ca va? oui :)

Today is 5 weeks.

I really can't believe how fast these last few weeks have gone. It is almost octobre vacations. How did that happen?

Today me and Bridget made some YUMMY oatmeal cookies :) we made a TON so there was enough for her to take to her family, enough for my family, enough for us, and enough left over to take to some friends at school. (yes, we are trying to win them over with our exotic baking skills....)

I am able to talk to the other kids at school now, a great break through. And I can say more than "Ca va?" "Oui, mais je suis tres fatigue" now I can actually talk about what I did on the weekend, what I will do after school, and express more than just basic needs. I can make people laugh. (though I am not sure if they are laughing at what I am saying, or at my accent...)

One thing that I have really noticed that has changed about me is my patience level. For those of you who spend a lot of time with me, you know that I am not always the most patient person..... but when I come back, wow, you are in for a suprise. I think it is from all the sitting I do now, the sitting, waiting, trying to understand, not understanding, sitting, waiting. I have become the most patient person you have ever met. haha.

I am going to stick some photos underneath of what I have been up to :)

they are of me and my first french crepe, me and Bridget, and me at Chateau Chantilly.

one month.

So yesterday was the ‘one month’ mark. And I can’t decide if it feels like a lifetime, or a matter of minutes.

My french has really improved, but I need a few more months before being bilingual, I think that by around Christmas time I will be.

I know that I have gotten over the first big hump, the hardest part, the cutting the cords part. But really, the cords are never cut, just loosened. Now when I am tiered I think about my bed here, when I am hungry I crave food here, my mind and body has reconnected itself. When I think about leaving this town, it makes me sad. This is my other home. And it always will be.

About a week ago, everything fell into a routine (that’s a good thing). That is when I really knew that I was comfy here. Bridget (the other exchange student in my class, who is from Florida), and I walk to the metro together after school. We go down the first flight of stairs together, and then we always split for the second, and I take the escalotor, and she takes the stairs right beside me. Its small things like that that make me comfy. My train always comes first.

On Wednesdays we only have 2 hours of classes, and are finished by 10am, so we take the metro to my house and make something. Last week was pancakes, this week is oatmeal chocolate-chunk cookies, next week is stuffed potaotes. But we are going to leave one Wednesday a month for pancakes.

On Saturdays I take the metro to Bridget’s house after school, and we will go for a swim, a run, play tennis, or work out in the family gym. To try too work off some of the bread (there is a lot of bread) and the goodies (lots of goodies too). we speak to eachother in a strange new language called "Ench" its a mix of english and french, and always brings us strange looks.

Yesterday I went on this 13km forest walk thing with my host family and the sporty Rotarians. We were given a map, a compass, and a list of clues. We had to follow them and then find the hidden markers in the trees and then stamp out page to prove we found it. They marked the time you started and the time you finished. And afterwards there was archery and yummy goodies. Once everyone had finished we took a little ferry across the Seine, and had dinner in a nice restaurant. Then they annonced the winners, and guess whose team won? OURS.  haha. So now I have a nice trophy to bring home.

So all in all, the first month has been great. The people are great, my friends are great, the food is great. Life is great. I am so thankful that I am here, and I want to thank all of you out there that helped get me here. Merci beaucoup!
(thats m host parents and me with our trophy)

breakfast :)

Today I am home from school. The rest of my family is at work or school, so I am alone. And I have had the most lovely morning.

I slept in until about 9:30, not to late, but not too early. Got up and out of bed at my own pace, and took a nice long shower. I just wanted to be comfy so I put on my favorite stretchy pants, hair up in a pony tail, and no make up for today. Then I brought 'SAM' (my laptop) downstairs with me and put on some general feel good/ happy/ up beat/ cant help but smile and dance music, and I opened up all the shutters and curtains and let the sunshine pour in.
Then I decided I wanted to make myself a real breakfast. So I fried up some hash browns (yuumm!) and I attempted to fry an egg, but for those of you who know me, you know that I am not the most experienced cook (perogies, Betty Crocker cakes, hash browns, and toast pretty much sums it up) so the egg didnt turn out exactly like I had pictured it in my mind...... but c'est la vie :) I smothered both in ketchup and it was good hahah. I made myself a nice cup of 'chocolat chaud' to drink with it, along with a glass of 'jus d'orange'.

It was simply delightful. I am perfectly content right now. I just thought I would share that with everyone out there who reads this. And I strongly recommend that you take the time to make yourself a nice breakfast, and more importantly time to enjoy it :)

Today I think that maybe I will head over to the bakery and buy myself a nice Tarte Citron, just as a little treat :)

I hope that you all have a day as great as mine has been so far,

:)

france = strikes

So, this morning I woke up at 6:10Am as usual to catch the 7:20 metro. I had my shower, got dressed, did my hair and make up, made myself some breakfast, and still had some extra time (mental note to set alarm clock a little later).
I left the house at 7:17 and walked the 30 second walk to the metro stop outside my house. When I looked up at the sign that says when the next train arrives I noticed that something was different......there was a scroll across the bottom that read 'there are no metros on this line today' (but it said it in french).

Hmmmm......so, no metro....school starts at 8, and no metro? So I walked back home, and told my hos mom, but she couldn't drive me as she was just running out the door to work in the opposite direction. She told me that my host brother could drive me (he takes the metro to university, but doesnt start until 9) He still had to get dressed and ready to go. we left the house at 8.
Driving through town was insane because everyone had to get to work by car. We had to park on the Sotteville side of the Seine, and walk across the bridge and into town. This would have been fine, but I was in 3 inch heels (very common at school in France).

*for the record cobble stone and stilettos dont mix well*

My host brother gave me his cell phone number so that if I needed a ride home I could call, and he would come get me on his lunch break.

On wednesday my classes finish at 10am. (there is another class after, but it is prep for a big exam I dont have to write) I borrowed a friends phone to text Guillaume, and it turns out that I wrote the number down wrong, and was missing two digits.
So now, no way to call him, no way to get a hold of host parents (they are teachers, and work in different towns) , no metro, and no way home......hmmm....

I did a desperate facebook search to see if maybe his number was on there, but alas, no.

Out of some strike of luck, a girl in my class happened to be driving in to Sotteville after school, and offered me a ride. I gratefully accepted.

Apperently these strikes are quite common here..... Im not so sure how that is gonna work out for me. :p

Buuut I have made it, I am safe and sound back home, and I am (really) hoping, that the metro will be up and running again tomorrow. If not, I may as well sleep in. :)

2 weeks, but so much more.

I have now been in France for 2 weeks. Some days it feels like I have been here for 2 months, and other times it feels like I have been here for 2 days.
I have learned so much in this short time. its unbelievable. I can practically feel my brain re-wiring itself, constantly thinking, making connections, re-learning basic things. almost every aspect of day to day life is different.

So far I have learned:

-French light switches make much more sense
-How to flush a french toilet (there is an art to it)
-There are NO chocolate chips here
-There are NO frozen perogies here
-Pain-chocolat is heaven
-The french are not 'cold' as we think them to be, just not as 'warm'
-Being an exchange student excuses all mistakes
-'je ne parle pas francais' is the most usefull phrase in the world
-No one drives trucks here
-Even the SUVs here are compact
-I'm the 'Canadian' a person of interest, something to study, look at, test - just as they are to me.
-French electricity has killed my hair dryer
-Family is the most important thing to me
-Going on an exchange isn't 'leaving home' its making a new one
-Being away and sick is the most difficult thing i have ever done.
-Family is always, always with you, in one way or another.


In this short amount of time I have already changed so much. My outlook on basic things changes everyday.
The moment I stepped of the plane into this country I gave up my 'pride' as it had been. Now it doesnt matter if someone throws me a funny look for the way I dress, it doesnt matter if I miss the bus (there is another one every 8min) , so what if I step in a puddle and my shoe is soaked, so what if I accidentally use the wrong word and embarrass myself infront of everyone?
My new pride is different sort of beast entirely. It is a pride in WHO I am, WHAT I am capable of accomplishing, and of what I am doing now.
I have learned that it really doesnt matter how someone dresses/speaks/acts, it is the person inside, the person that you are without words, that really counts. That is my new pride. It's not the same as it was when I got here, and it wont be the same when I leave. It will evolve, change, and wrap me up.

Someone who has not been through this experience can never truely understand just what it feels like: to be in a strange and different land, completly different than your own, and immense feeling of success when you realize that you are doing well. It is a roller coaster of emotions. A complicated stew of happiness, loneliness, joy, fear, pain, excitement, confusion, and most of all exhaustion.

I want to thank everyone that has made it possible for me to be here. You have given me a gift, that i have only just started to unwrap, that is irreplaceable. I cannot wait to share more of it with you.

These last few days have been a real test for me. I have been rather sick, which is very hard when you are away from home. But it has made me realize just how much my family here, and my family back home, support me.

I love you guys.

I have a meeting on Sunday with all the other Rotary students in Normandy. I can't wait to tell you all how it goes!

RE:school

so i just realized that it looks like those pictures are of my school. they are not :P they are from around town, and were supposed to be at the bottom of the post, but are for some reason at the top. so ya, just thought i would clear that one up. :)

school.....

hey again.

so school. school is VERY different than what i am used to in Canada.... very different. here is my schedual:


lundi:
8-9 = history/geography
9-11 = french
13-14 = math

mardi:
8-9 = english/french (it alternates each week)
9-10 = spanish
10-11 = i didnt write this one down, i forgot.
11-12 = english
13-15 = EPS (like Phys Ed)
15-16 = history geography

mercredi:
8-10 = SES (social and economic studies)
10-12 = TPE (no idea what this is yet)

jeudi:
8-9 = biology and something else alternating weekly.
9-10 = more biology
10-11 = english
11-12 = french
14-15 = spanish
15-16 = SES

vendredi:
8-9 = SES
9-10 = math alternating with SES weekly
10-11 = french
11-12 = spanish alternating with english weekly
14-15 = SES

samedi:
8-10 = math
10-12 = history/geography


so im going to be busy......


other than school though. i have just gotten over being sick. and am feeling much much better :)

here are some more pictures of Rouen:

some photos

so these are some pictures of Rouen!!!

the cathedral is Notre Dame Cathedral. its really beautiful. i took more pictures today....i will upload them soon :) i got the internet workingon my laptop now, so i can write more often.

i love my room and the family is great. i start school tomorrow..... im a bit worried, but i have made friends with another exchange student in Rouen, she is from Australia. she arrived in April because the school schedual is different in Australia, so she knows her way around, and she speak pretty good french.

all the building here are so old! but half of the city has relativly new building because during the war half the city was flattened. so there is a new part, and an old part. both are awesome. :) i am so happy to be here! the bread is FANTASTIC! i could eat a whole baguette....but i think i will refrain haha.

i will let you know how school works out!