the future is unwritten.

(source;me)

This Sunday will mark 3 months since i've been in Bordeaux, living the French life. I have to admit, it's not easy being an exchange student. Your entire support network of friends and family are taken away, and your pushed into a world where no one speaks your language and everyday customs are taken away from you. It can be the smallest of things that are different, things you don't even realise you do everyday. Things like, placing the bread on the table, being able to leave school whenever you want and the rising and setting of the sun (I wake up in the dark everyday at 6.30am, and the sun doesn't set until about 9pm). It took me an entire maths lesson to realise that they use comma's (,) instead of full stops (.) for decimal places, and about 2 months to finally be able to read French handwriting. I've realised that language isn't just something to get from A to B, it is however saturated with cultural meaning that sometimes can't be translated. And when it's taken away, a lot of your personality and you is swept with it. Sometimes I think that I should've started university with all my other friends (i'll be starting a general Arts degree at the University of Western Australia next February, and then heading into a double Law/Arts degree the following year) but there is so much here that textbooks just can't teach. Things about yourself, the way that you act when everything you've ever known is taken away from you. And hopefully, my French will be better. From being here i've formed a strong interest in studying linguistics in the future. I've sorted things out, become much more independant, realised things about myself and even though it's probably the hardest thing i've ever done, it's also probably the most rewarding. I'm going to be so sad when I have to leave all the friends i've made here in two months, and all the customs formed. Be warned, I will be giving everyone double kisses when I return back home. Theres that and a million other things that i've picked up in France. I think, when I come back to Perth, things are going to change. I'm going to change, for better or for worse i'll guess we'll have to wait and see.

In other news, Sarah is coming on Monday and staying to Friday, which means plenty of photo updates then. I have about 4 rolls of film that have been lying around in my room since I bought my Holga camera... oops, i can get lazy sometimes. I need to find a place that sells 120mm film here, because i'm in desperate need of more! We'll be going out everyday, and hopefully i'll have a chance to take some photographs at night time (the manipulation of light is always my favorite aspect of photography, and something that i'm yet to do here yet!) plus perhaps a few outfits i've created and an update on the clothes i've purchased. Spring has officially arrived here, and the weather is absolutely beautiful. Everyday is like a dream. Gros Bisous for now, next update will probably be Monday! Passez un bon weekend tout le monde ^.^!