I didn\u2019t expect my stress levels to go down in France – in fact, I was sure that they would increase until I was unable to function, much less speak in French. Thankfully, I can still function and even speak some French. However, I am stressed. How could I not be as an American in a French city, attending a French university while also taking courses at the Dickinson Center, living with a French family, and trying to make friends? That isn\u2019t to say that my experience isn\u2019t good. On the contrary, it\u2019s very good. And I did not expect that. Even though I am stressed and rather in a state of discomfort, I am having a good time in Toulouse. I\u2019m content. I find that my stress in France is not the same as my stress in the US. I don\u2019t have a concrete reason for this, but I think that my approach to stress is different here. I see my stress as a necessary step in my French integration. Stress is inevitable when one lives in a foreign place, and it isn\u2019t always bad. While studying abroad, it is necessary to follow one\u2019s own path, even if stressed or uncomfortable, because, in the end, the stress itself is not important. The experiences, good or bad, are important. I am going to remember our visit to the Soulages Museum and the moment when I first tried rabbit at my host\u2019s house more than I will remember my stress or discomfort. If I could have given myself some advice before coming to France (even if it is clich\u00e9), I would have said that I shouldn\u2019t worry. I believe that we can\u2019t really prepare ourselves to spend time in another country. It is an experience that is completely new and unknown. Therefore, we must embrace it and go with the flow. That\u2019s what I\u2019m going to do from now on, and I have high hopes!<\/p>\n
-Schuyler Atkins<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I didn\u2019t expect my stress levels to go down in France – in fact, I was sure that they would increase until I was unable to function, much less speak in French. Thankfully, I can still function and even speak some French. However, I am stressed. How could I not be as an American in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4847,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[30101],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3295","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-2-la-une-in-english"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/toulouse\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3295","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/toulouse\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/toulouse\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/toulouse\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4847"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/toulouse\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3295"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/toulouse\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3295\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/toulouse\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3295"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/toulouse\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3295"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/toulouse\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3295"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}