The Best Decision I Ever Made

Bridget Hendrick
Music Therapy
Lyon Summer Program, Summer II  2017

Studying abroad in Lyon, France, was one of the best decisions I ever made. It was challenging and scary, but also exciting and helped me to grow in many ways. I learned a lot, so much in fact, that my head hurt some days. I met many wonderful people and saw many beautiful places (and lived for a month in a beautiful city). I had to learn quickly (especially learning from my own mistakes) and be steady on my own two feet, but perhaps this was one of the greatest lessons of all.

Our whole program included staying with a host family, taking classes at the Université Catholique de Lyon and the Université included day trips to different areas in France. Overall the program had many new experiences. One of my new experiences however, was not included by the university. I arrived in France a day early and so I stayed in a hostel. The hardest part was finding the hostel, because it entailed navigating the metro for the first time and figuring out which roads led to what I needed, while lugging my bags around. It required a lot more thought and ingenuity because I had to ask questions of people who may or may not have spoken English. But these people were awesome and helped where they could. All that being said, when I arrived at the hostel, I was quite satisfied with my ability to get there (no matter how many times I had to turn around) and that was only day one!

Meeting, and living with my host family was an amazing experience. They were so kind to me and tried to make me feel at home whenever possible. They showed me different sites or helped me figure out logistics for traveling when I needed it. They made me such wonderful food and pushed me to try different experiences (like navigate the market on my own) and go to different places. It was often difficult to understand my host brothers’ and sisters’ French because they spoke so quickly, and this created a whole other challenge for me and pushed me to keep working on the language.

Language was the main challenge of traveling to France. I had no idea how challenging it would be to try and communicate with people while I was there but I knew that I needed to. It naturally followed the necessity of needing to speak in another language that I came up with strategies for speaking to communicate. Some strategies that helped were speaking slowly and having them speak slowly in return. I often used hand gestures to aid and almost illustrate what I was trying to say. I often needed them to repeat what they said, which they were kind enough to do. But I think a huge challenge for me was being patient with myself as well as with others. Learning a language is a vulnerable thing and I often felt like a fool. It can be frustrating when you are trying to say something and the other person doesn’t understand or you don’t understand them. I had to tell myself that it was ok that I couldn’t speak perfectly for them to understand and that I had to keep trying without being disappointed in myself. It can also be difficult when the other person doesn’t understand what you’re saying, even though it was perfectly fine. It’s important to be patient and understanding with them as much as it is important to do that for yourself.

My classroom experience was a unique one. I studied in a classroom with people from all over the world. Most of them spoke English as a second or third language but some did not speak English at all and so we had to speak French to communicate. This was so cool to me and I felt that we were participating in something so awesome that only few have had the privilege to experience. Another part that was amazing and challenging was that the teachers only spoke French in class. This was intense even though they only spoke at the level in which we spoke. It was mentally exhausting. We were in class for 20 hours a week during the month that we stayed, two 4-hour days and two 6-hour days and this was mentally strenuous, but not too much. It encouraged us and helped us to be speaking French the entire time we were in France.

The school provided day trips to different towns or areas in France and most of them were free. This was so cool for me because as a first time world traveler I was inexperienced in day travels in the area and would not have pursued them on my own. It was also very cool having guides during these excursions, teaching us about the history of the areas (and there is plenty of history for each area).

This experience pushed me to become a more confident person in situations that are challenging. It was difficult to travel alone and to figure these things out and I feel more confident in myself because I had to do this. Academically I feel extremely accomplished because I took classes that were solely in French and I was able to understand most of it! To me, looking back on that is quite an accomplishment. The people I met and the things I experienced are irreplaceable and I am so happy that I was able to go and to do these things!

Categories: Europe, Western Europe, France, School of Music, Academics, Communication, Courses and credits, Cultural comparison, Cultural differences, Differences in communication, Field trips, Forming new relationships, Homecoming, Language, Living arrangements, One year later, Traveling while abroad, Summer II.