Weeks Twelve and Thirteen

I missed my first week. My goal was to keep it up all year and not miss a week but I got busy and forgot. It’s not such a big deal but I want to keep up my weekly tradition.

I’ll start with last week.

Monday was really relaxed because I didn’t have school. It was a teacher workday so that meant no school for the students.  I didn’t do much all day and that was really nice. I mostly just worked on a presentation about the United States, which I gave on this Thursday. I probably could have started a little earlier or worked a little harder but it went well. I also wrote my French teacher in the US a letter, all in French. I had my host sister correct it all before I sent it but still, it was all in French.

Tuesday, which was Veteran’s Day in the US, was a memorial day for WWI in France; so no school. On our day off we went to a city called Le Croisic, a small town on the coast where they collect salt from the ocean. While there we went to the graves of my host mom’s grandma and father and cleaned and put flowers on them. We ate lunch at my host grandma’s house and then went to eat dessert at my host uncle’s house. My host uncle’s wife is from a different part of France and has a different accent. I was really proud of myself because even with the accent I was able to understand 95% of what she said and I was able to hear her accent. That was something I wasn’t able to do when I got here.

Wednesday was hard. I took the Bac Blanc de Français. In short, it was a four-hour French test.  There were three texts that we had to read and then the other kids had to do specific activities but I just had to summarize the texts. Even that took me almost the whole time. It was very hard but I’m glad that I at least tried, four hours was a long time but it was good that I did it. The texts were very complicated but at least they were interesting. Needless to say I was extremely tired after that so I took a two-hour nap. After dinner I talked about the American and French political systems with my family. It was an interesting and enlightening experience for both of us.

Thursday morning my test was math. It was the first test that I felt even slightly comfortable with. I didn’t too hot, 14/30 but still okay. Bear in mind though that a 15/20 is an A so I didn’t totally fail it. I came home from school Thursday afternoon to a note from my host mom asking me to clean my room. It was pretty messy, I need to remember more often that it’s not my house really and I need to keep my stuff organized and clean.

Friday night I went to Öykü’s house for dinner and to spend the night. It was fun and we ate a lot of seafood. I actually really like oysters although sea snails are pretty weird. We had two types of snail, shrimp, oysters, and fish with mashed potatoes. I wasn’t that big a seafood person before I left but now I think it tastes good. I guess that’s one of the things that comes with being an exchange student, different tastes. For example, I didn’t like tomatoes at all before I came but then I ate them a lot and now think that they taste pretty good, I also didn’t know that milk with cookies was good before I came and tried it.

Saturday I went to Nantes and met up with a bunch of other exchange students. By a bunch I mean about twenty of us. It was great. It’s always so nice to see everyone and talk to them. It’s nice to be around people with the same struggles and wants as you. The day was originally for Felipe but he didn’t actually get there until pretty late in the day. It was a great day nonetheless and I’m glad we all got to get together. Before I left Les Sables d’Olonne, Öykü and I bought train passes so now we get 50% off all the trains in Pays de la Loire.

We slept late on Sunday and didn’t do much because Saturday night there was a family who came to our house to eat with us and talk. They didn’t end up leaving until past 2 AM. Also needless to say, I was exhausted. I did go to Felipe’s house for a meal with his host families. It was nice to be there and talk with everyone.

This week.

I had a lot going on all week. It was a pretty crazy week. I worked out three times, twice with my district counselor, Yves, and Felipe, and once with just Felipe. It was nice to get to do it together as a group but I was incredibly sore after every time.  We worked out Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday and I was still sore into Sunday. It was intense.

On Wednesday, Öykü, Cécile, Felipe, and I all ate lunch together downtown. We then did a little shopping. Two other people came to La Roche to go ice-skating with us. It was cool to be together as a group and see everyone. By the time we had finished ice-skating and everyone had left it was too late to go to dance and so I went to work out with Felipe. It was a little sad because it was his last session in La Roche because he left on Friday.

I was also working all week on my presentation for Rotary. I had to talk for about fifteen minutes about the United States and my life there. It went really well! I was worried that I was going to read too much and it wasn’t going to be very good but I just tried to talk about the pictures I put up and not read so much. It must have been pretty good because everyone told it was good. I was really happy but at the same time it was sad because it was the day before Felipe left.

Friday, I took the last two periods off of school to go to the airport with Felipe. Öykü also came. It was really nice to be together as a trio one last time before he left. There weren’t any huge issues at the airport so he got home intact. I really wish he could have stayed longer and my biggest regret so far is not doing more stuff with him while he was here. I guess this just gives me even more of a reason to go to Argentina.

This weekend we didn’t do that much other than relax. We did go to a really cool park and walked around though. Oh, and I had my first French crepe. I can’t believe I’ve been here for almost three months and hadn’t eaten a crepe.

My French has good days and bad days but they’re starting to become better and better. A lot of the time now it’s just like talking, I don’t have to stop and think about what I’m saying. My thoughts are generally in English, especially for complicated things, but sometimes French is all that comes to my mind and those moments are very strange but very cool. I’m so glad to be here and to be seeing and experiencing all these things. I don’t want to be anywhere else right now.

Week Eleven

First weeks back to school after a vacation are always rough. This week however was not bad.

Monday was not that bad, I wasn’t really tired and I was ready to tackle the day. I didn’t really do anything Monday except wish I had done more homework. Up until now my teachers have been totally fine with me not doing the work. Which is good because up until now it would have been really hard for me to do the work. The only teacher who really cares if I do nothing is my French teacher. The other day in class she called me out on not having done the homework. In some classes I don’t really feel bad for not doing the homework. I know that it would be extremely difficult for me to do and would just take a ridiculous amount of time. In other classes, for example, math I do feel bad for not doing the homework because I know that I capable of doing it if I tried.  Altogether I am going to put in a greater effort to do the homework.

To show this newfound resolution to try harder I started the book that we are reading in French class. It’s called, Le Supplement au Voyage du Bougainville, it’s written by Diderot. I’m sure it’s an interesting book and I was interested in it but it is so complicated it takes me a very long time to read. It took me almost an hour to read eight pages of this book. I have to look up words very often and read over the stuff a couple times to really get the sense. I was a little upset the next day however when the homework that I actually did was not checked by the teacher. I’m just hoping that I don’t have to give an oral because that would be very hard. I don’t want to give the sense that I’m discouraged because I’m not really and I think that the challenge is good for me. I’m just saying that it is difficult.

Wednesday I did an oral in English class. The subject was the referendum for Scottish independence. We had to choose a side and express our happiness or sadness over the result of the referendum. I prepared pretty well and had at least five people ask me to check over their orals for them. I did pretty well but I talked a little too fast and no one but the teacher understood what I was saying. I maybe could have talked a little slower but it’s nice for them to see what I am going through with them. I say that as if I’m not understanding what they are saying but really I understand probably 95% of what is said, sometimes I get lost and my vocabulary hasn’t caught up to my comprehension but it’s still great.

Thursday morning meant a two-hour of science test. I didn’t understand everything but I managed to make enough stuff up to take up about an hour of my time. The rest was spent drawing or thinking.

Thursday night I went to the gym with my district coordinator. It was really the first time I’d ever really worked out with weights. It wasn’t so bad and I left feeling pretty good. Didn’t puke this time! Woke up Friday morning feeling a little disappointed because I wasn’t really sore, but I needn’t have worried because it set in as the day wore on. Woke up on Saturday and was more sore than I had ever been in my entire life. Despite all this, I think I am going to keep it up.

Saturday during the day I went to Nantes with my host family. We did some shopping despite that it was pouring outside. My host mom was right when she told me before I came that it rains a lot. I don’t mind the rain though; it’s just a change. I’m glad I bought a waterproof coat before I came though. In Nantes there are all these passage type things that have little stores on both sides. We saw the biggest one there and did some shopping there. I didn’t end up buying anything but a postcard but it was a good day nonetheless and I tried a new pastry, which is always a good thing.

Saturday the other exchange student in La Roche invited Cecile and me over for dinner. Öykü had come over to La Roche earlier and she cooked a Turkish meal for us. It was delicious. We watched a movie after eating. It was simple but fun and my French felt very strong. I’m sad that Felipe is leaving so soon. He leaves on the 22^nd of November, which is quickly approaching.

I think that it is important for me to remember the reasons why I’m here. These reasons are what help me push through the occasional moments of homesickness and help me thrive again. I need to remember that I’m happy to be here and that this has been one of the best decisions of my life. I also need to stay grateful. It wasn’t just because of me that I’m here. It is because of a big effort by a lot of people and I feel like I need to take more time to thank them.

Page from my book in case you want to take a whack at it

Apparently Claire's is international

Obviously made by a French person

Week Ten

It’s back to school for me. The vacation is officially over. It was a good break though. I didn’t travel anywhere too special but it was nice being able to spend some time relaxing and staying up late.

On Tuesday I went to Nantes, the capital of Pays de la Loire, with Öykü. The original plan was to just meet up with another American here with Rotary but we ended up meeting up with probably ten or so people. It was nice to get to see people I haven’t seen in a while and hang out with them. It’s always really cool to hang out with the other exchange students because they are the people who understand your struggles and problems completely. We walked around a lot and saw some pretty cool things. It turns out that the people who created mechanical animals that are in La Roche made some in Nantes too. One of the animals, the only one we saw, is a mechanical elephant that is twelve meters tall. It was amazing.

Öykü spent the night at my house Tuesday night because it was a little late for her to go back to Sables. The next day we pretty much just hung out the house and watched some TV. It was nice in its own way, just relaxing. We wanted to see a movie and we found one that worked perfectly with our timeline. However, we went to the bus stop and ended up taking the bus in the wrong direction. We missed the movie and rode the bus for an hour but eventually got to the mall where we walked around and didn’t buy anything.

I made two meals for my family this week. Wednesday night I made pancakes and Thursday I made a chicken. I was pretty proud of my self because it is really the first time I’ve cooked something substantial. I was a little surprised that the meals turned out so well. It’s really funny to see my family experimenting with things that are so normal to us. For instance, they did not know what to think about maple syrup. Cooking is also always an experiment here because of the conversions I have to make. I’ve sort of just learned to make approximations and hope for the best.

Friday was Halloween so on Thursday we went to a Halloween store. It was funny because on one side there were innocent costumes and it was for kids. However, on the other side it got a much dirtier and the costumes were a pretty sketchy.

I don’t know if it is a Catholic thing or just a French thing, but on Friday we went to my host dad’s grandparents’ graves and cleaned it and put flowers on it. I think that it is a pretty common thing here and we are going to my host mom’s dad’s grave next week. It’s cool getting to experience the little differences in culture. Friday night there were some trick or treaters, I think that people do it more often in the United States. I made peanut butter cookies for my host family, which they surprisingly really liked.

Saturday, I went to Sables d’Olonne and met up with Öykü and another exchange student named Emily. It was originally supposed to be the seven exchange students in Vendée but we were the only ones who could make it. Emily is so good at French, she has been here for eight months because she lives in Australia and they are on a different calendar than us. We ate on the beach and then walked to a rocky area in a different part of Sables. We sat and talked for a while and then I embraced my inner exchange student and got into the water even though it was really cold. I touched some jellyfish but they didn’t sting.

Saturday night I spent the night at Öykü’s house. We ate a really good meal called Raclettes. It is basically cheese and meat, which you put in a special heating thing and it melts the cheese and cooks the meat and then you eat it with potatoes; very good.

Sunday, it was nice to stay in my pajamas all day and relax. It was my last day of vacation, which was sad but I also tried to make the most of it by relaxing as much as possible. I went to see the Maze Runner with Öykü and her sister Sunday night. The movie’s title in French is Le Labyrinthe. I watched it in French and was pround of my self because I understood almost everything that was said. I actually like don’t mind watching dubbed movies, I know that some people are really bugged by it but I actually like it.

This week I remember having a dream that I went home. At first it was a relief to be back around the things I know but then I realized how big a mistake it was to leave and I got really freaked out. I’m taking that dream as a sign that I’m doing okay, I still haven’t had a dream in French, I suppose that’s down the line but I figure I’m headed in the right direction. My French is getting a lot better and my English worse; that must be a good sign, right?