Being home for Christmas was amazing. England is FREEZING, as expected, and I suffered from this sooner than I would have liked, when our car broke down on the motorway on my second day back. Aside from that slight hiccup, I had a great holiday, and caught up with so many wonderful people who I've missed so much, including a lot of family members who I haven't seen in over a year. Christmas was a family affair, and new year was a very messy house party in which I managed to infect what seems like half of those present with the cold that I inevitably caught from having been stuck back in the wind and rain.
(All the family pictures were taken on other people's cameras, so sadly I don't have any of those.)
I loved being home, but strangely I missed living in France in a way that I wasn't anticipating. I suppose there's something exciting about getting on a tram and having all your background noise in another language, or walking through the city and hearing international students from all corners of the world who are just as confused as you are. Although it was incredibly hard standing in the baggage queue at Gatwick airport and watching my family walk away, I feel like I could now never imagine going back and living in England my whole life. I love living abroad!
When I landed in Montpellier, Alex picked me up from the airport and drove me straight to the beach, which was a welcome breath of fresh air after being cooped up in a crowded aeroplane. However, all my charming illusions about France were quickly shattered, as I returned to university and was instantly reminded of that familiar feeling of complete disorientation and cluelessness, although thankfully it was a lot less severe this time around! I managed to turn up to a class that exists online but not in real life, talk to plenty of people who aren't French, and sign up for one class while accidentally attending the lecture for another. Pretty standard first week by any consideration, and hopefully things can only get better from here. Exam results are coming in, and of the 5 I have received I have so far passed everything. Fingers continually crossed for those which have yet to appear.
On Friday night we had a "Diner Au Revoir", to see off all those who have briefly returned to sit their exams before finally going back to their home countries. It was an amazing night, and a great chance to catch up with everyone after the Christmas break. The next day Helen and I finally got round to seeing La Reine Des Neiges (Frozen), and were incredibly proud of ourselves for understanding everything. We will soon graduate to understanding political thrillers (we hope!).
Bonne année à toutes et à tous!
Sarah
xx
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