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!