I was twenty years old, and I was living abroad for the first time as an au pair in the French Alps. I was mostly loving it, but when the parents asked me if I wanted to go on vacation…
Imagine this: You’re walking down the street, and you see two people shaking their heads, throwing their hands in the air, and rolling their eyes. They’re speaking a language you don’t know, but you know they’re in a disagreement. Body…
When I first moved to France, I worked as an au pair in a tiny village in the French Alps. Although I’d studied French for six years by this point, there was a ton for me to learn. I learned…
It’s my last day in Costa Rica, and I’m sitting in a smoothie bar watching a ceiling fan whirl lazily above my head. My two friends, Maggie and Maddie, are sucking on the last of their smoothies as cars buzz…
Explore destinations like Japan from the comfort of your couch Pandemics interfere with lots of things, including your coveted vacation plans. Mothballing that ambitious trek across South America or the all-inclusive beachside resort you booked may seem like a first-world…
Bastille Day is a national holiday in France that celebrates the anniversary of the storming of the Bastille, the event which started the French revolution. So each year on July 14th the French celebrate their country and its history with…
The French love their language. They even have a whole council called the Académie Française that is devoted to keeping the French language in pristine shape. One of the things this committee is constantly fighting against is the influence of…
Before I moved to Normandy, I didn’t know much about it. I knew about the D-Day beaches from my history lessons, and Le Mont-Saint-Michel from my French lessons, but besides that I didn’t really know that much about Norman culture….
What do you think of when you hear the word “wellness?” In the U.S., words like smoothies, yoga, and jogging usually come to mind. Most people know that wellness activities like these can make us feel better, and even happier,…
When I first moved to Greece for a summer, I was surprised by how slow everything moved. There were the grandparents meandering through the town’s small square, the little waves that slowly pushed against the walls of the port, and…
The words a language uses can tell you a lot about its cultural and societal values. And language can evolve over time, taking on new meanings and growing organically to embrace challenges. That’s especially true of the ways in which…
Before I even started writing this article, I asked my mom if she had any ideas for some easy Greek recipes, and before I knew it she’d stacked five Greek cookbooks one on top of the other next to my…
