Roll out the lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer. Dust off the sun and moon and sing a song of cheer. ~ Nat King Cole

Yes, summer is officially here, though as I write this rain buffets the window at my side.  Peu importe, I'm willing to wait out the sunshine!

I guess the most exciting thing that has occured recently is the termination of my career as a french student in 1ere L.  I did it!  I have survived a full school year in a foreign school system.  And while I wouldn't say I thrived, I finished the year with a decent GPA. More importantly, I met some people at les Cordeliers whom I shall truly miss upon my return, and who I feel will welcome me back if I ever got to travelling to France again.  I know I'd be happy to have them sometime in Canada!

But the arrival of my favorite season of the year is cause for celebration in itself.  So far I've visited a Texan friend, Manon, in Laval.  And I leave this Tuesday for Aurey to visit Finnish Riikka and German Gerda on my last trip out of Dinan before my ride to Paris, to catch my return plane home. 

I had not really thought about going home until late last night; it was then I realized: there are a mere 13 days left to me here in France.  I'm still having trouble wrapping my head around so small a number; how can 10 months melt down to 13 days so fast?!  Like butter in a microwave...

But it's a good thing I faced the reality of the situation now, because I still have a boatload of things to see to if I want to come home at all!  So that will probably be all my news for the recent future; when I'm not with friends saying goodbye, I'm packing suitcases and writing thank-you cards!

'Tis better to have loved and lost, then never to have loved at all ~ Alfred Lord Tennyson

How do you move on from the people that walked beside you as you learned a new language and braved a new world?  How do you say goodbye to the people you’ve shared the most important year of your life with?

I think you never say goodbye at all.

This weekend was the last Rotary Exchange Student reunion of my exchange year – an unmistakable sign that my adventure truly is winding down.  We kayaked and rock-climbed and swam fully-clothed in the lake because we didn’t have our bathing suits on.  We signed flags and notebooks and ate bread and slept shoulder to shoulder in sleeping bags on the hostel’s corridor floor, because it kept us closer for longer.  But as all things ultimately do, the weekend came to an end, and we have parted ways.  Leaving us all with that awful ache of loss.

But the pain we feel upon leaving those we care about is the acknowledgement of our love for them.  When the time comes that we may no longer take the relationship we have with one another for granted, it hurts.  But I feel they never really leave us.  People may go separate ways, but the love between them remains.  It is in this way that life teaches us to be strong, to be brave enough to give away our hearts, and to love fiercely and freely.  Even when it hurts.  With this demonstration of courage, we come to obtain a bond that may weather any storm and overcome every obstacle; that transcends all distance and time.  In this way, we never need to say goodbye.

To the Exchange Students of District 1650: over this past year we have become a team, with experiences and bonds that can never be replicated nor matched.  It has been a pure privilege to share this defining slice of my life with you, and I wish you all the best for your futures.  Finally, I hope you will always remember that my door is open to you forever:  both at my home in Canada, and in my heart.