After finishing up my semester abroad in France, I thought that a good way to reflect on my experience would be to write a list of tips for other people who are going abroad or thinking about it. Writing this blog post conjured up lots of advice that I wish I had been given before leaving for France that I think might have helped me. With that said I hope you find the list below useful and informative.

1. The first month may be the most difficult month of your life (so far) especially if you’re studying abroad in a country where the native language is different from your own. When people talked to me about studying abroad, it was always painted as the easiest and most amazing experience. For some people that is true, without a doubt but for others perhaps not. The first month that I lived in France tested me more than I ever expected. I had thought my French was at a good level and that I could get by, but it turned out that I could barely understand anything anyone said. For me, it took time to realise that this was my first-time leaving Scotland for more than a few weeks and I had to give myself some credit. What I said to myself constantly was that ‘if studying abroad was easy, everyone would do it’.
2. You have to reward yourself for the things you get right and not punish yourself for the inevitable mistakes you will make. Part of the study abroad experience is learn about a new culture but also to learn about yourself. Whilst doing this I made lots of mistakes, whether it was grammatical errors or forgetting that the supermarket was closed on a Sunday afternoon. Everything is different and by the end of my experience I had learned so much by making everyday mistakes.
3. Learn as much as you can about the place you are going and if you can, visit it before you leave to live there. I had never visited Tours and had only been to France a handful of times before my big move to the Loire Valley. Having studied French language and culture for numerous years I expected that the only problem would be the language barrier. I thought that all European countries were fairly similar with their ideals and mannerisms, of course I know countries have very different cultures but when I arrived in France, I experienced a huge culture shock. Everything felt different and even the things I new weren’t the same as Scotland, seemed so far from anything I had been told. The shops and restaurants would close in the middle of the day and the supermarkets would randomly shut and after midday on Sunday it was impossible to buy food unless I went to a restaurant. It was these small things that I had never even thought about that really threw me.
4. It’s normal to feel homesick. Nearly every person who studies or lives abroad will feel homesick at one point or another, it’s kind of a rite of passage. From the minute I arrived in Tours I was overcome with a longing to be back home. Moving to France was completely out of my comfort zone and it made me miss Scotland more than I had ever expected. But it taught to appreciate my home and my family and friends because of the distance that separated us. Homesickness does fade, for some it never fully goes away but for others it occurs only at random moments. It teaches you to be grateful for what you have at home or you learn to appreciate the experience of living abroad. Either way I feel I have learned how to cope with life abroad much better than when I first arrived in France.
5. It’s ok not to love/enjoy it. For me, my experience abroad was disappointing. I’m not saying I hated it or that I regret going but I expected to get so much more out of the experience than I did. Likewise, it’s ok to enjoy it so much that you don’t want to go home. I know so many people who absolutely loved their experience and for them the hardest part was leaving. Either way, living abroad taught me what I can cope with and what I can’t. I learned a lot about my limits and also about the things that I love to do the most.
6. Take lots of photos but don’t live on your phone. For me taking photos was one of my favourite parts. Every day I was experiencing something new and to capture it and have that memory forever, well there’s nothing quite like it. I would say that I wish I had turned my phone off more and just enjoyed the moment for what it was rather than constantly being on my phone to take photos.
7. Try to make friends with people from the area. This is something that I regret a little as I didn’t feel I had made huge connections with any locals. Of course, I spoke to many lovely French people, but I think when you’re first language is different to that of the country you’re in, you crave your own language and I found that the people I made good friends with were all English speakers. If I could go back, I would try to force myself to speak more French and go out more, but I still wouldn’t change the great people I have met and made bonds with
8. Travel as much as you can, but don’t overwhelm yourself. Do what you feel comfortable with. Travelling to different countries was something I thought I would be doing nearly every weekend. But I found that for me it was just too stressful. There simply wasn’t enough time at the weekend to visit other countries and experience different cultures. I will say, however, that I became very familiar with my region and explored numerous places in the area. It was also a lot more expensive to travel in Europe than what I had expected. I had been told by so many people that transport in Europe was so cheap and in some ways that was true but by the time I added a 2-hour train to either Paris or Nantes, it worked out quite expensive. I compromised with trips to fairy-tale-like châteaux and a few days out in Paris. The travelling aspect really depends on what you are comfortable with and what you think will best suit your schedule.
9. There is always someone looking out for you. I was very lucky that I went to Tours with one of my closest friends without whom I’m sure I would have gone home in the first week. Doing the experience with someone you already know is so rewarding in that you build tighter bonds and become almost like family for one another (as cheesy as that does sound). Having Rhiannon with me also allowed me to meet more people who she had made friends with and eventually we had a tight-knit group of friends. Everyone is all going through the same experience and I was surprised by how easy it was to speak to other people about being homesick. As well as this, don’t feel scared to tell friends and family how you are feeling in your new home, whether it be love, hate or somewhere in between. For the first few days I didn’t want to speak on the phone to my parents because I was so homesick that I thought it would make me feel worse. But in reality that first phone call I had with them was a turning point for me in my experience.
10. Write about your experience. Before leaving for France I knew that I wanted to document and write about what I was doing. So, I created this blog and also brought a diary with me which I was given for Christmas. For the first few weeks I found myself constantly writing in my diary about how I was feeling but eventually I would just write once a week. I found that was a great way to relieve stress and anxiety that I had been feeling that week. Some of my thoughts I chose to publish online but others I kept to myself. Either way, I think it is really important to write about your experience so that you can remember it, and if your memory is as bad as mine; you’ll need to write everything down before you forget it.
11. Bonus number 11. If you are going to France, make sure you find out if there are any strikes happening that might affect you. As I’m writing this blog post I’m sat in a Starbucks waiting to hear news about my flight home which has been cancelled due to strike action by French Air Traffic Control. At the moment strikes and protests happen a lot in France more so than I have ever experienced back home so quite often I find myself frustrated. But oh well, c’est la vie