My Time in Lyon: First Semester, That’s a wrap!

As you’ve probably guessed from the title above my first semester is quickly coming to a close and it won’t be long before I come home for Christmas. As I’m writing this, I have finished my final exam and writing my final essay of the year. I just wanted to take this time to reflect on my time abroad so far and what exactly I have done and the lessons I have learned along the way.

When I first arrived here in Lyon in September which feels like a age ago now I did know what to expect. As a person who has never lived abroad before I was totally out of my comfort zone for quite a while. It took time for me to settle in here in a society that I would argue is different from what I am used to. I’m not going to lie the first few weeks here and settling into a completely new way of life was difficult. There were many times where I found myself just wanting to give up and go home. I am so glad that I didn’t do that. Yes, this period of my life was super difficult, but I found my own ways of coping and finally settled in for the academic term.

If I could say one thing or give a bit of advice for anyone who is currently or is looking to take on a year abroad its this. It’s not going be easy all the time and it definitely will be something that you have never experienced but believe in what you are doing and take that leap of faith, getting out and meeting people will be one of the best experiences of your life. When I arrived here, I wasn’t too warm to the idea of getting out and meeting new people. However, I pushed myself and now I’m so thankful that I did. I have some really great friends from all corners of the globe and people who I would never have had the opportunity to meet without this experience.

After I settled in life in Lyon, I managed to experience some culture and explore what in my eyes is one of the most beautiful cities I’ve had the experience to visit and live in. This city has shown me a real insight into French life and culture including wine, cheese and the many deserts that Lyon has to offer.

The university I have studied here has been really great and I have had a really exciting and interesting set of classes learning all things from EU law through to American Civil War history. All of my exams have now ended and I feel quietly confident about how they went. It will take a couple of weeks until I found out how I got on and I’m sure you all will be the first ones to hear. My university really has been a great way to meet new and very interesting people, and learn about so many cultures not just the culture that was around me.

In my time in Lyon so far, I have managed to spend some time in Geneva Switzerland which I think is another beautiful city that I really want to see more of. The one big thing that I want to get out of my second semester in Lyon is travel. Now that I am settled and know Lyon quite well, in the new year I want to look into travelling more and visiting more amazing countries, towns and cities.

Looking back at my time here so far it really has been a semester of ups and downs and made me grow a lot and allowed me to learn things about myself that I would not have found out without this experience. I am thankful for all the friends and colleagues that have made this semester so special and have helped along my journey on this year abroad.

I hope you all have an amazing Christmas and I will be back with you soon with more stories of Lyon, friends and my year abroad as a whole.

We thank you for all of the times you have read not just this series but all of the year abroad blogs that have been written so far by my colleagues. If you have any of your own stories from time studying or living abroad, we would love to hear about them below. Any like or shares on these blogs really helps and could help others currently going through or in the future will be going through the same process as ourselves.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year from all of us at the Almost Lawyers.