Here we are. It's time for me to come back from my French-y winter break, the second semester of my abroad adventure at AU just about to begin. Three weeks back in Lille - the perfect time to find my roots again, enjoy my mum's French gastronomy and share experiences with friends.
"So! How was it? Obama? D.C.? The American way of life?" Suddenly, my French friends have become full of questions, and fall in love with their "I love N.Y." T-shirts. Hours have been spent in my favorite little café in Lille, the Notting Hill, talking about my American immersion. But wait, the adventure is not over yet. I still have four months to perfect my sweet French-accented English. Let's go back and enjoy. This time, I promise I'll begin seriously learning Chinese with my dear roommate.
Back to Letts Hall, after a long travel, my floormates waiting for me to talk about the "greatness of France." I would stay up all night, but it is time for me to recover from jetlag. And being prepared to turn 20. Jan. 11, an American birthday. That sounds great, but no way to celebrate it without the foie gras I secretly brought back from France. There's nothing better to cheer you up than seeing these happy American faces tasting it.
Then, the first week of the semester starts, I participate in the AU Abroad Fair, and am impressed by the number of students willing to study abroad in France. I try to defend my town and persuade as many students attracted to French culture as possible about the coolness of Lille. Unfortunately, Paris often wins the battle.
And Inauguration weekend. To be frank, this may be the most historic four-day weekend of my life. No matter the cold, I want to say, "I was there." And we are. First, one of the greatest concerts we could attend: I might have sparked off a jealous wave into my French friends, showing them pictures of about fifteen different celebrities we saw there, especially Barack Obama. For sure, getting the chance to see Bono, Beyoncé, Shakira, Bruce Springsteen, Tom Hanks and the future president of the United States at the same time is really, really nice. I won't complain.
And finally comes the Tuesday we all have waited for - Jan. 20. D.C. is getting ready to welcome the 44th and first black leader of this country. And I am more than motivated to see that. Leaving the campus at 4 a.m. to get a chance to reach the Metro, running at 5 a.m. to jump into the crowd, we arrive at the Mall. It is a long and freezing day, but an unforgettable moment.
As an international student, Americans often ask me why I had so much motivation. It is just the perfect moment to be in D.C., and a part, for once, of a happy mass political movement. As one of my teachers said, "D.C. has been, for four days, the coolest place to be in the world." If the usually calm city sleeps pretty well, then Inauguration turned D.C. into a crazy place, bringing a huge amount of tourists, extraordinarily high levels of security and a Metro packed by hundreds of thousands of visitors. President Barack Obama drew more than 1.8 million people to the Nation's Capital, and I am proud to say now, "I was there, a tiny piece of this huge enthusiasm."
Now that we have recovered from a post-Inauguration cold, the semester habits start again. Routine? Never. There are still many things to see, people to know, and places to visit. The great thing in an abroad experience is that you never know where you are going to end up. Next weekend? Miami. These last four months have been full of surprises. And I am full of hope for the upcoming ones.
You can reach this columnist at thescene@theeagleonline.com.
