#rye 2014-2015

[demyaabroad]

Did you miss me?

Ok so I know I’ve been kind of AWOL lately, but I have a (somewhat) legitimate excuse. And that excuse is... I DON’T KNOW HOW TO SAY GOODBYE!!!

Initially I thought I would write an update post one week after I returned. But then one week turned into two weeks, and two weeks turned into a month, and a month turned into my one year departure date anniversary. And now I’m leaving for college in less than 36 hours!

When I returned home I immediately got a phone upgrade (like literally as soon as I walked out of the airport my dad had an iPhone 6 in his hand). I decided not to download tumblr just so I could get some time to readjust to my new life (which helped by the way). But I missed it. And now I’m back to tell you all: IT’S NOT THE END, it’s just a new beginning.

So I thought about how I said I was going to retire my blog but as the URL implies, this is about my adventures abroad. Not just limiting myself to my exchange in France! So with that said, I will continue to keep this blog to talk about exchange and travel, (because if you know me at all, you know traveling abroad is in my near future).

I have a big trip planned for next summer of 2016 that I will reveal as the time draws closer, but until then I’m just saving money (I literally spent all of my nights last week counting coins). But yeah... The world still gets to “experience DeMya” and all of my followers can too!

À la prochaine,

DeMya

[demyaabroad]

The end of the rollercoaster

Me: The rollercoaster has come to the end.

Morgan: Exit to the right, fall off the cliff, leads you back to your real life!

[demyaabroad]

Euro Tour - Day 1: Paris

So after taking a 6 am train from Toulouse with 5 other people from my district (Morgan, Sophia, Agustin, Clinton and Fabio) we arrived in Paris just before noon. After searching for the Rotarians for a bit we finally got driven to another train station where we got to go eat. After eating a toastie, I got my first taste of Starbuck's since England. Caramel Frappucino sans café, to be exact! Right before returning to the bus we finally met some of the other exchangers from our tour group - Australians and New Zealanders. Later we would meet the others bringingnour group total to somewhere around 50. After a bus tour around some popular destinations we made a stop at the Eiffel Tower. We were only there for 15-20 minutes so it was mostly just us taking lots of photos and a smoke break for others. After boarding the bus, we made a short drive to The Louvre. Though we didn't get to go inside, we took some very classy photos outside. One of which included all of the blacks on the trip replicating a song title of sorts. 😉 Afterwards, there was the long ride to Reims where I am now, staying in a youth hostel. It was a long and fun day. I've already gotten to meet so many crazy & awesome, or just crazy-awesome, people. Countries vary from Argentina to Malaysia to Sweden and even a girl from Zimbabwe! Side note: I did bring the Tim Tams. I've been selling each biscuit for 1€ each. So far I've sold 14 which has made me 14€ richer. Some/most of the Australians envy me for my smooth tactics but hey capitalism! I'm just wishing I bought more Tim Tams because I only have 8 left! I bought each pack. *1 pack of 11 Tim Tams cost me 3€24. Well that's all for now folks! I don't know when I'll be able to update again because rumor is that in some of the places we'll be staying, the wifi won't be free. 😕 Updates (and hopefully photos to come). DeMya J.

[demyaabroad]

Almost that time of exchange...

Less than 4 days until euro tour and my group of 50 or so exchange students have started connecting on Facebook. There's only 37 of us right now, but I've already witnessed the Australians and New Zealanders ganging up in the group messages and going at each other. Also, I found an unlikely Ohioian that likes to chant "War Eagle," even though she knows she has it wrong! Also, I've been put in charge of food since I have the biggest supply. Some Americans have already asked if we can cook up my last box of Jiffy cornbread. And then the Australians have asked me to bring Tim Tams in return for some €€€... Oh boy. I can tell this is going to be one fun group! Roll Tide!

[starving-explorer]

So I have 25 Days left in Japan...

TWENTY-FIVE DAYS! I should be sad, or scared (and trust me, I am..) but I am truly excited to be home, and starting my life again. I have so many things waiting for me at home, and I am so excited to experience them! 

I have truly LOVED my time here in Japan, and would not have asked for a better way to learn a different culture and a new language! I have made so many friends and I feel like the luckiest girl on the planet with this wonderful year abroad (even though, there were some troubles and issues.)

[demyaabroad]

So I hung out with Jimena yesterday...

Jimena and her Mexican friend, Mariana (who happens to be a RYE student in Germany), arrived in Toulouse this afternoon and I got a chance to hang out with them. We had a lot of catching up to do in only a short amount of time. Because Jimena has already been on her Euro Tour, she told me some shopping advice. One of those little tips was that Kebab is only 3€ in Prague!!! Guess what DeMya’s eating for two days in a row!? But no really, that’s half the price of Kebab in France. Unfortunately, just the sandwich alone costs a total of 10€ in Switzerland so we know where I won’t be eating Kebab at! All in all, I had a really great time even though I walked around for an hour+ with a huge, VERY HEAVY, backpack (I slept over at a Rotarian’s house on a school night). It was a pleasure to meet Mariana and talk about our different experiences as exchange students in different countries. I hope we all get to meet up again like we said we would in the near future. I could always go for a good Spanish lesson from these ladies.

[demyaabroad]

8 Months (and 1 day)!!!!

So I didn't even realize it, but yesterday was my 8th month anniversary here in France! I only have 2.5 months to go!!! Only 2.5 months!?! But there's sooooo much to do before then! Like eat more kebab, go on Euro Tour, work on perfecting my accent, work on my French in general, eat more kebab, meet with the other exchange students all together one last time, eat more kebab!!! But I'm going to miss kebab soooo much!!! I can't believe I've made it this far!! Let's make every last minute count!

[demyaabroad]

I can't English

So I knew my English was going out the door when I started forgetting simple expressions or basic translations and stuff, but I never would've thought it would've gotten to the point where I started constructing English sentences like French ones! Today (well it's past midnight because I went to a late night showing of the new Avengers film) I was hanging out with Fabio (my Brazilian) and Clinton (my fellow American). When we parted ways and I had to take the bus alone I texted them to let them know my bus was arriving soon. But little did I realize that I typed out "He arrives in 3 minutes," when I should have said "It arrives in 3 minutes." Luckily I caught that before sending the message but still. I GAVE A GENDER TO AN INANIMATE OBJECT!!! Like, this is English! Who does that? I mean it's perfectly normal for the French language but for English!?!? I need to relearn my mother tongue before starting school when I get back!!