My memory might be a little foggy....

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I know bloggers usually blog about the present but I'm just starting this traveling blog now and I'm going to try to recall my travels as far back as 2005. This is kind of a new year's resolution, to start doing something that I love while still having the safety of my job. I have always been someone 'safe'. Staying close to home, which I call Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, Canada, which by the way is breath taking in its own right. My last year of university I had decided that I wasn't ready to be 'an adult' and walk into a full time job. I wanted to experience life! I decided to apply to go study aboard, study French of all things, which is my native tongue, but to do it in a foreign country, France, where French was born and where my ancestors from the 1600s came from. At first I remember being very excited, a new country, a new lifestyle, new friends, new classmates and then I realized how scared this new adventure might be. If my parents had told me the day before leaving that I didn't have to go, I would have stayed but I didn't dare ask after all the expenses. I even had people in my home town say how surprising this was of me (after the fact of course). So off I went, took the plane by myself for the first time. Once I got to Charles DeGaulles, my luggage had been lost and I missed my train that took me to Angers. I took it in stride though and didn't panic. I arrived in Angers late that evening, around 11pm and my host mom and dad were there to greet me. I had no idea what to expect from them and I'm sure they had no idea what to expect from me. I was afterall their first exchange student that they were having come live with them.

After sleeping for 12 hours I awoke on a bright Sunday to find out that they were celebrating their son's 16th birthday and all the family was coming over. Talk about getting thrown into the thick of things! I quickly got washed and ready. We sat at the table for (get this!) 6 hours! It was a bit difficult having to hear a different accent from my own or people around me and sometimes I just zoned them out. And even if my french is my mother tongue, we still have different accents, different 'patois', and we do have a lot of english in our vocabulary so just trying to think of the right French word was hard enough. Everyone there was very kind and made me feel welcomed. After being at the table for 6 hours, we went for a stroll in the park nearby on a warm summer's night and I knew then that things would be ok. This is it for my first blog, my next ones I will talk more about the city of Angers, day trips that were taken and trips with people to different countries. I hope you keep reading!

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