By Anaya Akpalu
The homestay way honestly an amazing experience. Although prior to homestay there was talk of culture shock and coping mechanisms for it, I was lucky to experience very little of it during my stay. The main reason for this, I believe, was my ability to expect to be confused and to be uncomfortable. As a group we came up with the motto to “turn a crisis into an adventure.” This mindset led me to having the best possible homestay because every time I wanted to coop up and shy away, I took a second to realize that I was in France and that all other opportunities that I didn’t take advantage of were only going to be regrets later. One of the biggest ways I connected with my family was through music. On the first night we went to a dadju and vegedream concert and from the experience we had so much to talk about. Pop culture and especially music transcended the language barrier that we had and eased a lot of my initial anxiety.
Anaya with homestay sister
Experimenters and host siblings at the farewell party
