Katie King - NSW to France
Mon 06 Apr 2009
Katie King from Maroubra NSW went to France on a 2 month exchange in November 2008. She wrote us this report after she got back:
“Arriving at Charles De Gaulle airport wearing nothing but a grubby pair of tracksuit pants, a thin cotton pull over and Haviana thongs, I was not at all surprised by the side long glances and the number of people questioning to themselves how on earth I could survive wearing ever so little on a -6°C evening! That was nothing. Having to wait another 3 hours for the TGV to whisk me off to my destination was an experience… And one I hope I never have to encounter again.
Having to catch a train for 3 hours, in another country, with another language, at night and by myself was the start of my independence. Having got on this train scared at what may happen to me by myself, my excitement was still pumping through my veins, and I could not wait to begin my 2 month adventure. Which looking back on it, was filled with memories I will never forget and stories I can tell for a life time. [Editors Note: Students are met at Paris Charles De Gaulle airport by our partner. They are escorted safely on to their next flight or train and are met on arrival at their stop by their host family or local coordinator.]
My first day of school was a mixture of emotions. Standing with my host mother at my side, we were greeted by a charming older gentleman who was the principal of my College, Henri Bourdon.
Standing there, I wasn’t all that sure if I was going to burst out crying or throw up due to being nervous. My host mother could immediately sense my distress and reassured me that all would be fine and that everyone at the college would be welcoming. My host mother did not lie. Everybody at my school made such an effort for me, whether it be trying to communicate with me via my “French to English” dictionary or asking if I would like to sit with them at lunch.
The first day of school was actually a blur, there were so many people surrounding me that it was almost claustrophobic. People were almost yelling at me, trying to get my attention. Having the French language yelled at me, especially when it was so rapid and so unfamiliar to me, was quite an experience and in the end I just started to laugh to myself. On my first day, all I could understand was “Bonjour”, “Ca va?”, “Kangerou” and “Australie”, well in actual fact; they were the only 4 things constantly being repeated throughout the day.
Looking back on this now, I really did read too many ‘memoir/travel’ books before I left , all of which had authors which were situated in Paris (which is a much different lifestyle to where I was situated).
Weeks flew by without me actually realising, I ended up having to remind my host parents how many weeks it had been now. They never seized to be amazed at how fast time flew by either.
Throughout my trip, I was very lucky in receiving a family who loved to travel, just like me. Within the first week of my arrival my host mother scored a free trip for her, my host sister and I to go to Spain with her work. Spain was a mere 4 hours away from where I was staying, and it was gorgeous. The shopping was amazing too. Arriving at the bus terminal in Spain, you could already see in the distance the number of women carrying ridiculous amounts of shopping bags in each hand.
During the holidays, I was also lucky enough to visit Marseille and Cannes with my host family. Marseille is only an hour and a half away from Cannes, yet they are strikingly different, with the beaches of Cannes contrasting the fishing port of Marseille. But they were both right on the ocean. That was a great experience for me, and upon arrival there I had this sudden feeling of belonging. The number of people and houses around was so similar to Sydney that I really did feel like I was at home again.
The town in which I stayed had a population of 15,000 people, a nuclear power plant and 3 supermarkets. This town was called Bollène. Another week after my arrival, I was also surprised to hear I would be joined by 2 other Australian girls at my school, also living in my town. Although I had been there for that extra week before them, seeing these 2 girls trying to adapt to the differences was like reliving it all over again for me.
Overall, this experience has taught me to be grateful, independent, open-minded and my French has improved much more than what I had expected before going into this program. I should stop here, because otherwise, this story would just continue on and on!!!! Thanks so much to everyone who made it possible!”
Gros Bisous
Katie !
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