When I first arrived in the South of France for my exchange semester, everything was quite new to me. I did not know many people, and I had to get used to a new city. The first two months were really tough. Even though I met a lot of people, we mostly talked about where we were from, what we were studying and how long we were staying.

What made me feel more at home was the people I met. As time went on, I spent more and more time with friends. We went to classes together, worked on projects, went out in Monaco and Nice, travelled and did lots of other things. The more we did together, the easier it became to talk to each other. We started making jokes and sharing stories that our group would understand. We always had something to talk about because we were all going through the same things.

At the same time, I got used to my daily routine. I knew which train to take, where to buy food, where to get drinks and which places I liked to go to. Things that seemed weird at first became normal. I also started to feel at home in my neighbourhood. Some of the shop owners and employees knew me. They would say hello when I walked by or ask how I was doing. It made me feel like I belonged there and was not just a tourist.

It is funny that I only realised how much I liked it there when it was almost time to leave. As my departure date got closer, I started thinking about how I would miss my friends, the places I liked and my daily routine. That was when I noticed that the South of France, which had seemed unfamiliar in the beginning, had actually become like a second home to me.

Something else I realised was that when I got back to Finland, things did not feel the same. I thought everything would feel familiar, but that was not the case. A lot of things had changed while I was away. My brothers and sisters had moved out. Most of my friends from high school were living in other countries. So now I have to get used to my home all over again. The place is the same, but the people and routines are different.

This experience taught me that what makes a place feel like home is not the place itself, but the people and the things you do every day.