Bonjour!

Emily Mead is a third-year communication student who is currently completely her exchange year at Aix-Marseille University in Aix-en-Provence, France. She has been documenting her European experience via her Instagram page (@emilyjmead) which has over 31,000 followers. Emily offers her insights on the highs and lows of la vie en France.   

In my first few weeks in Aix-en-Provence, I jumped in a fountain, used a corkscrew for the first time, and convinced at least three new acquaintances that dropbears were a real and ever-present threat to Australian society.

This tiny city is, of course, a wildly different experience to Sydney – there’s the architecture that’s hundreds of years old, the closely-protected recipe of calissons (traditional French candy), the maze-like alleyways. Sometimes it feels like I’m in a fairytale.

I’m now four months into my year-long adventure in the south of France, and the learning curve has been steep. Before classes even began, our language skills were put to the test with countless French administrative tasks, and I’m still hoping I didn’t accidentally sign away the rights to my kidneys. That was the first indication that our learning was going to extend far beyond the classroom, and it would not be the last.

Each week, we have 18 hours of language classes. To clarify, that’s French language classes, something explained to me after I accidentally enrolled in a course for Arabic speakers. Studying French in more depth has been an experience peppered with steps forward and backward, but if you’d told me last year that I’d be performing a monologue from a 17th Century French play in front of the class, I’d say you were dreaming. The play, L’école des femmes by Molière (or The School for Wives) is a bit like French Shakespeare, so I’d say I understand a good 12 per cent of it.

Venturing outside the classroom has brought its own wonders. I’ve marched along the streets of Marseille for a demonstration on International Women’s Day and talked to a bookseller about their store closing down. I’ve struggled through movies dubbed in French and joined an Ultimate Frisbee team (in both instances, my knowledge of French slang has improved tenfold).

But that’s only the beginning. I chose international studies because as a chronically talkative communication student, I wanted to meet new people. This is my first time living in a student residence, and every evening our kitchen is filled with a cacophony of voices: broken French, of course, but also Russian, Spanish, Italian and more. It’s an amazing atmosphere. There are so many things I’ve learned from my French acquaintances that I never would have heard otherwise – “I’ll keep you in the juice,” for example, is a perfectly acceptable way of telling someone you’ll keep them updated.

Travel, of course, is essential to the international studies experience. I’ve definitely thought about asking for an extension on an assignment because there are cheap flights to Venice. So far I’ve been hiking in the Calanques, jumped into the incredibly green Mediterranean and eaten macarons in front of the Eiffel Tower. Our Aussie France cohort also met up in Lyon, and it was almost strange to hear a roomful of familiar accents again.

My travels have taken me outside France as well. In our week break, I made my way to Spain and Andorra, exchanging cheese and baguettes for paella and sangria. Some of my travel has been with friends, some solo, and I’ve come to appreciate both. I’ve learned so much about language and cross-cultural experiences, but I’m also realising that so many of the things I was scared of become a lot easier once you tell yourself they’ll be worth it. Each photo I’ve taken so far has a story behind it, and though it hasn’t always been easy, they remind me how valuable it’s been to leave my comfort zone. I don’t know exactly where life will take me after I’ve finished my degree, but I do know that the world now seems a much bigger place than it did before.

After four months, I’ve made some incredible friends, had some amazing adventures and listened to countless wonderful stories. I can’t imagine the experiences I’ll have had after a whole year. But every time I think about staying here forever, the picture of the Tower taped to my cupboard reminds me just how much is waiting for me when I return.

Emily Mead is a Bachelor of Communications (Public Communication and Digital and Social Media) and Bachelor of International Studies student at UTS.