Joyeux Noël!

Merry Christmas!

I hope everybody has a great Christmas! 

Not only is tomorrow Christmas but it also is the one month mark before my orientation in New York which is crazy! I can't believe how close it really is. It's weird that I need to start thinking about packing and getting ready to leave Oregon. I was going to get my visa on December 21st but we were worried about getting all the paperwork in time so we rescheduled it to the beginning of January. 

A few days ago I skyped with my family for the second time and it went really well! They are super welcoming and kept saying how excited they are for my arrival, which was very comforting. I also found out that the father goes to Paris once a month to for his job (he makes wine) so I will be able to go a few times. They also said that we would probably go skiing and to the beach a few times. I'm so glad that I am staying with a family where I will get to see a lot of France! Overall it was really great talking to them!

I also just turned in a packet to apply for a scholarship. In the packet were recommendation letters, my letter to my host family, my transcript and an essay about how I was going to participate in the AFS mission. It took a long time to write the essay and perfect it but I am very happy the way it ended up. Now all I can do is hope I receive the scholarship! I should find out by January 7th, so fingers crossed! 

I also received my baggage tags today, which was rather exciting! 

Well I hope everybody has an incredible Christmas! 

A message from my friend who is currently on exchange.

This is a letter from my friend who is currently on exchange in Denmark. It scares me to know I am about to go into this but at the same time makes me extremely excited. I also found this to be incredible advice 

Being an exchangey student. 

Before I left, every student I talked to told me that they would never regret their exchange, they had an amazing incredible experience, they wouldn’t change it for anything. 

The thing they don’t tell you, is, the reason they say this is because they have gone through it, they have been on the exchange. … Let me rephrase. On exchange, you learn to look at your life and love your life and love yourself and see how all the strange paths, however painful or however amazing, have lead you to where you are. You learn to live with no regrets, appritiating your home, your family, your friends, yourself, your culture, more than you could have ever thought possible. 

Why wouldn’t everyone go on exchange then? I mean you get all these great experiences, learn a new language, attain this incredibly rare persepective that is oh so fairly impossible to attain in one year, esspecially so young. You get the best year of your life, handed to you on a platter. 

The reason is, because it is freaking hard. This is the hardest year of anyones life. No one really tells you this. Most people left it out of the itenerary. This year you’re are about to go on, will be so so terrible at times, that you just want to give up and go home, that you just want to cry and eat chocolate all day. And sometimes we do. 

But hear me when I say this; you are the bravest people I know. Stepping blindly foward into this whirl wind of crazy experiences. Cheers to you all. Because you are the kids that make those old rotarians hopeful when they think of the future. You are the kids that make me proud to be apart of this generation. We are the kids brave enough to step, blindfolded off the highdive. We are the kids running, shouting and screaming for more life and more adventure. And after eleven months of this, we look back and see how much we have grown, and realize, we are the captain of our fait, the master of our souls. 

Cheers y’all. Have an incredible year. 

50 Day Countdown Begins!

       Today I received my flight itinerary! I will be leaving home at 5:00 am to Portland and then boarding another flight straight to New York on the 25th of January. I'll arrive in New York at 3:30 pm, where I'll stay the night and do an AFS orientation. I think there we will also meet other students going from the US to Europe, but I'm not totally sure. Then the next day we leave at 7pm for France! We'll arrive in Paris at 8:30 in the morning, which is going to make for a very long day/night! In Paris we are going to spend 3 days at an orientation with students from all over the world who are spending the semester in France. Then on the 29th I will finally be headed to Le Chapelle de Guinchay! I'm not sure yet how I'm going to be getting there but I am guessing a train. And that's all the details about my travel plans.
        Wow, I can't believe I'm leaving Oregon in 50 days! It seems like a long time but when I think about it, it's really not. Especially since I only have 24 days of school left. I'm so excited I can't stand it! I'm really going to miss everybody in Bend, but I'm so excited that it's hard to think about missing people. Along with all the details about my flight I learned I can only bring 66 pounds of luggage along with a personal item (purse). I have no idea how I am going to fit 6 month of clothes into 66 pounds! It's going to be really hard for me to pack only a certain amount of stuff and I'm really not sure it's going to be possible.
        I also am going to be attending an AFS pre-departure orientation in Portland on the 14th of January, which just goes over last minute stuff. Then I have an appointment in San Francisco to get my visa at the French consulate on December 21st.
       Since I received my family, I have talked to them some but not too much. They told me that I'm going to be in in la seconde which is equivalent to a sophomore. My host sister is in this grade so that's one of the reason I'm starting there and if it's too easy or I don't like it they told me I can move up.
      Well that's all for now. Now I just have to get through the next 50 days which is proving to be very difficult. It's hard to wait when I'm this excited!

Thank you for all the support!

À bientôt! :)

   

Happy Thanksgiving!

So first of all Happy Thanksgiving everybody! Hope it was incredible!

This last week I just received more information on my host family with pictures so I will let you all see! They seem really great! It will be a huge change going from a town of 80,000 to 3,500 but I'm ready for it and can't wait. I am so thankful to all the people who are supporting me on this journey and for having this type of opportunity.
I am leaving in about 65 days and can't wait!


 The family and the dog

The House

The kitchen

The town, Le Chapelle de Guinchay

Placement!

AHHH! 
So today after all that waiting I finally discovered my placement! I will be living in a town of about 3,000 people called Le Chapelle de Guinchay! I was a little nervous about how small the town is at first but then I learned it's close to Mâcon, where I will probably be attending school. It's toward the East of France in Saône-et-Loire, about an hour North of Lyon, which is very exciting! I will have a 15 year old sister, a 18 year
old sister, and a 20 year old brother. Unfortunately I don't know too much more about my 
placement yet but hopefully I will be finding out more soon. I'll keep you all posted, right
now I'm just happy to finally know where I will be! Thanks again for all the support!

Finally!

Today I was finally accepted by AFS France. This means that I am officially going to France in January! I am so excited right now, because although I knew I was going this just makes everything so much more official. Now I just have to wait to receive my placement (family, town, school) and I will be ready to go!

        Hey there. My name is Courtney Aldridge and I live in Central Oregon. However in about three months that is all going to change. I have signed up for an exchange program to go to France! I still don't know if I am going to France for sure because I am still waiting for my acceptance letter from AFS (American Field Service) France. I should be hearing back very soon, for now I am just waiting and keeping my fingers crossed!
        Ever since I can remember I have been interested in cultures and this is a big chance for me to pursue that interest! As a junior in high school I have taken French for 4 years and have fallen in love with the language. As a high school student I keep myself busy with soccer, schoolwork, and hanging out with friends. I am also the secretary of my school's student council. As much as I enjoy all of this I am ready to branch out and spend some time out of the country.
        My exchange program costs about $12,000 and I am working hard to raise money. My parents have been very supportive through this whole process, therefore it's important to me that I help them pay for this adventure. If you can help me out in any way what so ever it would be greatly appreciated! Every penny counts. I encourage you to stay up with my blog because I will be updating it with stories, pictures, and videos from my adventure. Thank you so much for your support!