Lachlen Walden - VIC to France

Mon 15 Feb 2010

Lachlen Walden, from Burwood VIC, is coming to the end of his summer explorer program to France. He writes:

It is hard to believe but this is my last week in France, the time has passed so quickly!

Arriving at Charles de Gaulle airport and realising that I couldn't understand a word of 'real' French was quite a shock. Before my exchange I thought that at least I had a very basic knowledge of the French language, looking back however, in all seriousness, I didn't even have that. Before I arrived in France I had an expectation that getting better at French would just 'happen' when I got to France. After a few days of being here I realised that it wouldn't be quite that easy. While being in an immersion situation in France obviously helps, it requires effort to get the most improvement.

When I arrived in France I took the TGV (a very fast train) from Paris to Montelimar and then was met on the platform by my host family. My host family was very kind to me from the moment I met them. I was very lucky that I didn't get any jet lag on the way over here (fingers crossed for the journey home!!) because I had to get up for school at 6am on the Monday, after arriving very late on the Saturday night.

My host family lives in a small village in the south-east of France that is located roughly in between Lyon and Marseille. The local Lycée (school) that I have been attending is 12kms away, in Aubenas. I am in the same class at the Lycée as my host brother (who is around the same age as me) which has made things easy in terms of transport by bus to school. My host family has very traditional French customs and so in just three months I have a great sense of the French culture. This is something that I am sure I will really miss.

While on exchange I have been lucky enough to see Paris, Lyon, The Alps and a lot of the local Ardèche region. While discovering the physical landscape and seeing the tourist attractions here in France has certainly been fantastic, what has made the exchange for me so worthwhile is all the people that I have met and shared experiences with. The time I have shared with all the people here I am sure that I will never forget.

Although my competency at the French language is far from excellent, my proficiency now is certainly heaps better than what it was when I arrived. I am also more determined than ever to continue learning French.

It has been a really rewarding experience that I will forever appreciate. Going on exchange has taught me so much about the world and also about myself.

Regards,

Lachlan Walden.

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