Living à la Lyonnaise

A reformed skeptic when it comes to studying abroad, University of Nevada, Las Vegas senior Cesia Cordies wasn’t sure she would go through with it until her visa was processed and she enrolled in her classes at the Université Catholique de Lyon in France. A double major in History and French language, all her classes will bring her closer to graduating — while she is the farthest she’s ever been from home. Now, living in a new city and constantly practicing her third language, she is building new relationships, studying, volunteering, and embracing a foreign culture wholeheartedly. Join Cesia as she chats with USAC Alumni Content Coordinator (and former USAC Lyon student) Colette Horton to discuss French culture in and outside of the classroom, and the beautiful balancing act of living like a local in Lyon.

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Just want to learn more about study abroad? Email studyabroad@usac.edu for all the details!

Transcript

[00:00:00] Introduction: Hello, and welcome to the Study Abroad Pod. Today, we're thrilled to introduce Cesia Cordies, a current USAC student studying abroad in Lyon. Normally, Cesia calls the University of Nevada Las Vegas home, but she's fully embraced the adventure of living in France. Despite the challenges, she's thriving, practicing her third language, building new friendships, studying, volunteering, and immersing herself in French culture. She'll be joining Colette Horton, our USAC alumni content coordinator, to share her experience of life as a local in Lyon, and what it's like to balance academics with the joys of everyday French life. 

[00:00:43] Colette Horton: Welcome back to the Study Abroad Pod. Today, I get to chat with Cesia, who is an absolute doll. A UNLV alum, well soon to be a UNLV alum like me. Go Rebels! Cesia, how are you today? What time is it in France? 

[00:00:59] Cesia Cordies: Hi, I'm good. And thank you for that intro., um, it's 6:05 PM. 

[00:01:05] Colette Horton: And I am on the East Coast, and it is only 1:05 PM. The sun is shining so delightfully through the window. How was your day today? The nostalgia is so real for me because I'm a Lyon alum.

[00:01:18] Cesia Cordies: It was good. I've been in Lyon for, I believe, this is week nine, which is crazy. I think that means we're like officially in the second half. I went out on like a solo date today. I took myself on a date and I just went to a cafe this morning. And then I went looking for a mug. I wanted like a souvenir mug, and I got, I finally found the cute little one. And then I was going to go shopping. But it was like 12:30 and places start to close at one, so I was like, no, I'm just going to go home. And that I did. 

[00:01:48] Colette Horton: That sounds very cozy. Very lovely. Usually, I talk to alumni on the podcast, so it's super fun that you're there now. You described like every other Saturday, I would say the cafes were, my favorite thing, because like, I didn't have a single bad croissant. Like, some are better, but have you had a bad one yet?

[00:02:12] Cesia Cordies: I'm not a bad one. I've had some mid ones, but not bad. 

[00:02:15] Colette Horton: Yeah. Well, that's good.

[00:02:18] Cesia Cordies: Although, you know, I tried snails, and I thought I was going to hate the texture, but I really didn't.

[00:02:23] Colette Horton: Oh, that's good. 

[00:02:24] Cesia Cordies: I admit though, I was so scared when I tried them that I didn't even really like taste and savor them. But then after I got it done, I was like, wait, that wasn’t bad. I could have definitely savored that a little bit more. 

[00:02:34] Colette Horton: So, when you're going around the city, when you're eating, eating cafes at the restaurants and stuff, like, are you using French all the time? Do you feel like your French has gotten better since you've been there? 

[00:02:44] Cesia Cordies: I've definitely gotten more comfortable with my French. I was not expecting to be as nervous as I was, because I feel like I'm already at a pretty conversational level with French, but there was still an adjustment period when I got here. It like, it did not matter how conversational I was in French because I was so nervous. I'm just getting more and more comfortable with that. I did notice. When I'm having an interaction with a cashier or a waiter or whatever, and they haven't heard me speaking to whoever I'm with in English, and they don't know I speak English yet, I can get away with the whole interaction in French. But the second they find out you speak English, it's like they have an itch. To switch for you, so the second you hesitate, or you don't understand something or anything, they'll switch and that's a little challenging, like hearing in one language, like hearing in English and still trying to respond in French to be stubborn. I don't know. I guess I just found a little hack for it. So, I try to go out alone more now so they don't hear me speaking English and I can. 

[00:03:35] Colette Horton: No, that's a good call. I always would ask, mostly at restaurants, if it's a sit down restaurant or something, or if there's a waiter or waitress, if they switch to English, I would always say like, And you don't have to do this because I think it just kind of depends on the person, but as long as it wasn't super busy, I'd say, “Oh, like, actually, I'm a French student. Is it all right if I practice my French with you?” And usually the response was, “Oh, of course, we're so happy to do that!”. I always felt bad when it was a real rush and somebody would switch to English because I’d think, “Oh, you're just trying to get things done”. 

[00:04:08] Cesia Cordies: People are really nice generally. So yeah, there's really nothing to be afraid of. Maybe I'll give that a try. Instead of just being stubborn.

[00:04:14] Colette Horton: I found, I found most people being like, yes, of course. Yes. Now we speak French. Pretty accommodating. That's one thing I also really appreciated about Olga. She is so easy to talk to because I said I wanted to practice French. She would always just be very patient and just, you know. Wait for you to get your thought out and was just so sweet and so great about it. 

[00:04:33] Cesia Cordies: Yeah, no, I really like speaking to Olga in French as well. Sometimes after the conversation, I'll realize, I mean, every time when I'm done speaking to anyone in French, after any French interaction, there's a solid 10 minutes afterwards where I'm repeating it over in my head and I realize I made some mistakes. I'm like, oh my God, they didn't even say anything. Which is, I mean you can't be corrected on every single mistake you made. 

[00:04:57] Colette Horton: Have there been any local events in the city since you've been there? 

[00:05:01] Cesia Cordies: Yes, there have been a few events. There was one I went to, I can't remember what it was called, um, but I know what it was about, but I can't tell you what it's about. I can't put it into words, like I didn't understand it well enough to put it into words. (laughter)

[00:05:14] Colette Horton: I went to a place; I don't know the name of the place. (laughter)

[00:05:17] Cesia Cordies: It's super mysterious! (laughter)

[00:05:19] Colette Horton: Oh, my goodness. 

[00:05:21] Cesia Cordies: It's okay. So it was, I mean, it was about Lyon. I believe when it was called Lugdunum. I don't know. I'm not sure that's how you pronounce it, but something like that. And they had a bunch of people in historical clothing, and they were doing activities. People would be doing back then. And, and it was like right by the museum. It's called the Gallo-Roman Museum of Lyon-Fourvière 

[00:05:49] Colette Horton: Okay, very cool. I did not check that one out. Are you excited for like winter in Lyon? Like, 

[00:05:55] Cesia Cordies: I can't wait to do Christmasy stuff. There’s some place here that already, I can't remember what it was. Is it like a, I don't know. I think it's like kind of a chocolate shop or something. But they're really started decorating like Christmas.

[00:06:08] Colette Horton: Oh, my goodness. 

[00:06:09] Cesia Cordies: Which is surprising, because it's still October, but whatever, I'm not complaining. 

[00:06:12] Colette Horton: I mean the decorations are out here. Yeah, 

[00:06:15] Cesia Cordies: and I know it doesn't get like I know in December isn't like the coldest month here, But I don't know. I'm gonna hope for at least a little bit of snow Before I leave, I know it's very unrealistic, but still. 

[00:06:26] Colette Horton: When do you leave? 

[00:06:28] Cesia Cordies: December 19th?

[00:06:30] Colette Horton: Okay, how have you found like getting around the city? It's been pretty easy. I'm familiar with Vegas. There's not a Metro in Vegas So, how is that for you? Like coming to Lyon and like 

[00:06:40] Cesia Cordies: listen, I was terrified because I've never taken Oh, I mean, I've taken public transport technically like when I was a kid with my mom, but I don't remember any of that I was just following my mom So I just kind of took public transport with people who already understood it And would ask them all sorts of annoying questions and they didn't always have answers, which is really annoying because to them, some things, I guess, are just instinctual now that I have an idea of like, how it works, it's just super easy. I had no idea what I was getting myself into. 

[00:07:06] Colette Horton: How long do you think it took? For you to be like comfy though, 

[00:07:10] Cesia Cordies: Comfy? 

[00:07:11] Colette Horton: Like comfy taking a metro, not anywhere crazy. Right. So, like, if you're going to take the bus home, 

[00:07:17] Cesia Cordies: I think by the second week.

[00:07:22] Colette Horton: Yeah 

[00:07:23] Cesia Cordies: I could do normally, I was also always like meeting with somebody, so I'd be like, okay, I'll take this to there and then meet with them. And then the rest of the time we'd be taking transport together and I could look at what they're doing and ask questions. Cause I would still not really know what's going on, but feeling comfortable, like feeling like I knew what was going on and like, I knew what stop was going to be next and everything. And like feeling comfortable taking public transport. Cause I'm like, okay, if I get lost, like I have some idea of what's going on. 

[00:07:49] Colette Horton: Yeah. 

[00:07:49] Cesia Cordies: Like going to a brand-new place. Alone with public transport. I don't know honestly probably like five weeks for me to not be freaking out. 

[00:07:57] Colette Horton: That's super fair, especially because like you literally had no experience with it. And, I say this with love, you are a little bit of a nervous nelly sometimes, so honestly for a nervous nelly getting it down after five weeks. 

[00:08:12] Cesia Cordies: No, and but Colette I remember I asked before like, it was an event. It was like a French club meeting at UNLV, and we had people asking about study abroad things and I was like, well, like, how did you find, you know, using public transport there, like in a new city? And you were like, you'll figure it out. Like you're going to be fine. Honestly. Like you'll figure it out. And I thought about that so much when I got here because I was like, I'm not figuring it out, Colette. I have no idea what's going on. 

[00:08:36] Colette Horton: I'm so sorry. But look at you now. You asked people, you haven't been lost yet. 

[00:08:42] Cesia Cordies: And honestly, the whole direction thing, I just use, I could just use, it's on Google Maps. And Google Maps tells you not just the like routes or, you know, the metro line, but then after that, it tells you the stop name. It's actually very straightforward. 

[00:08:58] Colette Horton: Yeah. But if you, if you've never done it before, it's just like anything, right? Like riding a bike or whatever. Like there's always that growing pains period where you're like, no, this doesn't make sense. So, I'm glad you've been able to successfully navigate it. And now you can have your comfy solo date days. This has been so nice. Also, like catching up just by the way. I'm very happy to see you. What do you think has been like the biggest adjustment for you with this move?

[00:09:23] Cesia Cordies: I don't know, honestly. 

[00:09:26] Colette Horton: Do you feel like you've had to be more extroverted?

[00:09:28] Cesia Cordies: I haven't found it super difficult. 

[00:09:31] Colette Horton: It doesn't have to be a difficult thing though. What do you think is the biggest change? 

[00:09:34] Cesia Cordies: Honestly? Yeah, probably that. And I'm going out way more than I would normally like. 

[00:09:38] Colette Horton: Yeah. 

[00:09:38] Cesia Cordies: I normally never get FOMO. I really don't care if I miss out. But I do here because I'm only here for like a limited time in Lyon.

[00:09:47] Colette Horton: Yeah, 

[00:09:47] Cesia Cordies: I know I have certain goals here. 

[00:09:50] Colette Horton: And yeah, would you be comfortable sharing your goals? 

[00:09:54] Cesia Cordies: I mean, they're not they're super vague. Honestly, I knew I wanted to socialize with actual locals and really prioritize that - talking to locals. I still find it difficult to like to make that a part of my every day. 

[00:10:08] Colette Horton: Is it difficult because of like the combo of speaking in French and putting yourself out there? 

[00:10:20] Cesia Cordies: Yeah, definitely. It's the combination. I also think it's just me. It doesn't help that since normally I'm not even like a super social butterfly and like my social battery, my social battery definitely gets drained very quickly. I might find people that I think are like pretty cool and I get along with, but that doesn't mean I want to talk to them every day, I guess trying to find a balance and also, you know, even just going out with like people who aren't locals. Um, I think I get a lot of FOMO with them as well. 

[00:10:46] Colette Horton: I remember talking to you at UNLV because I worked in the international programs office, but also, we had so many French classes together about whether or not, you know, you were gonna study abroad, and you kind of went back and forth a little bit. I feel like a lot of students, they assume that everybody who studies abroad. Wanted to study abroad and then we're like, yeah, I'm just going to like, go do that now. And then they study abroad and it's a super easy process. You know what I mean? Like those students exist and there's nothing wrong with them. Right. That carefree attitude, but also, 

[00:11:16] Cesia Cordies: you know, yeah, I definitely don't have that carefree attitude when it didn't help because there's a lot to the process and just seeing how much there it, was stressful for me. I mean, part of the reason I was on the fence about it for so long is because my financial aid wasn't super predictable for a period. And then this last semester, I was just like, okay, I'm either going to do it or I'm not. So, I'm going to try to go through the process as far as I can. Basically, like, I still didn't even trust I was really going to do it. But I was just like, whatever, one thing at a time, I'm going to start the process and see how far I can go. Eventually I was like signing, like applying for a visa and then I was traveling for my visa appointment. And then I got my visa, and I was like, okay, am I actually doing this? It took a long time for me to feel like, oh, okay. Yeah, I am doing it. I wish I would have just had that mentality from the beginning. Because I think that is exactly what has allowed me to. Get into it because you really have to take it one step at a time. If you're constantly looking at it from a bigger picture perspective, it's going to be overwhelming. So, I think I just got so much pressure off my shoulders with being like, you know what? If you can't get through, if you can't get like make it to the next step and whatever, you're just not going to go. Which did make me a little sad because I did really want to study abroad. And when I first started, when I decided like, okay, I'm going to actually look into this and take initiative with it. I really thought it was just going to be like, yeah, I want to study abroad. And then I go abroad the next semester. And it wasn't that simple. 

[00:12:43] Colette Horton: As far as like academics go, you're a senior, right? 

[00:12:47] Cesia Cordies: Yeah. 

[00:12:47] Colette Horton: So, like, how did you, how did you make it work? How did you figure out what you needed to, to take? What classes are you taking now? Do they all count towards your degree? 

[00:12:56] Cesia Cordies: When I first picked France as my location, I, was already almost done with my French minor, but I know I wanted to study abroad in France regardless because I just wanted to make sure I was more comfortable with the language. And, you know, immersion is like the best way to do that after deciding to go abroad. That would have brought me so much closer to a major. So now that I'm also a French major, all my classes, all the classes that I'm taking right now will go towards that. I placed into a level a little higher than I had expected, so I can't tell you off the top of my head because I need to see it written down. I know it'll translate as 12 credits. 

[00:13:34] Colette Horton: That's so awesome. What's your favorite class right now? Whoa. Oh, actually, I'm going to change my question. So, what's your favorite class for content? What's your favorite class for French? 

[00:13:45] Cesia Cordies: Hmm, that's a good question. Honestly, for both of those, it's probably my USAC class. It's a sociology slash anthropology class. Yeah. I just feel like I can express my actual thoughts in French a lot more comfortably in that class because it just feels a lot more laid back. There are way less students. There's only, there's actually only four of us in that class. It's only a smaller class. I don't think that's normal or common, but it's just a very small class for us. And yeah, that takes a lot of the pressure off. And it's not I mean, obviously there is where we are in a constraint in some way, because it's like, we're talking about, like, the content of that class, but I don't know. It's not like the United States., It's like, okay, here's a prompt answer it or talk about it with your partner or whatever, where it feels a lot more structured. I'm gonna have less to say because I'm only supposed to be talking to like, speak French. Not because I I'm like that interested in the prompt. Yeah, so I think both for French and for content. I like that USAC elective. Um, and I mean, obviously, I'm learning more in those French classes French wise, like. But I feel like I practice more in that USAC class because I, I find myself speaking in French more in that class. I mean, maybe not technically, I don't know, because the French classes are longer. I don't want anyone to hear this and be like, why are you speaking more in that class than in your French language class? I am speaking in my French language classes, but I ramble more in that USAC elective. I really like the content. Oh, that's awesome. It's called Islam in France, Multiculturalism and the Media.

[00:15:26] Colette Horton: Why'd you pick that class? 

[00:15:27] Cesia Cordies: For the first several classes, we were going over the history of Islam. So, we had some information of some context to be able to start diving into, um, the history of Muslims in France. But yeah, I mean, so we just got out of the history phase and now we're going over the history of immigration from Algeria in France and yeah, what was the other question?

[00:15:55] Colette Horton: There was just like, why'd you pick that class? 

[00:15:58] Cesia Cordies: I just found it very interesting, so I think one of the reasons I picked Lyon over Pau is because I really wanted to see what a metropolitan area looks like here, with all the different communities that there are, and how that looks different in France, but there's still just this, there, there's, there's like a discourse around what the national identity is, how you can define it or describe it, especially in conversations around immigrants, and that's something that interests me a lot in the United States as well. I just really wanted to see what that looks like a little bit, I guess, in France. And obviously a lot of the immigrants here are Muslim, so I thought I would learn more about that in an Islam in France class as well. 

[00:16:35] Colette Horton: How would you compare the French classes you're taking, well, and the USAC classes you're taking at university, how would you compare that to your experience in the States?

[00:16:46] Cesia Cordies: Okay, I think it's really cool that there are international students, like, from other countries in our language classes here. I have never been around that many people from other countries. I don't know, like, straight from other countries. I think it's really cool. I remember I was in an elevator. One day and on one side people were speaking Farsi and on the other side people were speaking Russian and I was like, oh my god, this is so cool. Yeah, we're all in our French class like we could all speak French as well, but they were just speaking in their languages. So yeah, I think that's really cool. Unfortunately, everyone who speaks French also speaks English, including the international students, so it's not like I'm forced to speak to them in French, but we can. So, I just thought it was funny that, like, we had other languages we had in common, but I don't know. 

[00:17:34] Colette Horton: Are there any other students from Spanish speaking countries that you can chat to in Spanish? 

[00:17:39] Cesia Cordies: Yes, there are. Actually, there's an international student in my class from Venezuela, and I realized the other day she's the only person who I speak to in both French and Spanish. That was really cool, I think. That's fun. So, I think that aspect of it, I think that makes the dynamic of the class a little bit different. I think it brings a lot of perspective into the conversations we're having. It's like a level that's supposed to get us to C1. So, there's a lot of conversations about like, you know, environment. We talk a lot about the environment, because I guess it's a common topic in that exam. But obviously politics comes into that too. And just seeing how everyone treats the conversations and everything. It just brings in a lot of perspective. Absolutely. Opinion based. Opinion based conversations and things like that, because learning to build an argument reason, I guess, but I just think it's really cool. They're pretty stimulating conversation, I guess. So, yeah, just the students in the class, like, just that in itself is very different teaching style. Yeah, it's different, but I need a second, think about that. I was a little scared of that 1st week because, um, the group you're in isn't really like, solidified yet. Like, you might, you know, you're the professor might think that you should move up or that you should move down. And even though I was not expecting to be in the level that I'm in and all that, I was like, no, I'm here now. You're not going to move me down. So, I was really scared to make any mistakes. I did not want to get moved down, but I did not get moved down and I'm a little more comfortable speaking up in class. It doesn't help that the conversations are they're not political, but they're just like about the environment and you just have to reflect so much. I'm like, oh my God, I don't, I'm afraid to talk about this. Even in English. Like when I talk about things like that, I'm so careful with my words and I kind of can't be in French as much.

[00:19:24] Colette Horton: It's like painting a picture with literally less colors. And so, you're like, no, but it's not quite blue. I need it to be green, but I don't have green. So, I need to pick an adjacent word and describe it until you learn more. 

[00:19:34] Cesia Cordies: That's exactly what it's like. That's exactly what it's like. It's just a little more frustrating because in this class, they're really trying to refine it a lot more.

[00:19:40] Cesia Cordies: So, when you do make choices like that for the sake of just getting your thought out, even if it's not exactly what you wanted, they will correct it, which is good because you'll learn. It's just a lot to think about. 

[00:19:54] Colette Horton: Yeah, 

[00:19:54] Cesia Cordies: It's a lot. No, that totally makes. 

[00:19:56] Colette Horton: No, that totally makes sense. Especially when it's, I don't know, that makes me laugh because I'm like just remembering.

I didn't quite get to that debating level in French when I was at university, but I did in other languages I've studied and just that moment of being where they're like, Oh, well, like, no, it's not quite that. And then they give you that word that you were searching for. And you're like, I knew the word in English, but I didn't know it in French, but like, yes, that's what it makes me think of. There's a quote that, um, It's from Modern Family with Sofia Vergara, and she's talking about - 

[00:20:29] Cesia Cordies: Oh, you have no idea how smart I am in Spanish or something like that. Yes! 

[00:20:34] Colette Horton: Yes, she says it. I just love that because it, I think it's really healthy for people to remember that when they're learning other languages and when they're talking to other people in a language that is not the other person's first. It's not a reflection of your intelligence as a person. Being well spoken in any language is a skill. I'm so glad you knew exactly the quote I was talking about. 

[00:20:54] Cesia Cordies: So many of the people you will speak to in French, I've honestly only met one person who doesn't speak English here. And it's actually one of my professors, which is awesome. It's in that class that, you know, where I feel like I get to talk more in French and ramble more. And that might be why, because she can't switch. So, she's stuck with what I have to say, you know, regardless. But it is nice though, that everyone speaks at least two languages. So, they kind of, they understand what's going on. They're not going to judge you based off of how well you're speaking the language. They're not going to judge you like intelligence, or anything based off of how well you're speaking the language. Sometimes after the conversation, I'll realize, I mean, every time When I'm done speaking just to anyone in French after any French interaction, there's a solid 10 minutes afterwards where I'm repeating it over in my head and I realize I made some mistakes. I'm like, oh my God, they didn't even say anything. I mean, you kind of need, you can't be correct. It's like corrected on every single mistake you made. Another thing about how classes here a little bit is different. I remember I was talking to some French students one time about how here the classes are longer, but I don't really mind because I feel like I'm not getting as much homework. And they were like, no, yeah, they won't assign homework. But it's, it's there like they won't tell you to do something, but like, your kind of expected to do it. So, for example, they were really just talking about review. Like, if whatever you went over in class that day, not like, in your head the next day, it's probably not gonna be great for you in the long run. I mean, I don't think it's that intense and like the classes I'm taking, but I do see it a little bit. The professors do reassure us, like, it's okay if you're still making mistakes on this one thing we went over because we're going to go over it again eventually. And they will usually say, oh, by the way, for tomorrow, do this, this, and this, and they're not going to check for it. They just kind of trust, like, you should be doing it for your own good. This is what's going to allow you to pass your exam eventually. So, in a way, you're not required to do the homework because they're not checking for it. It's not going to bring down your grade at all. But you should be doing it because you do need that practice and that review before you head into the next class. So, I think that's something that's a bit different. I like that because then if you do get something a hundred percent, then it's like, you know, you don't have to do busy work, but if you don't get it, then you got to have discipline. 

[00:23:08] Colette Horton: What about, are you involved in any clubs or orgs on campus? 

[00:23:15] Cesia Cordies: I am not. I wanted to, but at the point that they have the event where them. Well, you know, you could check out the different clubs they had. I already signed up for two volunteering opportunities. One allows me to be kind of like an assistant in an English class. Some students are doing it, like some USAC students are doing it. Um, like in high schools, um, mine is technically not a high school class. The students are so nice. They gave me a presentation explaining the French education system. They made this graph and everything and comparing it to the United States and explaining it. It was so, it was so thoughtful, and I need to review it because I understood it as they explained it to me, but I can't be tested on it. Like I can't explain it again. They're on a B2 level in English. Their English is great. French people, the standard you'll hear that they're setting for people who speak French, which I don't think is like entirely accurate because they're really nice even if you're making mistakes, but they have that standard for themselves in English. I think their English is great, but they have a standard for themselves that they want to reach. They want to get a lot better. Um, and yeah, I don't know. It's nice interacting with them and I feel like I learned so much about Lyon talking to them. They want to talk to you a lot about the city and they just have questions for you, and they just want to talk to you. So, I think that was a great, Way to get to know the people here a little bit. And then the other thing I'm doing is working with this organization that its goal is basically to get kids into reading and they really like using bilingual books for that. So, basically, I'm like translating our children's books, and sometimes I'll work with another student or work on a book together to translate it, either from English to French or French to English.

[00:25:03] Colette Horton: Awesome. 

[00:25:04] Cesia Cordies: Yeah, I learned a lot of vocabulary and like sayings and things doing that. So yeah, that's pretty cool. And I could have also I've been a reader for that and read to the students and I kind of still want to because I don't know when I'm like translating, I'm trying to figure out if I can use a certain phrase and just have to express myself a certain way when reading it. I just think it'll be really fun to read to kids. 

[00:25:25] Colette Horton: Sounds so awesome. Well, done. You've really like plugged yourself into Lyon. I'm proud of you, girl. 

[00:25:31] Cesia Cordies: I was really scared the first several weeks. I was like, oh my god. How am I supposed to find people to like force to talk to me? Um, 

[00:25:40] Colette Horton: oh man 

[00:25:40] Cesia Cordies: Yeah, so when they started, you know bringing things up that you know you can do like extra that might get you to talk to some locals. I was like, yes, I mean So yeah, but I was I was very worried about that the first few weeks. 

[00:25:52] Colette Horton: Last question is how do you think right now? Obviously, it's not over but how do you think like this time that you're having right now in Lyon is going to influence? Your future, like your job, or do you think you want to do your master's now? What are you thinking? Do you have any little bubbles, new, new dream bubbles in your head after your first nine weeks? 

[00:26:12] Cesia Cordies: for a reason, I don't really understand. I am a little bit more inclined to pursue grad school. Not immediately, not soon, not anytime soon. I definitely feel like I'm getting more momentum from this. I'm looking forward to things that I'm going to do after this semester. And that is nice because after a lot of years of college, you, you lose a lot of momentum, and it gets really freaking hard. 

[00:26:38] Colette Horton: Well, and being in the same place. I mean, I think that's one of the coolest things about study abroad and why it applies to like anybody. Anybody who is seeking change or momentum or to just keep learning. Because it doesn't matter where you're at in life, resetting, and going, and moving to a new place, with the little safety net of the program: it just gives you that, motivation to prioritize what you like. It makes you think, like, I'm here for a limited amount of time. I'm going to maximize that time. I want to get better at French. I'm going to speak French every day. I want to meet locals. I need to make sure I'm doing that every day. It doesn't matter when you do it. Like our phenomenal classmate who had like 17 bachelor's degrees had taught for 40 some years. She could study abroad, and she would also still have changed because it completely transforms your perspective. So, I'm excited to see what you do next. 

[00:27:30] Cesia Cordies: And yeah, I'm really curious about how I'm going to look back. On the semester, the first several weeks I was, oh my gosh, I'm going to miss back home. I don't miss Vegas. I don't miss anyone, honestly, but then it started hitting me. Like a few days ago, I had a dream. I went back to Vegas, and I liked how my hair looked. Cause that's the thing that bothered me about Lyon. It's so humid. And I didn't know how to do my hair for the first like month. So, I, I don't know. I started missing it a little bit and now, I don't know. Now I wonder what the next like month and a half is going to look like, but yeah, 

[00:27:57] Colette Horton: the goals are a good way to make sure time doesn't fly by and surprise you though.

[00:28:00] Cesia Cordies: It's kind of scary though. Cause I don't know, like. I know that, but then at the same time, I'm like, oh my God, I don't even want to count the days. Like, I don't want to see how much time is left. 

[00:28:07] Colette Horton: I refuse FOMO culture. I refuse it aggressively. I didn't see, there's a couple other things that I feel like everybody did. I didn't go to the Roman amphitheater. I walked past it a bunch of times. But I just thought like, I just in my head, I'm like, oh, I'm living in the moment. And that, that was good. Right. I don't have regrets about how I spent my time, but there are a couple things that I wish I had like noted, like, Oh, I need to go ahead and decide to go do that thing today because otherwise, you know, there won't be time. So, but it's also, I can go back. Like, I will just go back. And I 

[00:28:39] Cesia Cordies: wish, and I am starting to get into that because honestly, at the end of the day, I'm not a fan of museums. Like I, there's so many like important or like, I mean, yeah, we're like pretty big museums here. But I just, I can't enjoy museum. I don't know what it is. And I say that as a history major, like I mean, there's something for everybody. And not fun to me. 

[00:28:58] Colette Horton: That's fine. You've already been to the le parc de la tete d'or, which I think is gorgeous. I wish that I had gone to even sooner. I think I didn't see it until maybe my second week there. And I still was like, oh, why didn't I come the first week? I love how big it is. And honestly, just walking next to the rivers. I spent so much time walking in Lyon and finding a new cafe to study in and enjoying the Frenchie-ness of it all. 

[00:29:20] Cesia Cordies: And I wish, and I wish I would be doing more of that because I feel like there's too, like I'll lose. Trying to cross things off a list a little too much. Which I normally would not care about, but yeah, I know I just did and now I'm like, yeah, I'm definitely gonna like chill now. Yeah. And I mean, and by now, I mean after this week because Mm-Hmm, we're on break right now and I, I am gonna go to like three cities this week. 

[00:29:44] Colette Horton: Oh wow. Where are you going? 

[00:29:46] Cesia Cordies: Pau, Bilbao, and Madrid. 

[00:29:53] Colette Horton: Oh, you're going to all our program locations! 

[00:29:57] Cesia Cordies: Oh, yeah, I forgot USAC has a program in Madrid. 

[00:30:01] Colette Horton: Sara is the resident director in Madrid and in Bilbao, it's Ibon and he's amazing. And Sara is super fantastic. She was the first resident director who started the program in Lyon. That's really fun that you'll be there in their spots and also have so much fun and you'll be able to speak Spanish, which I think is going to make your brain feel like it's somersaults after being surrounded by French. I know that you speak Spanish comfortably, but just switching for me is, especially when it's a non-English, like my brain starts to like do hiccups.

[00:30:31] Cesia Cordies: I, I mean, even today I was, I was walking to campus and the students said something to me and I didn't catch it at first and I looked at them kind of confused and they were like, I'm talking to you and I was like, que?, and I just said what in Spanish because I don't know, confusion, but it turns out they were, I think they were Mexican and they, their accents sounded like from Mexico, so I don't know, I like to believe me, my, Subconscious is just picked up on the fact that they were a Spanish speaker, but no, I just, when my brain like glitches in French, it switches to Spanish.

[00:31:03] Colette Horton: Do you know any cool fun slang that you can pass on to me? 

[00:31:08] Cesia Cordies: Like French slang? Sure. No. And you know, I was talking to this French girl and the other day, not the other day, it was quite a few days ago, but. She was telling me, like she was teaching me all the slang. Oh my gosh. The thing with slang is I don't really try to hold on to it because I don't think I've grasped French enough to be able to code switch or anything. So, I don't want to learn, you know, I don't want to learn slang and then start using that with my professors. 

[00:31:32] Colette Horton: I got you. The 

[00:31:32] Cesia Cordies: only thing I remember is être un rat, which is like to be cheap. Basically, to be stingy and like cheap and I don't know why I caught on to that. So, like that is the only thing I feel like it's got a 

[00:31:48] Colette Horton: It has a little bit of shade to it.

[00:31:49] Cesia Cordies: It's just very relevant. I think to being like a college student and to be abroad and having a budget but not really respecting your budget. And so, like that's always like on the back of your mind. So, I think that's why my subconscious just chose to hold on to that term or to that phrase. And I just thought it was funny. So that's the only thing I've learned that I've remembered. 

[00:32:12] Colette Horton: Thank you for taking the time to chat with me today. 

[00:32:16] Cesia Cordies: Thank you. This was fun and I like talking. So, it was nice! 

[00:32:19] Colette Horton: Good. I'm glad - I just think it's so awesome that you're in Lyon right now. I want to do this with more students while they're abroad because it's just different. Anyways, have a wonderful day. Thank you!

[00:32:33] Cesia Cordies: Well, thank you for inviting me. It was nice catching up. All right. Bye. 

[00:32:39] Closing: Thank you for listening to The Study Abroad Pod, a podcast brought to you by the University Study Abroad Consortium. Please listen, subscribe, and review us on Buzzsprout, or wherever you get your podcasts. You can follow USAC on all your favorite social media channels @studyabroadusac. And if you have an idea for a future episode or want to learn more about study abroad, you can email us at studyabroad@usac.edu.