My host mother had to work on Monday so Blake and used the day to explore the town I lived in as an exchange student: Dinan. It was one of the only towns to not be destroyed in World War II and so the town has preserved lots of its 13th century Breton character. Marie dropped us off by the office of tourism where free maps of the city were available. We took one but ended up not using it as I still knew my way around the little town. We went to the English garden, a small park on the edge of the rampart walls that overlooks the marina and a beautiful large bridge that spans across the Rance river. During my exchange, I spent a lot of time looking over the wall at the cars crossing the bridge and the boats pulling out of the harbor. The passing of time mindlessly watching cars go by was something I took for granted during my year abroad. This time, however, was different. With only a few precious hours to show my boyfriend everything I loved best about this quaint little French town, we had to keep moving despite wanting to linger a little longer.
Walking through the cobblestone streets brought back so many feelings about my year abroad. I laughed when we passed by an unnecessarily fancy chocolate shop that I would spend so much money on as a 16 year old. I smiled while standing on the rampart walls when a British sounding man there with his family started talking about his life in Dinan, I questioned if he too may have been a Rotary Youth Exchange student sometime in the past. I was sad knowing I wouldn’t be able to go inside the school I attended but most importantly, I was proud of myself for being daring enough to live abroad at such a young age.
A year abroad is a huge challenge, both physically an emotionally, but it is full of so many wonderful opportunities. Sometimes while in an exchange the negatives can seem to override the positives. It can feel lonely when nobody around you speaks your language. I would get home from school exhausted just from trying to understand my classmates. I got sick almost every month; I had shingles at 16 years of age from the stress I was putting on myself. I sprained my ankle on the first day of orienteering in gym class and had to be carried to the bus by my classmates and gym teacher while having a total breakdown-one of my lowest days on exchange. However, I grew. I grew in my understanding of the language so quickly that I was understanding a lot of what was being said in a matter of 3 months. I learned how to deal with stress- I joined a tennis club and stopped putting so much pressure on myself in school and to, instead, focus just on learning French. I met the most amazing people and was privileged to see so many incredible places: Prague, Venice, Barcelona and Nuremburg to name a few. I became fluent and developed an entire life for myself in a foreign country. It may be simplistic thinking, but I believe that if everyone were to be required to do a year abroad wars would end and we could truly have world peace. From my time in Rotary, I met and became friends with people from all of the 6 populated continents. When I look at a world map, I think of the people I know in those countries and how they impacted my life. How could I support the bombing of a country when I picture friend’s faces whom I know live there? How could I support the generalization of an entire population of people as “bad” as is done in war time propaganda when I have personally met ones that are good?
After reflecting and daydreaming about my time abroad while wandering around the town, it was time to head back home. Marie explained that she was setting up a dinner for me and my former host families for that evening. Marie mentioned that Mrs. Toublanc, my fourth host mother wasn’t answering her phone and that we should just stop by her place to see if she was there. When she answered the door, she looked at me with such shock and confusion that her jaw fell open. I busted into laughter and finally
she managed to asked
me what I was doing here, in France. She had no idea that I was even in the country as she doesn’t have Facebook and my Linked-In page still showed that I was working in the US! I invited her to the dinner and she said she would be there. Once we were home, Marie mentioned that my host father Mr. Berthoux wasn’t answering his phone either and would likely not be able to come on such short notice. When we got to the parking lot I hesitated, I wasn’t sure if my eyes were playing tricks on me. Now it was me whose jaw fell open, my host father looked so different from when I saw him last that I wasn’t sure it was really him until he began talking! The meal lasted 3 or 4 hours but I was so happy seeing and talking to everyone that it felt much shorter. At dinner, I was asked in French if I felt my year abroad was a year lost or a year gained and I confidently replied that it was a year gained. Not only did I gain a new language and culture but also lasting relationships with everyone at that table who chose to give up their evening to spend time with me, a former stranger.
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| View from English Garden |
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| Center of Dinan |
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| View from Ramparts |
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| Me in the center of Dinan |
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