Name: Anayis Doolittle
Major(s), minors, centers, pathways: International Relations and French majors, Anthropology minor, CISLA
What program are you enrolled in? IES Nantes, which is a French language immersion program (official program name is IES Nantes: French Language Immersion & Area Studies if u wanna be fancy but likeee)
What made you choose this program? My goal for this semester is to improve my French as much as possible, so I was only looking at immersion programs when I was searching for study abroad options. I ended up choosing Nantes because it’s a smaller, less touristy city than Paris, meaning that there’s much less opportunity to speak English here. I was attracted to the program because it has a focus on learning about the local culture and history of Nantes. Nantes is a beautiful city with a rich history right on the Loire river, and I’m really excited to be going to a program where I get to learn about my new city in an academic context.
How have you adjusted to life in France? It was definitely a bit of a difficult transition for the first two weeks or so! I was experiencing a lot of new things at once: being thousands of miles away from home, not being allowed to speak English, and living with a family that I didn’t know. It was overwhelming at first. However, all of those hurdles were things that I was able to get over with time. Now that I’ve been here for a month, I feel much more comfortable in Nantes. I have a daily routine, new friends, and plenty of homework to keep me busy!
Were there any clichés that were proven true or false? A lot of the classic clichés about food were true, at least in my experience. My host family eats a lot of cheese and bread, and drinks a lot of wine! I know that one big stereotype that Americans tend to have about the French is that they’re very rude/unwelcoming to foreigners. I was a little nervous to speak to people on the street because of this, but I’ve found that the vast majority of people are very kind and patient with me as I fumble my way through a conversation.
What is your housing situation? What is that like? I live with a super sweet and lovely host family! In addition to my host parents, I have one host brother and two host sisters (there are also two older siblings who have moved out of the house but who come visit on the weekends). They’re all teenagers, so the house is always busy. People are moving in and out all the time. However, my host mom is a big believer in the importance of family time, so no matter what, we eat dinner together every night. I found it a little awkward to just suddenly be living with a family that I’ve never met before, but I got over that pretty quickly.
What is a typical day like? Is it similar to Conn at all? I have class at 8:30 every morning except for Thursdays. So, I get up at around 7am to get ready and eat breakfast. My host mom always leaves out bread, jam, and coffee for me. I catch the bus at 7:40 and I arrive at the IES center (where I have my classes) at 8:20. My house is pretty far from the IES center, which is sometimes a little bit annoying because I like to sleep in as much as possible. I’ve been spoiled by being able to walk to class in under 10 minutes at Conn! Every day, I have two or three classes at the IES center. Because my commute is pretty long, I usually just stay at the center until the end of the day. We have a kitchen at the IES center, so I go food shopping on Mondays and make lunch every day at IES in between my classes. I take the bus home at around 5 or 6, and I do a little bit of homework or call up my family in the US while I wait for dinner. I eat with my host family at about 8pm and then sometimes we watch a movie together or just talk in the living room for a while.
Are you involved in anything outside of just classes? My program arranges “Conversation Club” every week with French university students. We get to hang out and play board games with them, speaking in English for half of the time and French for the other half. I go to Conversation Club every week and I also have a gym membership! Outside of those two things, I’m mostly just trying to focus on classes and on exploring Nantes.
What advice would you give to people preparing to go away? Don’t overpack! You really don’t need as much as you think you do, and it will make your life so much easier if you have less baggage to haul around. Also, don’t be afraid to be spontaneous! It’s good to plan a little bit and think about what you want to prioritize doing while you’re abroad, but I’ve found that the last minute trips that I’ve taken with my new friends have been much more memorable than anything else.
What do you think you would have liked to know that you know now? I wish I would’ve known that it’s completely normal to struggle at the beginning. Everyone has such an idealized vision of study abroad, but the truth is that the first few weeks are probably going to be difficult. You’re alone in a new place with people you don’t know! I thought that there was something wrong with me for not completely falling in love with study abroad the second I set foot in Nantes. Don’t be discouraged by the transition period, because everyone always settles in eventually. •
