graduate from college to become a certified adult, I figured I should leave no stone unturned. In addition, knocking out two of my International Affairs core requirements in only a month was an offer I couldn’t resist. 4 hours of French class a day? Bring it on! If I could handle a 4-hour trip to the Louvre with my parents, I can do anything.
