It’s been six months since I first arrived in Aix-en-Provence (Aix). The first semester flew by so quickly that it’s hard to accept that it’s already January; it seems like just yesterday I was stepping off the bus at the gare routière (bus station) at eleven o’clock confused and exhausted after a draining three-hour train ride from Paris. The reality is that it has been six months and the shock of being 4,000 miles away from home had not really hit me yet. The fall semester felt more like an extended holiday that I knew was going to end, but still, I was still under the initial shock of being in France, so I wasn’t realizing how fast time was passing. That being said, I had already been through the phases of homesickness and euphoria that comes while studying abroad, and for a short period of time in the beginning of January, I still felt that this program would never end which only added to the two extreme emotions I was jumping between.

My wavering emotions only intensified when I discovered that flights back to the United States were less than $300, meaning that I had to start planning my trip back home. I became relieved that I no longer had to stress about finding an end date to this adventure, but I was also newly stressed that I now had a very limited time to make the most out of my final months in Aix. I felt that I needed to make every second count due to the fact that I would no longer have the kind of freedom of travel and freedom from a job in America that I have here.

Luckily, classes were starting again which allowed me to focus on something other than this lurking stress. I had never been more excited to sign up for new classes and start something new. The first semester had not been my best semester. I chose classes with friends easing the stress of new classes because I would have a type of support system where last semester I was mainly alone. The best part of all is that Provençal, the regional language of Provence, was an option. I also wisely chose classes that would help my personal development in French and after the first week of classes, I realized that I had made the right decision. Any kind of depression or sadness, which is totally normal for any study-abroad-student to experience, seemed to disappear. A new page was turning despite January being a real rollercoaster of emotions.

Being in France has one great advantage that North America is not as lucky to have, being in Europe. It is amazingly easy and most importantly cheap to travel from country to country. A ticket from Indianapolis to Toronto during the summer could cost upwards of $400 but a ticket from Marseille, the closest airport to Aix, to Brussels could maybe cost $100. So being in Europe, I’m trying to make the best out of it by traveling as much as my wallet will allow me.

In January, I was lucky enough to be able to spend a weekend in Rome and another weekend in Edinburgh, and even that still astonishes me. We grow up in America only dreaming of going to these places with thousands of years of history, beautiful architecture, and breathtaking landscapes that we basically only see on the internet or in books, but being so close with tickets being sometimes as low as $20, you’re able to just hop on a plane and go to Rome for the weekend where modern western society began. You don’t have to plan months in advance with expensive hotels and tickets costing hundreds of dollars; it’s just such so accessible for anyone. I’m still amazed at how I can go so easily to places I’ve only ever dreamed of going.

I’m excited to see what this new semester has in store for me. There’s a country of possibilities that awaits me and I plan on doing all I can to make last memories to keep me happy when I have to go back to the United States.