Aero: Piper Lambert-Vail – France 2018 – My Expectations

Posted by LEAF Architect on Monday, September 10, 2018 · Leave a Comment

France 2018 – My Expectations

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Piper Lambert-Vail

My expectations for what it’ll be like to be in a foreign country for two weeks are partly based around my excitement and imagination. I have never been outside of this continent so I have many dreams and fantastical expectations about what it’ll be like. The only “foreign” country I’ve been to is Canada and that wasn’t even foreign to me because where we vacationed was only a few hours from Seattle by car and it wasn’t the French speaking side. Part of me is scared that I have put too much whimsy into my ideas of travel, especially to France, but at the same time I know how to distinguish between the dreamy ideas and the actual expectations.

I think that the living conditions will be slightly different from what I’m used to in the states but that is only because I know that France, unlike America, has been around for more than just two hundred years. It has been around for centuries, even though it was established as a republic in 1792. From the pictures of Vitre that I’ve seen, it feels like a fantasy land. I feel like all of the houses are going to be old and/or cottage-y and completely lovely. I tried finding photos on google for reference but alas, the internet gods want me to keep the sense of magic because the only results were this amazing castle. Paris, on the other hand, I know will be its own kind of magic. It is a place that has been swathed in art and history and imagination for centuries.

When it comes to technology, I know that it won’t be too different. France isn’t a different planet or anything. I think that there will be some confusion and hiccups, though, like with outlets and the TGV. There’s nothing in America that can compare to the TGV, our fastest train only goes up to 150 mph while the TGV’s average speed is 574.8 km/h which is about 357 mph.

I’m very excited for classes when we go to Vitre. When I hosted my friend Melanie, she told me that the classes here are different from her school but she couldn’t quite tell me how it was different. I’m particularly excited for this part of the trip because my goal is to become either a French teacher in American high schools or an English teacher in France and the experience of sitting in classes and learning teaching methods and styles will be extremely beneficial and inspiring for me.

My biggest fear of the trip is that I am going to lose all French in my head and won’t be able to communicate properly. I have terrible stage fright when it comes to speaking in a different language and I hopefully, will get over that in the first two or three days being there. For the time with a host family, I think that it is going to be full of laughter. My language proficiency is probably on par with a third or fourth grader at most so I know that I am bound to say some foolish sounding things. But, I feel safe knowing that the student I will be staying with speaks English so I don’t have to be confused when I mess something up.

Piper Lambert-Vail
Study Abroad – France 2018 @ FLCC

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