Category: France

A Re-Introduction and New Goals

Published on by Catherine BakerLeave a comment

After two weeks of holiday break, I was ready to return to Rennes, France and its cold and dark climate. I missed to cobblestone streets, the historical buildings, and canal that runs through the city. I also, funnily enough, missed my local Intermarché and regular cafe, Maison Bécam.

However, this semester, I need to make some changes to how I am navigating my next five months here in France. Not only do I need to do more in my social life, but I also need to be more academically challenged. The first thing I did was change my academic schedule and added two Thursday classes. However, in order to have some idea of how to change other parts of my life, I have made a few goals for myself to complete throughout the rest of my time.

  • Volunteer consistently
  • Run three times a week
  • Attend at least one workout class a week
  • Travel to Switzerland to meet up with an old friend
  • Cook more
  • Visit cities outside of France
  • Read at least 1 book every 2 weeks

This list is subject to change, however, I hope that these goals allow for me to stay grounded and will help me grow more than I did last semester. I know they aren’t lofty goals either, but I want them to remind me that I am able to stay stable in a new semester where everything has changed except for the city I am in.

Although I will miss my family at home and my friends who have all gone back to their universities, I am excited to meet new people, see new places, and experience new things. I hope that this semester is more exciting and fulfilling than the last.

A Guide to (how not to be) Stressing Out

Published on by Catherine BakerLeave a comment

As I am slowly trudging through 3 weeks of exam prep and exams while simultaneously counting down the days until I am home for Christmas break, I keep asking myself why I decided to do an entire school year here. Was it my love of French culture and food? Was it my desire to go places I haven’t been before? Or was it my incessant need to overachieve at everything I do and, even if I’m not enjoying it, I never give up? It’s not that I’m not enjoying my time in Rennes, I think I just need a break. So, I think it’s a combination of all three. That last question, though, is one I’ve been exploring a lot of while I’ve been in France because I don’t quit. I’ve always finished a book, always done the extra credit, always proved to my peers that I’m not a quitter. That’s not who I was raised to be.

So, because I’ve been having some struggles and stress, that’s no excuse as to why I should do anything differently, act differently, work differently. I’m too prideful, too determined to consider taking any kind of real break. Even when I’m away for a weekend, I work. I can’t help it.

In order to not run myself into the ground during this period of my life at study abroad, I have compiled a list of brain breaks that still feel productive:

  1. Go for a run.
  2. Go to a café and read for a minimum of one hour.
  3. Pretend you’re a billionaire and plan your life in your study abroad country*
  4. Have dinner at the dining hall with friends at least once a week.
  5. Join a pilates class.
  6. Talk to your friends and family

There’s a simplicity to distraction that seems to give me temporary relief. And once that’s over, I go back to being a regular stressed out university student who’s an overachieving, hyper-independent perseverer**.

* Me, personally, I live in a chateau in the French countryside with my friends

** This isn’t a word, but I don’t know an antonym for “quitter” that works well.