The start of my academic year abroad

I am now in France, in a town called Arras. I have officially started my year abroad which is weird as I remember thinking back in Upper Sixth that a year abroad would be a long time off but it has come around very quickly.


Arras is a medium-sized town with lots of history behind it, especially World War One history from what I have gathered so far, and it has lots of Flemish architecture because it is situated quite near to the border to Belgium. It has lots of nice boutiques and shops which suits me quite well as we all know I derive a lot of joy from spending money on clothes and such. It also has lots of bars and cafés, a cinema and a theatre and it is about an hour away from Paris.


I arrived last Friday evening and was picked up at the airport by the woman, Annick, who I am renting a room from, and her daughter, Sophie. They are French and very nice and hospitable. They can speak enough English to communicate when I can't get the words in French which is quite good. When they picked me up they brought me back to the house and we dropped my stuff off (I brought excess baggage as usual) in my room which is really nice, it is very spacious and has a double bed and a huge wardrobe - very ideal for me. They then took me out to dinner at what they think is the best pizza place in town; it was in fact very good. So all in all they made me feel very welcome upon my arrival which was great.


On Saturday, Annick took me to the supermarket to stock up on food for the week and for lunch that day she barbequed for me and Sophie and we all ate lunch together outside in the garden. It was seriously hot that weekend, I was practically melting. 
On Saturday afternoon I went into the centre of town to meet up with another Northern Irish assistant called Aaron and we explored the town a bit; I managed to come across even more shops than I had found with mum when we came to visit at the start of September, fab. That evening Annick drove me into town to show me the only Protestant church she knows of in Arras and we looked up the times of the weekly Sunday sermons.


On Sunday then, Annick drove me and Aaron to church which was very kind of her as it would be about a 30 minute walk away from where I live here. Church was great!! Everyone was really welcoming, the minister immediately came over and introduced himself and made sure we had copies of the hymn book and the order of service. A few other people came and chatted to us as well - one woman had even spent a year working in Northern Ireland she told us. I really enjoyed the service, I managed to get surrounded by little kids - just the same as at Ballygilbert back home! - the service was all in French but I got the general gist and it was all quite traditional which I liked. I had stupidly forgotten to bring my Bible along with me which would have been helpful to see the readings in English but not to worry because I actually recognised the reading anyway. We even sang a hymn that we have sung at church before back home, only this time in French. 
Afterwards, we were invited to stay for coffee so we took them up on the offer and got chatting to quite a few of the congregation. There were no other people our age there (the nearest in age would have been 30 probably) but they were still all very nice and friendly. The woman who has worked in NI actually went to the cupboard and got a French Bible and gave it to me to keep which was incredibly kind of her! They also invited us to a free music concert which is this Friday at the church and one man told us about his Art & Music shop in town where he holds Art classes. When I get my school timetable I hope to be able to figure out a time when I can go and take some Art classes at his shop. 


I am going to be an English assistant at two schools whilst I am here; at College Marie-Curie and at College Diderot which is just outside of Arras so I will have to take the bus there. On Monday I went to Marie-Curie to observe some of Aurélie's classes (she is one of two English teachers there, the other is called Délphine). The classes were medium-sized and I read through some of their English work and some were very good but others it was clear they don't care at all. When I start teaching them I will take 5 at a time and have a conversation class and talk to them about Ireland, Scotland etc and play some games with them.


On Tuesday I did fun stuff (not) such as buying a bus pass, train pass and arranging an appointment to set up a bank account. That evening I met up with some other assistants here at the cinema and we went to see a French film, which was quite good but weird (typical France) and I understood most of what was going on in it which was encouraging, and then afterwards we went for a drink. There were two German assistants, two Americans and two Spanish ones so because we all don't share the same native language we actually spoke in French for the majority of the time which was good. 


On Wednesday I had to take the train ridiculously early to Lille to go to a language assistant induction day which was long and soul-destroyingly boring. It lasted all day and I was shattered afterwards. I got to see Holly though from St Andrews who is working in Lille, it was great to see a familiar face. I also met quite a few other language assistants living in Arras too, some Canadians and some Australians, and when we arrived back after the induction I ended up having dinner with two of the girls at one of their apartments which was nice. 


Today I went into Marie-Curie again to observe more classes, this time Délphine's classes which are smaller (there are only 11 pupils in them). These classes seem nice and they were quite good at English and were well-behaved. The classroom also had one of the Union Jack flags with Will and Kate's faces on it!!


Tomorrow I am going to College Diderot for the first time to meet some of the English teachers there and to figure out my timetable etc. In the afternoon I have my appointment with the bank so fingers crossed I will have a French bank account by the end of tomorrow. Also, Sarah (one of my closest friends from home) is coming to visit me tomorrow from Boulogne-sur-mer where she is working as an assistant. I am so excited to see her and spend the weekend with her!!

This is the Belfry in Arras at night. 

Reflections upon my Summer in Maine.

The two and a half months that I spent this summer in Maine were without a doubt two and a half of the best months I have ever had. 


I feel very privileged to have been hired by Camp Sebago; it is a remarkable camp and I cannot thank the staff enough for being so welcoming and for all that they did whilst I was there. Everyone truly was like one big family and I have never met so many amazing people who are all inspiring in their own ways and who I got the pleasure to get to know so well this summer. I have made life-long friends and have so many hilarious and great memories to look back upon. 


Camp Sebago holds a special place now in my heart not just due to the people that I have met there but also for its beauty. It is such a picturesque place and one of my favorite things to do was just sit on the pontoon and speed boat and admire the lake and the camp waterfront whilst out on the water on a sunny day. Maine sunrises are incredible also, I am so glad I decided to haul myself out of bed at 5am to see it. 


Being a counselor, particularly at a Christian camp, was the most rewarding thing I have ever done. The kids were fantastic and it was great being able to build a rapport with them as well as the staff. I was touched by many of them in lots of little ways and although as a counselor I was there to look after them and set an example to them, they definitely taught me things and inspired me in many ways too.


Never before have I been so outgoing, willing and less anxious and fearful. I am normally quite a reserved person who is scared of absolutely everything but I just went for it with so many things this summer (Sleeping on the ground outside by a camp fire? Scoring a goal in sideline soccer? Racing kids on the blob? Singing and dancing in front of the whole of camp in the talent show? Who would have thought!). I have never before just seized every single little opportunity that passed before me and have no regrets. I made the most of everything and never took any of it for granted and am so thankful that I had the opportunity to spend my entire summer back in America, which I have always considered my second home, and meet so many incredible people and do so many amazing things and visit so many great places! 


Most importantly, it was a great opportunity to grow in faith and to surround myself with encouraging people whom I can relate to and whom I got to work in a strong team with to provide great kids with the best week of their summer vacation! I feel very blessed to have such good new friends in my life and to know that the bonds we formed over the summer will last beyond life at camp even despite being an ocean apart!


There is no doubt in my mind that I will see everyone again. As for working again at camp next summer; I would go in a heartbeat. But who knows what adventures are in store for me this year. We shall see.

Let faith arise.

Trip to Washington D.C

After camp ended, I still had a week left in the US, so Dom, Sean, Kelsey and I decided to go to Washington D.C for a few days vacation before going up to NYC for two days before flying back to the UK. This was a very good idea, it definitely made going home easier as saying goodbye to everyone at camp was very difficult. We had a great time as well! Washington D.C has become one of my favorite cities now, although Boston still claims the number one spot.
The four of us had to stay a night at a hotel in Portland, Maine before flying down early the next morning to D.C. David Eric dropped us off at our hotel after camp closed up, and then we decided to walk into Portland from the hotel to meet up with Andrew for lunch. Why oh why did we decide to walk? We didn't think it would take that long, probably only 20minutes, but we ended up walking for an hour and 10 minutes before we made it to the harbour!! In the end we had a lovely lunch with Andrew at a very nice restaurant on the harbour and then got ice cream afterwards and walked around for a little bit before getting a taxi back to the hotel (good call, should have done that on the way there! haha) and as we were all so shattered from staying up for the majority of the last night on camp, we took a "cabin six nap" and then went for a swim in the hotel pool and relaxed in the jacuzzi. We had dinner in the hotel and then it was bedtime...we were all that tired still that we didn't bother checking the flight itinerary as Sean had said the flight was at 7am and we thought we remembered booking the 7am one so just went with it and set the alarm for 4:30am. DISASTER STRIKES. We wake up at 4:30am and as I'm getting ready in the bathroom Kelsey knocks on the door and says "Err, Sarah, just to let you know, we need to leave now, the flight is actually at 6am". I nearly died. I get easily stressed in airports as it is, so we legged it to the airport in record time, and then Sean and Kelsey checked in no problem and went on while Dom and I checked in, of course, my bag was overweight so I had to pay extra for it, then Dom's bag got weighed and it was overweight too (I had dumped half my stuff into his the night before) so with it now being 5:30am and no time to move things around, I just paid again for excess baggage. We then ran to security, there was a huge line and they wouldn't bunk us up as there were 10 other 6am flights apparently, so when we got through security we sprinted to the gate, got straight on the plane and after 5mins were heading down the runway...The word the others used to describe me during this whole drama was "seething". My blood pressure has never been so high, I'm sure.

Me and the front of the White House.

In the end we made it to D.C, yay! And took a taxi to the hotel which was so nice, we were given room 911 though, not to be superstitious... This soon became referred to as "Cabin 911". We then had the whole afternoon to start exploring D.C. We went for lunch at what looked like a lovely restaurant called "Art & Soul" or "Art & Funk" according to Sean, but its service was not exactly the best. We then went to the White House, which was cool! It is smaller than it looks on TV.

Me, Dom, Sean & Kelsey with the White House in the background.

Hey there, Kelsey!

Me at the Washington Monument.

Next, we walked to the huge obelisk called the Washington Monument which is in the middle of the National Mall. We had fun looking around and taking fun pictures at it.

Me & Kelsey at the Pearl Harbor Memorial.

Then we walked to the Lincoln Memorial. It was so hot and humid however, that we stopped along the way and relaxed by the huge water fountain which is in front of the reflective pool leading up to the Lincoln Memorial (which was also drained, unfortunately). Around it were stone columns with wreaths representing all the states and there was a Pearl Harbor memorial. It was really nice, and interesting. We then walked to the Lincoln Memorial, which was further away than it looks, we stopped at a street vendor and bought WATER ICE! Best invention ever. Water Ice is sort of like a cross between sorbet and sno-cones, it is so good that we got another one on the way back from the Lincoln Memorial and more later on in the trip! The Lincoln Memorial was interesting to see, and it was nice to sit on the steps and admire the view also.

Me on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, view in the background.

Dom, Kelsey & Sean at the Lincoln Memorial.

We made the big mistake of walking back to the hotel instead of taking the subway...It was a really long walk, once our water ices were finished the heat got unbearable and we got lost and walked far more than necessary...thank goodness Kelsey had google maps on her phone! When we made it back to the hotel, we basked in the air conditioning and headed straight to the bar for ice cold drinks and sat there absolutely shattered, haha. Somehow we ended up finding the energy to play shuffleboard...Sean & I won against Dom & Kelsey, thanks to my amazing skills haha...not! We headed out later that night for dinner at a nice restaurant near Chinatown.

Me at Arlington Cemetery.

The next day after breakfast at Starbucks (this became our routine) we visited the Pentagon and its 9/11 Memorial. The Pentagon is huge and the Memorial at it is very nicely done, I do like to visit 9/11 memorials but they always make you stop and think and are sombre. After that Kelsey and I spent the rest of the day together on our own while the boys went off and did their own thing, so we went to Arlington Cemetery which is huge and it contains all the graves of past soldiers who have fought at war for America. It was very peaceful to walk around, and we were astounded by the number of graves there are, they go on and on. We saw a memorial to JFK and also visited the Tomb of the Unknown Solider which is just outside of this huge sort of temple building which is made from white stone and was very impressive. We watched the changing of the Guard also. 

Me & Kelsey in front of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

After that we were going to go look around Georgetown but when we got off at the subway stop we got caught in torrential rain so we went to a lovely restaurant for a late lunch. It ended up clearing up again later on and the four of us went for dinner at a restaurant on the river at Washington Harbour near Georgetown. We decided to take a taxi on the way back to the hotel instead of the subway and the driver showed us all the main monuments which were illuminated for no extra charge, great times! 

Just like elephants...

The following day we went to the Zoo...thank goodness it was free entry because it would not have been worth paying for! I was very surprised that Washington DC didn't have a fantastic zoo. We saw a orang-outang, some hogs and some fish... And a lot of sculptures of animals.  Nonetheless we had a good time anyway walking around, joking about. 

Sean left that afternoon to go up to New York so Dom, Kelsey and I spent one of the best afternoons ever wandering around D.C. We bought sandwiches for lunch and sat on the grass at Capitol Hill having lunch and then took a look around the grounds of it before heading over across the road to see the Supreme Court and a few other buildings of note as well. 

At Capitol Hill.

At the Supreme Court.

We went to the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum which was actually pretty cool and not boring. We got to touch a piece of the moon! It was black and looked and felt like plastic, weird. After the museum we started walking back to the hotel but stopped at a big water fountain that looks onto the Capitol and we sat on its banks relaxing and admiring the view; it was definitely one of my favorite things that we did on the trip and probably the most simple! 

Touching a piece of the moon!

Kelsey and I admiring Capitol Hill.

The three of us spent a really last evening together out at an Italian restaurant and afterwards we got some amazing frozen yogurt! I think we all were converted to the wonders of frozen yogurt after that. 

Me & Maddie at Times Square.

All three of us had to be up really early the next day to leave. Kelsey left first to go back to LA and we were so sad to see her go! Then Dom and I left around 7am on the Greyhound bus to go up to New York City. We all missed the Washington D.C earthquake by literally hours, very lucky!! After a 4 hour bus ride we made it to NYC and checked in at the hotel before heading downtown to the financial district to have a look around the Wall Street area and to go shopping. That evening we headed to Times Square where we met up with Katie and Meaghan who were also visiting New York and we all went for dinner at the Olive Garden at Times Square. I had the best surprise ever - Maddie came to meet us!!! She lives just outside of NYC in New Jersey and she had been in the city that day to see a relative and decided to come for dinner with us. I didn't think I would get to see her again for ages once camp had finished so I was so happy! After dinner we hung out on the red steps at Times Square for a while. The next day Dom left very early in the morning to fly back to the UK so I went to Katie and Meaghan's hotel to stay with them. Maddie had stayed the night in NY so the four of us spent the day together and visited Chinatown and ate a very nice lunch in Little Italy. We then went back  uptown and spent the afternoon shopping before Maddie left to go back to New Jersey. 

Maddie, Me & Meaghan shopping.

Me, Katie & Meaghan had dinner that night at Planet Hollywood and then the next morning they went on a Statue of Liberty sightseeing cruise whilst I only had until 3pm free until I had to get my cab to the airport to fly back home. I was already all packed so I wandered down to Union Square and looked around some of the shops before spending ages perusing Barnes & Noble and sitting in the Starbucks there having lunch whilst reading the September issue of American Vogue...so good. Then eventually it was time for me to leave. I took a cab to JFK airport and had a pretty uneventful flight to London Heathrow (excess baggage was of course paid yet again, typical me) and then a connecting flight to Belfast. It was so hard to believe that my summer had come to an end and that my 2 and a half months in America was over; it was undoubtedly two and a half of the best months I've ever had.