Half Term fun: Orval Abbey, Paris and All Saints Day.

Hey! I haven’t written a blog post in a while now so apologies for the delay. I’m actually currently under the weather, but after about 16 hours sleep, I need to do something to use my brain, so I figured I’d try writing a blog post.

Last week I was off school for half term and so I made sure that every day was chocka with stuff to do, people to see and things to experience. To be honest, the holidays were over too quickly for my liking and I’m now left with this horrible illness so I’m here at home, dosed up on various different tablets and syrups and making sure I’m properly hydrated. 

In fact, the only positive that’s come out of me being ill (trust me, there aren’t many) is the huge list of vocabulary I’ve had to acquire in order to successfully communicate what’s wrong to the doctors/pharmacist.  I’ve noted down a whole host of new words including ‘attraper’, ‘ordonnance’, ‘j’ai la tête qui tourne’ and ‘vaccin de grippe’. Yes, that last one is flu jab and yes, I’m going to get it ASAP, I swear. Hand on heart, the vaccine is currently laying in my fridge, ready to be taken to the doctors at the first moment possible.

So anyway, enough about my sickliness because just talking about it is depressing me, and more about how I spent my half term before I got ill. I did a whole host of interesting things including visiting Orval Abbey and the beautiful ruins (they totally remind me of something out of Merlin), I went to Paris for a few days and I took part in some All Saints day celebrations.

 

ORVAL ABBEY

Let’s start with Orval Abbey. The website (http://www.orval.be/en/) has loads of great information on the history and the things you can see there. It’s a lovely place, really quite mystical and there’s a museum-like bit where you can go and learn about how they brew the beer. We spent the afternoon there, having a slow walk round the ruins and in the museum bit and I thoroughly enjoyed it. On your way out there’s a café where you can go and try the specialities of the area, beer and cheese, but seen as it was getting late and we had other plans that evening, we decided to give it a miss.

 

Me next to the Spring at the Abbey.

 

Some of the ruins of the old abbey. 

 

PARIS

On Tuesday morning, I got the rain to Luxembourg City and then took the TVG (high speed train) from Arlon train station, across to Paris. I was predictably a tad last minute and decided to get the last train possible to Luxembourg, which was OF COURSE delayed, so I only managed to get to Luxembourg City and get the TVG with 10 minutes to spare. Sometimes, I swear I have a guardian angel looking out for me. When I finally made it to Paris at lunch-time, we checked into our hotel and had our first experience of Parisian people. Why is it that Parisians complain that English people don’t speak French  yet when they do, they just reply in English anyway?!? I was with my friend from university and I’m not kidding, about 80% of people in shops/cafes replied in English when we spoke in French. Simple solution, ignore it and continue to speak in French.

 I saw all the major sites, The Louvre (from the outside), The Eiffel Tower (went right to the top!), The Sacre Coeur, The Notre Damne, The Champs Élysées, The Moulin Rouge, The Arc de Triomphe… In just 3 days, I saw loads!

I went to Paris when I was in secondary school (with my parents, not on the class trip) but I barely remember anything, so it was great to get to go back and see everything once again. Plus, I got to see/do things I didn’t before, for example going to the top of the Effel Tower. It’s 281 metres up and boy, was the view worth it! But whilst I absolutely loved the view by day, I think that the best time to see the Eiffel Tower is by night, from a distance. Every hour, they put on a light show so the tower isn’t only lit up in that beautiful golden colour, but it also sparkles and shimmers like someone’s poured a load of diamonds over it, it’s truly stunning and it’s something I’ve never seen before.

I did really enjoy going there for a few days but my experience totally convinced me that I could never, ever live in Paris, and not just because they say ‘quatre-vingt dix’ rather than ‘nonante’. It’s a nice place, especially when lit up by night but there’s just something I prefer about Belgium, as much as I enjoyed my time in France.

 

The Arc de Triomphe.

 

View from the Eiffel Tower

 

Inside the Notre Damne

 

ALL SAINTS DAY

Finally, onto the All Saints day celebrations. As far as I’ve been told, a lot of the villages round here are catholic and so on All Saints day they have a tradition of visiting relatives graves and saying prayers. Now, I myself am not Catholic, I’m agnostic, but I felt privileged to be allowed to join in on these celebrations in a local village. I felt a little like a fish out of water at first, seen as I am not and never have been religious, but from a cultural perspective it was really interesting. In the evening, I went along to a huge family event where everyone drank coffee and ate fruit tart and sweet things and chatted in French. I feel that my French is improving, but it was still incredibly challenging to be in a room with a huge amount of people all talking French at the same time. I kept having to ask people to repeat but I think I got by okay and that’s the point.

 

CONCLUSIONS I’VE COME TO ABOUT MY FRENCH

To be honest, I am slightly concerned that seen as my placement here is only 17 weeks, my French won’t be top notch when I leave. In all honesty, one semester is not enough to become fluent. However, after recent discussions with people here and after chatting to my parents, it seems that there are a couple of occasions when I can come back to visit and I’m definitely planning on spending next summer here too. University recommends that you spend at least 15 weeks in a country that speaks French, but I honestly think you need double that to fully get to grips with the language. Thank goodness I’ll be coming back, Belgium’s truly become a second home.

I am not the only English person in Belgium.

Today I had my Comenius training; yep, a month into my assistantship, logical. I had a day of training in Manchester in August but today I had to get up at 4:50AM and get the train at 5:30AM to get to Brussels in time for the Belgian one.

The majority of the other assistants that I spoke to are working in major cities like Namur, Liège and Mons and they all seemed to be rather shocked when I told them that my journey to get to the meeting this morning had taken 2 and a half hours. The journey back this evening was even longer, it took a total of 3 hours to get back. I don’t mind commuting, what with being used to it from commuting for the past 2 years at uni, but 3 hours just takes the biscuit. I have however, read 100 pages of the book I’m currently reading in French, so at least I did something productive during the journey.

I travelled there and back with my mentor, it was okay. She seems set on speaking in English to me though, which isn’t really beneficial for my French, so I’ve just got into the habit of replying to her English questions in French, now. I honestly don’t mean to sound rude, but it doesn’t seem to matter how many times I say I want to speak French, she still automatically goes for English. 

When we finally arrived, the first person that I met was from Slovakia but is going to work as an English language assistant. They didn’t really speak much French at all, spoke a bit of English but had good Spanish, so I ended up having my first conversation there in Spanish. What with not having spoken Spanish since I met the Mexican ambassador over summer (just had to slip that in there!), that was quite a challenge, and I kept getting ‘sí’ and ‘oui’ muddled up. Nice to practice a bit of Spanish though, I do miss it.

The morning consisted of presentation after presentation, talking about the complex thing that is the structure of the different Belgian communities (this country’s mad!), finances and the school’s responsibilities versus my responsibilities. The whole thing was conducted in French but I understood everything without any difficulties, so that gave me hope. 

The morning went rather well, but I have to say that the afternoon was definitely my favourite part. On the walk down to catch the metro I met about 5 other English assistants and so it was nice to all be able to chat about England and how each one of us is feeling in Belgium. I have, as I expected, been here the longest so far, so I was able to offer advice on stuff like phones (go for BASE, and their pay as you go SIM card) and the longing to go home (stick it out for 2 weeks before you book any flights to visit home, you’ll begin to settle in eventually).

I didn’t really learn too much in the Parlamentarium that we visited if I’m honest. Again, the French wasn’t difficult to understand, but this time it was simply due to the sheer amount of facts, dates and famous names being thrown around.

Oh, and when you go into the Parlemantarium, you have to walk through a scanner. For those of you who aren’t aware, I can’t walk through a scanner because it messes up the settings on my insulin pump… So I had to go explain this to the guy on the desk, in French. He understood and everything was totally fine but I’m always majorly embarrassed to have to explain. Least I know I can explain what’s up in French now, though.

After about half an hour, our English group gave up and just got chatting on Belgian life – it felt really nice to be able to talk to people about things like the concept of ‘bises’ and things we collectively miss including Cadbury’s chocolate, proper gravy and apple crumble.  

I only got back this evening about 8PM, the train was, as often happens in Belgium, late. It was getting dark by the time I arrived and I found it really disorientating when I came out of the train station. I’ve never walked through Arlon in the evening/in the dark before and so I felt a bit lost/nervous and jumped anytime someone opened a door I happened to be passing. I used to hate walking in my village alone at night, so I’m definitely not keen on it here, especially because everything looks different at night. But, all’s good and I made it home safe and sound.

So anyway, that’s a brief update on what I’ve been up to today (technically yesterday according to Belgian time). The time since I wrote my last blog post has been amazing, I’ve been getting out and about and been a proper busy bee.

Love to you all & I hope whoever reads this is doing okay ❤

First classes, near-car crashes and… I can’t think of anything else that rhymes.

I’ve done my first day of work and had my first day off! (Yes, that’s right, I don’t work at all on Tuesday. Not bad, huh?)

So how was it? Well, I think it went pretty well. Actually, it went so well in fact that one of the guys I worked with commented on my ‘teacher training’. When I told him I’d had none, he  said (with a slightly French-Belgian accent); ‘well, if you can survive a class like that with no training, you can survive anything’. OH YES.

‘What does he mean by, a class like that?’ I hear you cry! (Well, not really but I’m in my optimistic, cheery teacher mode, so just go with it, kay?)

Well, let me start from the beginning. I hope you’re sitting comfortably.

On a Monday I have 3 classes. 2 with my mentor then and one with a different English Language teacher.

‘And how did these classes go?’ I hear you cry! (Again, just go with it.) Well, the 2 classes with my mentor went incredibly well. In fact, I managed to get both classes talking to me in English for a whole 50 minutes, asking me questions and generally chatting about England.

Then I had the other class – this one wasn’t with my mentor but was with one of the other English Language teachers. Well, that class just did not want to talk. It was basically me talking at them for a full 50 minutes. I even got to the stage where I handed out some pictures of Sheffield and asked them to describe them to everyone else in the class. Yes, it was that bad.

I can understand the students being nervous, seen as I’m a native English speaker and I’m asking them to talk in my language, in front of their friends. I remember being in school myself and hating it when teachers did that to me. However, considering where my French is at now, I’m glad they made me talk.

En plus, I now appreciate what it feels like to be stood in front of 20 students in a conversation class where they won’t utter more than a ‘yes’ or ‘no’… And sometimes not even that, just a head nod or shake.

However, it’s my first class with them so I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt and assume that they were nervous. Their English was absolutely amazing though, so they seriously had nothing to worry about. (I did tell them this but was just met with about 20 blank stares.)

And this, ladies and gentlemen, is why I was congratulated at the end of the lesson by the teacher. No, he didn’t congratulate me because I made up some amazing lesson plan or because the students loved me, but simply because my head is full of enough rubbish that I can babble on for 50 minutes, keep smiling and can successfully  do the whole ‘tell me what you think of that AND WHY’ thing that language teachers do.

N.B: For those of you that haven’t been a language student or teacher, the ‘AND WHY’ is a life saviour when it comes to teaching languages. The class isn’t talking and is just giving yes/no answers? Stick a: and why/et pourquoi/y por qué/e perché? on the end of your question and it forces them to speak in sentences.

I finished work at 4:00 (classes here run from 8:00 – 4:00) and then had a nice tour of all the local shopping centres in Arlon. Here, they have a Carrefour, Aldi and Lidl.

I didn’t volunteer for a shopping tour, don’t get me wrong. Actually, someone offered me a lift at the end of the school day and I reeeeaaally didn’t want to take them up on their offer because car journeys with them are awkward and silent. The best excuse I could think of was, ‘ah no, I need to buy a few things before I go home!’

Well, the unlucky soul that I am, I then got told by the guy I’d just had the last class with, ‘I need to buy a few things so I can take you if you want. It’s cold and rainy so you don’t want to be walking there and back.’  See the thing is, I was happy for him to give me a lift, he actually talks to me and it’s nice to have someone I can chat to who’s also in their twenties. However, shopping was just  an excuse… so I had to come up with a list of things that I needed and fast.

The first two things I could think of were sugar coke (diabetes is always on the brain) and tissues. God knows why I thought of tissues, I didn’t even know the word in French. But anyway, off we went to Carrefour… Where they didn’t have tissues and they didn’t have what he needed. So then we went to Aldi, which was shut. We then almost ended up in a crash with a lovely gentleman who stuck two fingers up at us both through his car window and then finally got to Lidl. I got tissues there (and now I’m stuck with enough to last me my entire year abroad) and he got most of the things he needed, before dropping me off home.

So, it was an eventful evening. I got in and the host dad here had a right laugh over questioning me about this teacher I’d been with. You’d think I could escape that kind of torture by moving abroad but OH NO, they jokingly question you about any male you happen to have been alone with for more than an hour here too. Just this time, it was in French.

And finally, today’s been my day off. I’ve gone and got myself a Belgian SIM card from BASE (it cost me 15€ and that 15€ is now on my phone as credit), I went to the train station to get a Go-Pass (which gives me ten journeys anywhere in Belgium for 50€) and stocked up on classroom resources.

This afternoon, I sat in the middle of my room and cut out 192 (I kid you not, 192) match up cards on the Yorkshire dialect including words like ‘aye’, ‘all reight’ and ‘bobby dazzler’. My hand hurts from all the cutting and writing.

I put a picture below – it doesn’t look like there’s 192 cards, but there are. I counted. Twice.

Anyway, that’s what I’ve been up to over the past 2 days! I’ve been a busy, busy bee!

Hope you’re all super-well, hugs to you all!

P.S. Thanks to all the lovely people who’ve been emailing me recently to tell me they’re enjoying my blog! It’s fab to know that it’s going down well with you all, considering it’s my first ever blog! 🙂

2 weeks in…

Bonjour à tous!

I figured I should probably update you guys as to what I’ve been up to seen as it’s been a busy couple of days!

So firstly, I FINALLY have a timetable!! Now, it’s only a provisional timetable, it’s by no means my official timetable for the duration of my time here. But still, I have a provisional timetable for the next 2 weeks. Finally, some structure to my life. This morning, my mentor called a meeting in which the languages teachers told me which lessons they want me to work in.  When I say that my mentor called a meeting, what I mean is that she called a meeting after I practically harassed her to do so, over the course of Monday/Tuesday/Wednesday. But anyway, the meeting is done and dusted et j’ai un horaire!

I’m going to be working a total of 13 hours in the school. To me, 13 hours sounds like very little. I mean, at university in the UK, I can work 16 hours maximum, on top of studying for my degree; though I often work about 10. However, taking into account prep and planning (with minimum resources), I imagine I’ll be spending quite a while going over what I can actually do in the class without internet/projectors/presentations.

Now, I would say; ‘I can start planning my social life, get involved in clubs and groups and stuff like that.’ Unfortunately, my mentor’s given me no help in that area and I haven’t found anything on my many, many walks around the town centre… so I’m so far assuming that there aren’t many things going on here. I talked to the daughter of my host family today and she confirmed that there’s very little to do in Arlon other than go to the cinema, go to a café or go to see shows (booked in advance). I don’t know what people get up to in their spare time here (ooh-err) but there must be some  Belgian secret no one’s telling me about.

The difficulty of being an FLA in a small town (with a mentor who couldn’t seem to care less) is that you struggle to find things to do and things are made harder with French not being my first language.  I was talking to a previous FLA from my secondary school the other day and she sympathized with me on the homesickness/feeling lost/not knowing what to do front. Just a little message of kindness and empathy made me feel so much better about the whole situation and a lot less alone. (If any of my facebook friends fancy sending me happy, messages and jokes, please go for it. In either English, French, Spanish or Italian, I don’t mind. It totally brightens my day.)

However, one positive of being an English FLA in a small, rural Belgian town is that everyone wants you to teach their kids English and everyone wants you to babysit. It appears that while I may not be out partying and travelling with other Comenius assistants, I’m gonna be becoming a professional babysitter and private tutor. I guess there’s time for parties and stuff like that in Spain next year with Erasmus.

N.B: Whilst I’m on the topic of Spain, if by coincidence there’s anyone out there who happens to have gone to La Universidad de Oviedo in the second semester of their year abroad and happens to read this blog, anyone at all – do you have any idea when the university will email to confirm I’m going there? I’ve emailed 3 times now and I’m getting really worried that I’ll turn up and they’ll not have my name down.

So, back to Belgium. I’ve made friends with 2 teachers here, (as I said before, there seem to be few people my age here and there’s no other assistants) but it’s nice to have people I can talk to in both French and English when I’m working at the school.  En fait, as you will know if you read my last blog post, the school here is incredibly different to the secondary school that I attended in the UK. Here, you have blackboards instead of whiteboards, you have a blank wall instead of an interactive whiteboard and you have an empty hole where the projector used to be. In fact, I had a discussion about this with a colleague (no names mentioned!) the other day and they fully agreed with me and we talked over our mutual shock at the lack of resources here compared to other schools in the area/schools in other countries. En plus, I put forward my idea of; ‘learning languages isn’t about being able to recite verb tables’ and they wholeheartedly agreed with me. I think I’ve found a like-minded individual. I’m claiming them as a friend because at the moment, I have very few.

Over the past couple of days I’ve been able to get a bit more involved in the school in which I’m working. Another member of staff seems to taken me under her wing and has shown me where all of my classes will be, has told me how lunch works, sorted out a key and has got me my photocopy card. (For English people here’s an interesting piece of information; school dinners in Belgium consist of a 3 course meal!! Soup, the main meal and dessert, plus a drink!!!!) Thank God I met her or I would have been lost, pour toujours. Hers was the first class I attended and I’m glad it was. Weirdly, she looks a little like my mom, so that might be why I feel at ease with her.

The pupils here are lovely and all seem fascinated to know where I’m from, what I study and tout le monde veut savoir, ‘how old are you?’ I had the pleasure of teaching a group of 4A students what a ‘cuppa’ is yesterday, I was asked, ‘qu’est-ce que c’est le Yorkshire Pudding’ and we had a long discussion over whether uniform in English schools is a good or bad thing.

However, aside from fretting over my non existent timetable and harassing my mentor, I’ve not been up to loads. I bought Dan Brown’s new book, Inferno, so that I can read it in French, started working on a list of modern Anglophone singers for the teachers at school and was driven into/out of Luxembourg today. Unfortunately, I forgot my camera so I couldn’t take any pictures (totes gutted!!!) but it’s stunning. Truly, the countryside, landscape, the houses… well, let’s just put it this way, you can tell they’re payed well in Luxembourg. It’s a proper bloody paradise.

Bisous à tous ❤

P.S. I’ve been asked to write an article for thirdyearabroad.com on going abroad with type 1 diabetes. I’m going to be making a start on it this weekend so if you’re interested in reading, I’ll keep you up to date with how it’s getting on on here!

Mom, here’s a picture of the new teacher-like me, so you know I’m doing okay ❤

1 week in. Friends here, abroad & that all too frequent homesickness.

Tomorrow, I’m 1 week in to my year abroad. A lot of things have happened over the past few days so I’ll do a little summary (with pictures!) but I also want to talk about something that not a lot of year abroad students seem to talk about. When you talk to previous YA’s they tell you; ‘the year abroad is the best year of your life!’ and ‘it’s the best experience ever!’ and you hear tales of all the new friends they made. But something that they neglect to tell you, something really important, is the homesickness that you will experience.

 But first, before I get onto the pseudo-psychologist bit, I’ll fill you in on what I’ve been up to. 

 I’ve finally got my paperwork sorted, meaning that it’s officially okay for me to be here for the next 4 months. I haven’t got any uni paperwork completed (I’m still waiting for my mentor to fill in her part…) but hopefully, fingers crossed, that will be done next week.

 The mom of my host family also took me on a walk round the old part of the village, which is beautiful. Apparently, the houses there are protected, so you can’t do anything to alter them and interestingly, it’s generally the people with financial problems who live there because the rent is cheap. I know, friends in the UK, you’re thinking… ‘WTH?!’ or perhaps even ‘WTF?!’ That’s exactly what ran through my mind! Mais, voilà.

 Yesterday, it was the beginning of a gallo-roman weekend in the town, so I went out with my mentor to explore. We went on a guided tour of the museum where I learnt new words including ‘un casque’ and ‘une épée’.  To be honest, it was difficult to understand everything that was being said because it was very detailed but I tried my best!

 We then went on a guided tour of the village and saw different ruins that aren’t accessible to the general public without a guide. They were pretty cool and the woman who did that tour was a lot easier to understand.  However, when she asked if there were any Anglophones at the beginning of the tour (she also spoke English), my mentor said my name… everyone in the group turned round (about 20 odd individuals) and started going ‘Anglais? Engleeesh? You engleesh? You speeeaaaak Engleeeeesh?’ I wanted the ground to swallow me up. I just said ‘Oui mais, je peux parler le français d’un niveau suffisant’. Don’t know if that’s grammatically correct or not, but she understood me well enough.

 After a lunch of galettes and diet coke (which cost me 17€!!!! Thank god I get a grant! It was my mentor’s choice) we went to a gladiator fight. Seriously. It was entertaining actually, but all I kept thinking was; ‘health and safety would NOT allow this in England.’

 The first question of the dad in the host family, when I told him where I’d been, was if I liked the look of the gladiators, hahahaha. Considering a lot of them were probably in their mid 30’s and dressed in what looked like bed sheets… well, not so much.

 Today, I went to the market with the dad in the host family. I feel it was a good experience because after talking in French a bit and getting to know him and the area a bit better, I feel a bit more integrated. He’s lovely and even bought me an Astérix & Obélix book, and says he’ll test me on it later!

For the rest of today, I’ve just been writing out a few ideas for things to do in English classes and compiling a list of modern English singers. When I had a look at the textbooks they use in school, the only singers I actually knew were The Beatles so I hope to bring a bit of modernity to the cultural/media side.

 And that brings me on to the peut-être taboo topic of homesickness.

 

HOMESICKNESS

If you talk to previous YA’s (year abroaders) they all tell you fantastic things about the year abroad. You hear no negatives and your expectations soar. But the reality is something quite different, especially during the first week.

 Here we go, I’m going to say it. I miss my parents and brother like hell, I miss my friends in the UK, I miss knowing exactly how to act and behave, I miss my university and it’s classes, I miss the English concept of personal space and I miss having someone there to help me when my diabetes is playing up. In essence, I’m homesick.

 Now, I don’t want you to think I hate it here, because I don’t. In fact, the family here is lovely, the town is pretty and Belgian people are really friendly. But, as they say, there’s no place like home.

 For the first time yesterday, I cried over Skype to my parents. My blood sugars have been going mad and getting me down, I have very few friends my age here and sometimes, I just don’t get what people are saying.

 You miss getting a hug from your mom/dad and a ‘eurgh’ combined with a hug from your little bro. You miss going to Meadz with your friends and having Nandos, having coffee in your workplace because it does the best coffee in town and you miss getting the bus to Sheffield.  Yes, I said it, I miss the X5 and the X14. I miss trying and failing at latte art, coming home smelling like coffee grounds and being able to balance a full tray on one hand. I miss home.

I like my new home, but I do miss home.

 I’m lucky that I live in a day and age where we have Skype and Facebook and I can communicate with friends allover the world easily. I’ve been skyping my parents every day (sometimes twice a day) just because it makes me smile seeing their faces! Last night/this morning, I sent messages to all the people I know will make me feel better and they’ve all put smiles on my face. It’s unbelievable the way that a conversation about the weather can be incredibly comforting.

 I chose to listen to some Mexican/Italian music this morning. I actually really miss studying Spanish and Italian and so talking in Italian and listening to Mexican music has actually made me feel more at home (bizzare, I know but that’s all I listen to chez moi).

 I’ve caught up on Coronation Street on youtube.

 I’ve learnt who the important people, the special people and my good friends are, whether they be in Sheffield or in a different European country.

 I’ve learnt who can cheer me up and support me, who can make me smile and laugh, who can offer good advice and who can sympathise when it’s all getting too much.

 Mom, Dad, Adam, Emma, Vicky C, Vicki G, Clare W, Chloe, Vincenzo, thanks to all you guys for making me smile when I’m feeling really homesick and down. (I felt I should name you all so that when/if you read this, you can go ‘n’awww, I helped put a smile on her face!’)

I guess it’s normal to feel homesick. I didn’t move out for the first 2 years of uni, so it’s not unusual, but it’s still horrible. However, I know I have to do the year abroad and I know everyone else out there is also homesick. So I just wanted to say to everyone on their year abroad or those planning to go on one, don’t feel guilty because you’re homesick and you should be living it up. Homesickness is normal and hopefully something that will be soon overcome.

Love to all you fellow year abroaders, I know what you’ll be going through ❤

P.S. Mom, here’s a picture of me smiling, so you know that I’m okay. Love you ❤

Top 8 aims for my time abroad.

1. Make new friends from across the world.

I have quite a few international-student friends here at university in the UK and I adore the way in which an international friendship can open up your eyes to a world of strange customs, alien cultures and foreign ideas that are otherwise inaccessible. From the traditional way to alert your waiter to an empty teapot in a dim sum restaurant, learning to accept that the English interpretation of ‘personal space’ is very different to the Spanish or from knowing how many kisses to give when greeting your Mexican/Italian friend, international friendships can be a real form of education, not only about other cultures, but also about your own.

Whilst abroad, I hope to meet people from all different cultures, backgrounds and countries in order to expand my knowledge of the world. I love the little cultural differences that come with international friendships and, however embarrassing those cultural faux-pas are that are likely to occur, I hope that learning about another culture from new friends can only be a positive.

2. Travel.

How many people say that ‘travel broadens the mind’? I must admit that I do agree with this statement, travel does broaden the mind. In the 20 years that I’ve been alive, I’ve had the opportunity to travel to France, Spain, Italy and Norway. I have fond memories of seaside holidays here in the UK, hiking holidays in Scotland and luxurious cruises to the Western Mediterranean and Norwegian fjords. 

My year abroad will give me the opportunity to travel to places I have only dreamed of visiting and new places that friends have recommended. In Arlon I will be on the border of Luxembourg, a country which has been described as ‘un beau pays, un pays riche’ by a friend. In addition to travelling in Belgium and Luxembourg, I plan to make the most of my time in Spain by travelling with the ESN (Erasmus Student’s Network) all over the country to locations steeped in culture and completely different from my hometown. To name a few, Granada, the Basque country, Valencia and Madrid make the Spanish wish-list.

3. Learn how to avoid embarrassment at the airport.

Flying doesn’t scare me, in fact, I find the prospect rather exciting! However, airports do scare me a little. I haven’t flown since I was a child and only have a handful of hazy memories of the experience, and they all relate to airline food. 

Even though it is totally irrational, I find myself feeling nervous about getting lost in the airport and being alone in the terminal. As if having to explain why I can’t walk through the  detector wearing an insulin pump weren’t humiliating enough (everyone always stares at you with suspicion when you have to be taken to the side to be searched, even though it’s through no fault of your own), I have to do it in an unfamiliar building and in an environment that I am not accustomed to.

However, hopefully the travel opportunities that present themselves throughout the year will cure me of this irrational fear and I hope to return to the UK unfazed by the return flight.

4. Improve my spoken French and Spanish (and perhaps my Italian if the opportunity presents itself).

Whilst I know that I can converse in French and Spanish at an equal level, I still don’t quite believe it. Even after a phone call to my mentor in Belgium that was entirely in French, I still doubt my ability to speak the language. I forgive myself for thinking this about Italian because I’ve only studied the language for 2 years and whilst I feel fairly confident writing, I haven’t yet had the opportunity to develop my oral skills.

Hopefully, living in a francophone/hispanic country will allow me to completely immerse myself in the culture and language and will give me the confidence I crave. Only when I’ve dreamed in French and Spanish, will I know I’m on the right track!

5. Experience Belgian and Asturian gastronomy.

If someone were to ask me what I thought the best things about the English culture were, unfortunately, I doubt I would make reference to the food. I don’t mind English food, but I think that it’s not the best thing that our culture has to offer.

However, consider Belgium and Oviedo. What are they famous for? Belgium is famous for waffles, fries, beer and chocolate. Oviedo is famous for cheese and cider. I’ve been given two amazing locations in terms of the food, intend to try a bit of everything and hope to figure out how it affects my blood sugars!

6. Keep a diary.

I have never managed to keep a diary for more than a couple of weeks but aim to keep a diary for the duration of my entire year abroad. Madness? Perhaps. But after weeks of thinking over how to record the more personal and psychological aspects of the year, I have come to the conclusion that it must be a diary. My parents have just bought me a camera that I can take away (as an advanced birthday gift) so perhaps I’ll use this to develop my own picture diary. 

7. Learn to take semantic errors in my stride and move on with a hearty laugh.

Oh, the amount of embarrassing mistakes I’ve made so far in my years of language learning. If there’s a way to accidentally say something hilarious or inappropriate, I will manage it. These are the things you learn the hard way, trust me. 

Nothing is more embarrassing than meaning to write ‘donner un baiser’ and writing ‘baiser’ as a verb… in your A-Level mock essay. I feel sorry for the teacher who had to mark it. Furthermore, Spanish conversations have provided many occasions to look foolish, it appears that the correct answer to ¿Qué tal la comida? is not ‘Muy bien’ and well… don’t even get me started on the mistakes I’ve made when trying to pronounce Italian double consonants. 

However embarrassing these things are at the time, I’ve almost learnt to laugh and move on. I hope that the year abroad will develop my ability to laugh heartily about the many mistakes I’ll make and will hopefully allow me to learn a few do’s and don’ts! 

8. Have fun!

In spite of the difficulties that will go hand in hand with living in a foreign country, I aim to enjoy every minute. Who knows if I’ll ever get the chance to do something like this again? Every moment will be precious and I’ll grasp every opportunity that comes forward with both hands.