Europe, what?

Yes, it is true. I will be in Europe for nine days short of four months. Perhaps this is the first you’ve heard of the adventurous side of Allison, or maybe the rumor of my plans to tour the British Isles reached your ears, or you were with me every indecisive step of the way and still don’t really understand what I’m doing. Well! This is the post for you. Herein I shall detail the lengthy process by which I came to decide on my itinerary (if you just want to know where I am right now visit the itinerary page.

2005 – Yes, 2005. This was when I was deciding where to go to college. Don’t think my indecision suddenly sprouted around the time when I had to figure out where I would study abroad. Please extrapolate and imagine the consternation that would arise in such an indecisive person when she must decide between six colleges. To make a long story short, chose Whitworth, in part because I liked their semester abroad program in the British Isles. In Freshman Seminar, I planned my four-year plan around the eventuality that when the program went again in the fall of 2008, my senior year, I would be going. So I made sure all my required classes could be achieved without that semester.

Decision #1: Study Abroad

Fall 2006 – Hmm…if I’m really going to be abroad for so long, do I really want to spend the whole time with a group of 20 other Whitworth students, or would I rather spend my time immersed in the culture? Should I spend the whole time travelling around, or take the time to get to know a place really well and actually build relationships with some of the people I see every day? Well, obviously I chose the latter.

Decision #2:Try something other than Whitworth’s Britain & Ireland program

Winter 2006 - So if I’m going to do some other kind of study abroad…the world is open to me. I don’t need the credits, since I planned my semesters so well. *insert hours upon hours of pouring over study abroad websites* This eventually led me to…

Decision #3:Study somewhere the primary language is not English

Spring 2007 – At this point I don’t remember all the places I was looking at, but somehow I came to the conclusion that Italy would be a fun place to study for a semester. I vacillated between several schools, and even nearby countries like France or Austria.

Decision #4:Attend a school in Florence (no, I won’t say which one because I don’t want you to go visit and then ask me what I was thinking by changing my mind )

Fall 2007 – I was committed to the point where I printed out the application to start getting things together. I don’t even know what butterfly flitting across my path conspired to whisper doubts into my thoughts, but there they were. Partially, I realized that there was no way I could learn enough to even approach fluency or proficiency in 3-4 months. Partially I questioned the point of knowing a little of Italian and the little of French I picked up in my French 101/102 classes. And finally, as I browsed publishing websites for entry-level editorial jobs, one mentioned that second language knowledge would be beneficial, especially French.

Decision #5:Go to France

Spring 2008 – Originally I would have planned to attend a university for the semester. However, as I looked at the various programs, I realized that most required a French proficiency beyond my elementary level, and the few that focused primarily on teaching French were expensive (please note that part of my rhetoric in convincing my parents was that the trip–school, travel etc–would be comparable to attending Whitworth for a semester). And I wanted to avoid enrolling at Whitworth for the semester and paying that tuition. Hmm…language schools are open to all ages and the American population of many is but a minority. The schedules are flexible, as you pay by week. And they’re everywhere in France.

Decision #6:Language school it is!

Concluding… (this is the part that I try to avoid explaining, becuase it is, characteristically of my plans, complicated)

Later Spring 2008 – Since you can choose the dates of your language school, and they really are everywhere, I pondered attending several different schools in different cities. This necessitated much deliberation for there are quite a few cities in France where I would love to live for a few weeks.

The “Final” Decision:I will spend four weeks in Paris, three weeks in Lyon, and three weeks in Nice. In each location I will attend language school in a situation similar to Whitworth’s Jan term (three weeks, one class). As it is not a situation where grades are given out or I am receiving credit, I will have to really choose to pursue excellence and improvement. I will be living with a new host family in each city, which should help significantly in my language improvement.

And yes, I will readily admit that I’m hoping to find myself with less homework than I would find at Whitworth or another university. I hope to use this time to explore my new surroundings, find a favorite cafe, and devote at least one entire pen to the cause of making observations and recording my experience. In the absence of writing classes forcing me to produce poetry and prose or literature classes reminding me that reading enlightens, I am determined to be a dutiful English major and pursue both (and I do hope that the latter will not simply entail my search to find The Little Prince in its original language )

PS- Yes, I am also going to be spending more than a month travelling too…which I defend by saying a) without a visa I am only allowed to stay in France and other Schengen countries for 90 days b) if you’re in Europe…see Europe. I go not with the intention to see everything, but with the knowledge that life might happen and I may never return. The world is too great and diverse to let it turn unwitnessed.

~ by Allison on Saturday, August 2, 2008.