First Day

(View from my room - Lyon)

After a long flight, I finally arrived in France. I have been planning to study abroad in France for as long as I can remember. It was an unfulfilled dream of my mom’s and something that I have always wanted to do. It is crazy to think that the time has finally come and that I am actually here. I left Seattle at 1:45pm on the 13^th. I took a 10 hour flight to Paris CDG (which unfortunately included very little sleeping and many movies). Once arriving in Paris at 8:30am, I had an hour to get to my connecting flight to Lyon. After 3 airport buses, passport control, re-passing through security and running through the terminal, I made it to the gate 5 minutes before my flight was set to take off and happy collapsed into my seat on the plane. Arriving in the Lyon Saint-Exupery airport, I had the fun task of collecting all my luggage on my own before heading to find my family. Walking out of the gate, I didn’t recognize anyone and saw no sign with my name. A little panic began to set in before I saw Marc running into the airport with my name on a sign. The sudden switch to speaking in French was a little bit jarring, but I carried along quite well throughout the entire car ride and subsequent lunch at the apartment. After taking a brief nap and unpacking all my belongings into m great room, the exhaustion finally set in. It was a long few hours before dinner as I sat staring idly at my computer screen, merely attempting to stay awake until after dinner. Overall, it was a great first day. My host family is so sweet and they really seem like they are going to help make for a great experience. I can’t wait to start exploring Lyon tomorrow!