Spending the last month in France wasn’t exactly what I expected; it was actually so much more! Having the opportunity to immerse myself in the language and culture is exactly what I needed to improve my French! It’s crazy how a place can go from feeling completely foreign to feeling like a second home. 

I have been attending Lycée Sainte-Marthe-Chavagne during the school term, and I have noticed several differences between our school in New Zealand and my school in France. Firstly, the school days in France are much longer, sometimes starting at 8am and finishing at 5pm!

My days are filled with several different interesting classes. For example, I’ve been learning Spanish, Russian, and French all while I'm here – well, trying to. Another big difference that I’ve noticed is the lunch; they have a canteen at school where they get served meals rather than bringing their own, like at home. It’s a great way to get a taste of the French cuisine!

Over the holidays, I visited a lot of beautiful castles and different architecture in France. It's absolutely amazing because these places hold so much history.

An exchange is a weird, wonderful mix of being totally out of your comfort zone and feeling more independent than ever. You go for the language, but you come back with a different perspective on how people live, eat, and talk. At the start, it was just about trying to understand what people were saying and how to navigate life in a different country, but now I am joining in with conversation, making jokes and laughing at the dinner table with my host family!! 

It’s an experience that is going to stay with me long after the jet lag wears off. If you ever get the chance to see a new country from the inside out, rather than just through a camera lens, you should definitely take it.