Arun spent a year on an exchange programme with YFU Australia / New Zealand in France and has written a reflection on one of his learning outcomes. Every exchange experience comes with its own unique lessons, and we always love hearing from our returnees and learning more about their experiences!
Everyday Adventures
One of the most exciting parts of being on exchange in another country was the constant novelty of experiences, exploring new places, meeting new people, experiencing life from a fresh perspective. It’s been over a year since I returned from my life-changing exchange year in France and I’ve had a lot of time to reflect on the ways in which my perspective on travel, adventure and escape has changed because of this impactful experience. Before my exchange year, adventure and everyday life were two very distinct experiences. Going on holiday was an exciting change from the monotony of school and work. From my first week in France my perspective on this began to evolve. Activities and events that I could easily take for granted at home, like going on a bike ride or going into the city, suddenly took on a whole new level of importance. Of course, a big reason for this is the sheer novelty of living in a new city – everything is so different and that is so wonderful – but in a way this feeling showed me the wonder I could experience by taking another look at how I lived my life and finding the adventure within simple everyday moments. I was super lucky to have an amazing host family who took me on some of the most fun holidays of my life, and these special moments accentuated my experience. However at the end of the day, on exchange, you are living the routine of the country you live in. In France due to the amount of time dedicated to school there is not much time to spend traveling during the school year. This limitation led me to seek simple ways to have an adventure and these moments are some of my favorite memories of my time in France. It was the spontaneous walks and rides in the nearest nature reserves, the trips to visit friends who live a couple hours away on the weekend, the visits to the various cinemas, galleries, and museums, and of course the evenings spent wandering the city aimlessly with friends. Being able to see the wonder in these everyday adventures has become part of my life back home in Australia. These experiences which I would once take for granted or not even seek out in the first place now feel so much more special. I feel that being a student in a foreign country left me with this mindset, this new perspective, that will forever stay with me, no matter where I am.
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