Sunday, January 1, 2012

2012

Bonne année! Maintenant c'est 2012!
So, I took the last few hours of 2011 thinking about the year as a whole and what I look forward to in 2012 and I want to share a few of my thoughts with you!

2011: A Cultural Odyssey
The past year has been a good one, I have to say! Even excluding my exchange it was a pretty successful year. I learned a lot about myself as a person by learning about others. I made new friends and even better friends with those I had. I took some of the most interesting classes I had ever taken at school, teaching me more about the human mind, society, how we see (and honor) those before us, and how we are essentially a society built on the shoulders of giants. My family helped me a lot through many things such as getting started for this exchange. But the biggest thing I think I learned about the past year was to say "thank you". That simple phrase (that in french is "merci") can take you around the world and back. The trick is to learn to use it. Help has come to me from places I would have never imagined through out 2011 and I sometimes feel like I haven't said it enough. I want to thank my family for everything, literally everything! Thanks to my teachers in the U.S. (et en France) for always believing in me. Thanks to Rotary (especially Kevin Baiotto, Tim Laffoon, and the Kirksville Thousand Hills Rotary Club), that without them this adventure would not have been possible. Also, thanks to the Rotexes, Rotarians, and other exchange students I met at the 2011 Outbound Camp! Even though I say it every day, I want to thank my host families for having the most patience and interest I have ever seen in a group of people. Also, to my class here in France (1ere STG, Lycée St. Joseph), together we laughed and learned our way through the first trimester of school!

2012: A Cultural Odyssey 2 (The Expected Sequel)
My adventures in France are not over and I am grateful for that every day! I still have a lot to learn, about myself, the language and the culture! I don't usually make resolutions for the New Year but this year I hope to make a few changes in my life such as writing every day in French, like a journal. Also, reading more in general. (Another one is writing more often on this blog, I still have a lot of posts that I owe you guys discussing the culture, food, my trips, etc.)

Well, I hope you have a wonderful beginning to this new year and that your 2012 is full of prosperity and joy!