It's weird. Arriving back home and realizing that everything is different. This is what happened to me this last week when I arrived back in Bordeaux after the Christmas holidays. It's not that the city itself changed that much; the buildings are all still the same, the people here are still speaking French and the local supermarkt still sells baguettes.

No, what changed for me are the people. Since I'm a foreigner within the business school here, the direct people around me are mainly foreign students on an exchange. It's not that I prefer to be around exchange students, but it just happens so. When you're both from another country, you are generally closer connected since you're both outside your comfort zone. Both going through the same feelings of being far away from family, friends and the general familiar atmosphere.

There is a risk to this. Mostly, exchange students only stay for a semester. I am staying here in Bordeaux for a year. Even though I'm in love with the city, it's strange to come back here without a large portion of the friends I made last semester. Most of them went back to their home countries, home universities, or continued their adventures across the world.

So for me, a restart it is.