Well here I am finally updating my blog. I have been putting it off since I dont currently have internet on my computer and typing on a French computer is such a pain. However I figured it was finally time to update. I don't think I can fit everything I need to say in one blog post but I will try.
So 2 weeks from today I was in my room with my best friends packing up my room and trying to keep my suitcases under the restricted weight. Packing everything was such a pain and I am finding stuff everyday that I wish I had brought. However I was still over by about 2 pounds. Luckily the airlines didn't charge me any extra fees. Saying my goodbyes was one of the hardest things I've ever done and they were definitely pretty dramatic.
The fact that I was first headed to New York with Hannah and her family was pretty distracting. We had an amazing time there and did a ton of fun stuff. We went to Broadway, Times Square, The Russian Tearoom, The Metropolitan, Central Station, Rockafeller Center, and saw the Statue of Liberty. I had so much fun and fell in love with New York. I would actually love to maybe attend college there after seeing more.It was also really great because we stayed in an apartment in Manhattan that looked out onto the Statue of Liberty. It was really incredible. After all the sightseeing though we finally had to check in to orientation and say goodbye to Hannah's parents.
It was fun to meet everybody at orientation however it seemed to drag on pretty long since we were all anxious to get to our contries. The kids there were going to France (of course), Italy, Russia, and Austria. There was probably about 30 or 40 of us there and only 2 boys. At orientation we talked about the rules, culture shock, other countrys' customs and played some cheesy games that represented exchange. Overall it was pretty fun. The best part though was making friends from all over the US who have so much in common with you. These people have become similiar to a support group. When it was finally time to leave all of us going to France said goodbye to the others and took a bus to the airport.
Our wait at the airport was pretty long but it wasn't bad since there was about 11 of us and we made it fun. During the flight most people slept but it was really hard to with all the nerves and excitement. I got about 2 hours asleep, some girls slept the whole flight and others didn't sleep at all. It was 8am in Paris when we finally arrived. However we had to wait at the airport for about 2 hours for the Argentines and the Australians while all of us were extremely exhausted and pretty hungry. When we finally got to the hostile we had to drag all of our suitcases up a flight of stairs and it was terrible! Then we got to eat and although the food wasn't good we all ate anyway because we were so hungry. After that we finally got our rooms and had free time while we waited for everybody else to get there. I shared my room with an Argentine named Lucianna and a Braillian named Flavia. They were both really cool but they are in my region so I will see them again in March! For the rest of the day we mostly all socialized and tried to relax. I was so relieved to finally go to bed since I had only slept 2 hours in the last 30 hours! Then the next day we had an orientation where we talked about all of the things we could expect in France and how to deal with problems. Although we had all heard this a million times this was the most helpful because it pertained to France in particular. After that we went on a tour of Paris. We stopped at the Eiffel Tower and spent about an hour there. Then we drove around the rest of France in a tour bus and it was really fun! We saw Les Champs d'Elysees, Le Louvre, L'arc de triomphe and a bunch of other stuff I dont remember. Unfortunately though my camera stopped working after the Eiffel Tower so I only got pictures of that and Les Champs D'Elysees. Hopefully I can return to Paris while I am here and see everything not in a bus. We finished orientation with an awkward Bisoux activity which consisted doing Bisoux with everybody at the orientation. But its definitely something you have to get used to in France!
The next morning we had to get up at 4:30 to head to the train station. It was really hard to say goodbye to all of the good friends we had made but we were all anxious to get out of the hostile and eat real food, sleep in a real bed, and of course to meet our families. We had to wait for about 2 hours at the train station and were all ecstatic to find that we finally had wifi! Then I had to say goodbye to Hannah which was really hard! She had been my support system for this whole preparation and I wasn't ready to lose that! But we said our goodbyes and Flavia and I boarded a train to Macon.
The train ride was pretty awful considering all we had that morning was coffee and we were both extremely anxious to meet our families. Then of course the high speed of the train didn't really help! Luckily it was only an hour and a half train ride! Afraid of missing our train Flavia and I dragged our huge suitcases down the stairs early and nervously waited. Then when the train finally arrived we both got out of the train lugging our suitcases behind us and saw our families waiting for us! We did the bisoux with everybody and they all talked in French for a few minutes while Flavia and I tried to catch a few words of what they were saying. Then we all said goodbye and headed to our towns.
In the car they asked questions and I tried to understand but it was so hard to focus because of how tired I was. All the jet lag was really catching up to me! We had a large lunch and then I slept for 4 hours. I woke up, watched a movie, ate dinner and went back to be for about 16 hours! I was so exhausted!
My family here is really great and the house is too! They are all so kind and help me with my french a lot. They love to watch movies which is really relaxing and helps me if I'm missing home. The house is great also and I have my own room with a tv! For an exchange student I am very lucky! There is a chateau right next door where Allain's (my host dad) sister lives and the vindeyards are surrounding the house! It's all pretty amazing.
So 2 weeks from today I was in my room with my best friends packing up my room and trying to keep my suitcases under the restricted weight. Packing everything was such a pain and I am finding stuff everyday that I wish I had brought. However I was still over by about 2 pounds. Luckily the airlines didn't charge me any extra fees. Saying my goodbyes was one of the hardest things I've ever done and they were definitely pretty dramatic.
The fact that I was first headed to New York with Hannah and her family was pretty distracting. We had an amazing time there and did a ton of fun stuff. We went to Broadway, Times Square, The Russian Tearoom, The Metropolitan, Central Station, Rockafeller Center, and saw the Statue of Liberty. I had so much fun and fell in love with New York. I would actually love to maybe attend college there after seeing more.It was also really great because we stayed in an apartment in Manhattan that looked out onto the Statue of Liberty. It was really incredible. After all the sightseeing though we finally had to check in to orientation and say goodbye to Hannah's parents.
It was fun to meet everybody at orientation however it seemed to drag on pretty long since we were all anxious to get to our contries. The kids there were going to France (of course), Italy, Russia, and Austria. There was probably about 30 or 40 of us there and only 2 boys. At orientation we talked about the rules, culture shock, other countrys' customs and played some cheesy games that represented exchange. Overall it was pretty fun. The best part though was making friends from all over the US who have so much in common with you. These people have become similiar to a support group. When it was finally time to leave all of us going to France said goodbye to the others and took a bus to the airport.
Our wait at the airport was pretty long but it wasn't bad since there was about 11 of us and we made it fun. During the flight most people slept but it was really hard to with all the nerves and excitement. I got about 2 hours asleep, some girls slept the whole flight and others didn't sleep at all. It was 8am in Paris when we finally arrived. However we had to wait at the airport for about 2 hours for the Argentines and the Australians while all of us were extremely exhausted and pretty hungry. When we finally got to the hostile we had to drag all of our suitcases up a flight of stairs and it was terrible! Then we got to eat and although the food wasn't good we all ate anyway because we were so hungry. After that we finally got our rooms and had free time while we waited for everybody else to get there. I shared my room with an Argentine named Lucianna and a Braillian named Flavia. They were both really cool but they are in my region so I will see them again in March! For the rest of the day we mostly all socialized and tried to relax. I was so relieved to finally go to bed since I had only slept 2 hours in the last 30 hours! Then the next day we had an orientation where we talked about all of the things we could expect in France and how to deal with problems. Although we had all heard this a million times this was the most helpful because it pertained to France in particular. After that we went on a tour of Paris. We stopped at the Eiffel Tower and spent about an hour there. Then we drove around the rest of France in a tour bus and it was really fun! We saw Les Champs d'Elysees, Le Louvre, L'arc de triomphe and a bunch of other stuff I dont remember. Unfortunately though my camera stopped working after the Eiffel Tower so I only got pictures of that and Les Champs D'Elysees. Hopefully I can return to Paris while I am here and see everything not in a bus. We finished orientation with an awkward Bisoux activity which consisted doing Bisoux with everybody at the orientation. But its definitely something you have to get used to in France!
The next morning we had to get up at 4:30 to head to the train station. It was really hard to say goodbye to all of the good friends we had made but we were all anxious to get out of the hostile and eat real food, sleep in a real bed, and of course to meet our families. We had to wait for about 2 hours at the train station and were all ecstatic to find that we finally had wifi! Then I had to say goodbye to Hannah which was really hard! She had been my support system for this whole preparation and I wasn't ready to lose that! But we said our goodbyes and Flavia and I boarded a train to Macon.
The train ride was pretty awful considering all we had that morning was coffee and we were both extremely anxious to meet our families. Then of course the high speed of the train didn't really help! Luckily it was only an hour and a half train ride! Afraid of missing our train Flavia and I dragged our huge suitcases down the stairs early and nervously waited. Then when the train finally arrived we both got out of the train lugging our suitcases behind us and saw our families waiting for us! We did the bisoux with everybody and they all talked in French for a few minutes while Flavia and I tried to catch a few words of what they were saying. Then we all said goodbye and headed to our towns.
In the car they asked questions and I tried to understand but it was so hard to focus because of how tired I was. All the jet lag was really catching up to me! We had a large lunch and then I slept for 4 hours. I woke up, watched a movie, ate dinner and went back to be for about 16 hours! I was so exhausted!
My family here is really great and the house is too! They are all so kind and help me with my french a lot. They love to watch movies which is really relaxing and helps me if I'm missing home. The house is great also and I have my own room with a tv! For an exchange student I am very lucky! There is a chateau right next door where Allain's (my host dad) sister lives and the vindeyards are surrounding the house! It's all pretty amazing.
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