1. Eat everything!
Lyon is the gastronomic center of France… and France is what, the gastronomic center of the world? So basically Lyon is where the best food in the world can be found. There are hundreds of delicious restaurants catering to all budgets just calling your names. Time to dig in! Continue reading “5 Things to do in Lyon, France”
You’ve been lucky enough to venture off into a new culture, and experience that culture with such depth that your home has become a distant memory. Without even realizing it, your life has changed drastically. You’ve become accustomed to this new environment and all the social norms that come with it. That is until you return home. You step off that plane, and hardly anything has changed around you, yet everything has changed for yourself. People can’t see these changes on you; your clothes might be different, and hair might be longer, but these changes are within you and are not easily explainable, let alone identifiable. It is painfully lonely and isolating. The experiences you’ve had come crashing down on you as you try to shift back to your old routine in your home culture. This, is culture shock. I believe its harder coming home than it is going to a live in a new culture. When you travel to somewhere foreign, you’re expecting to feel like an outsider, to feel out of place and know that you are going to need to work to fit in and get used to the lifestyle. When you return home, you are expecting to feel comfort, ease and welcome; yet sometimes, you end up feeling like an outsider in a place that you’ve lived the majority of your life. And that, is unimaginably difficult. Continue reading “Culture Shock”
1. Everybody, including students, reads the newspaper. Everyone is involved in politics – not just political science majors. People know what is happening in the country, in the EU and internationally. It would be common to go to a bar and get into a debate with someone about a political issue. Politics and intellect are welcomed and admired. I’m not surprised by the incredible response to the shooting in Paris with the Je Suis Charlie movement. It’s a perfect display of how each citizen is involved with their country and is equally proud of it.
Continue reading “15 Things France does differently than Canada”
As soon as I return home from a trip the inevitable travel bug scratches its itchy claws at me to book that next adventure. I can’t sit still. I spend hours reading guidebooks and scrolling through Pinterest for inspiration. Despite not being over the jet lag from my past adventure or even having unpacked my bags, I’m already desperately looking for where I can go next. The fact is that I’m beyond broke, have an overloaded university schedule, volunteer commitments, a job, hobbies, and sometimes (occasionally) I even go to the gym. I’m outrageously busy trying to balance life and all I can think about is paying off my visa and booking my next flight. Go figure. Continue reading “Aaaaaand I’m back!!”
After living in Lyon, France for four months it was time for me to head back to Canada. My family was under the impression that I would be coming home after the New Year, I had told them that I wanted to spend New Years Eve in Europe so I wouldn’t be making it home for Christmas. In reality, I had booked a flight to get in just before Christmas! Despite a number of bumps in the road it ended up working out wonderfully. If you like watching dogs and moms get really excited and cry then I suggest you check it out:
The first two weeks in a new place are the most difficult, especially when you’ve moved halfway across the world to a country where they speak a language that is not your first and have widely different customs and cultures that aren’t similar to your own. I’ve written a few blog post about how to deal with the stress: [http://goo.gl/5rm89M] and what it’s really like living in a foreign country: [http://goo.gl/F28y9k] but this particular post is going to be directed towards those daunting first two weeks – what you need to do and how you survive them.
Continue reading “First 2 Weeks On A Foreign Exchange: Survival Guide”
I’ve never been good at keeping my mouth closed and saying things I shouldn’t, so here it is, one of the most outrageous and entertaining days of my life without sparing any details or dignity. I am going to channel my inner Jenny Mollen and I hope you enjoy. Continue reading “The most outrageous 24 hour period of my life”
