Having been here for a little over a month now, I think I have adjusted to most of the things I was having trouble with in the beginning of this experience. However, there are a couple things that have still been challenging. The first being the food culture (grocery stores). Growing up, my parents made it a point to cook a variety of foods and try new cuisines, so I thought coming to Marseille, I wouldn’t have a problem finding food I liked. That’s not to say I haven’t found a single good place to eat or that the grocery stores only sell three things, it just occasionally feels like that (lol!). My normal grocery trip in the U.S. consists of going to Aldi and Trader Joe’s where I can find different kinds of cuisine and most (if not all) of the ingredients I need to make my favorite dishes. Here, if I want to have something like tofu for lunch or dinner, I have to go to the Asian markets because they don’t sell them at the regular grocery stores. It might sound silly, but not having that convenience to get one of my comfort foods has been more challenging than I thought. The second is the work life balance. Back in January, with the help from a school organization, I sought out to open a French bank account. At the time it was probably the easiest process of moving abroad. It’s almost the end of February and I just now got everything set up. It took weeks of waiting to even get in contact with someone who works at the bank and then even more waiting to hear back – even if I communicated during business hours. Similarly at KEDGE, most of my professors won’t respond to emails right away, which makes navigating group projects more challenging. The most surprising for me though was that one of my professors only allows one randomly assigned person from each group to contact him. This is unlike at Pitt where I am free to contact my professors even if I am not the “group leader” as well as almost immediately hear back from them about any concerns/questions I may have. Despite these differences, I’m starting to feel more at home and comfortable navigating my way around – literally and figuratively. Just two weeks ago, I got back from a trip to Barcelona and it was such an odd but exciting feeling coming back to Marseille and feeling at home.
Finding alternatives for food, asking my roommates for help, putting myself out there while also making time for myself have all been effective tools in adapting. Even though it feels like I’m figuring out a lot on my own, the advice I get from the friends I’ve made here and the support from my friends and family back home has made the experience ten times better and easier.
