Sarah Balfe (Returnee) - VIC to France

Fri 19 Aug 2005

It’s funny, two years on and I still come across things from time to time regarding my trip to France that I had completely forgotten. Things that are so important to me, but would have no value or meaning to anyone else- a photo, a train ticket, a cork from a wine bottle.

To most people, three months wouldn’t seem like a very long time. Until I left my family, my friends and my life as I knew it, I would have agreed with them. However, the day I walked through the gates at Charles de Gaulle airport, in order to spend three months in France, my life changed completely and definitely for the better. Immersing myself in another country, culture, even family not only helped me to become more confident, independent and mature, but it taught me so much more about the language I love than one could ever learn in a classroom.

Every day was a challenge, sometimes bad, but the majority of the time these challenges were hardly noticeable and really positive. Regardless, they are all gratifying and left me with such a sense of personal achievement. When I arrived, I had no idea what anyone was saying, which became quite embarrassing when I was being asked a question…or replied ‘Oui’ when they weren’t. Gradually, I improved and each boulder I knocked over on the way became more and more satisfying!

The day I understood a joke made in class was like hearing a joke for the first time. The day I beat my host sister on a French test (rather than an English one) was empowering! Although I kept my newly found empowerment to myself of course! But the most amazing moment, one that told me I had made it, I was, in my eyes, part of the French society, was the first night I dreamt in French.

No one could ever imagine how I felt, but I will remember, the exact feeling, the exact details of that dream and the exact time I woke up.

Upon returning home, while I was happy, I wish I had never left France! It was as if a part of my life had all of a sudden disappeared. French class, when I used to count down the minutes until I could leave, now became my refuge. Everything I could never understand before seemed so simple. All the complex grammar, the little listening tests, my end of year oral exams, it was suddenly so easy to the point that I, to the horror of my friends, looked forward to these occasions. Now, in year 12, everyday I am thankful for my exchange. It has given me an advantage in an extremely competitive year that will pay off in the end.

There is no disputing that going on exchange was the most difficult time of my life, and no one can ever fully prepare themselves for what they experience. While I did have challenging moments during my stay, now when I look back, I never think of these.

I only remember the wonderful times and now, whenever I remember one little aspect of my time, when I speak to my host family, or when I find that photo, that train ticket, that cork from the 1983 Château Petrusse I was privileged to drink at Christmas with my host father, I wish I could return!

Sarah Balfe went to France on a 3 month Summer Language Explorer program in 2003/4