Most Interesting Summer of My Life

I never thought I'd learned so much from going to Pau for my study abroad program. It was interesting at first knowing that not many people there spoke English; thus, I had to really use my French to get around.

The good: The city is beautiful, and I have missed it everyday ever since I left. The people are friendly, the foods are to die for. La Maison Macaron and Georgio's became the top visited places for me and my friends. It's a small city, so getting lost wasn't really a concern. I usually stayed on Marechal Joffre and around to check out the stores. The buses will be your best friends if you don't want to walk the miles.

You have to speak French! And if you don't, you'll end up confused. I love the field trips and the activities we did outside class. My first term I had Marie-Helene as my teacher, and she had been the best teacher I'd ever had my entire life. If I go to Pau again, I'll make sure to find her.

The second term of the program we got international students coming in, and it was a blast. I ended up placed in the class with bunch of Europeans who had spoken French fluently, and I thought I was about to lose my head. But it turned out wonderful and I had learned so much.

Ryan and Pauline are the nicest, sweetest people I'd ever had as advisers. They're very helpful and they are so full of love.

The ugly: Unfortunately, the city wasn't as safe as I thought it'd be. The first week of school, someone snatched away my laptop while I was using it on campus. So the first week I ended up visiting the police station twice. They told me that they'd send me documents and information, which never came.

Internet was horrible in the dorms. I had to walk to McDo to skype and do some research. After the laptop incident on campus, I got too scared to stay on campus for too long to use the internet.

The weather was a nightmare when I got there. It rained all the time and it was difficult for us to get around without getting soaked. However, we got used to it and started enjoying it.

The bad: It was so hard to leave! I wanted to stay so badly that I made plans to just buy a house there and stay there forever with some friends. The month of sales was horrible too in a way that I couldn't help but visit the stores everyday to buy something.

What I'd have done differently:
Pack lightly. With the sales going on, I ended up throwing out some stuff to have space in my luggage.
Chain my laptop to my arm or something.
Get internet access for my dorm.
Bring more jackets and sweaters, and long pants. I know I had no problem with it, but a lot of my friends brought shorts and it was freezing at some points.
Extend my stay.