Those Were the Days, My Friend…
BY KARDELEN KALA (TRIN/I)
kala@ug.bilkent.edu.tr
Lyon Saint-Exupery International Airport. As boarding starts, we all get really sentimental. We don't want to leave. We take one last look at a promotional ad for SFR, the French operator we all used during our stay (take that, Orange!). This will be the last piece of everyday French we'll encounter for a long time. We had a month full of fun, laughter and good memories. That should be enough, we should be grateful, but it seems like everything was over way too fast. We were just at the beginning of our adventure, and next thing we know, here we are on the return flight!
You see, I was part of a group of Bilkent students from the School of Applied Languages who went to Vichy in August to take an intensive French course at a language school called CAVILAM. Two other groups also went there, in June and in July, for the same experience, arranged by our Rector Abdullah Atalar. All expenses of the trip were paid for by the university. We had to take an exam in French to be able to qualify, which we did during finals week last semester. We found out that we were going at the end of May. I didn't let myself think about it until I got my visa in the middle of July. (I could write a book about the whole visa thing, but that's for another day.) I study translation and interpretation in French and English, so the French language is an important part of my academic life, and I'm constantly in a social environment where everyone can at the very least understand it. This chance to practice was just too good to pass up. And there was also this tiny, relatively unimportant little detail: I was going to spend an entire month in France with my friends, living with a real French family.
July went by so slowly, because we simply couldn't wait to be on our way. I started packing a week in advance just to have that sense of urgency that precedes travel. I even arrived in Ankara a couple of days early. And before I knew it, I was at the artificial beach in Vichy with my host mother, who was talking nonstop in French. The best part? I understood her.
And so I passed an entire month in the Auvergne region of France. First of all, let me tell you about one stereotype that is completely true. The French love their vin, baguettes and fromage. How could they not, really? I lived at a distance from Vichy, in a little commune called Cusset, which was all but empty, because the French take their annual holiday very seriously. I had to ride a bike every day, which was quite an experience. (Try riding a bike at one a.m. in the middle of an unlit road. On second thought, no. Don't you ever.) I can say that another stereotype, of traffic in Europe being well organized, is not entirely true!
I stayed with three other international students, all of them boys. It was almost like being the youngest sister in a large Italian family. I was placed in the same class as one of my best friends, which was an interesting, but happy coincidence. I learned a lot about supermarkets in France because eating out was crazy expensive (tip: Carrefour and Cora are best if you can find them, but Monoprix will do in a pinch). I went to Paris for three days and discovered the reason why it's such a legendary place (it's more than deserving of its reputation). I was able to do all of this in a month, but still left wanting more.
Coming back from abroad is always bittersweet, especially when the experience is as satisfying as mine was. But as someone wiser than me once said, all good things come to an end. "Don't cry because it's over; smile because it happened" is a favorite quote of exchange students all around the world. And by the way, one last thing before I conclude: people around us are slowly getting bored by all the Vichy talk. If you want to listen to me talk about how those were the days, well, you know my e-mail, don't you? Just kidding! Or not.