Author: Madison Huckaby Majors: International and Global Studies, History, and French
Visiting the lavender fields of Valensole
When I finally got off my last plane in Lyon after an entire day of travel, I was exhausted. I had hardly slept, I barely made one of my connecting flights, and my luggage had been lost and sent to the wrong city. Despite all of this, however, I was more excited than I had ever been in my life. Thanks to COVID, all my carefully planned study abroad trips had been canceled and rescheduled and canceled again. Finally, I had been able to get on a plane, use my passport, and go to a country that was on the other side of the world. The feeling was exhilarating, and I was beyond excited to be in Grenoble, France for an entire month.
The French culture was undoubtedly my favorite aspect of the trip. Nothing compares to being immersed in a language and a way of life that seems like it would be similar to your own, but it is entirely different. Throughout my month in France, I got used to eating dinner at 9pm and taking three hours to finish the meal. I got used to walking everywhere I wanted to go. I got used to going to the market every morning to get fruit and bread for the day. It would be impossible to choose a favorite experience, for they were all equally enthralling and memorable. I had the privilege of walking through the lavender fields of Valensole, swimming in the world’s cleanest lake in Annecy, touring the beautiful caves in Choranche, winding through the ancient traboules of Lyon, kayaking down the Isère in Grenoble, tasting lots of Swiss chocolate in Geneva, and watching the Tour de France fly by in Voreppe. These experiences are things that I always dreamed of doing, but never really thought that I would be able to do them myself.
In the time between all of these incredible adventures, I had class each morning at the CUEF (Centre Universitaire pour les Étudiants de Français), which is an intensive French language school within the Université Grenoble Alpes. This was not actually my first choice for a program; I was initially signed up for the U of A Faculty-Led Program in Perpignan. When that program was canceled because of COVID, the API program in Grenoble was recommended to me by the Office of Study Abroad and my French professors. I am so thankful that they pointed me in the direction of this program, and I cannot say enough great things about my professors and courses at the CUEF. I had both French grammar and French culture every day, and between those classes and living in France, I learned more than I ever thought possible. All of the classes were centered on teaching us French that would be applicable to our daily interactions- something that is not always covered in the typical foreign language class. We were taught how to properly eat cheese when invited to someone’s house, how to ask for a check at a restaurant without seeming rude, and how to go to the doctor’s office and explain different illnesses in the correct terms. While class is usually the least fun in one’s study abroad journey, I loved my classes at the CUEF because they equipped me with the knowledge and vocabulary to live in France the way the French do.
To other students hoping to study abroad, my best advice is to be confident, open, and positive. I did not know a soul on my program; I was the only student from the University of Arkansas (and the South). It may seem more fun to have friends to study abroad with, but by putting myself out there and making new friends from all over the world, I truly believe that I got much more out of the experience than I would have otherwise. Studying abroad is an exciting experience, and although it may seem more comfortable to stick to the people that you know, the most growth always happens in the most uncomfortable situations. My month in Grenoble taught me a lot about French culture and language, but it taught me more about independence and self-determination. If I can live in a foreign country without knowing a soul and have the time of my life, so can you.