la vie en france

Bonjour encore!  Je suis content dire que tout va bien!

Hello again!  I am happy to say that everything is going well!

Life in France is proving to be very interesting!  Within the past two weeks, I've travelled to see castles, gone to a mushroom museum, visited vineyards, and much more!  Everything is so old here, it's completely amazing to see!  The castles are absolutely huge!  Many are built on hills overlooking valleys and river deltas, to provide that certain French grandeur.  Let me tell you that walking across a real medieval drawbridge, over a moat, is an incredible feeling.

My host family has been amazing!  Every weekend I have something to do, or they take me to visit the region!  It great because not only are they educating me in French culture, but their children as well.  When Marie comes home from school on the weekends she's very happy to be with us, and participate in all of the activities.  Guillaume always has something to say, and he's taught me a lot of vocabulary (especially when it comes to Badminton, which he loves to play).  Pierre-Louis is the quieter one, but he's very sympathetic (yay French!).  It's fun talking with him because he's very patient with my French.  Pauline is a typical little girl, who loves singing, dancing, and frolicking about.  Benoît, the baby of the family (literally), is funny funny in every way.  From his babble-French to the fact that he's in the question stage, he's adorable.  Lucie, my host mom, is very helpful, and is trying her best to help me integrate into a normal French life.  This includes signing me up for a Badminton club with Jean-François, as well as finding me a bicycle!  Jean-François works a lot during the week, but is very helpful when he's home and on the weekends.  Yesterday we had our first night of Badminton at a local middle school. It was really fun, but after I finished my last match I found him sitting on the side of the gym, with a medic and his ankle bound.  Right then I knew something was wrong; which was confirmed when I walked over.  After going to the emergency clinic that night, it turned out that he tore a ligament, and he had surgery today.  He's going to stay at the hospital for two more days, and then he will work from home for awhile until his injury has healed a little.

School is going really well!  I'm learning a lot of French, which is awesome because that's why I'm here!  Everyone has been incredibly nice, students and teachers.  Here is my school schedule:

Monday:
8-10 AM: History & Geography
10 AM-12 PM: Phy. Ed
12-2 PM: Lunch (2 hours)
2-4 PM: Philosophy
5-6 PM: Supplementary History & Geography in English

Tuesday:
8-9 AM: History & Geography
9-10 AM: Week A: Civic Education; Week B: Math
10 AM-12 PM: Philosophy
12-2 PM: Lunch (2 hours)
2-4 PM: Literature

Wednesday (half-day):
8-9 AM: History & Geography
9-10 AM: English
10 AM-12 PM: Philosophy

Thursday:
8-9 AM: Spanish
9-10 AM: English
10 AM-12 PM: Math
12-2 PM: Lunch (2 hours)
2-4 PM: Philosophy

Friday:
9-11 AM: Literature
11 AM-12 PM: English
12 PM-2 PM: Lunch (2 hours)
2-3 PM: Spanish

Note: I won't be attending History & Geography until October, Philosophy until November, and Literature until December.  My school has arranged a gradual integration for me and the other exchange students.

Well!  It's getting late here so I should be on my way.  I have school tomorrow!

If anyone has any specific (or general) questions for me, please feel free to leave a comment!

À bientôt!

a view of châtellerault from la vienne

Voilà!  Voici un photo de moi et trois de les autres étudiantes etrangés avec AFS!

Voila!  Here's a picture of me and three other exchange students with AFS!

From left to right:  Gabriella (Brazil), Trude (Norway), Barbara (Hungary), Dakin (USA!).

la première vue de la france

Bonjour tout le monde!  Je suis arrivé, et, habituellement, content!

Hello everyone!  I have arrived, and, usually, am happy!

Wow!  I can't believe I've been in France for two weeks already!  The orientations in New York and Paris were very interesting, and I met a lot of really amazing people!  The orientation in New York was one overnight orientation.  We had small group discussions about AFS, including the rules, as well as other culture information.  I had a really cool roommate from California named Scott, who's also studying in France.  However, he somehow landed a family in Marseille, which is a huge city in the south of France, on the Mediterranean.  Also, shout outs to Eileen and Sophia.

The flight over seemed very quick, even though I didn't get a blink of sleep.  Orientation in Paris was...interesting.  Basically, it was three days of eating bad FRENCH cafeteria food and small group discussions about France, what to expect, and how AFS functions here.  On the third day I had to get up at 5:30 AM, to drive to a certain train station to catch a train to Poitiers, the capital of my region (Poitu-Charantes).  By noon we (I and the...8 other exchange students in my region) had arrived and met our host families.  We all ate lunch together and it was very nice (and delicious, real French food!).

So much has happened in the past two weeks that it would take forever to fill you in for everything.  However, I will tell you that my host family is great!  I do have problems every once in a while, but that's normal!  I talk with my host parents, Jean-François and Lucie, and we work everything out as it comes along!  No worries!

School started two days ago.  The first day was only 1,5 hours of orientation.  I didn't understand a word, so it was lucky that I had already previously met a very nice boy named François who is in most of my classes.  The second day, today, was even more difficult.  I'm not sure how the next three weeks (trial period of my current school track in Terminal S) will go.  But, my host parents assure me that as long as I try, everything is okay!  Today, as well as all Wednesdays, are only half days.  However, on Mondays and Fridays I have school until 6:00 PM (and 5 PM on Tuesdays).  So...it's not all it's cracked up to be, haha!

Well, I hope that everything is going well back in the States.  I'm doing my best here, and I wish everyone well!

À bientôt!  See you soon!