I have already been here for three months! It's so weird! I'm glad though because now I am pushing myself to just speak in french and have my friends speak only in french to me, because I'm realizing I'm wasting time by letting people continue to speak English to me. So far the results are great and I feel more productive! A lot has happened since my last post at the end of October so continue reading if you want to. Fair warning it's pretty long.
Halloweeeeeen!
For Halloween I went to my friend Valentine's house. Me, her, and Clémence got in our costumes then met other people in Aubenas. I was a witch/Valentine because I was wearing all of her clothes >:) Valentine was Wednesday Addams, and Clémence was a pirate (we kind of just decided she was a pirate). We met other friends in Aubenas and hung out and walked around. Then we went back to Valentine's and watched Carrie. It was a super fun halloween here!
The week before this I didn't really do much.. Some stuff for my host sister Philippine's birthday and a couple family get togethers but much of my October break involved me watching Netflix or writing letters to my friends. Once I got the idea that exchange isn't all adventure and excitement I was able to enjoy myself and my down time much, much more.
School
After October break I finally switched from Seconde to Premiere! My host mom worked hard to make that happen and it did take awhile but it was so worth it. Now I'm surrounded by people my age and they're all great (the one's in Seconde were too). I have a french workbook and whenever I have a question (aka like two times a minute) they help me and explain why the answer is what it is. It's helped me improve so much in the past month. And tomorrow I'll start formal French lessons with the other exchange student at my school at a nearby school. That's taken awhile too but it's really not a big deal because It's made me ask more questions and try harder. I'm so happy though because I think I'll make more progress with 5 hours of lessons a week. My schedule is a little different too and not bad at all. I start at 8 am (and 10 am on Thursdays) and end at either 4 or 5 every day (except Tuesday at 6pm ha haha ahah), have 1-2 hours of lunch a day, and finish at noon on Wednesdays.
Lyon
I went to Lyon the weekend after break ended with my host mom and host sister. We stayed with my host mom's brother and I saw a lot of the city with them! They generously took time to take me to places and I think they enjoyed showing me around. Lyon is the third biggest city in France I'm pretty sure and It is full of gorgeous architecture, trendy university students, shopping, and history! We went shopping on Saturday and also saw the most glammed out basilica I've ever seen. We went to a bouchon Lyonnais and I had some speciality meat from Lyon. Sounds super unappetizing when I say specialty meat but it was delicious like pretty much everything I've eaten here.
Armistice Day in France
On Nov. 11 there was no school because it was a day of commemoration for the end of WWI. That day I went with Pascal and Martine to a little commemoration in their town, Ucel. The sun was so warm and the cemetery was overflowing with flowers from All Saints Day on Nov 1. We walked from the church to the cemetery and at the cemetery the mayor of Ucel read the name of every Frenchman that was killed in World War One. After that, we went to this building that people in Ucel gather in for events and stuff and had food and drinks and I met lots of nice people because Martine was telling them I have improved and understand very well.
Paris Attacks
As you all know, there were terrorist attacks in Paris a few weeks ago. This is extremely rare in France so lots of people were shaken up by it. In class the Monday after it happened the teachers spent a lot of class teaching the students about terrorism and ISIS and Saturday night everyone in France lit a candle and put it on their window. There was also a moment of silence at noon on Monday for everywhere in France. Things like this happen devastatingly often and make it easy to be negative about the world, but seeing people come together and be full of strength and compassion instead of hate is what keeps the world going!
Romans-sur-Isère
A couple weekends ago I went with my host family to a city called Romans and visit some of their family. We bought super duper good chocolate in Tain, another nearby city, and went shopping at a place called Marques Avenue, which is kind of like an outlet mall for expensive stuff. I met more of my host family's family and I loved it. Some were my age and one of the guys spoke English really well because he'd spent a year in California (so he knew all the cool ass American lingo). I also tried raclette for the first time and it was soooo goood. Now I understand why people have told me I must try raclette. Its cheese, potatoes, and meat. So very unhealthy but obviously appetizing. Being an exchange student means saying yes and saying yes means trying everything, including raclette three times in one sitting.
"BONJOURRRR c'est pour le Banque Alimentaire!"
That was me last Saturday morning. I had my first Rotary community service event since I've arrived and it was lots of fun! I was with the other exchange student, Bruno, and a possible outbound for next year, Fanny. We'd hold plastic bags and give them to customers when they'd walk in, and then the customers would fill the bag with food and return it to us. Most of them kindly took bags which made me happy, some would ignore us (even a couple growled I'm not even joking), and Fanny and I even got babydoll's from a wonderful old man who just really wanted to give us the babydoll's for being good people. Reeeeally wanted to. There was no way out of that one. C'était super! and now I have an old, broken babydoll resting in my room to gently remind me I helped the world last weekend.
Thanksgiving!!!
My YEO in Alaska warned me about a month ago that November is generally a month where exchange students tend to get a little homesick. I thought yeah, sure, but only if you're a weak lil baby. Turns out I am a weak lil baby so joke's on me! I talked to my host mom about how I was feeling a little sad and homesick and it really helped. I decided to have some friends over for a mini thanksgiving to remind me of home and share an American holiday with them and it was a blast. My host mom took me to the store and helped me find absolutely everything and was so happy to help. Afterwards nine of my friends came over and helped me cook everything! The food was NOT perfect because I got some ingredients mixed up (polenta sux) and I also have never cooked half the foods we made that night. It was still so fun though. We listened Christmas music and they're all hilarious. They all brought candy and desserts and we ate so much and said what we were thankful for. We even made pumpkin pie from scratch- it was a true European Thanksgiving <3
Plateau Ardéchois
Sunday went on a beautiful 1.5 hour drive with my family to the Plateau Ardéchois in Ardèche. I finally saw snow and felt the chilling cold and it definitely made me less homesick! I am loving the 60 degrees during the sunny days here.. Yesterday I ate lunch outside in December in the sun and I'm still a little shocked. Anyway, it was really gorgeous and reminded me of home. We drank hot chocolate in a little town and passed by countless little teeny tiny stone villages hidden deep in the snowy, rolling hills. I feel like I've seen places like that in my dreams it was that picturesque.
100 jours en France
I can't believe it's December already and I've been here for over three months... So much has happened and I've changed and grown so much. I no longer go to my mom with every problem I have. I don't stress as much over little things, and when I do stress, I'm getting better at teaching myself to not worry. I'm more creative and I read more. I genuinely enjoy reading and writing and watercoloring in my spare time and listening to music instead of watching tv. I think this is partially because of my long school days because when I get home from school my recreational time is precious! I prefer (most of the time) now to be productive when I have free time instead of watching tv and having it all slip away in what feels like an hour.
I understand when my friends speak to me and they all explain things to me if I don't understand, and I really cannot explain how grateful I am for their patience and motivation. I have friends who are willing to correct an entire page of my writing and explain every mistake to me. Who does that??? seriously!!
A few days ago I was feeling like merde basically and had been feeling bad during about a week and a half before that. I couldn't pinpoint why, even though it was (and still is) probably just homesickness. Little tiny things would make me upset and I would get so mad at myself for that. I knew people in Alaska would move on with their lives and get used to me being gone, but it's strange when it actually starts happening. I have been missing small comforts of home like driving and listening to music in my car or telling my mom and dad about my day. Thankfully with the help of the wonderful people in my life (here and in Alaska) reminding me that this is all part of the process, I feel immensely better.
The most important thing I am learning here, even more important than french, is that I have a lot to be grateful for. In my life I'm surrounded by loving people who find happiness in other people's happiness and I don't know how I'm this lucky. I love literally every single person in the world I think.
I hope everyone back home is having a wonderful Christmastime and all is well!
Love,
Grace