I'm Jana and I'm going to be spending my junior year of high school abroad in France with AFS. I've wanted to become an exchange student since I was twelve. With each passing year, I got more and more excited for my junior year abroad. By now, I'm overflowing with anticipation and eagerness!
People always ask me why I want to do this. It's been hard to come up with a solid answer, but I think that the real reason I want to go abroad is because I want to try something new. I want to test my abilities and see if I can succeed. I want the challenge of learning a new language and culture. I want to meet new people, make lifelong friends, create memories, and have the experience of a lifetime. In turn, I like to think I will affect people's lives as much as they will affect mine, but dreams and expectations about the coming year will do me no good at all. They say I have to go into the year with as little expectations as possible because how could I even expect anything that is going to happen? It's a formidable task, and virtually everyone goes in with some expectations, even if they aren't conscious of the fact.
My family plays a huge part in my life. I live with my mom and my two dogs (who are indeed part of the family), and I have two brothers who I don't know what I would do without. My oldest brother is married and has a little daughter (my niece!) who is the cutest thing alive. I just got back from a visit with them where I got to spend a week with my brother, niece, and sister-in-law. It was great to spend time with them! My other brother and I are close. I talk to him about everything under the sun. I'm going to miss my family a lot while I'm gone, but they support me all the way.
I love sports, music and friends too. I play soccer in the fall, ice hockey in the winter, and tennis in the spring. I play the clarinet year round. I see my friends just about every day and we hang out and have fun all of the time. I'm always busy, whether it's at some practice, or at a clarinet lesson, or doing something with friends. In my free time, I read!
So, I made it through sophomore year! I'm finally a junior. Ordinarily, that would mean the start of college searching, SATs, lots of AP courses, and keeping my grades up. Instead of all of the "normal" junior year activity, I'll be embarking on an adventure in France. I'll be going to school in a french lycée, speaking french in all of my classes (sans cours d'anglais), and socializing in French. I will be completely immersed in the French language and culture.
Until September though, I'll be enjoying my summer. It'll be interspersed with studying French with my lovely French Verb Workbook (barnesandnoble.com/FrenchVerbWorkbook), trips to see family, reading a lot of books about both France and other unrelated summer reading, and enjoying not having to do summer AP homework. I'll take cars and busses and planes and trains to gallivant to different parts of the United States to pay family and friends last visits and say good bye.
It's July, and I leave in less than two months. Every day I check the mail for that tell-tale letter from AFS informing me about my host family and where I'll be living. It still hasn't come. I'm becoming impatient, but I know it will come soon! Every once in a while I'll get some email or piece of mail from AFS to keep me entertained.
And last but not least, THANK YOU AFS DONORS for providing me with a scholarship to help me get to France! I'll be updating throughout the year, recounting my adventures en France for you.
