My first couple of weeks in France, I was very focused on what I had to do, what classes I was going to take, etc.. I was so eager to experience a classroom in France that I really overestimated just how different the system was. Even though classes typically only take place once a week here, I had signed myself up for over TWENTY hours per week of classtime! The funny thing is, I had fully intended to exemplify the perfect student in every single one of those classes.

LOL. (It didn’t last very long)

I began to realize just how much I had signed on for around the beginning of February, because about half of my classes began around that time (crazy, right?). These classes commenced just after I had had my first tastes of traveling in Europe, from my trips to Belgium and Germany.

And once you’ve tasted freedom on the road, you become absolutely addicted.

It didn’t help that I was utterly underwhelmed by the quality of the majority of my classes: the professors were, as a whole, completely un-enthused by their topics or careers, the homework was vague, and the professors who talked in French spoke (or should I say, mumbled unintelligibly) so fast that I could barely make out a word.

So one by one, I began to lighten my course load, dropping the more monotonous and non-degree related classes so that I could begin to focus on 1.) classes more relevant to my degree, and (maybe more realistically) 2.) my travels 😉

I have now traveled to many different places in Europe:

Bruges, Belgium:
Tournai, Belgium:
Luxembourg City, Luxembourg:
Wittlich, Germany:
Trier, Germany:
Barcelona, Spain:
Valencia, Spain:
Paris, France:
Lille, France (obviously):
Roubaix, France:
Amsterdam, Netherlands.

Suffice to say, traveling is my drug, and the untapped prospects are too tempting to ignore…

So when I say that it is difficult to focus on and prioritize studying, I mean it in the most passionately fierce sense possible. For example, currently I should be translating a text from French into English, writing an essay for my final project, and studying for a test on Thursday. But all I can think about is that open road, and particularly the 2-week vacay that begins on Friday (April 1st!) and ends on April 17th. How in the world can I focus when two whole weeks of traveling are just around the corner??

It feels impossible at times to study, although I know I must. Europe has gotten into my blood and I’m possessed by a driving desire to see it all.

They never told us at orientation just how addicting this whole (study) abroad gig is.

Live it up, see the world,
K ❤