In which I state a few facts

*Claire, Me and her sister in Paris

*The restaurant where Rotary meetings are held every Monday

*Compiegne Town Hall

Fact: The French have 6 more minutes for news.
Apparently, an hour is not enough for the French to watch the news. They need something more satisfactory than just sixty measly minutes of information. But what, but what? What could possibly be better than sixty minutes of news? How about SIXTY- SIX minutes?
The equivalent of the American news program “60 Minutes” here is called “66 minutes”. It never ceases to entertain me…imagine only ONE HOUR for news…ppshhhh, we Americans…

Fact: Cuckoo is not for birds…or clocks.
In France, the word “Cuckoo” is used to announce your arrival (example, if I just came home and didn’t know if anyone was there, I would yell “CUCKOO” and see if I got an answer) or to get someone’s attention. It is something I still feel much too silly to say, along with “OHHHH LA LAAAA”, but keep timidly trying out every few days to see if it feels more natural.

Fact: Croustys chocolat noir-chocolat blanc is THE BEST cereal in the world.
This is not an opinion, it is a fact. My host mother buys this cereal called “Croustys chocolat noir-chocolat blanc” and it is truly heaven. I honestly wake up in the morning EXCITED that I get to eat it. It’s like a chocolaty granola with little bits of white and dark chocolate mixed in. I don’t know what it is about it…but I’m completely addicted and could eat an entire box by myself (of course I would never consider eating an entire box of my host family’s cereal by myself as it would be terribly rude and I would most likely get sick…but I do NOT exaggerate when I tell you how wonderful it is).

Fact: The French move at hyper speed.
At first, every time I went out with a host family member or a friend from school, I thought we might be late for something. Then gradually I came to understand that the French are just fast…at everything. They walk fast (I never thought of myself as a slow walker…I like a comfortable speed somewhere between brisk and leisurely…but here, I am a sloth), they speak fast, they bike fast (by the end of my bike rides with my host brother, Valentin, I’m embarrassed to be panting and out of breath while he hasn’t even broken a sweat), and boy, do they DRIVE fast. Maybe it’s something in the water, maybe they’re all superhuman…but whatever it is, everyday my energy is completely gone from just trying to keep up.

So, things have been going extremely well as of late. True to form, I have become busier and busier and I can’t believe I’ve been here for 24 days. It feels like it’s been a lifetime, and it feels like I just left. I’ve been making more friends at school and have become really close to Franzi, the German correspondent. We totally “get” each other and are into a lot of the same things. I’m surprised at how close I feel to her after so little time…but one strong bond we have is that we are both exchange students and understand each other’s moods and struggles. It’s the same with all the other Rotary kids I’ve met, we could all be as different as night and day, but one thing we ALL understand is this experience – the highs, the lows and all the in-betweens.
Last Saturday, I had my first Catholic mass…with the Pope. We left for Paris at six in the morning on a bus (it was a bus trip with the church my host family attends and I went with girl I know named Claire and her sister), arrived, walked to where the mass was held (it was outside and there were a TON of people, so we watched on a giant screen that had been set up) and when it was over, walked down the Champs Ellysee to the bus and came home. It was an exhausting, but exhilarating day, and though I’m not Catholic, I am still in awe and completely understand the significance of the experience.
Other things I’ve done this past week:
Attended another Rotary meeting: It was my first time sans Helene (my country contact), but I was fine on my own. My club has about 15-20 members and they’re all very nice and for the most part remember to speak slowly to me. Just like in Oneonta, they ring a bell to start and end their meetings too! Last week, I gave everyone a New York State quarter and the man who sat next to me this week brought me 10 Franc – which is a little gold coin with a picture of Victor Hugo on it. It was very nice.
· Babysat two more times for the Armstrongs: Astrid works with an American man (named Curt Armstrong) from Georgia who lives here with his French wife (Anne-Christine) and they have four children who I’ve babysat for once previously. This week (Wed night and Thurs night) I babysat again and all went well. The children speak English and French and I help them with their English, they help me with my French. I really like babysitting for them as for the most part they’re very well behaved. And I learn a lot besides the language…I now know how to change diapers, comfort a rambunctious three year old and give a baby a bath.
· Had my second EPS class (gym): I was WRONG last time when I said it was a slack off class. WRONG, WRONG, WRONG. This week, they took us into the forest near the school and made up run around all these trails and find hidden flags…FOR TWO HOURS. Oh, yes. Two hours. At first I thought I had misunderstood the teacher and after asking three separate people in the class to slowly repeat the task for me, I was in shock. I just could not believe they would actually make us run around the cold, damp forest for two hours, mais c’etait vrai. I really don’t know what else to say about this, besides that I’m dreading next week like the plague.
· Went out to lunch and shopping again with Franzi on Wednesday. We went to a “centre-commerical” which is like a mall and I bought a belt and a scarf. At lunch, I had the most glorious open faced sandwich of vegetables, cheese, chicken and a creamy sauce finished off nicely with a crepe. It was very fun to say the least.

And there’s been so much more that I’ve done…but I can’t possible write it all down. Suffice to say, each day is better than the last and I’m really enjoying myself here as I make my transition from American culture to French. Thanks again for all your comments, letters, emails, love and well wishes. I love hearing from home and miss everyone a ton. I often wish I could just easily fly people here as every day I find something I want to show one person or think of something to tell to another.
As a last note a VERY happy late birthday to my beautiful mother (Sept 13) and a VERY happy early birthday to my wonderful daddy (Sept 21). If you see them, give them an extra kiss for me. :]

BISOUS,
Kristen

Don't Worry, Be Happy

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!

XOXO,

kristen

Day Ten

Hello again!

Life in France is slowly (very, very slowly) becoming better. For those of you who haven't heard from my Mother or another family member, I am VERY homesick. These first days have been very, very hard for me emotionally. I cry a lot and am sad a lot and I really wanted to go home. My family and I are, and have always been, very, very close and I miss them and love them with all of my heart. But after a few calls and emails home, I realized that I just can't go home. I can't do that to my family (both my host and real family), I can't do that to Rotary who has done so much for me here and at home, I can't do that to all the people who wished me well and gave me their fondest regards and I can't do that to myself. I can't let myself live my life with "what-ifs" and I can't just let myself quit when the going gets though. If I had trouble with a ballet variation, would I just quit right there and walk out of the studio? No, I would practice and practice until I was comfortable and could do it as well as I could.
That being said, it IS difficult. I still have trouble with the language (but I should give myself a break, it's only day ten!) and I'm tired all the time. The combination of severe homesickness, jet-lag, trying to constantly understand what's being said and reply back, and my crazy emotions is exhausting. But some good news - my host father, Christophe, works away during the week and comes home on Wednesdays and Thursdays. I met him when he picked me up last week and then I saw him again Wed. and yesterday and he told me that my French has really improved in just a week. He was impressed and I was very encouraged.
Another thing I've come to realize (with the help of my family) is that I'm very fortunate. I've always known thatbut I really realize it now. To be complaining about spending a year in France is ridiculous! I'm so grateful to have this oppurtunity no matter how hard it is as well as so thankful that I have such a supportive family and group of friends. While home seems far away, I try not to think about that but instead think of what's coming up next - a Rotary meeting or trip, a trip with my host family, etc. Next Sunday, the 13th (my Mommy's birthday!!), I'm going to see the Pope in Paris with a girl I know named Claire. That should be exciting!
I've done so much in the past ten days, it literally feels like it's been YEARS. The days go by quite slowly, but I've heard that they will start to quicken when I'm more comfortable with the language.

I started school on Tuesday. Here, school is like college, with classes at different times in the day. I had French and Math this morning, and now have a three hour break before SVT (Science Terre...Earth Sciene, I think) and Physics-Chimies (Physics and Chemistry). Obviously, school is increadably difficult for me, but all my teachers so far have been very understanding. I've never been one for math, but I actually kind of enjoyed it today because I didn't have to keep translating in my head...numbers are numbers.
I'm going to work with my host mother, Astrid, occasionally. She works with handicapped people, and the other night, I went to a little party of theirs and had a really good time. I'm really looking forward to helping her out. I'm also going to babysit tonight for an American couple with four kids that Astrid knows. The children speak both French and English and both Astrid and I agree the it's a good oppurtunity as I can learn a lot from the children. I also learn a lot from my three younger host siblings. I've learned some slang and such (my favorite word so far being "truc"...thing) and I really enjoy listening to them while they talk and play. We listen to the radio, watch TV and eat together. We're all still shy, but I feel like they're warming up to me.

I really, really like my family. They're Beligian and have kept a lot of Beligan habits (such as we eat a big meal at lunch and bread and cheese for dinner). My host mother is absolutely wonderful. She lived in America for two years when she was young and really understands exactly what I'm going through. I feel very comfortable expressing myself to her and I'm really thankful that I don't have to bottle up all my emotions.

I like to write in my journal...A LOT (my aunt gave me a pretty one for my birthday and I'm about 3/4 of the way throught it already!). I feel like I've discovered a lot about myself in the past week and a half. I guess that's what happens when you have a lot of time to think. When I'm really sad, I like to write, to read and to watch TV or movies with my family...it takes my mind of my emotions (if only for a little while). We watch movies in English with French subtitles and in French with English subtitles (it was SO weird to watch Fantastic Four in French!) I've also realized that a lot of old cliche sayings are true such as "home is where the heart is" and "distance makes the heart grow fonder". I definately appreciate all the things my parents do for me more than I ever have before and will never again take them or my funny, silly, darling brother for granted. There have been times when I've been writing in my journal and I'll think of something philisophical and profound -again, the effect of being in my own head for so long - I think it's kind of funny that I'm becoming a little Voltaire...

Well, I should go do my French homework. It'll take me awhile, I'm sure, but it's something to do. Thanks for all your comments, emails and love. I miss and love you all! XOXO

PS...sorry for the spelling mistakes...I can't seem to work the spell check!