Okay, so I’ll admit these aren’t exactly life goals but since I have been home for a little over 2 weeks, I’ve decided it was about time I start to prepare myself to go back to France. Relaxing and taking a break is nice, but as my countdown on my phone reminds me, I only have about 40 days until I go back. Plus the study abroad program has given all the students an online orientation to complete, so I have created some goals for when I start my academic year program in Grenoble:
GET OUT MORE: One of my biggest problems (at home and France) is getting the motivation to do things. I have wasted so many days just sitting around at home instead of going outside and enjoying the beautiful weather or hanging out with friends. This SHOULD be less of a problem for me in France because everything is so close and I absolutely love public transportation (I hate driving) so I SHOULD have no excuse to stay inside. But this is not always the case. So I am making a promise to myself that while I am in Grenoble, I will make myself go out and become one of the locals at a café or make some cool French friends.
STAY HEALTHY: I absolutely LOVE running, but as I just stated, motivation is quite a problem for me. So I am going to set specific millage for the week and I have no excuse not to run that much, especially since Grenoble is an active city. Also,the Alps are so beautiful. I cannot pass up the opportunity to go skiing or hiking in the mountains!
LEARN TO LET GO MORE: Hey! Guess what! When you are going to a new city you are going to get really freaking lost the first time you try to go somewhere but you know what, that is completely okay! Seriously, the first time I got lost in Pau, I was panicking. I was with a friend and we went to H&M after having a 2-hour tour of the city all in French and we were incredibly jet-lagged and experiencing culture shock. But long story short, we were panicking that we couldn’t find our way home (I later realized I lived a block away from H&M). But looking back on it, I am realizing that it was not as big of a deal as I was making it. It wasn’t some life or death situation and we eventually made it home just fine. Plus public transportation is basically idiot proof, so I can get wherever I need to be. I have also realized that making detailed lists of what I need to get done for the day can be helpful, but as I learned in London, it is really nice to not have a plan and maybe get lost a little as you explore a new place.
DON’T BE SO HARD ON MYSELF: I know this may seem silly, but I honestly had the impression that by going to another country, you would be able to suddenly pick up on the language really quick. Someone who studied abroad in France has even told me that within a week or 2 she was able to pick up on the language really easy. Well that is a HUGE lie. When I got to France and heard from others that it took them MONTHS to become fluent in another language, I was so devastated. I did not want to believe this and I constantly felt like I needed to do better in my class and that I would never become fluent in French. But by the end of the session I was able to understand most of what people said and I was way more comfortable with my speaking skills. So even though my class was way over my head and I had moments where I was practically in tears because I couldn’t understand what people were saying to me, it is 100% normal. Learning a language is hard and requires a lot of patience. Being too hard on myself will get me nowhere.
COMMUNICATION: I am lucky to have some pretty amazing people in my life, but as they know I am not the best at keeping them updated. Seriously, I really suck at this. There has been times where someone has sent me a text message and it will take me an entire 2 weeks to respond. And I don’t mean to ignore them, I just forget the basic purpose of having a cellphone. So please consider this as a formal apology and as a promise to make more of an effort to keep people updated while I am in France
Grenoble, France
alexisczajka 