1st month at home - saying goodbye to the exchange experience

Saudade is what I feel for the greatest semester of my life!

After my first month in Lille, I wrote how I felt, what I thought about the city, and about the weekend of my trip to Paris, to know the people of the Community of Sant'Egidio.

Now, it's the opposite. I came back last month, on June 30th. It was awesome to see my family and friends again, but I changed. Sometimes, I strange behaviors, but I expected this to happen.

You see, I studied a very interesting subject at IÉSEG, called "Intercultural Communication". From all the topics - I can write about them later -, the one that I want to point out is the culture shock.

Orientation week: how everything started

In the paper that the professor gave to us, it says: "The term culture shock was coined to describe a specific type of reaction that can occur when people travel abroad or confront ways of life substantially different from their own."

The stages of acculturation can be represented by the w-curve:

Before this class, I thought that everything would be perfect after coming back. However, it turned out to be a reverse culture shock, as the theory says it's suppose to happen.

Literally

At first, when I came back, everything was perfect, incredible, awesome! Exactly what I thought of Lille, in my first month. With time, I missed a lot the way of life that I got used to. It's sort of strange that in June all I wanted was to be here again, but now that I am, I miss (more than I could possibly imagine), that beautiful and cold city in the north of France.

I guess next week I'll feel better. I'll have classes and more things to do. Coming back didn't mean that I continued being the same, because things aren't the same. I really miss Lucas, and being without him is a big change in my life. I'm not single, but I also don't have his company.

I miss the metro station near Concordia

Anyway, I'm glad that I learned that cultures can be different without one being better than the other. I realised that not all things are perfect in France, Italy, or Spain. The thing is, we (Brazilians) complain a lot about our country. Actually, we have plenty of qualities to be proud of! 

So now I'm happier than ever for where I live, and even more for being conscious about the reality and the problems.

Maybe I'm living at the same time the honeymoon phase, combined with the reentry shock, or we could just say that basically I'm having a crisis.

I miss the rain

In fact, it doesn't matter, because I know I'll recover myself little by little. In the past month, I've been happy to go out with my mom, my best friends, my cousins and my friends from the Community.

Oh, and I couldn't forget: I'm playing guitar again. I've even written a couple of songs since I came back! \o/

I still haven't gone to the beach, though. I'm actually feeling cold, even after all that time in Lille, a place much colder than here! It turns out that 21ºC isn't as hot as I thought it was.

I miss the Grand Place in Lille

The best thing about all the exchange experience is that I have wonderful memories and I made incredible friends who I can keep in touch with. It was a dream that came true. I'm proud to say that I've had the time of my life. This semester was the best ever, and it was worth it!

Life goes on... I'm looking for an intership, I'm changing my eating habits, and I know that in a short period of time, things will be in their right place. I'll be ok!
 

I miss each and everyone of you!