Exchange really is like a roller coaster. The fear and excitement of going while waiting in line. The dramatic climb. The fall. The loop de loop. The adrenaline. The feeling you get in the pit of your stomach. The fear. The memory. The laughter. And then, at the end, you're so sad that it went by so fast, when the wait seemed like forever. You want to do it again.
I had no real clue what was going on that day. Real french hit me like a smack across the face. History was just an awful way to start off my day. There is just so many vocabulary words. Once someone explains the definition of those words to me, there's a word in the definition that I didn't understand. In that class it's a never-ending circle of miscomprehention. But that's okay! After that we had life and earth science (again, another class I don't understand... which is incredibly sad because it's one of my favorite topics in school). Then, finally, we had chem. I absolutely love chemistry here. I understand everything, and our teacher is really engaging! I thought I would dread taking chem again, but it's actually really useful. I can focus more on learning the language in that class and less on the busy work. It's the same thing with math class- I know all the material, so now all I have to do is learn the words! I miss the arts though... a lot. I am working on getting involved in the theater here though. It's hard though because it requires me to get my schedule changed (I didn't even know we could choose electives)!! So they instead put me in the most boring thing possible. I would love to be in an actual art class, but instead they put me in a class where I learn about old artifacts, architecture, and culture. Don't get me wrong, I don't mind the class! It's small and we goof around a lot. I just wish I had other options. It would be so cool to be in a French play, though!
I've been making a lot of friends, too, which is an absolute relief! I was so paranoid that after CLA, coming in a month into the year would be difficult! It really hasn't been that hard, though. It's fun hanging out with everyone in my class- they're all so hilarious! I've been "clique jumping" a lot- meaning I eat lunch with certain people, I spend recess with other people, and I spend before school with yet another group of people. It's not bad- I clique jump because I want to! It's hard to explain in words, but I think I just REALLY REALLY want everyone to like me! And I don't just want to know what the jocks talk about. I also want to know what the girly girls talk about, what the geeks talk about, what the music lovers talk about. It's great seeing the world from a French person's perspective, but I want to get more specific than that. It's fun hanging out with my guy friends before school, eating lunch with one group of girls, spending recess with another, and then hanging out with my American friend, too! It's fun being able to have an English conversation every once and awhile with someone who is going through the same thing as me! It helps so much!
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| Me and Kate, the 2 Americans :) |
It's really funny when the people in my class make fun of my accent, too (or try to imitate it). I have a friend that calls me by my full name, all the time, in the most American way he can possibly say it (a very awkward Franco-American-British accent). It's great! Helping them all out with their English makes me feel so special- and in return, they help me learn French! I was sad I wasn't there at the beginning of the year for picture day... but here's the class picture all the same! :D
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| From Left to right: Top Row: Valentin, Emersson, Lucas, Serhat, Nathan, Thomas Middle: Gaëtan, Maxence, Aurélien, Alexandre, Octavie, Barbara, Léa, Our History teacher M. Mairey Bottom: Timothée, Julie, Pauline, Manon, Valentine, Camille, Claudia, Elyse |
Last Wednesday, I spent the whole afternoon walking around Centre Ville with Kate, Amandine, and Lucie. It was a lot of fun! Kate and I practiced our French (I love how incredibly patient everyone is with us), and we visited my favorite Patisserie! Mmmm.
Then, last weekend, I had a ROTARY WEEKEND!! :D it was so great to see all the exchange students again! We have so much fun whenever we are all together, and we go to a lot of interesting places! On Saturday, we spent the afternoon in Stratsbourg. We went into the cathedral there, and it was absolutely amazing to be in a building that was so beautiful, so magnificent, and yet, SO OLD! Then, we had a little "party" thing at the hostel, where everyone sang, danced, locked people in the ping pong room, and played their instruments! The next day, we went to a potters workshop and learned how pottery was made. We all thought it would be really boring, but it was actually such an interesting thing to watch! Then, we went to the Shoenenbourg Fortress, which was basically this giant underground system that they used in the second world war. It was so cool to see things like that, things you would never find in the states! We went really REALLY far underground. The tunnel system was KILOMETERS long, and there was working electricity. It was incredible for the time period in which it was built! Then, we tasted CHOCOLATE at a real Chocolatier! Everything was so rich and so amazing, but afterwards we all felt so obnoxiously full from all the chocolate!
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| The Cathedral in Stratsbourg |
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| We locked Zack in the ping pong room... :) |
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| Arashi and Kat played a trombone-guitar duet of "Let it Be" by the Beatles! |
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| I just thought this picture was really funny... XD "AND... WITH THIS CLAY... I CAN CONTROL THE WONDERS OF THE UNIVERSE!!!" |
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| It's amazing how talented these people are! |
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| Me, Gustavo, and Kat :D |
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| There were train tracks inside the fortress that were used for transporting food, ammunition and weaponry from one end to the other. |
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| A secret escape hatch! |
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| This is how the hatch worked: there was a "wall" up the ladder, and there was a method to push down the wall to get to the other ladder (an area filled with dirt). once you pushed the wall, the dirt would fall down that hole in the ground to give the soldiers access to the ladder out. Clever, huh? |
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| Hello???? |
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| "Who's taller???" |
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| There was a period of time when there was no fighting going on! During these few months, the soldiers were really bored. One of them was a really good artist, and he painted these paintings on the walls of the fortress! |
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| An ELECTRIC POTATO PEELER?! |
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| So many chocolates... :D |
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| Some kind of chocolate spread. One of them was almond, the other was hazelnut. Mmmmmmm! |
I feel like the climb is over. The anticipation is done. The nail-biting fear of what is going to happen next is gone. All I have yet to do is hold on for the ride!
Anyway, I have to go write a French essay (in English first... then I shall translate it. That way I can compile my words a little easier). But first, I'll leave you with a few "little things"
-Movies in France come out on Wednesday
-Everybody takes vacations at the same time, for the most part. All of the schools have days off at the same time.
-Halloween is definitely not as commercialized as it is in America. They don't really celebrate it here.
-School is a little more like college. I don't have the same classes every day, the order and the length of classes change, too! Some days I might have chem, others I might have history. It depends on the day of the week.
-We don't have class when the teacher isn't there. We need to go in a study room where a monitor watches us... urgh
-The French strictly believe in eating 5 fruits and/or veggies every day and a milk product with every meal (cheese or yogurt generally)
-It's perfectly okay to wear the same outfit two or three days in a row.
-I have to get up at 6 AM every day (except Wednesday) to catch a bus at 7, catch another bus at 7h20, to arrive at school at 7h40 to start school at 8. Yup, my morning is busy before it really even begins.
-School buses don't exist here. It's no big deal, though. The public transportation is really safe!
Another cute cat picture: Sleeping on the porch on a cold autumn morning
