Полтора Года: Four years later

Coming back to a city you lived in 5 years ago can be a bit strange. "Will everything be different?", "Will my old friends be the same?", "Have we grown apart?", "Is it going to be weird" are among the many questions that were running through my head during my train ride from Geneva to Clermont-Ferrand, where I spent my entire junior year of high school.

I hadn't really had time to think about the month and a half I was about to spend in Clermont, so the train ride was quite stressful. The closer I got to Clermont-Ferrand, the more nervous I got; 30 minutes to Clermont, 15 minutes, then 5, and then, there I was, getting picked up by my old friend Juliette at the train station where I had first arrived in September of 2006. Although my French was a bit choppy at first, we slowly got used to each other again, with the help of old stories and jokes and a few glasses of cheap French beer.

If only it were that easy... The whole "getting used to" process was repeated about fifty times during the time I was in France. That being said, I quickly got used to everything, seeing as not much had changed among my old high-school friends, or at least it seemed that way when we were together. Yes, we may all lead different lives in different place now, but when we were all together it felt like I'd never left.

Improvised cocktails at the Place de Jaude at night, sitting at various cafés, visiting friends and host-grandparents, going to the lake, helping out at Laura's new apartment, eating a LOT of good food, and meeting new people are just a few highlights of my 5 weeks in a place wich is kind of a second or third home to me.