Nantes-icipating the End

Saturday, December 19, 2015:

A couple weeks ago I didn’t realize just how upset I would be to leave Nantes. I think for all of us it was almost unfathomable that we were actually going to have to say goodbye to each other and to France after arriving less than four months ago: it’s an amount of time that makes us feel at home; so being told that we’re supposed to leave, well…sucks.

In all honesty, I didn’t think I would feel as sad as I do about leaving. Contrary to what many people believe/experience, studying abroad didn’t necessarily change my life, but it did help me understand a lot about myself. Yesterday and today my thoughts were a string of “this is the last time I’m going to be doing [insert here],” etc. But the first day I felt a huge pang of sadness was on my way to the IES A for our holiday party a week ago. I love walking past Le Graslin (the theater on the right of the picture below) at night, with all the lampposts’ colors reflecting off the cobblestones. None of the pictures I have taken do its justice, but hopefully you get the idea (one of the reasons I’m glad I chose to study abroad in a small French city is the ability to stop and take pictures and not get bumped into 100% of the time...) I’m going to miss stopping to admire and photograph Nantes’ gorgeous architecture and colors.

I’m going to miss everyone so much! Because we don’t tend to think about goodbyes – or just try to avoid that idea until it’s completely necessary, I realized how many photos I still had to take with people before leaving.

Friday night my host parents took us out to a lovely dinner to Le Nez Grillé – for me: gizzards salad with strawberry vinaigrette, steak and jacket potato with crème fraîche, and crème brûlée (of course):

And Saturday night, to celebrate my last dinner in Nantes, my host family made my favorite dinner: scallops and shrimp salad, and a crème brûlée (duh) that I was able to "brûler" myself:

Sunday, December 20, 2015

At this moment I’m waiting at my almost-deserted gate, watching ‘Friends’ and eating Daim chocolates that my host mother gave me before we left for the airport. I got here two hours early, anticipating being told that my luggage was too heavy and having to re-experience what happened when I left for Nantes (having to leave some things behind, including a suitcase, and rearranging everything…).

I won’t lie and say I’m not ready to go, but that isn’t to say that I won’t miss the hell out of this semester abroad: spending time with friends around the city, spontaneously stopping for a croissant, or drinking a latte at the quaint coffee shops downtown, to name a few.   

I am sad to say my final goodbyes, but I am looking forward to the holidays and a new year in Oxford and Wooster.