Joyeux Noël!

Hello again!  Bet you didn't expect something else this fast.. but a lot has happened and I just happen to have the time to tell you about it!  Let's see.. I left off on Christmas Eve, no?  We got to my hostmom's parent's house just in time to change clothes for the 'midnight mass', which was actually at 8:30.  There was a story  about a wall that opened up to let everyone enjoy the garden inside that I didn't quite understand, but overall it was an average Christmas Eve service!  It was weird that I didn't recognize/know the songs though! 

After,  we returned to the house and started the meal (it being nearly 10 at this point).  First was the apéro, which I believe I've mentioned before, aka the appetizer.  Then we went to the table, where the presents were waiting for us before we ate a succession of dishes: including the foie gras (a specially prepared liver, usually of swan or duck that doesn't taste at all like normal liver), then a meat and vegetables, then cheese, then a clementine, then the Buche of Noël (a log of cake and chocolatey goodness).  We stayed at the table a long time, eating and talking, and the night ended for me around 1:30 or so.  The adults stayed even longer!

The next morning was strange for me as a Christmas morning.  I slept in longer than I ever have before on that day-10:00!!  There was no rush at all to do anything, since we had opened the 'Santa' and family presents the night before.  PS, Santa presents are the same as presents from Mom and Dad-kids don't get something from Santa and something from the parents!  Anyways, spent the morning hanging out in the house-little tiny breakfast, cleaning from the night before, etc.  At noon we had another big meal, even though there was a lot less people (my host aunts/uncles/cousins had left before I woke up).  After eating, we headed to my host mom's brother's house. 

We spent that afternoon and evening there:  there were 7 little kids aged 3 and 1, so that was fun!  But the adults also spent time hanging out in the wine cellar and talking or playing cards.  Of course around supper time we ate!  This time a soup and sandwich type meats, then cheese and dessert.  I had a good time there talking and joking with my hosts!

The next day we said goodbye and moved on to my host dad's family, about an hour away near the town of Angers, which I'm told is 'la plus belle ville du monde', the most beautiful town in the world.  Spent another afternoon around the table, and into the evening playing games and talking.  We ate a lot and I tried some new stuff.. in addition to a terrine of salmon, something like shellfish (don't know the name in English but it's what lives in shells when the shells are in the ocean!), and jigot which I found out later is a type of lamb.  It was all really good!  A few highlights of the day were when we all gathered around the computer to talk to my host brother who's in the US, and then when I in turn skyped my family.  My host family came in to say hello to everyone back home, it was really cool! 

The next few days were spent with family- Papy and Mamie (grandparents) in particular, but also with the others!  One of the afternoons I went with my host mom, aunt, and cousin in downtown Angers to shop.  The downtown's really big and has plenty to see!  I got a coat so now I'll be much more stylish/French in the cold.  Believe it or not, not everyone wears ski coats all the time like back home!

I also got to see the Château d'Angers-the city's castle.  It was cool but a completely different look than Chambord.  Angers has a castle from the Middle Ages, so it's older and was more 'functional' as a fortress than as a royal palace.  The little streets all around it were even more beautiful though, all paved in stone and looking like they came right out of a movie.. which is not entirely false, as they did make a movie there!

Pictures coming soon!

An American in Paris

Joyeux Noël everyone!  Hope everything's going good where you are.  Let's start with the last Friday of school:  Fête du Lycée, or School Party/Festival.  The main event was a concert all afternoon long in the gym.  The students did stuff but also the teachers!  Including my philosophy teacher who was dressed up as a member of ABBA and danced with some of the other teachers.  We also had lunch made by the teachers, and plenty of dessert brought by the students!  It was sweet!  If you look on my facebook, I'm tagged in a newspaper clipping picture about it!

Sunday me, my host mom and sister left for Paris.  We stayed there with a friend of my host mom, about 20 minutes from downtown Paris by train.  It was awesome!  Saw lots and lots of touristy stuff, and did a good bit of shopping too!  I'll get some pictures up later hopefully, as I'm not chez moi right now.  Anyways, Paris.. Got to see Montmartre, the Sacré Coeur, Notre Dame, Les Halles (Shopping!), the Champs Elysées, the big stores like Printemps and Galeries Lafayette with their Christmas lights and windows, the Louvre, the Musée d'Orsay (museum of 1800s-1900s art), and of course the Eiffel Tower.  The day that we went to the Eiffel Tour it was really really cold-so cold there was no line at all to go up when there's usually an hour or two wait, and we could only go up one floor because the other levels were closed.  The big 'oops' of Paris came when my host sister took us to a store called Abercombie.  It was supposed to be AbercRombie as in the clothes store, but google maps suggested Abercombie, a store for old ladies!  It was pretty funny.  Paris was cool because it was so easy to get places either walking or with the Metro.   And the shopping-let's just say there's a reason Paris is the fashion capital of the world! 

Since the end of my school I've been in serious French mode.. yes there was touristy stuff in English in Paris but I've been thinking a lot in French and it's French French French.. One night coming home from Paris on the train my host fam. wanted to talk English, and I had more trouble than them because I kept mixing in French words!  It was bad..  I also had trouble when I first started talking to family on Saturday, don't know if you guys noticed but it wasn't a very good English day!  I also had an akward moment when we were visiting a chateau in the Loire.. there were Asian tourists who said 'Sorry' for being in the way of my picture, and I responded.. 'C'est pas grave' which is obviously French.  The next time they said something I responded in English and it felt really weird! 

That leads me obviously to the Loire.. The morning of the 24th we picked up my host dad from the train station and drive a long time towards the East.  We stopped at the chateau Chambord, which was amazing, and then to my host family's family for Christmas Eve and a week long visit that is still in progress.. but that's a story for next time! 

Bye, Love you all!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas..

Hello everyone!  Hope you're doing well.  If you hadn't guessed from the facebook pictures, yes, it snowed here.  Quite a lot actually!  I didn't have school the Wednesday after Thanksgiving, so I stayed the night at a friend's house Tuesday night.  We discovered in the middle of the night that it had snowed quite a bit, and then again the next morning we had an amazing snowball fight!  It was around 60 cm.. almost knee high!  School got cancelled Thursday, and with a few (2) teachers gone, I only had one hour of class on Friday.  Also, while walking downtown with some people from my theater class, we got filmed by France 3, the regional tv channel.  They interviewed us but that didn't show on tv, just us walking in the snow.  I didn't see it, but some people from my class saw/recognized me on tv!  Over the next week the snow melted and it rained a lot.  That was interesting-uck.
 
What else is new..  yesterday I made Christmas cookies with my host sister, because it can't be Christmas without there having been Christmas cookies. They turned out really good, even though they were depressingly all frosted the same color-no food coloring.  I took them (pretty much the entire batch) to school and shared them with my class, other friends, etc. and now they're all gone!  Gonna have to make more.  In short, the cookies were generally loved by all! 
 
Tonight Dad gave my host family a virtual tour of the store by skype.  It was awesome!  Way confusing to 1, try and translate slightly technical meat processes, and 2 to go back and forth between French, English, French, English, Franglish.. Ahh!  But it was cool. 
 
Have a great week, Merry Christmas!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving was a good one for me this year, I hope for all of you too! Thursday I was in school all day and didn't even get to eat any turkey, but I did go to a meeting about my trip to the country of Turkey!  That counts as my share of Turkey for the day I guess.  That night I skyped with the whole clan-everyone who was at Great Grandma's house for lunch (7 hour time difference) and that was really cool.  When I got off the phone with them, it had started to snow!  It was perfect:  Thanksgiving day over, onward towards winter! 

Friday I had school, but I managed to enjoy black Friday a teeeny bit by going shopping in the afternoon with some friends.  It counts as black Friday, since it was morning in the US, right?  :)  Speaking of school friends, everyone was fascinated and greatly amused by the tradition of the US president pardonning a turkey. 

Saturday was a long day.  I got up early to go ice skating with friends, but the rink ended up being closed.  We walked around in the snowyness for a while and got hot chocolate instead.  That afternoon, from after lunch until around 6 or 7 at night, I cooked and cooked..  Some of the time was spent on the phone coordinating the arrival of the stuffing for the turkey though, which was stressful.. Long story!  Anyways, in the course of the afternoon I made eggplant casserole, homemade (actual pumpkin, not from a can!) pumpkin pie and homemade rolls.  That evening I went with my hostfamily to an exposition (exhibit hall with vendors) on.. food!  Specialty food, like fancy wines, cheeses, desserts, spices, etc.  When we came home, I stuffed the turkey which was much less complicated in the end than anyone expected.  The big surprise was when I took the turkey out of the fridge, not having seen it yet, and.. a turkey head was staring back at me!  Definitely didn't see that one coming.  Imagine, if you will.. a turkey, ready to go in the pan.. with it's head.  According to my host mom (who cut the poor turkey's head off before cooking it), the head is a mark of freshness of the turkey we bought. Hmm.

The next morning, spent lots of time in the kitchen again-doubled the recipe of the eggplant since it's generally loved by all here (here that, those who believe eggplant causes deadly diseases??)  and made mashed potatoes, which took a very long time to peel and then mash.  Let's just say we might have overestimated the necessary amount of potates purée that the French would want when confronted with all the other Thanksgiving stuff!  Set the table, cleaned up, and the moment arrived!

My American friend and her host mom were the first to arrive, and my host mom had to help her with her vegetables that didn't cook right.  She brought sweet potatoes with marshmallows and brown sugar stuff, and brussel sprouts in addition to making the stuffing.  Then came the other family who ate with us: parents and 2 kids.  We had an apéro, which is a sort of snack before the meal that's basically the first course, but around a different table and much less formal, while being more formal than the carrots we munch on before big meals in the US.  After a long apéro, we ate!  It was good; the hard work paid off! 

Thanksgiving was a good one, and I'm glad I got to share it with my host family and friends.  There's a good bit of leftovers, which is part of the tradition.  The whole weekend was definitely very educational for everyone involved, me included!

November - 3 Month mark!

Wow.. In finding a title for this post I realized it's been nearly 3 months.  I had to open a calendar and check to make sure, and sure enough, Thursday is my 3 month mark.  Wow.  Does it seem that long for you guys?  Or that short, depending on your perspective?  Three months.  Unreal.  That means I have seven left..  Here's what's coming up the next 7 months:  Around December 18th (a few weeks from now) Christmas break starts, and we go to Paris and then to visit host family's family for Christmas.  By New Year's we'll be back in town.  A few weeks later I'll have my 'half-way' orientation with the other exchange students.  A month later, I go to Turkey on a school trip :D  and then there will be a 2 week school vacation, leading into March.. then another 2 weeks of vacation in April.. and after June, I come home.  Not bad, huh?

Anyways, let's see.. what are some things that I've done this month?  I've been reading a lot, and watching TV slightly more than before the vacation because somehow, I can understand a lot lot more!  I've been to church, to cafés with people (very French, right?), cooking with friends and with my host family, and generally staying busy.  Friday night I went to the theater (the live kind) to see two plays by George Feydeau.  The actors spoke really fast (like Robby racing fast!) so I didn't really understand all that much, just the main idea of what was happening, but it was still cool.  Last weekend I bought some boots, so now I'm slightly less of an unstylish American alternating between Ugg boots and tennis shoes every day for school!  It's also handy because it's been raining a lot, so the boots are much more practical.  It still hasn't snowed here yet, though!  Today it was nice so this afternoon we went for a long walk in the mountain area.  It was nice!

That's all for now, sorry if I'm all over the place with my writing!

Edited to add:  If anyone wants to send me anything by mail, the address should have my host family's name in the top line ("Chez Mr. et Me. LAST NAME first name) Otherwise it might not get to me or get sent back to you!  If you don't know the name, you can email me or ask my mom..  :) 

Corisica Vacation

Hello everyone! Hope you enjoyed the vacation.. oh wait, you're probably in the US, where there is not a ten day vacation at the end of October! Sorry to rub it in.. Anyways, yes, the French get a week and a half of vacation at this time of the year. It was great! I spent the vacation in Corsica, a French island south of France, with my host family.  In Corsica, we visited little towns, the coast (beaches and also giant rocks) and also spent some time relaxing.. playing Mario Kart on the Wii, playing Rummikub or cards, reading, etc.  The weather was mostly really good, but it rained a few of the days.  It was really pretty there, but I won't waste time trying to describe it.. here's some pictures!

The middle of Corsica

In the North, near where we stayed

There were lots of towns with fortresses (citadels) like that.

Giant rocks.. pretty and fun to walk on!

In the South



On the way home in France, pretty fall colors!



Grève!

Since last week, there's been a huge stike (grève) in the whole country of France.  It's about the retirement/social security reform.. The government's changing the retirement age from 60 to 62, and people are just not happy at all.  The manisfestations (demonstrations, basically) are not every day, but there's been about 3 or 4 of them.  Here's what happens:  the bus system is all out of whack, as in less buses than usual and at random times.  Also, there's a big march/parade in the afternoon through downtown, with people yelling things and carrying signs and all.  Other consequences of the strike: the Cité des Arts where I take an art class on Friday evenings is closed, the city library is closed (both of which annoy me very much!) and there's a higher likelihood of vandalism and general craziness in town.  For example, today when I was coming home from school, I had to avoid the staute of elephants (right in the center of downtown pretty much) because there were people all over and we could smell the remains of some gas, I think tear gas, in that area.  Don't worry everyone, I was safe and all!  I was with a boy from my class, and we avoided the big mess.  Also, I go to a pretty boring private schoo:  In front of the public schools, there are riots a lot during the strike, where the kids use the strike as an excuse to light trash on fire in the street, and generally do bad things.  There's police teams with helmets and shields!  Public school teachers also go on strike, so they don't have school usually when this is going on.  Remember though:  that's not where I go to school, it's a ways away.  In my school, we don't even hear the parade when the manifestation starts.  Pretty peaceful, as far as high schools go.  

Hope everyone had a good homecoming week/is enjoying the football season!
 

Eggplant!

Hello!  I just had to pop in and let the world know.. I made eggplant casserole last night!  With my American measuring cups that I got in my package!  They measure things in grams or liters here..  But anyways, I made eggplant casserole!  I know my family at least is appreciating this fact..  It turned out good, not exactly like normal (a different cheese), but good.  It only cooked about 20 minutes in our oven.  And between 6 people, (host grandparents are visiting) we ate the whole thing!  They liked it. 

In equally exciting (but in a different way) news, last weekend I had a YFU weekend with the other exchange students in this region.  It was really great to see everyone again!  We spent most of the time just talking to each other, which I liked.  We were there Saturday overnight til Sunday, and Sunday we ate the desserts with our lunch-everyone had brought a dessert from their home country.  I brought scotcheroos!  The desserts were so good, but I think everyone ate too much.. too much sugar, but sooo good!

St. Gervais and the Markets

Hello everyone!  It's been a busy week.  Last Thursday through Friday I went to St. Gervais with my class for a philosophy seminar.  The guest philosophy speaker was probably really intellectual about philosophy, but I hardly understood anything he said.  It was a good time to be with my classmates though and get to know people better.  We also saw some cool Baroque churches from the 1700s and a newer church that was full of artsy stuff.  I gave an oral report about the history of stained glass, which I think people understood.  St. Gervais is known for being really close to Mont Blanc, which is the highest mountain in Europe and covered in snow all year.  Blanc=white, it's very logical!  So anyways we got to see the really pretty mountain.  We also visited a place where 'sisters' (the religious kind) live and people can go there to relax, go to religious sessions led by the sisters, etc.  We had a few hours of Q&A with the sisters about their beliefs and life, then ate supper.  Supper was really good, and lots of food!  First course was a soup, like chicken noodle but without chicken or noodles.  That leaves basically broth and veggies.  Next we had spaghetti and lettuce salad, which was awesome.  Spaghetti, I missed you!  Then we had cheese or yogurt, then a fruit mix (like fruity applesauce).  It was delicious!
 
Last weekend, I went to two markets: the normal one on Saturday morning to buy fruit, veggies, cheese, and meat; and the Braderie to buy..anything!  The market was cool to see all the different types of fresh food-very cultural as well!  The Braderie was awesome.  Think of it like a high class flea market that happens twice a year, that is with actually good, new things that you would want to buy, all over downtown.  We're talking about LOTS of vendors!  Clothes, purses, shoes, books, jewelery, makeup, pretty much anything, and for a good price.  I got some clothes :)  And there was lots of cool food too.  There's 'barbe à papa', which means Dad's Beard, which is..cotton candy! I had a kebab, which in French means a bread shell filled with rotisseried meat mixed with onions or something.  It was pretty good but hard to eat! 
 
Au revoir!

Continued!

Bet you didn't think there'd be pictures, huh?  Well, here they are!  These go with the post before this one.

Who new that the sound of the mountain was actually cowbells??

That's my city, obviously.  And it was a game day, obviously!



This is that spinning bouncy house thing at the fair.

Almost 3 weeks in??

"In all affairs it's a healthy thing now and then to hang a question mark on the things you have long taken for granted."  -Bertrand Russell

Hello everyone!  Let's see.. where to start.  I've been in school two full weeks now, and overall it's been a good experience.  I manage to understand nearly all of the history and most of the philosophy.  English is good too.  It was my favorite class for the first few days, but now my favorite is history.  We're studying the Cold War, which included a lecture on American culture :) which was interesting.  Since I studied the Cold War at the end of last year and I consider myself kind of an expert on American culture, so far it's going good!  As for literature.. the rest of the class read the Odyssey, by Homer, over the summer.  So I'm playing catch-up and trying to understand the teacher's really fast lectures on the Trojan war and I have no idea what else.  But it's getting better.  To summarize, school is sometimes hard but usually manageable.

Last weekend was a busy one.  Saturday morning, my host family and I drove up into one of the mountain, where we hiked an hour both ways to the top.  At the top, there's this huge cross that looks over the town.  The view, and the trail to get there, were amazingly pretty.  Although on the trail, I was mostly focused on my feet because it wasn't an even path and it went up and down a lot, with lots of rock to maneuver over.  After the mountain, we came home and ate. 

Then I went to the Fair of Savoy to meet up with a couple girls from my school.  We walked around, and that was pretty much it.  It was a little like a state fair, but with more vendors and less 'stuff' to do (like shows or magicians, etc.)  There was only vendors, a judo demonstration, and a spinning bouncy house.  (Picture a slow tilt a whirl, with a jumpy castle on it instead of metal seats!)  The other, main attraction was the exhibition, this year focused on Japan, which was actually pretty cool. 

When I came home from that, I went almost immediately to meet my ride to a Christian youth group.  It's made up of teens/college students from lots of different churches in town.  It was interesting and fun.  I'm going to continue to go there Saturday nights when I don't have other things to do.  At the end, there's always cake. Yum.  I love cake! 

Sunday noon, we went to a picnic at the tennis club.  Lots of good food there, too!  It was partly a potluck, but the families mostly ate things they had brought for themselves.  The dessert was shared though, and it was awesome!  Fig pie (which is good), chocolate cake (brownie cake), and cake of Savoy, which is a light yellow cake that is sugary and very very good. 
If you haven't guessed, the area I live in is called the Savoy region, fyi. 

Also Sunday, I went to the movies with some girls from school.  We saw Tamara Drewe, which is a British movie.  It was in English with French subtitles (their idea, not mine!), and since it was kind of a 'specialty' movie, it was in a small theater.  Seven rows, no previews, no ads before the movie, no popcorn.  The movie was okay.. funny at times but the characters weren't very likeable!  Maybe it's a British thing.  Who knows? 

That's all for now.. A plus tard!

First day of School!

"Nothing grieves a child more than to study the wrong lesson and learn something he wasn't suppose to." - E.C. McKenzie
This didn't exactly happen to me as in the quote, but I was almost in the wrong class!  Here the Premiére (Junior) class starts in the morning the first day, and the Terminale (senior) class starts the afternoon.  So this morning Lou took me to school and we went inside to try to talk to someone about my complete lack of a Spanish level sufficient to be in 3rd year Spanish (what the 1éres do).  It was a mess and we waited for people who weren't coming, but finally we found someone who was able to tell me "No, sorry I can't help you with your 1ére Spanish problem, but it doesn't matter because you're in Terminale!"  So we left.  We did some errands around town and then had to go exchange my 1ére books for my Te books (you have to buy schoolbooks here)  Originally I had been given the list of Te, but we thought it was a mistake and so bought the 1ére books instead.

Anyway, after waiting around a few hours and eating lunch, Lau took me back to school and we still couldn't find a person to talk to, so she left and I sat with some girls I met yesterday in an assembly.  There was a lot of quick French that I got the main idea of, then we went to classrooms by class.  The Te L (litterarie, it's my division of the grade, we mostly study French Litterature, languages and Philosophy) are a class of 30, containing 4 exchange students: me, Mexican and Brazilian boys, and another American girl.  In class we got our schedules of classes (it changes every day) and wrote down some important dates in our calendars.  Maybe an hour or two later, school was over!  I talked to someone about my Spanish class (turns out I don't have to take it), and then..

I walked to Centre Ville (the downtown area) with the other exchange students.  We walked around and looked at stuff and spoke French.  It was overall a good day! 

By the way.. my class schedule is excellent.  No math or science all year, and 3 days I start school at 9.  Wednesday I have 2 hours of class and the day is over.  Monday I have about 2 hours for lunch!  :)

A plus!

I never travel without my diary.  One should always have something sensational to read on the train. 

Oscar Wilde

Hello from France!  I arrived in Paris Thursday morning and stayed in a hotel there until Saturday afternoon, mostly in a hotel with the 70 other exchangers in France (7 Americans).  There we spoke a little French but nearly everyone had better English than French.  It was cool meeting people from 30 countries!

Then I took the train to my Chambéry, where my host family lives.  They speak nice and slow for me, so I can understand quite a bit.  Salomé, my host sister helped me unpack and they showed me around the house.  My room has its own little balcony.. It's awesome!  Here's what I see looking out the door:

The next day we went to help a friend move to a house 200 km away (very close; we carried a few things there by hand!)  That afternoon we went to the tennis club for a bit to watch and meet friends.  I made my first French friends there.. 2 girls, aged 3 and 6.  They made dirt tea for Salomé and I and stuff like that.  Little kids are the same everywhere I think:   :)

This morning I slept in a bit; then the girls of the house went to play tennis for a while.  It was really hard!  This afternoon we are going to downtown to buy school things and see the school.  Salomé's also, because she's changing schools.  C'est tout pour maintenant!

 

14 hours.. Yep, panic!

Promise me you'll never forget me because if I thought you would I'd never leave. ~A.A. Milne

Okay, this is it.  The next time you hear from me will be from across the pond, around the world, in France.  Today was a bit stressful trying to finish packing and all the little things that still needed done.  Tonight we're having spaghetti bake as the last 'family meal' for a while.  :)  I'm really gonna miss Mom's cooking!

I need to leave the house for the airport around 4:30 in the morning.. so by that count I'm less than 12 hours away!  Hopefully I can sleep tonight..   Anyways, just wanted to say hey one more time before it's bonjour!

I'll see you all soon!

2 days.. should I panic now?

How lucky I am to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard. ~Carol Sobieski and Thomas Meehan, Annie

Yesterday was a long day.  First church, then helping finish lunch, then family started coming.  It was fun playing an hour or two of Apples to Apples with the family, because it gave me some good memories from the day as opposed to just goodbyes.  Later in the afternoon friends and those people who are so close they could be family, but are not, came over.  Thank you everyone for coming!  It was a good day, but I was pretty drained by the end of it. 

It seems unreal that I will not see most of these people again until next July.  They are all so much a part of my life that it just doesn't seem possible!  Saying goodbye definitely made this experience more real to me, probably because nothing real and worthwhile is 100% good.  Now I really believe that in 48 hours, I will be in an airport in Denver.  It's not just a dream anymore!

Here's what today holds:  packing, finish cleaning my room out, going to town for lunch with dad (and an errand, but that's not important!), and maybe visiting grandma.  Busy busy!

3.5 days.. Not that anyone's counting!

 "It is our attitude at the beginning of a difficult task which, more than anything else, will affect its successful outcome."

 -William James

Hello all!  As I hope you know, I leave this Wednesday.  Since I leave my house around 3:30 a.m.. my official count is going to be 3.5 days.  I meant to post something when I hit the month mark.. when I got to single digits.. a week.. but I didn't and now here we are!  This whole summer has gone so fast.  For me I guess it's still summer, because although my town's school started last Wednesday, I haven't been going.  Friday I went to town with my parents and we ate lunch and went to Wal-Mart to get food for when the family comes.  It was odd being virtually the only teenager out and about!

Everyone is asking if I'm ready to go, if I'm nervous, if I'm excited.  It's hard to answer because I don't know how I feel exactly.  Or rather, I don't simple words for it.  I want to go, of course I want to start this adventure and face the new challenges.  At the same time, I want to stay here just a while longer.  Getting ready to leave definitely makes me realize how much I love my family, friends, and home and how much I'm going to miss it.  I knew it would be hard to leave my family, but it seemed a bit unreal and hard to wrap my mind around exactly how hard it's going to be.  It takes time to realize that yes, this is actually happening.  I'm ready for it, though--I accept the challenge and I'll make it through.

That's all for now!

American Overseas Orientation

Also known as: A lesson in culture. 

A few weeks ago, there was an American Overseas (as in Americans going overseas) orientation at the YFU rep's house.  There was a grand total of 7 students in attendence.  Three others besides me were year students (all to Germany) and then there were three summer students, who will spend 6 weeks in Japan, Japan, and South Korea (respectively).

We started off by getting to know each other.  It was awesome when we first arrived how we instantly had something in common.  Besides the usual 'where ya from', we wanted to know where each new friend was going.  This is pretty awesome, I think, because instead of, where are you now, you could see people's goals and dreams:  where are you going.  Maybe only for the short term, but we each had a goal and a sense of purpose in common.

When we got started, we learned about culture and living with a host family.  The goal is for the student (me) to really become a family member, not just a guest in the house.  We had a short session about who to go to if we needed help and in cases of abuse.  We also brainstormed some ways to deal with homesickness and other common problems for exchange students, and ways to respond to people who criticize our American culture.  It was really interesting!  The day ended on the practical side, with info about preparing for departure and then the parents came in.  They all had lots of questions, of course. 

One of the most important things I learned that day was a story that went something like this:  In country X, all people are born with 2 arms, 2 legs, 2 eyes, 2 ears, and a pair of yellow sunglasses.  They don't question the sunglasses because that's what they are used to.  Everyone has them.  In country Y, all people are born with 2 arms, 2 legs, 2 eyes, 2 ears, and a pair of blue sunglasses.  That's what they are used to, so they don't question anything.  Then one day, a teen from country X goes to visit country Y.  He realizes everyone there wears blue sunglasses, so he buys a pair and slips them on.  When he gets back, he tells everyone all about his adventures.  "Wow!"  he says.  "Everything was green!"  The guy forgot about his yellow sunglasses, so he didn't get an accurate picture of the culture of the country he visited.
Here's the moral of the story:  sunglasses are like culture.  We are all born into our culture and it is part of us.  Even if it's hard to completely abandon our cultural perspectives while we're on exchange, we need to remember that our culture is there, filtering our observations about the world.  So, basically, try to see your new country with fresh eyes, not all through the filter of your own cultural 'sunglasses'.

In other news, I officially have an exchange sister!  I love that I'm tripling my amount of siblings this year.. Anyway, she's from Germany, and she's going to hopefully get here at the beginning of August. 

If anyone is thinking about hosting, do it!  I am so lucky to have this opportunity and it's a great experience to give to another person.  I have lots of information if you want it-just let me know!  The area rep for YFU is especially trying to place a YES student, that is, a scholarship student from a Muslim country.  They aren't all Muslim, and you can pick the student who you think best fits your family.  Really, if you want to host.. go for it!  It doesn't matter if you have kids, don't have kids, anything.  Host, host, host!  It's the only way programs like Youth for Understanding can succeed in spreading Understanding!

Unofficial Exchange Dates

After a week of trying to contact the YFU office or otherwise find out about my departure and airport, today I learned, unofficially, the dates of my exchange!  No, not the romantic kind- the departure date!  The program in France starts August 25, so I will probably (this is where the unofficial comes in) leave August 24th.  I'll have a few days of orientation in Paris before I go to my host family.  Then I'll stay with them until July 2nd, when I return home!

Scholarship!

I bet you didn't expect anything new so quickly, but I have news!  Today I got a letter from YFU informing me that I recieved the Founder's Scholarship.  It covers round trip domestic and international airfare, and some other stuff.  I'm so happy!  Since my exchange is already paid for, though, I guess they'll reimburse us or something..  Here is the page about the scholarship. 

The letter was mildly entertaining because it assumed that I had not already been accepted and that I don't already have a host family.  It said it included the student and parent handbooks, but then at the end the enclosure part was white-outed.  :) I already have these!  It also said that information necessary for getting a visa would be coming 'shortly'.  That includes a departure date!  Keep your fingers crossed that I'll know soon!

Updated information

In December, I was officially accepted to be an exchange student.  In January, my application was sent to YFU France and within a few weeks (quick as far as exchanges go), I learned I have a host family in France.  I have a hostmom, hostdad, 13 year old host sister and a host brother who will be on exchange in the United States while I'm with his family.  They live in a city in southwest France and I learned that the school I will go to has around 900 students!

I have an outbound orientation May 23, when I will hopefully find out when I am leaving.  It's also really frustrating because by now most people know that I'm going to be an exchange student, so everyone wants to know when I'm leaving.  But I don't know yet!  I'm hoping it will be timed just right so that I can meet the person our family is going to host and also meet my host brother before he leaves for the US. 

Yes, you read that right:  my family is going to (most likely) host an exchange student while I'm gone!  We are having an interview next week, but as long as that goes okay, we'll be a host family!   I think it's awesome how I am tripling my number of siblings this year.  :)  Of course no one can replace my real sister, though.

Hopefully soon I'll be able to tell everyone when I'm leaving.  Talk to you soon!