I Have Hit A Wall

Hey everyone!

I have some relatively new news that is somewhat important but not on the point of urgency. Yet I have the need to explain this tidbit about my life first, and then explain myself trough various experiences that I have gone through in the past week. I have hit the wall.

Wait a second! You hit WHAT?!?!?!?! Before you people start going all crazy questioning on me and exiting this page allow me to explain myself and what this “wall” is.

The feeling came to me rather unexpectedly and I was slightly unprepared for it, especially considering I should have been ready for it and I was ready for it. I have finally received the feeling that all of this around me, going to France for an entire year, is real and is only a month away. The wall was the feeling about understanding everything and realizing that this is happening and I am not in some crazy dream I might wake up from at any time or realize that this couldn’t be happening or I see a two legged python walking down the street wearing sunglasses and drinking a pina colado. I am going to France next year.

It was a hard pill to suddenly realize out of nowhere that this is my reality and it is actually happening. Sure I knew what was happening, but my brain was still in York mode and seemingly unable to wrap my mind around the fact that I will not be going to school with all of my friends and class mates in the fall, but I will be traveling to the north of France to restart my life in a totally strange country and city with a completely strange and new family, new classmates and new school. That is a harsh reality for any person, but it was also my decision and I am sticking with it.

So this epiphany came to me on the car ride home from a picnic, but probably one of the most meaningful picnics I have ever been too. It was for all current Speedwell recipients and past to get together for a few hours over lunch, which was sponsored by the Speedwell Foundation, the people who gave me my scholarship. This was something I was looking forward to for a long time for a few reasons.

1.    I would get to meet and thank Mike and Jenny Messner for donating the money that would pay for my scholarship to go to France. They also provided the funding for 29 other students this year to travel around the globe. In addition to the 30 people from this year receiving a scholarship, 53 alumni have also studied abroad through the Speedwell Foundation since 2007. That is charity at its best and they are two extremely kind, friendly, and generous people who I don’t think I will ever be able to repay or pay forward, but I certainly will try.

2.    I got to meet returnees from past years who have gone abroad and talk to them about their experience and just see that normal people have done it and survived through the ups and downs of the exchange process. I also made a few new friends and expanded upon others.

3.    I got to see most of the other winners from my year for the last time together in a group before we all start leaving. I have some frineds going to Spain, Italy, Germany, Russia, Norway and quite a few others. I have nothing but admiration for each of them and think every single one of them as brave, courageous, and insane for doing this. They are all amazing!

4.    I got to see one of the most important people in my areas chapter for the last time. She is amazing and everyone knows it. She is kind, funny, ambitious, determined, persuasive, and one of the best volunteers AFS USA has to offer. She is one of the few people that makes sure everything in our chapter. I am signaling her out because she had to put up with my endless stream of questions about AFS and studying abroad since January of freshman year until last December. She went through my family interview and I just admire her as a person and a volunteer. Thank you Deb for all that you do, and we all love you!

And now here are some pictures from the day I hope you enjoy them!

Here we have the Speedwell winners getting ready for a picture. I think i was talking to Marina, in the orange, who is going to Russia next year.

All of the past Speedwell winners in a pretty decent picture

And there goes the half decency when the words "Silly one!" were said.

The winners of the Speedwell Scholarship for the 2013-14 school year!

My friend Marissa, going to Spain, who I find very fun and always makes me laugh.

My good friend Alli from school and I being photobombed by Paige, both who went to Spain last year

Alli, Paige and I

Jenny Messner, the founder and donator of the Speedwell Scholarship and Speedwell Foundation and I after I thanked her extensively.

Her husband Mike Messner and I

And lastly a picture of my family over looking the view of the venue, a really nice golf course.

Also! Fun fact- While we were eating, I happened to have the luxury/misfortune (????) to sit next to the president of AFS USA. I had no clue at ALL. He was a friendly Argentinian who looked like he was a students father who was studying abroad while he himself had come here years ago. So when the people at our table found out, I think they were pretty shocked, I know I was but he was really nice and fun and just a jolly fellow.

Now lets continue back in time to Friday, or as I might like to call it, A Day Of Nightmares! Friday was a day I originally was looking forward too. It was supposed to be a fun day in Washington DC touring American University and applying for my Visa at the French Consulate. Sounds like a charming day right? You would be wronger than a dead horse walking into church on a Thursday. Please excuse that terrible analogy as I continue pretending that never happened.

8:45 A.M.

We arrive at American University. The campus was amazing with its hidden gardens and outside amphitheater. We walked around trying to get a feel for where everything was. We got signed in for the open house and continued walking around.

9:00 A.M.

We arrive at the business school on campus so my sister can talk to a professor or someone who knows a bit about the programs there. We get some light breakfast based refreshments as they talk.

9:20 A.M.

My mother and I leave the campus to go to the French Consulate for my Visa appointment, which is at 10. The ride from the University to the Consulate should have been ten minutes.

9:40 A.M.

We are still not at the Consulate. We are lost in the middle of Washington DC, a city my mother nor I am very familiar with so we have no clue where we are or where we are supposed to be. The print out map was no use, and my mom had the bright idea of making me use a map on Safari on her iPhone instead of the Maps app she has.

10:00 A.M. – Our Appointment Time

Surprise surprise. We are still not at the Consulate, but after a great deal of frustrated screaming at each other, I have taken control of the directions and putting us in the right direction AT LAST! We are also behind where I would have like to have been because DC traffic is worse than New York, which is horrendous.

10:15 A.M.

We FINALLY arrive at the consulate. At this point, I am glad we arrived and am freaking out and on the way to beg in the situation we are not allowed in because we are late. Thankfully, we are and no begging was required (lucky me).

11 A.M. – 4 P.M.

For the rest of the day in Washington, everything was great. We went to Georgetown for lunch, stopped at a Patisserie for dessert and we left to come home.

4 P.M. – 5:15 P.M.

Somehow, it was one of my parent’s wonderful ideas to give me the extremely stressful and annoying job of giving directions out of Washington. After much more frustrated screaming (notice a pattern here?) I finally am able to calm down, and start us through Washington. This was also a problem considering we ended up leaving straight through the middle of the city… at rush hour… with Washington traffic… and everyone being exhausted.

So when we finally did get home, I pretty much left to go to my friend Mallory’s going away party, which I had really looked forward too. Reminder, Mallory is going to Denmark and is leaving the 10^th. I had a lot of fun hanging out with some people I hadn’t seen all summer.

And lastly, I would like to point out; I have heard about and met (an actual social interaction. Yes I have a social life) more legitimate French people in the past two weeks then I think I have in my entire life. That is just weird for me. I met a girl who lives in Croix, which is the town right next to Bondues outside of Lille, so I finally know someone who is my age in Lille. She won’t go to my school but still… FRIEND! I met a girl from the south of France from a city/town named Arles who was so sweet and friendly and funny, and likes marshmallows. Whoda thunk? My friend Natalie also hosted a student for a few weeks, who I unfortunately was unable to meet due to circumstances uncontrolled by me, and just today I met a boy who was on a summer program with AFS and was staying with a former Speedwell winner who went to France last year, and from what I understand lived outside of Lille for the second part of his exchange after he was moved for unknown reasons to me.

So I am trying to think of anything else that I may have missed or forgotten but I can’t so that’s it for right now. I have 31 days left in the US. One month until I sign myself over to AFS in New York and leave everything behind. I am now ready and excited to go. I hope to keep this up to the best of my ability while in France, but I’m not sure how that will go. In other news completely unrelated that is extremely overdue and possibly outdated, but I am on the AFS blog page which is sort of exciting and hopefully an initiative to keep myself blogging and showing everyone what I have to offer in terms of my experience.

So with that aside, thank you everyone for reading and I hope you have a great night/day/week/whatever.

Au revoir

-Aidan