“Sophia, you haven’t updated in 2 whole weeks! Your almost 3 weeks behind on your blog, oh the horror!” Yes, I know, but last Wednesday I was hit really hard with homesickness and couldn’t summon up the energy to write about it.

I’ll start with last week – the hardest of my exchange so far. I spent most nights crying, and despite constantly trying to find things to do I just couldn’t seem to keep my mind off home.

Fortunately this week has been so much better, I haven’t had any homesickness ( just one scare), and am really enjoying school again. I noticed several things during my “down phase”, firstly I lost my appetite which really didn’t help with the fatigue that I get from the long days, and I also realised I haven’t been going to bed early enough. I had a chat with Elisabeth (my host mother) and she said she could cook dinner earlier (we normally start eating at about 8:30-9ish which is when I would normally be in bed in NZ) which was very nice of her. I now go to bed at 9:15 and it actually makes all the difference to my mood!

After a very difficult emotional Wednesday, my friends were very relieved to see me back to my smiley self. On Friday we all had a free period last so we went to Ilona’s house and ate totally nut free pastries that her mum made that were amazing!! I then had my flute lesson, and then skyped my brother when I got back to the house. It’s days like these I can’t remember why I could ever have been sad.

I kept pretty busy over the weekend, on Saturday morning I went to a nearby town to search a second hand store for summer clothes, but apparently I’m the only one who thinks it is warm enough to wear short sleeve t shirts because I found NOTHING.It was actually the first day of spring on the 20th, it’s so weird to think it’s the opposite in NZ. After visiting the market I went kayaking with Lina and the kayak club. At first I felt a bit lonered because every one was already such great friends, but once I actually got in there it was really fun, I got splashed a lot and fell out once  (on purpose!) 🙂 I think I’ll make a habit of going there, they seem like really cool, genuine people.

Sunday morning was spent doing my favourite pastime – sleeping. I then tidied my room and we had a guest over for lunch. I chilled out for an hour or too – it was great to do nothing without feeling homesick so I really relished in it and just read. Elisabeth took me to see a castle straight out of my 5 year old dreams in the afternoon. I couldn’t take any photos while inside but it was good because it meant I could fully appreciate it. I skyped my parents with a smile on my face that night which was a massive 180 degree turn from the crying wreck they saw before.

Even though this homesick phase is going away, I of course still have sad moments, but my friends are incredibly understanding and just everything I could’ve asked for – it’s amazing how kind and patient they are with someone who can’t speak too much french. Today finished early as usual, so I went walking around town just killing time until lunch at school. I spent the afternoon with my neighboor, a nice lady called Evelin, whose fog I walk most weekends, we went to a nearby lake and had a delicious afternoon tea of tarts and pastries 😀

Although its been a rough patch I have seen the “rainbow after the rain”, Louise is arriving back tomorrow (she went on a 1 week exchange to Germany with her class) and I can’t wait to here about it!