Introduction

Hello!


I'm Sarah and I have just finished my second year studying French and Spanish at the University of St Andrews, Scotland. I should really explain the name of this blog - when I am not at university I live back home in the countryside in Northern Ireland and my home town is called Holywood (pronounced like Hollywood), when some of my American friends from St Andrews came over to visit during our reading week, my friend Catherine pointed out as we passed a road sign for Holywood, "You live in the Holywood Hills! You're like Northern Ireland's own Lauren Conrad!" For those of you know who know me well, you'll know this is a pretty good way of describing me - I love Lauren Conrad (star of The Hills) and I seem to always have some new drama happening at university. 


I decided to start a blog because this coming academic year 2011-2012 I am doing a year abroad in Lille, France teaching English to French children in a secondary school and I wanted to document my time there. I start teaching in France in October but decided to start this blog earlier because last week I got hired at the last minute by an American kids summer camp through the program Camp America, so I am now spending 8 or so weeks of my summer in the US. I am going to be working as a camp counsellor at a Christian camp called Camp Sebago which is located on Sebago Lake in Maine. I am leaving this coming Wednesday to fly out there and will start staff orientation on the Thursday before the campers arrive the following week. From what I have seen and heard of the camp so far it seems just like the camp from the film The Parent Trap! I will stay in a log cabin and do activities like arts and crafts, boating and swimming with the campers. I am quite excited but incredibly nervous! I have never gone properly abroad before by myself without knowing anyone so I hope that everything goes ok and that I make friends! Upon reflection I'm glad I have the opportunity to do this before going to France for the year where I won't know anyone and there will probably be a lot of communication difficulties as it hasn't set in yet at all that I won't be going back to St Andrews for the next year. 


Basically what started out as a 7 month academic year abroad has now turned into a bit of a gap year as I will now get to spend a prolonged period of time in another country apart from France. It's pretty crazy as I was never the sort of person who wanted to do a gap year but it's quite exciting and I hope I will have lots of good stories to tell!