An · American · Girl · in · France

Wow. I'm going to be home in 7 weeks. Crazy. 

So my birthday post will come later when I have pictures uploaded and such. Right now this is just a boring post about my schedule for next year. 

I'm not taking APUSH. Which kinda sucks. Because I really wanted to take it. And do it with Michael. And just...I like history, I like learning. It would have been a lot of fun, but it just was not meant to me. Tant pis. 

My Schedule: 

Tam: 
- Honors Physio (I didn't take the enterance exam, but like....Susan Berkhout said I was in....so I'm going to assume I'm in Honors, if I'm not, I will find a way to switch. Idealy this would be 6th period.)
- Advanced Drama (I decided drama was more important then APUSH. For one I love drama *cough*, and also it will help me like still have a life with Tam. This will be 7th period, and 8th period. I'm excited)

Tamiscal: 
- APComp (group class every Thursday afternoon. Kate said it was a lot of fun. I'm excited. )
- Photography (group class every Tuesday I think. I don't really know how I got signed up for this class, but I like photography so it should be fun.)
- Spanish 1 (group class, I don't know when. I figure that since I live in California, I should at least learn some passable Spanish.)
- US History (with Rosemary I hope. Just a plain old class. Should be....kinda boring. Still cool.) 

Other: 
- APCalc (online with EPGY. I'm a nerd. I'm proud. I am not excited for this class, but whatever. I am going to take a 24 week class and spread it out over like 36 weeks. Should be...lame)
- French (ok so this maybe be APFrench online, but it will definitely also be some sort of thing where I go to speak French for like an hour or two every week. Mostly just to keep up. Because French is awesome. And I am bilingual. And that is awesome.)

Ok. That's all. Grrrr. It's going to be a bitch of a year next year. I also have to do my portfolio. Lucky me. 

p.s. I LEARNED TO READ!!!!

and if you aren't proud of me go try reading in french and see how far you get. : )

One thing plenty have people (including me until about a month ago) have been clamorning for is my schedule of classes, mon emploi du temps. The paper detailing it all for me that Lucile gave to me was gavais (Bordeaux version of "hella")  complicated, so I rewrote it all out in a way that I can understand. Then I scanned it onto the computer and here it is. 

 
The real reason for this post was to describe my Friday. I got up like usual at 6:45. I got dressed and grabbed a little brioche (like a roll, but kinda sweet) for breakfast. Then I went on the computer and checked my email and talked online for half an hour. At around 7:30 I got in the car with the other girls and Jean-Michel and we drove to school. The car ride is around 10-15 minutes I think, but I could be wrong. I don't have class for the first hour on Friday's so I want into the Salle 111 to get some work done. Then I joined the rest of my class for French. 

At Tivoli (my school), the classes stick together. I am in 2°1. For the majority of the classes, the students stay in the same classromm, in the same group, and the teachers come to them. After French I went back to the Salle 111 (which in French is said "salle cent-onze, and when said fast is the "salle sonze"). Lucile came to get me at 11:30-ish, then we left with some friends to go to the Parc Brodeaulais for a lunch of McDonalds (not my choice, and I put up a bit of a fuss about eating rat meat, but I was hungry). For reasons I will never fully understand, we had an extra long lunch so we got to just hang out and listen to music and sit i the sun for a few hours. Lucile left half way through to go to a non-obligatory math class (again I don't understand the French). When she was done we all headed back to Tivoli to meet her. 

Ended up staying there for an hour or two, even though all our (Lucile's and my) classes were over. I was exhausted, but I got up enough energy to go into the centre-ville to buy a belt with Rémy (who is a guy). We walked to the end of the block to catch a bus. Then, several stops later, we got off to take the tram. Usually, after school, we take the tram just 2 stops to where it ends in Saint-Augustin, and then walk a few blocks to la maison, but today we took it in the other direction towards down-town. 

In Bordeaux, and I think it most of the cities in France, there is one very long, pedestrian only, street of stores. We walked around there for a bit, went into Sephora to check out some perfume and then got some éclairs. The store Rémy wanted to go to was like way out off some side street and far away in some cutty neighborhood and we walked for like an hour to get there. By this time my feet are hurting and I'm still exhausted. Now of course we all know that I am naturally a wimp, but being in France is like ten times more tiring. We finally got the belt. Then to get back to Tivoli so Rémy could have enough time to say goodbye to his girlfriend who left for the weekend, we took the tram and then another bus to the other side of the Parc. 

We got to the school at around 5 when a bunch of the kids got out. We hung around in front for a while talking to people etc.. After everyone (ok everyone we cared about) left we walked to the end of the block again to wait for another bus. By this time I was v. cranky, so I treated everyone to drinks from McDonalds. Sugary ice tea on a hot day does wonders for my mood. We ended up waiting for the bus for another half hour. This was because we were waiting for the special bus Rémy takes to get home, he lives outside of the city in a small town. 

We got off the bus at around 6 and then walked to meet Rémy's mom so she could drive us to his house. We hung out there for an hour or two, ate dinner with his family. It was nice because the last time we (Lucile and I) were there was the first weekend of my stay, so his parents got so see how much I've progressed. They kept telling me how much better I was at french and how I wasn't so hesitant anymore. It's always helpful to hear that almost complete strangers notice things like that. 

The whole reason we were at Rémy's was to go to the Raphaël concert in his town. Raphaël apparently won like all the French Grammy's this past year so it was a big deal. He was playing at a really small venue too so it was exciting. We walked from Rémy's to the place and met up with Lucile's other sisters and her dad. Waited in line for a bit before going in. I of course recognized one song out of the two hours of music, but it was fun anyways. He played the Clash's "Straight to Hell" with images of the Statue of Liberty, airplanes, and explosions in the background. I don't know. It was fun. 

Then we came back home and I (finally) passed out in my bed. 

So this is just a little update on my life in Bordeaux. I'm almost halfway done here. Crazy. Lucile is in Spain right now with her class, but she will be back tomarrow night (she left 2 weeks ago).

Before leaving, I was told by a lot of people to take all the friends I can get; and I have. This inculdes people who say: 

*walk over from other side of room* "Hey, good morning. How are you? Can I have a piece of paper?" *take paper and walk back over to other side of room*

*walk over from other side of room* "Hey, you want to come eat lunch with us?" *in the lunch line* "Can you pay for mine? My card has no more money on it."

*sitting at desk* "Come sit next to me!" *conversation continues* "Do you think you could help me with my english a few times a week?"

Those are all direct quotes I may add. Oh and one from home, that wasn't offensive, just funny. 

"Hey Steph, it's been weird not seeing you around....Can I interview you for TamNews? ..... Well, maybe we can hang out when you get back" (no Julian's a cool kid, I understand this one.)

So. That's my little mini-update. Just some things that have been on my mind. The next two weeks are spring break! After this one that is. I'm excited. I'm going to Pau, Normandy and Brittany. I hope it all goes well. 

Hope all is well with all of you guys back home!

EVERYONE I know has been asking me to write about my family, my house, my school, my life, etc here in France. I understand that you are all curious. And right now I have the time and the patience to write something, so here it goes. 

The Family

This is the *best* part of my life in France.

Pascale and Jean-Michel (aka les parents): They treat me like one of their daughters and are ridiculously nice to me. I love them so much. They are both doctors, Jean-Michel is a plastic surgeon and he works every day. Pascale is a pharmacist/university teacher. I don't really understand her work though, she works some mornings and some afternoons and goes to conferences...defnintely part-time but I don't really know what. Having four kids (and now an American teenager too), makes them very strong very good parents. I have a lot of respect and admiration for them. They have done everything to make me more comfortable here and are always catering to my needs. Jean-Michel speaks almost perfect English and is always ready to learn more. They are easy to talk to and are constantly correcting my French and explaining French things to me. I am very grateful for them. 

Lucile (aka Lulu): Lucile is 15 and for the past month I've pretty much been her shadow, and I'm going to continue to be for the next 5 months I'm sure. She's very gracious about it. Bascially my best friend in France she is very nice to me and always helpful. She explains teenage life here to me and shows it to me too. She has introduced me to all her friends, who are also very nice. Right now, Lu wants to be a journalist when she grows up. Her favorite class is French and she hates math and physics (remind you of anyone?). She is all around awesome. 

Josépha (aka Jo): Jo is 13 and very stylish. She is silly and fun and I love hanging out with her. A couple weeks ago we went shopping together with her friend. She's the middle sister and she wears glasses (again remind you of anyone?). She likes school but likes socializing with her friends more. She can always bring a smile to my face, she is really cute.

Marie-Lievine (aka Marie): Marie is 11. She's the youngest of the sisters and definitely acts it. She's always very nice to me and helps me when she can. She fights a lot with the other girls and with their little brother, but generally she just likes to have fun. I know her the least well of all les filles. It's easy to forget she is only 11 when the four of us are together, she is one of the gang. 

Jean-Eudes (aka Jean): Jean is 7, almost 8. He spends most of his time at school or on the computer playing Lord of the Rings. My kind of kid. He goes to the elementary school jsut a few blocks from the house and comes home for lunch each day.  The communication barrier is greatest with us, but he is adorable so it's never a problem. 

( The Pictures ) I will post more another time about school and friends and life in Bordeaux. I hope this was good enough for you guys. 

xoxo

p.s. I just ate a chocolate éclair. I am très française.

Ok, I know it's been a while since I last updated, but I really haven't had time, or energy. But now, in France, we're on vacation for two weeks (yes I know it's awesome) so I have time to write about everything.

I left off on the day before I left, so I'll start with the first day away from home. I didn't sleep that night, not at all. At four in the morning Dani showed up with Michael to say goodbye. A little later Meg and Becca arrived. They sat around with me, half asleep until it was time to drive away. The goodbyes were really hard. There were a lot of tears. It's hard to say goodbye. Especially to people who I usually see everyday, who I've seen everyday for years.

My mom and I went in one car to the airport, my dad and Kate in another. We got there and checked in then sat around for a while. Not really saying anything of importance. When it came time to leave we all cried, of course. I went through security and waited for my plane. I managed to distract myself and read a magazine. I was rather numb, looking around at everyone there thinking about how we're all at such different stages in life.

I got on the plane and sat next to a guy who played golf on his PSP the whole time. There was a seat between us which was good. I listened to my iPod and cried, quietly. I watched California disappear into the clouds and then I fell asleep. I slept for the whole 5 hour flight.

At JFK I got my bags and wandered around looking for other AFSers. I finally found some, sitting in a little clump waiting. There were two girls there who were also going to France, Lizzy and Amanda. There were 3 other kids headed for Italy too. We went to wait outside for the van, and it was ridiculously cold. Being the California girl I am, I could barely stand it. The van came and took us to the hotel.

At the hotel we were all separated into different rooms. My roomate was Kathryn, a girl from Conn. Just down the hall was Maggie's room, another girl from Conn. They, and Maggie's best friend Clara all knew each other because they lived in the same area. We went down to dinner together, and sat down at a table with a bunch of other girls going to France and Italy. After dinner the Frenchies went to a different room where an elementary school teacher/AFS France returnee talked to us for an hour. I was actually pretty amazed not so much because I learned a lot of cultural information but because the woman talked for an hour without breaks and manage to cover a lot of information. After she left we did some lame group work and then went up to our rooms and to bed. Because of the time difference I couldn't get to sleep till 2:30. And I woke up at 7:30.

Are you noticing a pattern of sleep deprivation?

On Thursday we did more lame group work (example: you will get sent home if you get pregnant while on an AFS exchange), then we watched a movie about gestures and how they mean different things in different cultures. It was pretty funny. At 4 we left for the airport and checked in. The flight to Zurich went by pretty fast, I sat next to Maggie and Lizzy.  I slept for maybe 2 hours. Then at the airport in Zurich we met up with the Swiss AFS France kids and all flew to Paris. At the airport in Paris we got our bags (and didn't really go through customs, is that something you do when you go back?) and met the two AFS volunteers sent to collect us. We waited for the bus to pick us up for something like 2 hours at maybe 3 different locations. When it did come though it drove us through Paris and out to the hostel. I sat next to Laurel from Chicago, and Hannah from Washington state.

At the hostel we checked in and got our rooms. In my room were Laurel and Clara and three girls from South America. After we put our bags down, we went back downstairs and got introduced to the other volunteers and then had dinner. I fell asleep on the table during the introductions.

The two days at the hostel went by fast. On Saturday we went on a tour of Paris (read: all of us in a bus with the volunteers commenting on the monuments they found interesting in Paris). At the Eiffel Tower we got out and took pictures. It was v. cold. I had a lot of fun with Laurel though. She made fun of me for being so cold and so fascinated with snow. It was pretty great to see the Eiffel Tower, that's something I've always wanted to do. I am for sure going to go back sometime.

At the hostel we went outside and took pictures, there was a dusting of snow on the ground which I got really excited about. The hostel was on this island in the middle of the river and was this really beautiful old house.

I had to get up at 6 the next day to eat breakfast and get on my bus to the train station. It took us an hour to get to the station and then I waited for 3 hours before my train was ready to leave. I said goodbye to everyone and climbed aboard. I spent the next three hours listening to  music and trying not to be too anxious.

I got off the train in Bordeaux and had no idea where to go. I had my bags which were really heavy with me so I couldn't go far. I thought about calling someone (I didn't know who) from a payphone but I didn't have any money. I settled on waiting on a bench, and just as I sat down, I saw some people come up the stairs. We looked at each other, I must have looked like a hungry puppy at this point, and they were about to go back down the stairs when I stood up and they came over. It was most of my host family, Jean-Michel, the father, Jean-Eudes the little boy, and the two middle sisters Josépha and Marie-Leivine.

Ok I think that's a long enough update for now. I'll write more about my family and my first week in a bit. For now, here are some pictures (behind a cut because they are huge).

( The Arrival: Pictures )

Ok, I have lots more pictures (something like 196 in total) from the first few days but that's enough for now.

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Till next time!