Studying in France as Americans: Exciting Developments and Difficult Grief
Our October update comes a bit late, and we thank you all for your patience and continued interest in our journey as American master’s degree students at the Université de Reims Champagne-Ardenne. Jalen and I are in the second year of our graduate studies in Logistics and Public Law respectively, and this month in particular has been full of peaks and valleys. Keep reading to learn more.
At the beginning of the month, we celebrated Jalen’s 25th birthday. While we didn’t do anything extravagant, we made time for two of Jalen‘s all-time-favorite things – relaxing at home and going out to eat! We enjoyed spending quality time together and had fun making the day extra special.
The following week, Jalen returned to work as part of his alternance, officially beginning his weekly schedule that will alternate between one week of classes and one week of work throughout the rest of the school year. He’s enjoyed being back in the office with his coworkers and has started on his long-term project.
Thereafter, we had the opportunity to watch a play called Une Télévision Française for free after winning tickets through the local transportation company in Reims, CITURA. Jalen and I both love attending performing arts events, and we really liked the interesting premise of this particular show.
Another fun moment in October was spending the day at Nigloland, an amusement park near Troyes, with one of our close French friends. Neither of us had ever been to a French amusement park, and it was such an enjoyable first experience. We rode nearly every roller coaster and ate yummy food together. We also loved that the park was decked out in Halloween decorations.
In other news, we became Campus France E-Ambassadeurs this month! We are collaborating with Campus France to make content on their blog that will provide prospective international students with the information that they need to study in France. Mid-October, we published our first article about our experience as Americans studying in a French university, and it’s is available to read in both English and French.
Another big day for us as a couple this month was our seven-year anniversary. If you follow The Francofile, you know that Jalen and I are as madly in love as the first day that we met, and we seize every opportunity to celebrate our relationship. Seven years feels simultaneously like a long while and like it’s just the beginning of our story!
The most difficult part of this month was learning of and dealing with my father’s unexpected death. I am grateful to have been able to travel to the United States at the end of the month to spend some much-needed time with my family and attend his funeral. Jalen and I are devastated, and while we are learning to embrace this new reality, it’s been really tough to continue life as normal.
As always, we thank you for your support and encourage you to let us know if you have any questions in a comment!
Check out this month’s update video!
Check out our other monthly updates!
- September 2020
- October 2020
- November 2020
- December 2020
- January 2021
- February 2021
- March 2021
- April 2021
- May 2021
- June 2021
- July 2021
- August 2021
- September 2021
- November 2021
- December 2021
- January 2022
- February 2022
- March 2022
- April 2022
- May 2022
- June 2022
- July 2022
- August 2022
- September & October 2022
4 Comments
ST
Maria, I’m so sorry for the unexpected passing of your dad. I cannot imagine the pain you must be in, especially since you are so far from home. I hope he will Rest in Peace. All my love and best wishes to the both of you.
Jalen & Maria
Thank you for this kind comment.
Andrea
Sending my condolences on the passing of your father. I’m so sorry for your awful loss.
Jalen & Maria
Thank you.