Be Present and Profiter

One month from now, my time in Rennes will be over.

Letting those words sink in has been bittersweet. The longer I stay in Rennes, the more I feel at home. Yet, the longer I stay in Rennes, the more I long for home.

Honestly, I can say that my time in France has been one of the best times of my life. But, as the end of my experience comes closer and closer, I begin to panic.

I ask myself, “Have I done everything I wanted to do? How can I take advantage of everyday?”

In French, profiter means “to take advantage of” or “to make the most of.” When deciding what to do with my time in France, I’ve often reminded myself to profiter this experience. By this, I mean, I want to live in the present and take advantage of my time without having regrets of things I could have done.

So far, I’ve had the opportunity to visit several cities in France, teach English in a local middle school, live with a host family, try plenty of new foods, and make amazing friends.

While I’ve had many incredible experiences, I want to continue to take advantage of every moment for the last few weeks of my time in Rennes.

My 1-month-left-in-France Bucket List

Let my experiences teach me more than my classes: I’m going to let you in on a little secret…School is a lot easier here. I have much more free time at my disposal. However, I have dedicated myself to learning, whether that be in the classroom or outside. While my classes here are important, the experiences have helped me to grow and make memories. For example, I came here trying to figure out if I could see myself living abroad long term—and found out that I would prefer to live in the United States. I’ve continued to learn more about who I am and who I want to be. To me, that is more valuable than any amount of time I could spend in the classroom.

Get lost in Rennes: From the beginning of my time here, I’ve taken walks outside, wandering around, finding different spots that I enjoy. I take the metro and get off at random stops, discovering new places every time. I want to explore the parts of Rennes I have yet to see.

Embrace my mistakes: I make mistakes everyday here. Whether that means messing up my French and having people giving me confused looks, or giving the cashier an American coin instead of a Euro (yes, this happened), I constantly make mistakes. When mistakes happen, I have the choice to either get frustrated or to laugh it off. I’ve forgotten to give people the bisous, resulting in very awkward encounters, and I’ve told someone the wrong information when they’ve asked for directions in the street. The more I make mistakes, the more I learn, so I’ll embrace the mistakes.

Get coffee with a friend once a week: I love trying new places, so a friend and I have decided to chat over coffee (or a hot beverage of choice) once a week during the afternoon. Each week, we choose a different café, searching the quaint corners of Rennes that warm our hearts.

Speak French: You’d be surprised how much I speak English here. I tend to speak English with my CIEE friends—my main friends in France. While I interact with everyone in my classes, in public, and my host family in French, I don’t speak as my French as much I’d like. I will soak up speaking and hearing French, because I know that will be something that I miss when I leave.

There’s so much more that I could say. After all, 4 months abroad isn’t enough to do everything or see everything.  However, I remind myself to profiter each day by being present and savoring each and every galette, cup of coffee, and conversation.

Catherine Hall

Wheaton College