The pictures:
+near the Chateau
+an "ecole de dance" pres de moi
+a random building (everything here is SO pretty!)
+the outside of my house
+the biggest jar of Nutella I've ever seen in my life
Salut!
Well, I’ve been doing much better lately; much, much better. Every single day gets just a tiny bit easier, and speaking French is no longer weird to me. It’s a perfectly normal struggle of everyday life. And I’ve been quite content as of late. My homesickness is gradually wearing off as is the jet lag, and life is just becoming normal here. I don’t exactly have a routine down yet, but it’s no longer like a vacation away from home - it’s more just like…life. I know my way around town now, I know more and more people…it’s becoming very natural.
I bought a new journal as I finished my other one. I’ve never finished a diary/journal in my life, and yet the last one was done in 15 days. I’ve found writing to be very therapeutic.
School, while still hard, is getting better and better also. I’m warming up to the kids, and they me and I’m not really “the American” anymore. Well, okay, that’s not true. But I’m now part of their day as they are mine, I’m no longer a novelty. My teachers have all been really nice and totally understand that I’m a bit clueless. It’s hard because all the notes are dictated here, but the other day, my prof de histoire-geography gave me a typed of version of her notes. It was very nice.
School is also very long, but a lot like college. Classes are one hour long each and you move around from building to building. The day goes from 8h15 to 17h15, but you don’t have classes the whole time. I’m very lucky because I don’t have that many classes. I know a girl who has only one break (for just an hour) everyday. But school is a serious business here. You are required to take three languages (not me…as they’re far too advanced for me, even though I’m in a younger class) as well as a few classes taught IN ANOTHER LANGUAGE along with all the standard course like math and science and French, etc. There’s also a lot of respect; you stand in front of your desk until the teacher tells you to sit and there’s not a lot of talking or fooling around in class. The class most similar to an American class is gym (which I have for two hours each week only on Tuesday). Just like in American, the girls here will kind of dilly-dally off when the teacher is not looking and not really do anything for the two hours while the boys take their sport VERY seriously (and badminton is a HARD CORE sport here!! I never knew…).
Social life is hard here because you have school for so long then you go home and study and go to bed and then start all over. But I’ve met some really nice people including a girl named Franzi who is a German “correspondent” (meaning she’s an exchange student here for three months…it’s very popular to do be a correspondent in Europe and it can be anywhere from one week to six months). She is really nice and we have a lot in common. I think it’s really cool that her native language is German and mine is English but our common language is French. The other day we hung out and walked around Compiegne (and bought THE BEST ice cream IN THE WORLD) and it was really fun. I’m really glad I met her; we clicked really fast and go together really well.
I also think it’s funny that I can’t hear her accent. If she spoke in English, I could hear a German accent, but her French is just…French. Whenever I met someone from another country, I always ask Astrid “Does he/she have an accent?” because I can’t tell!
I’ve found so many people here to be nice. Everyone is so wonderful and willing to help. My host family is fabulous and I haven’t run into one person who hasn’t been really kind and understanding. People tell me all the time how courageous I am to be away from home for so long. A lot of people have also been telling me that I speak really well. I don’t know if they’re just being nice or if it’s true…but I suspect it’s a mixture of both. I’m certainly not even close to fluent, but when I think of where I was French-wise just two weeks ago…what a difference! I learn new words and phrases everyday and it’s really helpful to have three kids in the house to teach me slang words.
I have a very full calendar for the next few weeks. On Saturday, I’m going to Paris to see the Pope which will be really exciting! I’m not Catholic, but it’s still an awesome experience and it blows my mind Paris is just next door to me! I also have an upcoming visit to Belgium with my family and then to Mont St. Michael with Rotary. I feel so fortunate that I’m going to be able to travel so much! It’s just incredible this whole experience! In addition, there’s lots of little things about town I’m going to be doing…so, it’s good that I’m getting in the cultural life here in Compiegne.
The food here is woooooooonderful. I haven’t gained any weight…yet (I actually lost quite a bit my first few days from being so homesick I was physically sick), but I have to be on my guard. Everything just looks (and is) so yummy! There’s tons of cheese, breads, chocolates - everything you could ever want. I still laugh when I see people walking down the street with a baguette…it’s so cliché, but a very frequent image here. My family eats a big meal at lunch and then bread and cheese for dinner (it’s a Belgian habit of theirs) and I really like it. I could go on and on and on about the food, but I won’t…suffice to say it’s magnifique!
Well, that’s all for now. I’ve uploaded a few pictures (see above), but mainly I just wanted to let everyone know I’m doing WAYYYY better than before. Thank you so much to everyone who has offered me love and support, I owe you guys way more than you can imagine!
Well, I’ve been doing much better lately; much, much better. Every single day gets just a tiny bit easier, and speaking French is no longer weird to me. It’s a perfectly normal struggle of everyday life. And I’ve been quite content as of late. My homesickness is gradually wearing off as is the jet lag, and life is just becoming normal here. I don’t exactly have a routine down yet, but it’s no longer like a vacation away from home - it’s more just like…life. I know my way around town now, I know more and more people…it’s becoming very natural.
I bought a new journal as I finished my other one. I’ve never finished a diary/journal in my life, and yet the last one was done in 15 days. I’ve found writing to be very therapeutic.
School, while still hard, is getting better and better also. I’m warming up to the kids, and they me and I’m not really “the American” anymore. Well, okay, that’s not true. But I’m now part of their day as they are mine, I’m no longer a novelty. My teachers have all been really nice and totally understand that I’m a bit clueless. It’s hard because all the notes are dictated here, but the other day, my prof de histoire-geography gave me a typed of version of her notes. It was very nice.
School is also very long, but a lot like college. Classes are one hour long each and you move around from building to building. The day goes from 8h15 to 17h15, but you don’t have classes the whole time. I’m very lucky because I don’t have that many classes. I know a girl who has only one break (for just an hour) everyday. But school is a serious business here. You are required to take three languages (not me…as they’re far too advanced for me, even though I’m in a younger class) as well as a few classes taught IN ANOTHER LANGUAGE along with all the standard course like math and science and French, etc. There’s also a lot of respect; you stand in front of your desk until the teacher tells you to sit and there’s not a lot of talking or fooling around in class. The class most similar to an American class is gym (which I have for two hours each week only on Tuesday). Just like in American, the girls here will kind of dilly-dally off when the teacher is not looking and not really do anything for the two hours while the boys take their sport VERY seriously (and badminton is a HARD CORE sport here!! I never knew…).
Social life is hard here because you have school for so long then you go home and study and go to bed and then start all over. But I’ve met some really nice people including a girl named Franzi who is a German “correspondent” (meaning she’s an exchange student here for three months…it’s very popular to do be a correspondent in Europe and it can be anywhere from one week to six months). She is really nice and we have a lot in common. I think it’s really cool that her native language is German and mine is English but our common language is French. The other day we hung out and walked around Compiegne (and bought THE BEST ice cream IN THE WORLD) and it was really fun. I’m really glad I met her; we clicked really fast and go together really well.
I also think it’s funny that I can’t hear her accent. If she spoke in English, I could hear a German accent, but her French is just…French. Whenever I met someone from another country, I always ask Astrid “Does he/she have an accent?” because I can’t tell!
I’ve found so many people here to be nice. Everyone is so wonderful and willing to help. My host family is fabulous and I haven’t run into one person who hasn’t been really kind and understanding. People tell me all the time how courageous I am to be away from home for so long. A lot of people have also been telling me that I speak really well. I don’t know if they’re just being nice or if it’s true…but I suspect it’s a mixture of both. I’m certainly not even close to fluent, but when I think of where I was French-wise just two weeks ago…what a difference! I learn new words and phrases everyday and it’s really helpful to have three kids in the house to teach me slang words.
I have a very full calendar for the next few weeks. On Saturday, I’m going to Paris to see the Pope which will be really exciting! I’m not Catholic, but it’s still an awesome experience and it blows my mind Paris is just next door to me! I also have an upcoming visit to Belgium with my family and then to Mont St. Michael with Rotary. I feel so fortunate that I’m going to be able to travel so much! It’s just incredible this whole experience! In addition, there’s lots of little things about town I’m going to be doing…so, it’s good that I’m getting in the cultural life here in Compiegne.
The food here is woooooooonderful. I haven’t gained any weight…yet (I actually lost quite a bit my first few days from being so homesick I was physically sick), but I have to be on my guard. Everything just looks (and is) so yummy! There’s tons of cheese, breads, chocolates - everything you could ever want. I still laugh when I see people walking down the street with a baguette…it’s so cliché, but a very frequent image here. My family eats a big meal at lunch and then bread and cheese for dinner (it’s a Belgian habit of theirs) and I really like it. I could go on and on and on about the food, but I won’t…suffice to say it’s magnifique!
Well, that’s all for now. I’ve uploaded a few pictures (see above), but mainly I just wanted to let everyone know I’m doing WAYYYY better than before. Thank you so much to everyone who has offered me love and support, I owe you guys way more than you can imagine!
XOXO,
kristen
4 comments:
aw, i love you and i'm glad you're enjoying yourself!
Dear Kristen, I was so happy to hear from you again! I miss you every day, but I am very glad that things are getting better for you. I'm happy you are making friends and having more fun. Mommy said your babysitting went very well, too. I have been making Christmas aprons this week for the Holiday Bazaar at church in Nov. I have three finished and hope to get another one done tonight. I will be making Penuche Chocolate cake for your Mom's birthday. I know she will be sad that day without you--so a little penuche frosting should help. ha. That is the day you are going to see the Pope--that will be a very interesting experience-can't wait to hear about it. Well, honey- love you and miss you, but I'm glad you are feeling happier, Loved the pictures-especially the Nutella one. Love, Nommie
Lauren and I are currently talking and are so excited for a reunion at the end of the year. All three of us are taking such different directions (especially you! and I'm soooo proud!) yet we remain friends. And I'm sure we will all have grown and learned so much when we see each other again.
Reading these makes me so happy, though! Kristen, you are absolutely adorable and quite an enlightening individual. I can't wait to read your next entry.
Love,
Nicole
Hey KZK, Uncle Bob just told me he has your blog bookmarked and has been reading it regularly.....guess I'm the last to know! We are so proud of you and thinking of you often. The best thing that happens with the language fluency thing is when you realize you're thinking your own thoughts in your own head when you are alone in(gasp!...)a new language and you didn't even know it! Don't worry about your accent, it will come. We'll keep reading! Much love, Aunt Carrie
Post a Comment