Mixed Emotions

Two weeks from now, I will be on a plane bound for Detroit, which will later go to Syracuse, back to my family.
It's so weird saying to people that I'm going home soon. For a year, this was my home. My friends were my friends. My families were family. Do I really need to leave this second world to go back to my first one? Does this year really need to come to a close?
These past few weeks, I said good-bye so many times. I cried. I hugged. I held on to best friends for dear life, afraid that this would be the last time I'd see them. It's so hard to say good-bye, or even "see you later" to a group of people you've gotten so close to this whole year. It's hard, but it's something all exchange students have to go through. We all feel that emptiness inside as we leave our friends for the last time. We all have a certain attachment to the people here, to the country, to the other exchange students living here, that people who aren't exchange students can't understand completely. We want to stay, but we can't. We have to go back.
But at the same time, we are excited about going back. We're happy to see everyone- our friends, our family, our pets, and sleep in our own beds. We want to go back to living our "old lives", but at the same time, that life is never going to be the same. Some people might even change it completely. We will look at our world from a new pair of eyes. After being gone for so long, are we going to fit in again? Are we going to find our place in our "old new" country? These questions wander through our heads, but only in time will we figure out the answers.
The clock is ticking. Time is running out. For some of us, it already has. I remember the first Rotary weekend of the school year, we were all talking about how much this year was going to rock. We talked about all the time we had. We had the whole year ahead of us. Only now do I realize that a year goes by way too fast. I got off the plane. I blinked. I'm here.
I'll never forget this year. The exchange students- in my Rotary district and those I've met on the bus trips. I'll never forget my school, and all the amazing friends I've made there. I'll never forget my host families. Without them, I wouldn't have made it this far. I'll never forget the trips I went on. How many people my age can say they've been to Paris? Or Barcelona? Or Venice? Or Prague? Not very many. I'll never forget French. Not just the language, but the culture, the people, and the food. I'll never forget. I don't want to forget.
I've encountered so many people this year. I've seen so many places. I've tasted all kinds of food. I came to France an American, and now, I feel like I'm coming to America as one of the French. I'm sad about leaving my new "home away from home", but at the same time, I couldn't be happier to come back. This year was something unforgettable, and I can't wait to take the experience home and share it with everyone else.