A Bittersweet Goodbye

Well, it is my last day in France. Over the past week, I have been majorly busy. It seems like the time has flown by since I arrived--it's hard to believe that it has already been four months!

My original intentions were to do countdown posts over the last week, like I did at the beginning when I was coming. Obviously, that fell through, since I had exams to study for and packing to do. So instead, I am going to do what I call "Countdown Summary". In other words, I'll list the days of the last week and what I did (from what I remember). Don't worry, I won't go into detail--I don't have the patience for that!

Saturday: I ate lunch with my family outside--sausages and fries--before walking to UCO to take my Traduction exam. (I know--an exam on a Saturday; don't you pity me?). Then for dinner we went over Caroline's house (Madame's daughter) for a barbecue, where I took turns talking with the women and playing catch with the kids. I'm a kid at heart. :P

Sunday: My last time going to my church here. Pretty standard: got up, walked to church, came back. Nothing special to say.

Monday: Jour ferie here in France--meaning NO SCHOOL. I met up with Katie in the afternoon to 'study for exams'--at least, that was our intent. We walked to a beautiful little pond near the Lac de Maine, but mostly just skipped rocks and took pictures and relaxed.

Tuesday: My Langue exam--both written and oral. Oral--ten minutes of nonstop talking; written: three hours in a stuffy classroom bending over a sheet of paper. 'Nuff said.

Wednesday: Phonetiques exam at nine in the morning. Nothing much else.

Thursday: Grammar exam at eight in the morning. (Who comes up with this torture?) Then for lunch Sydney, Katie and I went to La Napoli, which serves the best pizza I've ever tasted--no kidding. It was like a slice of heaven (slice, get it? hehe).

Friday: My last--and only--exam was Expression Orale. Once again, ten minutes of nonstop talking, only this time I knew basically what I had to talk about beforehand. And then I spent the rest of the night packing what I hadn't already.

Today: Waiting. Waiting. Waiting.

And that's the last week in a nutshell. Of course, I am happy to be going home--I'll see my family again--but a big part of me is really going to miss France. I've had to say goodbye to some really great friends that I've made. Hopefully, we can stay in touch; Katie is planning on visiting me in Michigan later this month. As for my other friends, we'll just have to Facebook each other.

Au revoir, France!