Friends, Family, and Birthday Wishes!

            Fulfilling. That's a word I will readily use for these past few days. I've taken a break from studying and have just been relaxing and being out with friends and family.

            I was getting ready to sit down and study Monday evening when my dad offered to take me down to the tennis courts. I accepted the invitation and absolutely loved our time together. My service was not the best at first, but after I got into the groove, it started to come back, which, of course, was at the end of our little playing session. Also, my host dad had this little spin on his backhand. When I ran up to get the ball, instead of coming towards me, the ball always went the other direction. It would have been quite frustrating in a match, but all I could do in this moment was look up at my host dad and laugh with him. We must have been out at the courts for two or three hours.

            I went to Elsa's house the next day. We baked cookies and talked and then her father gave us a ride to another friend's house to play Mafia. Her father was really impressed with my ability to speak French, and then Elsa said "Yeah, I know, it's crazy!" I know I shouldn't brag about myself, but that's a huge compliment, like always! The Mafia games went well, although it's completely different here. There are so many more characters, and my friend is an expert at the game, so he adds little things and I feel like I'm back in school straining my ears to listen to every word just to have a basic understanding of what I'm doing. I even took notes, but then Elsa turned that into a paper sailboat, so that was the end of that. We had fun eating sugar that night as well.

           I also got the chance to hear my friend Maxime play his saxophone. I pleaded with him, using every excuse I could think of: "It's my birthday in two days!" "You're going to miss me in July!"His sister came to help me, and five minutes later, I got to hear him play. It's cool when I get to see parts of my friends' lives because they are all so interested in me, what I want to do in France, etc.

          Wednesday was the grand day outside with my school friends and AFS friends, etc. I organized something like it last vacation, and everybody really enjoyed it, so I did it again. I've never really been the type to organize things, and now I know why. I must have spent as much time planning this afternoon as much time as the afternoon took, but the smiles and laughter on my friends' faces quickly paid me back. I invited my Japanese AFS friend to come with us too, and my friends were so happy about that.

           It was a bit colder than we expected. I don't understand it. Why is it cold now? It was supposed to be cold last month when it was 75 degrees, not 50 degrees now! Anyway, we had fun playing a different version of soccer and volleyball because we were short on supplies and people. Then we acted like a bunch of kids and played hide and seek. Elsa played the flute for us too! Needless to say, I was very tired last night.

           Today, I have the privilege of celebrating my 17th birthday with my host family in France, which is another dream come true. I say host family, but that's just to specify that my real mom and dad are not here. My "host" family feels like my real family. However, I have an exchange student problem. If I was born at 4:45pm in the US, that means I have to wait until 10:45pm here to celebrate my birthday, right, thanks to the time zones? We might as well celebrate it tomorrow! I don't know what my host parents planned, but I know they planned something. I've been out of the house way too much lately, so they've had too much time to get something together! The letters from my mom, grandparents, and cousins hanging on the fridge will soon be opened. Also, I've already received plently of messages wishing me a happy birthday through various sources, and my American family is not even awake yet! I'm sitting here writing this update and my phone keeps lighting up. I feel so loved!

           French people really like nicknames. They'll take the most simple name "Janae" and turn it into "Jaja". My host dad was the first to do this, although my friend at school claims she did not need any outside influence to call me that. It took my host mom a little while to start calling me Jaja, but now that's even normal. (She prefers to call me her "little mess", or her "cannonball". Those who know me will understand.) I guess it started because my host family has always had students with two syllabe names or nicknames. What's more is that Jaja does not even exist as a nickname. Sure I will call my friend Maxime "Max", but Jaja?! However, I love it. Now when I hear Janae I think I'm in trouble.

           This has been a really great first week of vacation. It feels kind of weird to not have studied in three days or so because I certainly have plenty to do, but I've decided to take advantage of my time in France first. Apparently, even after studying, my scores have not gone up for the SATs, so that's a bit frustrating. Perhaps after a long break I will suddenly be able to do my math so much better.

Tennis, Carnival and Vacation!

          Yesterday afternoon I was released from school for my last two weeks of school vacation in France. Of course, I will finish in June when my classmates are busy preparing for their big test, but after that, I will not return to school in France, or at least high school. I look back on each portion of school vacation, and each time there is a clear image in my head that immediately comes back.

          In October, I imagine myself sitting at the kitchen table writing my mom a letter answering all of her questions about France. Not the prettiest pictures come to mind when I think of December vacation, but I think it was a crucial part of my experience abroad. At that time, I was lying on my bed in tears in Marseille facetiming my dad saying "Dad, I miss you. I want to come home." I'm so glad I didn't. When I think of school vacation in February, I think of all the friends I have here that I was happily spending time with. If you look at it closely, I think each school vacation represents an important part of my experience: smooth sailing, the crash, and getting back up again.

         I had a good time with my AFS friends last Saturday. We went bowling and went to a café and talked. We weren't very concentrated for bowling, but we had fun anyway. In the evening, we ate an Indonesian meal in honor of my Indonesian AFS friend celebrating her 18th birthday. It was a great time for being together: my host parents, my AFS friends, and the birthday girl's family. I was completely exhausted so I didn't go out during the night.

         The next day, I went to the mountains with my host dad. No, before anyone gets excited, we were not in the Alps, but, like I've said before many times about my adventures in the mountains, "I could see them!" (Going to the Alps is a plan this vacation or in June!) I love going to the mountains here in France because that's exactly a reason why I came to France. I want to do things I can't do in the United States. On one side, it was the pretty sunny side of France, and on the other I could see the snowy peaks. We also stopped at a café with a pretty view, and I had a strawberry drink that does not exist in the United States. It was one of my best days in France.

          It was just a normal week of school, we'll say, except for yesterday. We may not have had the best concentration, but I'd say we sure deserve a break. Yesterday was the carnival. Everybody came dressed up in what they wanted. Of course there were three people dressed as Donald Trump. That's a given, right? Others came dressed as a washing machine, a clothesline, yogurt, tea, doctors, penguins, a Chinese dragon, crayons, and even a boat. Some people had costumes so big that we had to glue ourselves to the wall to let them through in the hallway. My parents told me numerous times throughout the school day "Take photos for us!" and then sat happily looking at them last evening.

         I found that the carnival was cool because everyone took part in it, or almost everyone. Even the teachers got into it! There are definitely less fun days at school in France, but when we have them, we go all out! In the US, it seemed like there were always special occasions, so students didn't participate as much, myself included.

         My friend Elsa gave me the idea of dressing up like a minion with her and another friend, so I went for it. Wednesday I was able to formally introduce my friends to my host parents, even though they already know all of them by name and nickname, as Elsa and Laurentin joined us for lunch. Then we went into town to buy all that was needed for the carnival: yellow pants, yellow shirts, and overalls.

          I have to say: One of the best feelings in the world is when your host parents know all of your friends' names and call them as you do. Laurentin becomes Laulau, Sibel becomes Sisi. There are so many little things parents do that you don't realize until you study abroad and join another family. I remember back in October when my other host dad was taking me to tennis and he was going through the names trying to find the one for my AFS friend from Russia. He listed off some from school and some from home before I had to give him a hint!

         Yesterday afternoon, after school,  I stayed with my friends instead of going home. We started playing a game but then got to talking and playing with carts that were left from the Carnival. Afterwards, we went to a park next to the school and took photos. Some people who walked by looked at us strangely, as there were Pokemeon and minions in the bushes, but that's ok. My one friend started playing his harmonica and we had to guess what song he was playing.

La Belle Vie!!!

          Tennis. I've never appreciated the sport so much. I crave to play like I crave to taste root beer. Wednesday afternoon I got out with a friend to play.  I'm happy with my game for the most part. My host dad came with his camera to take photos and videos. Apparently, he went home after dropping us off, grabbed his camera, and came back. I have to say, as soon as I see someone I know watching me, my game goes downhill. However, here, it was ok. After all, we were just hitting for fun.

Yes, the tongue does help!

         

           When I got home, my host dad showed me all the photos he took and then he and my host mom started commenting on my photos. Not bad for the first time in three months and without my dad by my side, but apparently I need to wait until the ball comes down more before I hit it during my serve, and I realized some other tiny errors that I made.

         This next week, I have my host sisters and my host parents with me. I'm already busy planning events with my friends, of course, You all know I can't possibly survive two weeks without seeing my school friends. I'll be studying too because the SAT test is directly after the school vacation.

85 days 

           

100 More Days

         This is the time where weeks start to feel like days and days start to feel like minutes. They all say the last three months go by incredibly fast, and they're right. However, I still have time here, and I am making the most of it.

         The weather is beautiful, and I am enjoying every minute. When it was snowing in my hometown in the US, I was outside in just a light sweater. The tennis courts are repaired now, so as soon as possible, I will be more than extremely happy to use my racquet again.

         I am also enjoying doing spending lots of time with my friends now, especially since the big project they were all doing is over. My friends and I finished class earlier last Thursday, so instead of going home, we stuck together and went to the park. We ate snacks, played with snails, and just had a good time. Today after school, two of my AFS friends joined my host parents and me for lunch, and I spent the afternoon with them. One came to my house and let's just say we had a "reflection time" of our experience with my host parents. Two days ago, it was one of my special friend's birthday. Besides taking part in planned events, I enjoy just working beside my classmates and spending little special moments with them. It's common for me to go out on the weekends. In fact, I often have so many invitations to do this or that with these or those friends that I have to really think about what I want to do, which is the case for this weekend.

           

At the park with school friends!

         For me, everything is going well with AFS. In mid-March, there was Open House at a local high school, so I went along with my host parents to present the organization. It was also an opportunity to collect AFS wristbands, pins, etc! It amazes me how many people seem to want to go abroad here. Of course, half of the people I talk to that want to go abroad want to go to the US to learn English. It is true that France is a smaller country and we were presenting at a school who hosts lots of exchange students, but sometimes I wish my home country was more open-minded.  I had lots of fun chatting with my international friends and advising those, as best I could, who want to go abroad. It's a pretty amazing feeling to talk about your experience abroad, but at the same time it's something that you can't really describe. This is coming from a person who has trouble just describing normal, everyday feelings!

        The last official AFS weekend of this year was this past weekend. I met up with an American AFSer who I have not seen in seven months, and I hardly even recognized her at first. I also met lots of French teenagers who will be going abroad very soon. Like always, there was a lot that happened, but I had two major takeaways.

        In November, at the other AFS weekend, we drew a rollercoaster to represent our experiences. Of course, everything was going so well then, so I drew a steady line on the rollercoaster to represent smooth sailing and an easy finish. Isn't it funny how life works? This time we did that activity again, and I was able to see how my rollercoaster changed.

        For another activity, we also wrote a letter to ourselves, telling ourselves of what we hope we did in France, as we will get the letter back in July. The three initial questions we were told to reflect upon during the letter were these: What did I want to accomplish in France? What did I do? What do I want to do in these last three months. Once I got home, I was able to concentrate more, so I took an additional two hours to do that activity for myself and I added a fourth column: When I Get Home. I don't think I ever realized how much I've done here until I wrote it all out. I printed out the paper and showed it to my host parents. Now it's hanging on my wall.

With my awesome host dad this past weekend!

           

     Spending time together with an AFS friend from Indonesia this weekend (We are always the last to leave
because our host parents help organize the events.)

          My study materials arrived for the French fluency test a few weeks ago, so I am thoroughly enjoying mself with that. The three essential parts of the test in June will be writing, listening and speaking. The presidential elections in France will take place at the end of this month, so I am staying in the loop. My French is still coming along nicely, and now I am even writing Frenglish without trying. My host mom is there to remind me when I forget how to speak English. I can listen to French music and understand now.

          School is going well, even if I am now completely and utterly lost in math class. So much for taking trigonometry in French!  I have lots of homework, as always, and I did not even mention the SATs yet. However, my French teacher today told me, "You are very motivated!" and went off about how happy she is with my work. Yesterday, my science teacher was impressed with how well I understood a concept and told me "You should be in the scientific section!" It's the little moments like this that keep you going. Needless to say, I owe a big thanks to my host parents for correcting my French errors (as late as midnight)!

          As far as events foreseen in April, there is obviously my birthday, and I am sure I will be beyond spoiled then. This weekend, I am getting together with the same AFS friends I saw today to celebrate one's eighteenth birthday. School vacation is in a week and a half! I finish school early Thursdays, which allows me a good few hours to pour into the SAT or the DELF.

         Another thing that has been on my mind a lot lately has been my return. I remember arriving here and telling myself "That day in July will never come!" It's still "far away", but it's coming. It's not that I don't want to go home, but the things that I am experiencing here cannot be replaced. There is something that seems to be magical about going abroad. Besides, I have almost everything and everyone I could wish for here. The only thing that soothes me about my return is that I really can't wait to see the joy on my parents' face when I greet them. One goal that I was reminded of this weekend, and that I've had all along, is that I don't want to leave France having any regrets. I want to do, see and learn all I can.

         Ok, since I traumatized all of you in the US with my other countdown so much, I'll humor you with this: 95 days. (Hey, that's for whoever is picking me up at the airport!)

         

         

Half A Year

          It must be March. We're back in school again, the students are lessed stressed because the TPE project is almost over, and it seems like we haven't seen the sun for days. Ok, we saw it for three minutes the other day before it started thundering. I am told that March is the rainy month here in France opposed to April for me in the US. That's funny. In my other region, September and October was the rainy period. I guess it's good I don't mind the rain!

          The family weekend was really special. I enjoy history, especially European history, so going to the Fountainebleau castle was interesting for me. I could finally apply my Napoleon knowledge from the US to something. I even have a book in French explaining the history of the castle, so I can actually learn of its importance instead of just playing tourist. Friday we stayed pretty much the whole afternoon at McDonald's meeting one on one with my friends/family from my old region. In the evening, we met with my host parents' friend at a restaurant. Before heading back home the next day, we met up with some of their other friends. We even got to meet their pet boa constrictor!

                                                      

Just one side of one part of the Fountainebleau castle!

                                                 

With all of my host sisters just outside the castle!

           Sunday evening we gave Ayelen back to her host family, and she left us a beautiful note thanking us for having her. We connected really easily with her, but she lives about an hour and a half away from us, so I am anticipating April when we will all see her again at the AFS weekend.

          I thrilled my classmates by doing a presentation on my life in the US: school, the Amish, the differences between the countries. Before giving my opinons on the country differences, I asked the students what they thought of the US. The answers were as expected: It's big! It's like lots of different countries in one! There are lots of different landscapes! You eat lots of greasy food! Hamburgers! It made me laugh seeing their true interest when I was just explaining my everyday life. Everyone told me they understood my English, which means I spoke at a reasonable pace and used simple words.

         I feel like my house is a museum now. We have a flag for each country my host parents have hosted from and also a flag just for Pennsylvania. I did not even know that existed before last week. Honestly, I never really thought about it. The two dollar bills I gave my host dad are now  in a frame with decorations hanging in the dining room. I have my own French flag in my room that my grandma made. I think we still have room for other decorations if we want to completely make the white on the walls completely disappear!

          I went to a professional basketball game last night with my host dad, and we had nice seats  near the front. It brought back fond memories of when I went with my grandparents to my cousin's basketball games in the US. There were actually lots of US players on this French team as well. My host dad said our team didn't play well at all in this match, and they lost, but I actually found the coach's behavior of the winning team as interesting as the game!

        I finished school early today because it Wednesday, and my AFS friend was able to join us for lunch. It seems much simpler to just eat together in the school cafeteria, but our schedules almost never allow that! I'm dedicating my afternoon to studying, or at least some of it, and maybe I'll do that schoolwork I've been "putting off" for....three weeks. Some things never change! No, I have actually been busy with other things just as important!

         After six months, here is my "monthly review":

        Standing around the kitchen in France eating chocolate chip oreo cookies and drinking Dr. Pepper is so weird.  Sunday, we had an "American snack", which I thoroughly enjoyed. I'm even surprised how sugary my own land's food now seems to me. I think it could go to contest with the "sweetmilk" of Argentina!

       Wearing slippers around the house still doesn't come naturally. One thing I noticed when I got to France is that French people do not merely walk around in socks or bare feet or shoes. Of course,  that depends on families, like everything else, but in the three families I've lived in, everyone wears slippers or crocs. In fact, shoes are rarely worn in the house. Maybe slippers are worn just because it's cold outside, but solve that problem in the US, I just put on ridiculously colored"fuzzy socks"  that I would never wear outside of the house. I don't mind wearing slippers. It just doesn't come natural. To this day, I will still go out to the garage to get something in my white socks.

        I finally got one compliment for my French accent. Yes, I said one and I meant one, but it's still progress, right! Don't worry, I'm still working on it. I know I'm not even close with the accent!

       Sometimes you don't have to talk. I came across this strategy in the middle of February when I was with all of the AFSers of this region for the first time. Of course, in my mind, trying to integrate myself meant starting up a conversation or putting myself into a group. My host dad suggested something very obvious....that I just sit, listen, and try to learn something. Following this piece of advice, I quickly found myself following along in a conversation about languages and even able to join in a little. It's amazing how you don't think of the simplest things until someone points them out.

        I've learned how to listen. Whenever I get the question of how studying abroad has changed me, after careful thought, I reply that I'm probably a much better listener, and more patient. (I got the question from Ayelen two and a half weeks ago.) I think this change comes from the fact that when I arrived, I didn't know what I was doing, and there was no pretending! I had to trust other people to help me with the simplest tasks. I got used to listening carefully because it took extreme concentration just to understand a simple question in French. Over time, and after six months, I've also seen how what people said about studying abroad is true (such as general French culture tips and advice on how to handle long distance relationships back home). Overall, these two things have changed my willingness to listen to others and also my attention span. Now, when I joke with my host mom that I am always right, it's really just a joke!

         This Saturday, I am going with my host parents to an AFS event  for future AFSers. They're right. I was told before I left for France that now I'm in the AFS bubble. Either I'm preparing for my year abroad, I'm in it, I'm readjusting to my home country after my experience (next step), or I'm thinking about how I can advise and help future participants. That's ok. I wouldn't change this honor for the world! I'm living my dream.

 

School Vacation

            We might have longer school vacations in France than in the US, but at the end of the day, or in the morning, I should say, it all seems the same!

           It was a great first week of school vacation. In the beginning of the week, along with watching movies with Ayelen in the evening, I did a lot of studying, mainly for the SATs and my French fluency test. Tuesday evening my host parents treated me with opening a package filled with American goodies that we will share. I love their thoughtfulness! Dr. Pepper had never tasted as good as that first sip Tuesday night! In fact, I had never really been the one in the US to choose Dr. Pepper as my favorite soda, but it's the same story with peanut butter. You don't realize how good it tastes until you don't have it! I also loved the moment when I showed my host dad a small box of Nerds, and his response was "What is this?"

          Wednesday, I studied French pretty much the whole afternoon, took a short visit to my host grandparents, and returned, only to study more French by watching the news. The political buzz is on over here, and my host parents explained how that all works here. I feel so educated now! The news is still hard to understand sometimes, but one of my host parents are usually there to help me understand. On the other hand, reading the French newspaper is a cinch, or almost that.

With all our American goodies (as the American flag proudly hangs in the background)

            I was able to get out with my friends towards the end of the week. One of the things I really enjoy about France is the easiness of transportation. That's probably one of the reasons I've been able to see so much of Europe. Whenever I want to go somewhere, all I need is a train ticket. It makes me question if trains actually exist in America because I never use them! I've taken the train this year more than I ever did in my whole life!

          Thursday I went with some AFS friends to Lyon, the second most populated town in France and one of the oldest, I am told. We went to the Confluence, "La Place Bellecour", and we are planning to go back sometime to do more. My AFS volunteer friend from school was kind of like our tour guide, and she told us all of the fun facts about Lyon. We also found a candy shop and Ayelen and I tried the Lyonnais specialty of bugnes, which are kind of like donuts. Needless to say, we weren't very hungry for dinner that night!

La Place Bellecour, Lyon

           I was able to spend a wonderful Friday afternoon with my good school friends. We ate lunch together at a park, went to the cinema, and then played Lasergames. I understood almost everything that was said in the movie without pouring all of my concentration into it, and I even ate popcorn! Ayelen and I had the box finished before the ads were over. Popcorn is so popular to have at home in the US, but it was the first time I had tasted popcorn in France since I got here. Don't get me wrong. It does exist! However, in general, the French don't think the world of American junk food. We also showed Ayelen a little bit of my town. It was a flashback to a month ago when I was just discovering the town!

At the movie theather with my school friends

            It's a full house this second week of vacation. My other two host sisters are here, and my host dad has off work. I've done lots of studying and researching for colleges this week. I have some plans with friends Wednesday evening, and Thursday we go on vacation for a few days. That will give us some time to have fun all together, and for Ayelen and I, we get to discover more of France!

          

New Opportunities

              Mountains, Switzerland, school vacation, more progress in French and wonderful people around me are what continues to tell me life is beautiful.

             Last Sunday I met all the exchange students who are a part of AFS in this region, and we went to the mountains and had a little hike in the snow and ate yummy French food (tartiflettes). It still wasn't the Alps, but I could see the them. I know that doesn't mean a thing to everyone back home though because as far as you all are concerned, my house is situated at the very peak of the Alps and I take the ski path to school every day. It's ok. Everybody here thinks I am from Manhattan!

               

           Monday....it happened again. I brought home an A+ and a C+ from French class, and I asked what all those red marks on the side of my paper were. The next thing I knew, I was with my host dad on the couch paging through a dictionary and looking up at him as he pronounced weird sounding words and asking "What do you do in your mouth to make that sound? I can't do it!" The next day I texted him letting him know I was in the middle of studying my history when I ran into a word I had learned with him the night before.

           Tuesday it was almost the same thing, except that it was me that got to teach him. I was in the middle of connecting with friends back in the US when he showed me something on Facebook (through, though, tough, etc.) and asked me to explain. Good times! These are the moments I will miss when I am back in the US.

            I can now pronounce the difference between "pull" (sweatshirt/sweater) and "poule" (hen). My host parents have worked hard with me to get that difference down pat, and I've repeated many times "A hen with a sweatshirt, a sweatshirt with a hen!" to perfect my prononciation.  Now only for the hundreds of other words and sounds that I have trouble pronouncing daily!

            This week, I accomplished something I never thought I'd accomplish. I started a French literature book that my French teacher gave me. I read it, I understood it, and I finished it in less than a week. What a good feeling! I also picked up 150 new words, but part of having a high level in French is being able to understand even when you don't understand every word. That's my everyday life. More than that, this book is the same assignment that the other students have!

           Thursday I started studying for my French fluency test. My host mom printed out an example test for me, and I am now really motivated to practice! Reading a newspaper article in French and speaking French at home are two different things, but I know I will get there. A good part of the test focuses on what is happening in France, and there are video extracts from French TV in it, so I will be staying up to date with French news in my studies.

            Another dream came true as I took the train through the mountains and into Geneva, Switzerland Saturday with my other exchange student acquaintances, whom I now consider as my friends. I found my new AFS family that day, though I still miss my other one. We got by just fine, just the five of us. We went to the United Stations spot, found our way around town, and just had a good time. My favorite spot was the Jet d'Eau, the big lake in Geneva. I looked to my one side and I could see snow covered mountain peaks in the distance, and on my other side was a big lake with bridges and a big fountain. The day when we went was beautiful as well.

            Everybody speaks English in Switzerland. We would start talking in French and the Swiss would reply in English! It was no surprise, but things are really expensive in Switzerland. You even have to pay to use the restroom! I thought I brought a reasonable amount of money with me but found myself in a Swiss bookstore face to face with a biography on Roger Federer, my favorite tennis player, who also happens to be Swiss. The book was in French, so I told myself it would be a wonderful way to continue learning French! I finally decided it was too expensive to buy, so I took the 15-20 minutes I had paging through looking at pictures and copying down all the words I could that I didn't know.

 The Jet d'Eau

My exchange students friends and me in front of the Jet d'Eau

              This school vacation, I am also getting the chance to kind of host someone. I've always wanted to do that since I decided I wanted to go abroad myself, or even before that. I know I've barely unpacked here myself, but we have a girl from Argentina staying with us while her host family is on vacation. Saturday night the adults said their goodnights, went to bed and told us not to stay up too late. Then, Ayelen and I started to talk. She is here for a semester and arrived about three or four weeks ago. Oh, I remember those times too! She asked why I changed host families, how I think I've changed these past few months, etc. I remember all those times listening to people give AFS advice: fellow American returnees who spent their year in France, Clément, even my host parents. Now it was my turn. As I was talking, I realized what I was saying was a mixture of advice from my own experience and all those other people I just mentioned.

             Sunday we had people over, and of course their questions for me and Ayelen were "Do you like France?", "What's it like where you are from?"and "Where are the mountains where you live?" It's always fun talking about your country. In the evening, Ayelen and I watched a movie, and I showed my host parents the Ricky and Lucy clip where Ricky has to read an English children's book. My host mom was following along, even telling my host dad "That's you". My host dad was following along enough to be laughing hysterically with me.

            These next  two weeks I don't have school, which is really really nice. It gives me time to focus on my studies other than just school in France. I can't believe it's already my third school vacation out of four. At the end of this school vacation, I will be able to see  Clément and his mom, which I am looking forward to. I don't take time with special ones for granted, especially now that I am studying abroad.

Study Hard Yet Enjoy the Experience

            If there is one piece of advice that I've clung on to, it's to study hard but to enjoy the experience abroad. In fact, I don't even know if anyone told me that or if I just knew that mindset would be necessary. Most people told me before I left, "Enjoy yourself. You're going to have the time of your life. I am so jealous!" Deep down, I knew that it would be an unforgettable year but a lot of work and it was a choice that came with lots of sacrifices. Sometimes I wonder if people actually realize that studying abroad does not mean going on vacation!

           The past two weeks or so I've started to more seriously think about "after high school". That's taken a lot of time and consideration in between thinking and planning, registering for the SATs, practicing for them, really buckling down on school (now that we're starting new chapters and I can understand), researching college details, etc. It's easy to get buried inside the work.

            I took a practice test today after registering for the SATs. Though I improved since the time I took the PSAT a year and a half ago, the truth is I have a long ways to go but only a little bit of time to study. I think all of my USA friends have been preparing for this the whole year, and I'm given math problems to do to practice for the SAT that I haven't seen in a year and a half. However, like my friend's dad told me a while ago before I went into Honors Algebra 2, "Math is like a language. I suggest you try to learn it." I am actually thinking of trying to do that. Hey, I conquered French, right! That would explain why I got a math problem wrong today because I forgot that 16 x 4 = 64. If you don't practice a language, you forget it. (That goes for English too!)

            Other than my SAT studies, school never fails to amazes me. I come out of one class marvelling at "Wow! I understood everything." Then I go into the next and understand nothing. I was doing fine in chemistry the other day until the teacher started writing crazy equations on the board. I think I missed the subtle, yet important part, when the teacher said, "The formula is at the bottom of your paper." It is pretty cool though how sometimes I am not even paying attention to what the teacher is saying because I am frantically copying down notes, and I understand! I am able to read as fast in French as I read in English, and yes, five or six pages per hour is progress. (I stop a lot to look up a few words, and then I get distracted by all the other pretty words around the words I am searching!)

           I've also come to enjoy something about the French school that used to bother me. In America, I went to school from 7:40am until 2:50pm, and I had class all day, save a thirty minute lunch period and four minutes into between classes to have enough time to scurry from one side of the building to the other. Here, I go to school from 8:00am until 6:00pm, but I only have class half the time usually. I used to feel like it messed up my whole schedule, especially how I would work. Once I got home at 6:00pm, I would feel like doing nothing, especially after a full day of French I could barely understand. However, I've started to learn how to use my time outside of class usefully. Yesterday, I finished my classes at 4:00, but I stayed with my friend for two hours afterwards. We went out into town, played cards and talked about, you guessed it, America. Everybody in my new region seems to just love America.

Life is beautiful with these two!

            I sometimes get asked the question  "Is America really like what we see in the movies?" My response usually is, "Well, I don't really know the movie you are talking about, but I am just going to say probably not!" Today, my host sister and I watched "American Girl" and I would remark every once in a while "Yes, that's true. No, that's not true." We also played a card game she taught me.

          One of the most important parts of my experience abroad will always be the people. My grandpa told me numerous times before I left "You never know who you will meet. Some of the people you meet here may be with you throughout your entire life." Then he'd go off into the story about how he met my grandma. If there's one thing that I love about my year abroad it's that no question is stupid. I love how I can ask the explanation of one word and we go into my life story and how I can sit on the couch with my host dad translating emojis and all those weird characters at the bottom of our phones into French and English.

          Tuesday marks exactly one year since I got the news I'd be going to France. I don't think I'll ever forget that day: that big smile spreading I could literally feel spreading across my face as I received the news by phone call, sobbing into my dad's arms real tears of joy for the first time as I mumbled "I can't believe it. I won. Dad, I can't believe it!", calling almost everybody I knew to tell them the good news. That was the moment I decided I should never underestimate myself.