The Times They Are a-Changin'

One month today I will be making my journey to London, ready to conquer London – Paris – Chambéry via Eurostar and TGV the following day. Things aren’t very far away at all now and this got me thinking about the huge changes that are about to occur. Naturally, there are things I’m excited about but of course, there’s also some apprehension. Let’s start with the more negative and end on a positive..

One big question I have is can I actually survive life speaking in French. Despite the fact I’ve now studied French for 9 years, I occasionally question my French ability. As is natural, sometimes I can’t think of the most basic of words and just feel quite stupid. In fact, I feel much more confident using Spanish which I’ve studied for a shorter time, but I have always found Spanish easier and felt some sort of natural affinity with it. That said, exam results often show the reverse of this, so who knows! Either way, I’ve enrolled on a 2 week language preparatory course for Erasmus students which will get me accustomed to lectures. As far as I understand it, there will be language based sessions each morning followed by afternoons of cultural activities and exploring the region I’ll be spending the next few months in which will also be a great opportunity to meet new people in the same boat as myself. The first hour of the course does consist of a French language test though, yay.....!!

I’m sure that speaking, hearing, seeing and eventually thinking in French will become natural and part of normal life but the first few weeks will no doubt be a challenging time of faux-pas and misunderstood faux-amis (a word looks like something in English but actually means something different) and idioms (a phrase which has no meaning if directly translated from one language to another).

Secondly after a mere week and a half on the continent, I will celebrate my 21^st birthday. I’m happy that some of my closest friends will be in Chambéry with me; I know others who are going to locations not knowing a soul. Most people I’ve mentioned this to reply with, “How cool that you’ll be abroad for your birthday!!!” However, I will have the aforementioned language course to do. It’ll definitely be a shame not to be at home with all my friends and family, but hopefully I’ll have a good time in France. My friends and I are hoping to make a trip to Paris for a weekend of celebration but this will all depend on when lectures start, but fingers crossed! Similarly, I will be missing celebrations of many friends who will be celebrating their 21^st birthdays too. I’d like to hope that some will fall on weekends or during holiday times in order to pop back and celebrate with those closest to me but again I’ll have to wait to assess the situation in France when I receive my timetable.

Another thing that will be different in France is not working. I’ve worked at Animal for 3 years and a lot of my free time at Uni and every weekend is spent at work: In a sense work is my ‘break’ from University. What people do with their free time, and especially weekends I have no idea but I’m sure there’ll be plenty of exploring and travelling in France and as things get colder, some skiing! Of course I’m also going to miss friends and family but in this modern age of Facebook, Twitter and Skype, they’ll only be a message of phone call away. A year abroad in 2012 is no doubt drastically different to what it was ten years ago.

On the other hand, I’m looking forward to putting the years of language study into practice and developing what I already know. There will be opportunities to meet people from all walks of life from all corners of the world, new foods to try and one thing I’m most anticipating is the opportunity to travel and explore both France and Europe. I’ve been doing some research into Fêtes in the region to experience some traditional culture and come Valencia, I can’t wait for tapas, tortilla and Spanish fiestas such as the San Fermín Bull Run and La Tomatina (tomato fight.) The latter takes at the end of August and so should I have returned back to the UK, I definitely hope to return to Spain for it – What a great end to my Year Abroad! It’s fair to say there are many more things I’m looking forward to than those that I’m apprehensive of!

In other news, the Olympics cannot be avoided right now. I thought the Opening Ceremony was spectacular with my personal highlights being Mr Bean playing “Chariots of Fire,” the Queen in her acting debut as a Bond Girl and the numerous Mary Poppins characters, a childhood favourite of mine. It was an entertainment show and VERY British, compared to the Beijing show which for me was somewhat of a display of power and might.  I’ll definitely have to re-watch the ceremony on iPlayer as there is probably so much I missed. Anyone who knows me will know of my lifelong hate of Sport, whether participating or spectating (the former, especially.)  However, I am currently engrossed by the Olympics and have been enjoyed watching a number of sports, especially those that Team GB is performing well in. I wonder what the closing ceremony will bring... J

One Month To Go!!

I'm Published!

Lizzie Fane's thirdyearabroad is an essential resource for anyone preparing for their departure with a plethora of articles, lists and advice in order to make things go as smoothly as possible. Much of the website is created with contributions from other undergraduates who are on, or who have been on a Year Abroad.

Lizzie actually came to Cardiff University earlier in the year to talk to us and share some advice for our upcoming adventures, which was a great opportunity to thank her for everything she has done to help students such as myself.

In return, I have written an article for the website regarding the Adopt a Class scheme, hoping to spread the word of the great work it aims to do - Check it out!!

Here Comes The Sun...

If you were not aware of the jet stream before, you’d have had to have been living in a cave or in the process of hibernation to ignore the ‘’Summer’’ it has brought the UK in 2012. Living in Swansea, apparently the UK’s wettest city, you become quite accustomed to the rain; I often carry both an umbrella and sunglasses in my bag as you never know which you’ll need. This summer however, has been an entire deluge of the stuff. Many counties went from drought to flood in mere moments. Mother Nature was obviously making up the balance from the dry winter period we had...

For someone planning their year abroad however, this rain has been quite useful. Unwilling to go out and get drenched, it’s provided lots of time for administrative tasks and what a lot of them there have been. French university applications, Spanish university applications, French accommodation applications, Erasmus grant applications, Provisional learning agreements and travel arrangements, to name but a few. Luckily, I (and probably others) would describe myself as fairly organised with a strictly organised file of pre-departure sections (Cardiff, Chambéry & Valencia), Another with forms to be completed and returned to Cardiff upon arrival at each destination and another with forms to be completed when I return next summer, plus a section of miscellaneous items such as travel itineraries and such. Pretty much everything that I have needed to do has been done. Yesterday I received my insurance policy from Cardiff and so now I can look into additional cover for whatever it doesn’t cover me for, I have a list of things to buy before I go and I have the task of somehow packing my life away into a suitcase or two, hence my choosing of the Eurostar so I am not restricted by weight limits. On top of this blog and Adopt A Class, I’m also making a video diary/blog for the University for future year abroad-ers and so need to make a start with that too.

Due to my nature of organisation at all times, I like things to be done swiftly and promptly but I’ve been told to have patience with the French bureaucracy system as organisation can sometimes be a little lacking. I’ve already had some frustrating moments, mainly with email correspondence with my accommodation. I send an email which includes a question, but the reply from France doesn’t really contain an answer, so I rephrase in my reply yet an answer isn’t really sent back. I then resorted to sending quite a frank email. No ‘Bonjour’ to start, no ‘Cordialement’ to end but simply stating my question, with no other words which may lead to confusion as to what the question is which finally brought success. Perhaps I just need to be a bit more blunt..

In the last few days, the sun has finally come out. In fact, it has been boiling, hence my burnt skin today and so a day indoors organising more Year Abroad-related things is on the cards. Yesterday I walked into the Gower, an AONB (Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.. echoes of A Level Geography!) to the west of Swansea and on a day like yesterday, it really was beautiful. This led me to think of how I’m going off around Europe exploring when I’ve only visited a small percentage of the UK. Sometimes you just become accustomed to what you have on your doorstep and I am sure a student from Chambéry and Valencia replacing me at Cardiff

in September will see as much beauty in the Gower as I will see in the French mountains or the old town of Valencia.

My trusty countdown clock states 36 days and 13 hours until departure day. After 9 years of French study and 7 years of Spanish, there’s not long to go at all.

The Countdown Is On...

Salut!/¡Hola!

So here we have it. It’s Monday 16^th July 2012 and I have 46 days until I board the Eurostar from London to Paris and then the TGV (Train à Grande Vitesse– High Speed Train) to Chambéry. Christmas will come, followed by exams and then it’s off to Valencia until the summer. That’s a year away but I’m sure it’ll be here before I know it. Paperwork is slowly being completed, plans are being created and bookings are being made.

This blog of my Erasmus year abroad is for friends and family to keep up to date with what I’m up to. Secondly, I have “adopted” a Year Nine class in an Ebbw Vale school, who I met and introduced myself to today. They will be following me on my journey across Europe, seeing how what I once sat in a classroom learning is now helping me to survive in France and Spain. This in turn will hopefully increase the uptake of language studies.

46 days until the continent...