Summer begins as my exchange draws to a close

I'm finally done with school!  I got out last Friday.  The last few days didn't really seem like the 'last days' of school.  More like regular school days!  Everyone had been warning me about all the crazy stuff that might happen (that happened in the past) like pigeons getting let loose in school and people bursting into classes and singing.  Instead, it was pretty calm.  There were some people dressed up, such as some in tennis clothes who came into our class and danced, and then later they played tennis in the courtyard using benches as a net, but other than that it was a normal day.  I ate at school for the 'last time' Thursday, then ended up eating there again on Friday.  Friday my final class got over at 10, but I stayed with friends, ate at school, and then stayed a little longer to copy some videos from theater class onto a USB stick.  It was very different from home, where everyone leaves ASAP after the final bell!  Then Friday night my class got together one last time.  We went out to eat at an American Restaurant (yes, that exists!) and it was really good!  I practically started drooling over the menu.  Their big thing was bacon burgers (because bacon is practically inexistant here) but they also had lots of other yummy, American things.  I had a chicken quesadilla and it inspired me; tonight I'm making quesadillas for my host family.
 
In the last week of school, there was a magician who came one day in Philosophy class.  He showed us lots of his tricks and he showed us how some of them are done as part of the course on Illusions.  Most of the time, even after he showed us what he was doing we still didn't catch him in the act!  It was really cool.  Unfortunately for my class though, that was the only lesson we got about illusions.  Guess what one of the subjects was for the bac? 
 
Wednesday afternoon, I took the train to Grenoble to meet up with Sophia.  It was really great to see her!  We ate at her host sister's (for the week) house, and then went to a mall.  We were with all of the other girls in her class and their host sisters at first, or rather for the tram ride to the mall, and then we split off and did our own thing. 
 
Since then, most of my friends have been studying for their Bac, which started Thursday.  I've been keeping busy though, doing stuff around the house and around town and seeing certain people who either don't have final tests or who manage to take a break.  I've been grocery shopping with my host mom, hanging out in town with a friend, then we made supper at his house, reading, playing piano.. pretty basic summer stuff!  Yesterday I was shopping with a friend, and we were going to go to her house and swim afterwards.  Instead, it started raining really hard and it ended up raining all afternoon.  But that's okay, we still had a good time. 

Two weeks from today, I'll be getting on a train to go to Paris, and the next day, I'll be home.  So, I'll see you all very soon!
 
 

A busy week!

Hello everyone!  I've had a busy week, if you couldn't guess from the title.  Last weekend I spent the night at a friend's house, and then Sunday I went to a volleyball game.  It was France vs. Italy.  (France lost).  My volleyball team was there to place people in the arena.  We got a special tee-shirt and everything!  And then we got to watch the game.  The organizers brought the placers (my volleyball team plus the boys volleyball team, plus a bunch of other kids) snacks during the game.  Some people had 3 packs of cookies, others 1 pack and a banana.  I got the banana.  :(  After the game, we stuck around to help take down the volleyball net and floor.  Yes, we took off the floor!  The arena is usually used for handball, so they had layed down a plastic flooring system for the game.  We also got to get autographs from the players as they left, and at the very end (several hours after the end of the game; there was a lot to take down!) there was a 'cocktail' with appetizers and desserts.    When I got home that night, I had a nice dinner with my host family because it was Mother's Day. 
 
This was the week of the theater performances for my school.  Monday night, I went to watch the junior's, and then Tuesday, it was the sophomore's and senior's turn!  We got the whole afternoon off from class and we rehearsed and hung out in the actors' lodges.  That was fun!  But towards the end of the afternoon, we started to stress a litte bit more.  We've only been learning our texts since about 2 weeks ago, and last Friday, 4 days before the show, was the first time I acted out my whole scene!  The show was called 'From the loss of control to Craziness' and it was composed of lots of scenes from different plays.    I play an amnesic who comes home from the hospital and doesn't recognize his wife or his appartment.  In the end it went fine; nobody forgot their lines! 

Wednesday afternoon, I went to a friend's house.  We ate spaghetti and then later, more people came over.  They wanted to sing the Marseillaise, the French national anthem, to make a CD to send to their friend.  I filmed!  After we watched 2 movies to get in the spirit for the bac tests in a few weeks.  They're old movies, from the 80s and 90s.  The first one's about people who take the bac for the 5th time, and the second one's about a boy who insults his teacher, thinking he's finished, only to find out that he has to present his oral reports to that teacher a few days later. 
 
Thursday was a national holiday for the Assomption, and we had Friday off too to make a long weekend.  Friday I went to the amusement park Walibi, which was really fun.  It's about an hour from town.  The morning weather was grey and not too hot, and there weren't that many people in the park.  It worked out great for us, because we didn't have to wait very long in line!  The park wasn't very big compared to the ones I've been to at home, but we still had a good time.  There were two small roller coasters, a drop tower, and a couple other little things.  Also, there was a water park with some slides and a wave pool.  The sun came out just as we were heading back towards the rides. What luck! 

All in all it was a good week, that passed much too quickly!  Now there's only one more week of school.  Don't worry, I'll make the best of it!