I woke up for school on Thursday, when I noticed a new message on my phone. I had received a message on Instagram in French (which I had to use Google Translate for), that came from my host-brother in France. He explained that I would be staying with his family for my exchange, and I was surprised to hear from him this early. Usually, we don't hear about the cities we were placed in until late spring. From my district, I had been the last student to find out my host-country, yet the first student to find out my host-city (or village, that is).
My host-brother's name is Tom, and he explained that he lived in a small village called Lauris. It's near the southern coast of France, along the Mediterranean, with a grand total of 2000 inhabitants. I had to look up the village, and I was immediately blown away... It looks like somewhere out of a fairy tale, with the most beautiful landscape (and even a medieval castle). I was in disbelief, more excited than ever to discover this new home.
My host-brother Tom mentioned that he was also going to be studying abroad in the US (it is an exchange, after all). He was going to a small town in Minnesota. I probably won't be able to meet him in person, because we'll both be abroad after swapping countries. That being said, we might have a couple of overlapping days in either country that allows us to meet.
He explained that his parents were goat-cheese makers, and that I would be living on a farm (I still can't grasp how wonderful this all is). He has a 10-year-old sister, who would become my host-sister, and he told me about all the animals on the farm–goats, sheep, donkeys, pigs, and some dogs and cats. I found about all of this just earlier today, so I'm still coming to terms with all of this information. I still have months left before I leave for France, but it's all starting to feel real! I'm about to finish my Freshman year in a couple of months, and then I'll be on a flight to this ethereal village with this kind host-family.
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