Weeks Twenty-one and Twenty-two

Two weeks have passes and they have been pretty full.

Tuesday my French teacher got onto me for not working enough on a group project and insisted that I start working harder. I tried to take her advice and wrote an analysis of a piece of theater that we had been working on. I ended up getting a 14.5/20 on it, which is not half bad. I was proud of myself anyway. Last Tuesday, we also took a test over big authors, literary works, and genres of 16^th, 17^th, and 18^th century French literature. I was starting from a knowledge base of nothing so it was a little hard to learn everything I needed. I got a 13/20 on the quiz though which was better than a couple of the kids in the class so I was happy with myself again. I guess working does sort of pay off.

Wednesday I had an evaluation of my Step aerobics routine in gym. I am aware how ridiculous that sentence sounds. It was just as ridiculous as it sounds. For the last few weeks we’ve been learning about step aerobics and the last three weeks we had to put together routines in groups. It didn’t go as well as it could have but it was okay. It was a strand unit but fun too. For the next quarter of the year we’ll be swimming.

Last Thursday I started taking a horseback-riding lesson at a club. It was really the first time that I really learned how to ride in any sort of structured environment. I mean I’ve gone to horse camps and been on horse before but this was the first time I really learned how to do it. It was great! This Thursday I jumped the horse for the first time. It was sort of scary but also pretty great. I really like this class.

Saturday Öykü came to La Roche and we went and saw the movie Les Souvenirs. It was pretty good. I really like watching movies in French, I understand 99% of the text and I really like to work on my French while watching. Saturday night we went to a Mexican night hosted by the Luçon Rotary club. It was fun and only a little strange. It was nice to get out of the house and spend the night somewhere else, even if it was at my host grandparents’ house.

Tuesday, January 20^th, my niece Eloise was born. It is probably the biggest thing that happened in my old life in Columbus since I left. I really wish I could have been there to see her after she was born and I wish I could be there now to see her and hold her. She is beautiful and I wish I could hold her myself.

Exchange is weird because you get the impression when you leave that everything will be the same when you back. That’s not necessarily true though. The earth still turns and things still go on. You end up missing a lot, but at the same time you are experiencing so much of your own stuff and you are learning so much. It’s a weird feeling, to be split between two places. You want to go home but at the same time you never want to leave. I think that part of you never leaves your host country and it will always have a place in your heart.

Week Twenty

This has by far been the craziest week of my exchange. For those who don’t know, very few I’m sure, there was a terrorist attack in Paris. Two men went into an independent satirical newspaper and left after killing 12 people. They did this because the newspaper had printed some derogatory caricatures of Muhammad. The French people took this as an attack on their freedom of speech and press. The country has exploded in an incredible way. There have been in an insane amount of protests and gatherings across the country and the world.

The beginning of my week was mellow and ordinary. Monday and Tuesday I had classes like normal and the nights were mellow. School is back in session though. Monday was my first back. This started what will be the shortest school session of my exchange. This session is only five weeks long. This is because France is split into three zones and to make the vacation spots less crowded. The first two vacations are taken at the same time in all three zones but the last two are split up between the three zones. My zone is the first to take their vacation this year.

Wednesday seemed like a normal day. I had school and then my French lesson then my dance class. On the way home my host mom explained to me what had happened that morning. She had already been to one gathering of the city to protest what had happened. I didn’t really have any idea of what it would become at that point. It was just something bad and sad that had happened. I didn’t realize all the implications it would have on France.

Thursday the attack was all anyone was talking about. While in the library working my group members and I heard a lot of noise coming from outside on the road, everyone in the room crowded over to the windows and we saw a protest going down the street. It was a student protest and there were over 300 students participating. It was the real deal, they were all really into it and there were police escorts and everything. Friday there was another gathering in downtown. This one consisted of over 2,000 people. I didn’t go to this gathering but it still struck me as incredible that so many people had gotten together.

On Friday, I also went back to my first host family’s house to say and pick up some stuff that I had left. It was weird to be back in what had been my house. It’s strange how quickly things have changed but it I think that that house will always feel at least a little bit like home. I was nice to see my old parents and sisters. It’s been strange to be away from them for so long and not see them everyday. I hadn’t really realized how much they have touched my life.

Sunday marked a monumental day in the French history.

There were marches throughout France. I went to the march hosted in my city. I was stunned by the amount of people that had showed up for the event. We got there early and received stickers with “Je suis Charlie” written on them. This has become the slogan of this movement. This is because the newspaper attacked is called Charlie Hebdo. This is the slogan of the movement because people want to show that they are united and support this newspaper.

In my little city of 50,000 people, an estimated 25,000 people came out and walked. That is half of the population of my city. It was an incredible thing to experience. There were an estimated 1.5 million people in Paris. This is something that I believe will mark this period of time for a long while.

Week Nineteen

New year, new family.

I came home from Paris and had one to myself, my last full day with my first host family. It was weird to know that I was leaving. Since I’ve gotten here, this date had been something I had always seen as distant and not something that would happen in the near future. It was strange to be my sharing my last day with this family, as one of their family. The day of the New Years I got up and had to pack. I had to put my life in my suitcases again. Suddenly my stuff was all packed and my room was empty and it was time to eat lunch, which would be my last family meal.

My second host sister and second host mom came and picked me up. They stayed for a little while and talked to my other host family. We had to get going though because we had to pick up Oyku from the train station. It was very strange and sad to say good bye to my family. These were parents that I called mom and dad, and sisters that I spent four months with. I almost started crying.

Went to the train station to pick up Oyku and then it was off to discover the new house. I really like my new house. It’s a little further from downtown but it’s in a nice neighborhood and right next to a park. I haven’t had much time to slackline lately but I’m hoping to get back into it. My room looked like a volcano had gone off while I was in the process of unpacking. It really did look bad, but I think I’ve gotten it mostly pulled together now. The day of New Years I got settled in and then went to a party with my host sister. It was fun and it was nice to see Oyku again.

My new host family has three animals. One dog and two cats. The cats are both Persian, so they’re basically just balls of fur. One of the cats loves my room. He spends probably 80% of his time in there. Just about every time I walk into my room he is in there. The day after I got here I opened the door in the morning and he was waiting outside and came in immediately. Not to say that I mind it. I really like cats so it’s kind of nice. Although the other days I let him lay with me while I was trying to sleep and he purred so much that I gave up and kicked him out of my room.

I haven’t been doing much other than getting adjusted to this new family. It’s weird how you go from sort of uncomfortable and a stranger to a part of the family. I am doing things a little differently now that I know how things work in the land of host families. I feel much more comfortable than I did when I first got here. It’s crazy how I went from not understanding French at all to understanding probably 98% of what is said.  I can’t believe such a huge amount of progress can be made in just four months. I’m making it sound like I didn’t speak any French when I got here. This is not the case, I did have three years of French but I had never had the opportunity or need to actually speak French the way we speak a language.

I’m approaching the halfway point in my exchange, which absolutely blows my mind. I can’t believe so much time has passed in such a small amount of time. It truly is incredible.

Week Eighteen

It was a very busy and important week of my exchange. First Christmas away from home and my first visit to Paris. Both went very well.

Monday we went to Luçon to see the family and to drop off some presents ahead of time as to not spoil the whole Santa thing. We started setting up this incredible Christmas city on the pool table. I’m talking train tracks, buildings, moving displays, and miniature people. There also Christmas lights everywhere. Turns out my host-grandparents are pretty festive people.

Tuesday did not feel like the day before Christmas eve. This season didn’t feel all that much like Christmas in general. I don’t know if it’s because the climate is different or if it’s because I’m away from home, but in any case it felt strange knowing that Christmas was so close.

The day of Christmas eve we went to Luçon to see the family and celebrate Christmas with Hugues family. I was extremely happy because the package of the presents for my host parents came the morning of Christmas eve as well as a present from another exchange student and one of my friends from the United States. In retrospect I got really luck to have received all that on the day before Christmas.

At five we left for Luçon. We got there and there was a small worry, the electric train wasn’t working because some of the fake snow had gotten stuck in one of the wheels. I set myself to that task and spent a while getting it running again. I hadn’t finished but it was time to go to the mass. It was my first ever mass. It was quite the experience. The church was completely full of people, there were people standing in the back all the way to the door. I didn’t understand much but I will say this, Catholics really like to stand up and sit down and stand up and sit down.  The mass started at 6:30 and lasted an hour. This put us back at the house at about 7:45.

People started showing up promptly and soon everyone but two people had arrived. In the mean time I had put myself back to work on the train and managed to fix it with the help of one of my host cousins. It was quite the success for us. We started the night with hors d’oeuvres and champagne, which is a very typical beginning to a French meal. A little while after this the kids, 18 and under opened their presents. I was glad to see that I did have some stuff under the tree, my host family got me some little stuff. We took a break after the presents. The couple still hadn’t arrived and my host grandma had forgotten to put the meat in the oven so we waited until eleven to start eating dinner. We started at eleven and didn’t totally finish until 2:30 AM. It was quite the night.

The next morning we got up at 9:30 to go back to La Roche to prepare the food and house for a Christmas day meal with my host mom’s family. My dad sent me some presents and I had some other stuff to open so all in all it was a great Christmas. We had a very nice meal and it was nice to feel the Christmas spirit. We were all in Pajamas by 7 PM. It was an exhausting two days. The next day was our pause. We took it easy and relaxed for most of the day. In the afternoon we packed our bags for Paris.

Friday we left for Paris at 8 AM. It wasn’t too hard to get up because I was so excited. It was incredible to pull into the city, knowing where I was, and seeing the Eiffel tower on the horizon. Paris is a truly incredible place. It’s so much different than any other big city I’ve ever been too. It feels so old and every single building is beautiful.

We stayed in a sort of residence hotel. What I mean is that the room had a kitchen and was a little better stocked than your average hotel room. It was sort of on the edge of town but it was really near a metro stop so it was easy to get into downtown. We were there for four days. It was crazy to see all these things that I’ve seen pictures of in real life. Some of the things we saw while there were, The Eiffel Tower (night and day), The Louvre, Notre Dame de Paris, Pont des Arts, Pont Neuf, Mont Martre, Centre Pompidou, the Champs Elysées, and the Opéra Garnier.

It was an incredible experience and it is truly an incredible place. I can’t wait to go back and see it again.

The day of Christmas marked four months in this country.  I am so happy to be here and so glad that I am seeing the things I am and doing the things I am. This will truly be something that I remember for the rest of my life.