In which I sell out my blog (for a good cause)

Well as far as I can tell, I’ve begun to gather something of a following with this blog, and I have finally decided to cash in on my newfound (mini) celebrity. It was only a matter of time, so to speak.

My host Rotary club here in France is fundraising for their youth programs for next year (mainly the exchange program) and so I would like to open a unique opportunity to any and all who are interested. For only 5 euros, about $6.80, a calendar featuring the young participants of said programs could be yours! In addition to seeing exactly two pictures of me, you will also have the opportunity to learn the months and days of the week in French! (reminders for holidays such as Thanksgiving, President’s Day, Martin Luther King’s Birthday and the Fourth of July are not included) If you so desire, the smiling faces of international students could greet you every day! Don’t miss this unique opportunity as supplies are limited! *

*My Rotary counselor asked me if I wanted to help sell the calendars and gave me five when I said yes. So if you’re not interested in my shameless advertisement, it’s no big deal. I'm just planning on running the idea by as many people as possible. If you would like one, just send me an email and/or give the money to my parents as they can forward it on to me and I can give it to my Rotary club.

In which extremely nice people invite me to come do fun stuff with them

So I promised an entry for today, which is good because I don’t want to leave anything out about the rest of my weekend. Right after my Saturday morning class, a member of my host Rotary club came with his daughter, who is 16, to spend the weekend with their family.

This Rotarian, his wife and daughter were absolutely wonderful. I’m so lucky because it seems like so many people I meet here are not only incredibly welcoming but also genuinely fun to spend time with. After I dropped my things off in the room prepared for me and was showed around the house, we sat down to a lunch of a Spanish rice dish similar to paella but with a tomato-based sauce, followed by homemade coconut flan. Flan is a poplar dessert here, and I was surprised to find that it was a European food, since I had only ever eaten it in Indian restaurants before.

After lunch we went to the Cité d’or, which is a large pyramid shaped building in a town about a half hour away, which hosts a theater, numerous multi-use rooms and a permanent exhibit on gold. I walk interested to learn the history of gold mining in the region and France in general, as well as to see a live demonstration on gold working. I had trouble understanding the technical spiel, it didn’t make it any less impressive to see the sparks fly! After the demonstration we toured the exhibit on jewelry and art made from gold including a spectacular woven gold cape for a 15^th century member of the clergy and an equally impractical modern creation: a bikini made of pure silver.

We can home from the trip and decided to order pizza, which was great for me because while on of the pizzas was topped with Dijon mustard and ground beef, it was still nice to see the familiarity of take-out pizza. Though while I succeed at eating pizza with a knife and fork, the chicken wings were a little bit harder! But luckily, the Rotarian’s daughter, Alexia, dug in with her hands so after a few unsuccessful attempts I put the utensils down and joined her.

The evening after dinner was spent in Alexia’s room sharing YouTube videos, which may sound like something that I could do any old time back at home, but I’ve found that even YouTube and Facebook have started reflecting my stay here. We were warned to stay away from internet sites like that for fear of falling into introversion and homesickness, and for the first month and a half I was very good at following the recommendation. However, I’ve started to find now that being online isn’t just about reaching home for me any more- it’s also about chatting with my classmates here and subscribing to the French YouTubers that they’ve introduced me to.

Sunday morning  Alexia and I left by bike to see the marais or marshes which are near the center of town. When I originally heard that there were marshes in Bourges, I pictured something like the vast levees of wetland in the Sacramento delta. These marshes are nothing like that. In fact, while there were at one point wild enough to serve a natural defense for the original Gauls, they began to be drained into canals and cultivated under Roman rule. Several centuries later the marais are small plots of rich, green land divided by canals which can be bought or rented as private gardens. The walkways, however, are public and make for a pleasant spot on a sunny Sunday morning like last weekend. The relative tranquility of the space was attested to by the number of jogger and walkers out enjoying the sunshine. After touring the twisting paths, Alexia and I went to the Sunday market just nearby in the center of town. We locked our bikes (or rather I locked them- six years of life in Davis makes for an ability to lock and unlock bikes swiftly) and toured the market on foot. The stands of artisanal cheeses, cured meats, pastry, regional fruits and vegetables filled the market with every imaginable smell. We got a bag of small beignets au sucre which are very similar to doughnuts, but somehow better.

After the (mostly uphill) bike ride home we had lunch together. It was delicious again- Nanette, the Rotarian’s (François’s) wife is an amazing cook. Their son and his longtime girldfriend, who both live and work in Bourges, joined us for lunch. They had just returned from gathering mushrooms in the woods. This pastime is popular enough in France that all pharmacists are certified at identifying edible and inedible mushrooms. You take your basket of wild mushroom into a pharmacy and have them identified before attempting to eat them.

After lunch I went with François and Alexia to the small lake/pond far out in the countryside which belongs to their family. While François worked on maintaining the surrounding bramble of trees and bushes, Alexia gleefully showed me around the pond; with the sunny weather and surrounding open space we were more than happy to gamble around tossing a ball back and forth.

We got back in time for me to get ready to go to the theater- a few months ago I bought a ticket to see the St. Petersburg Ballet Company perform Swan Lake here in town. The trip was organized by a Russian teacher, but places were open for students like me who aren’t taking Russian. Just my chance Julia, the girlfriend of Alexia’s brother, and François’s mother were also going to see the same show. They gave me a ride there and I left to go meet up with the class. It was a spectacular performance. It really made me think of everyone at ballet- I can’t wait until I’m back in class with you this summer, because this performance was absolutely inspiring! (I did however wonder at one point if Tchaikovsky reused certain motifs in his compositions- the music to some of the First Act in Swan Lake I recognized from the finale of the Nutcracker.) The dancers were amazing, the story, costumes, and choreography all came together with the live orchestra to make for a wonderful show.

After the show Alexia’s brother picked us up and I went back to the François and Nanette’s for dinner. It was, as I have nearly come to expect, absolutely delicious. I was treated not only to hot, creamy vegetable soup, but also the history of the tradition of soups in France. (In summary: winter was cold, so peasants made soup because it was hot and tasted good. A nice, straightforward story as traditions go.)

My weekend ended when I came home, at 9:00, and got to see my host family before heading to bed. I’m so lucky to be surrounded by people who have decided to take me into their lives during this year!

Headcheese

Well I’m having an awesomely busy weekend right now, but that doesn’t leave much time for telling you guys about it! So I’ll give you a bullet pointed list of highlights from the last few days and then you’ll have to wait until I get back on Monday to hear about the rest.

Tuesday: I was served a mysterious meat cut into cubes at a Rotary meeting. Having now enjoyed everything from pâté of wild boar to duck gizzards in salad, I grabbed a toothpick and dug right in. When I ask what the name of the food was, I discovered that I was eating headcheese. I was good, if you enjoy foods with large clumps of gelatin and bits of who-knows-what mixed together.

Wednesday: I went to a presentation organized by Rotary on the discovery of radioactivity and nuclear technology in the modern day. I was very interesting and I understood most of it despite the technical terminology. At the end of the presentation I had a great surprise when I saw another exchange student, who I had met at the Rotary weekend in Paris, was also present. Kate (from New York, the state not the city) was equally excited to see me and we had a great time talking and comparing our experiences of the past month during the dinner after the presentation. It was funny to see how we had become sufficiently accustomed to the language that we actually spoke franglais with each other to a certain extent and then switched to pure French to talk to everyone else.

Incidentally, this was my second time eating in a French restaurant and my first time with a big group. Even at a restaurant we spent two hours at the table and had three separate courses. I ordered the andouillette, which I was told was a delicious specialty sausage. It was very good, though lucky it wasn’t explained to me until I was a few bites in that it was made entirely out of pork intestine.

Thursday: After school ended (at 6:00) I went to go see Paranormal Activity 3 with two friends at the movie theater next to our school. It was a really bad movie, I don’t recommend it at all, but it was still fun to complain about having just seen a bad movie with friends.

Friday: I left with my host family on a two and half hour drive to Tours this morning to celebrate the birthday of 3-year-old Romain (who is Laurie’s nephew and my host parents’ grandson). We got stuck when the road was blocked for a parade, since today was November 11, the day the Armistice was signed ending WWI. We got to see military personal in their best dress walking by, and I’m pretty sure one of them, with an impressive mustache, made some comment to me and Laurie, as we both had our heads out of the window to see the parade, though we didn’t hear exactly what we said. By the time we got through the traffic nearly everyone else had already arrived at Laurie’s brother’s house. It was a wonderful family lunch of the type I have previously described, with an adorable three-year-old and his several-week-old cousin, Noha, who were the darlings of the entire gathering. The duck with mashed potatoes was delicious and put a fine finish on my week of adventurous meat-eating. We got back late, had a casual dinner (I got myself a ham sandwich, prepared à la française: baguette, thick sliced ham, and butter) and then I packed my bag for the next stage in my weekend. If you’re lucky you’ll get to hear all about it on Monday!

When the Teachers are Absent

Today I have no PE class, since the teachers are busy testing the grade level below me, and I have no Earth Science since the professor is going to be absent. What that means is that I have exactly two classes today: one from 9:00 to 10:00 and another from 2:00 to 3:00. So, like so many other days of unexpected leisure, I now get to decide what I want to do with my free time. I think that during my four lunch break I’ll go into town, mostly because I have to go to the bank, but also because it seems like sudden opportunities like this should not be wasted.

After my school day ends at 3:00, which now to me seems luxuriously early, I’ll have the chance to take the bus home and kick back for a little bit before my Rotary meeting. This is nice because on Tuesdays I usually go straight from school, which ends at 6:00, to the meeting which starts at 7:00. The walk is twenty minutes long and I get there early but that still leaves an awkward 30 minutes which isn’t really enough time to go shopping, but is enough time to walk around. Now that it’s dark after 6:00 I’m going to ask a Rotarian who lives nearby the school if I can hang out at her house until the meetings start.

The thing about these long breaks though, is that I don’t usually try to do anything special during them, because no one else does. If they live nearby, my classmates go home during their break, and if not they stay at school and hang out together either on a bench or in the library. I find that that makes for the perfect opportunity to meet new people and spend time with the people I do know. The social life of French teenagers seems to take place of the weekends and during vacations, but also very much built into their school day. And there’s nothing more convenient for an exchange student’s continuing efforts to build a social network!

Sunday

Since blogging is technically a productive thing to do, it seems like a more appropriate way to take a break from my essay than browsing the archives of the National Geographic website or going on facebook. The essay is coming along. Even though it’s in French, the essays here are only about a hand written page and a half long since they are, once again, practice for the bac which includes a number of timed written analyses.

Today I had family lunch with my host family, Coralie her boyfriend and the baby. I can personally attest that baby speak in French sounds almost just like cooing in English. Noha is a healthy little baby and already so much bigger after just three weeks! He’s very alert and had started to follow voices and faces with his big blue eyes.

After lunch Dora come over to work on homework together since we both had plenty to get done. Although we’ve been warned about the dangers of only making friends with exchange students, Dora and I make an effort to speak in French when we’re together and don’t often see each other during school, since we’re both focusing on making friends with our classmates. That said, it certainly is nice to spend time with someone who is going through the exact same experience.

A nice quiet Sunday, and now I should get back to work!

Friday and Saturday

My Friday passed uneventfully, except that another girl from St Doulchard (where I live) joined the rugby team, which is nice because that makes getting a ride home even easier.  I also got permission from one of my teachers to do TPE on my own. TPE is the one large group project that the students at my school do, and it counts for their exit exam, the BAC.  I was originally in a group, despite the fact that the project wouldn’t count towards any sort of grade or BAC for me. After two sessions with my group, I realized that I had no desire to take my classmates through the baby-steps of collaboration (oh Da Vinci, how I miss you sometimes). So I talked with the teacher about it, who is a teacher that I really like, and it would appear that I’m now free to work on whatever I’d like on my own. I suppose that my I can put my Twenty-first Century skills on hold until I’m in a less traditional educational system.

On my way to school on Saturday morning I pass by the city’s morning market, which is held in the area which historically stored the city grain. Now each Saturday morning it’s filled with booths of butchered meat, cheese, produce, trinkets, and used books. Since my bus arrives early I took a detour through the market and was able to find a used copy of another Tintin book for a mere 5 euros.

After morning classes and then lunch with my family I went back into town to meet up with friends. Well actually, I missed the bus (apparently nobody told the new driver that he’s expected to be 10 to 15 minutes late). So I walked to the library and checked out a book for school, passed the time until the next bus browsing through the library shelves. Then I went into town as planned, where I played pool with two friends at the bowling complex not far from our school. I didn’t do too badly, all things considered; in fact I quite nearly won my first game. Though since none of us are exactly experts, the competition wasn’t the stiffest, and we had more fun just hanging out together.

Then I came home, almost did my homework, and then realized that I have all of tomorrow to worry about it. All in all, a nice Saturday I would say.

Back to Class

For the first I as I sit down to write this I can think of nothing to say. I suppose that means that I’m finally really accustomed to my life here. In fact, the first two days back in school after the vacation were nice in terms of getting back into the routine. (Not so nice in terms of having to wake up 6:30 again…) The one thing that has changed is because my day was so long today, from 8:00 to 6:00, with a 20min bus ride on either end, daylight savings time has made it so that I left the house before the sun rose and it had already set when I got out of school. That’s a first for me, but luckily the high school campus has enough outdoors space between buildings that you get to see daylight during the day. Especially considering that in the last two days I’ve had three teachers be absent from their classes resulting in unexpected two hour breaks in my day.

What else is there to talk about? Well, if you’re wondering if I managed to complete my goals over break I’ll give you a quick run summary:

1)      Spend time with friends- check. I think I wrote about ice skating, and I was also able to go into town with Dora and had lunch at her host family’s house. They were very welcoming and funny, cracking jokes and teasing each other. We also played an online geography quiz with her younger host sister, at which Dora absolutely crushed. Between her near fluency in English and geographic prowess, I’m wondering what other miracles are worked by the Icelandic educational system.

2)      Read assigned texts- check. Almost. I read one out of four, which is pretty good considering that they were all in French. Luckily, it’s the one book we’re working on right now, Caligula by Albert Camus. I also finished The Princess Diaries in French, though that wasn’t exactly assigned by my Literature teacher.

3)      Winter coat and shoes- check. I very much appreciated having them when I caught the bus this morning.

4)      Skype home- check. It was great to see all of you!

5)      Homework- well, I did everything that was due right away. I still have that essay on a text I don’t understand… but I’m sure there will be time to decode it over the weekend.

6)      Cupcakes- no, but I did make some very delicious cookies.

7)      Visit my third host family- yes, and I’m absolutely looking forward to living with them.

8)      Review French- yes, though I barely made a dent in reviewing the list of irregular verbs I made. French has a lot of irregular verbs, which are especially horrific in the subjunctive. I deeply dislike the subjunctive.

9)      Sleep- check. It was wonderful.

So as of Wednesday my vacation was over and I’m back in school. I had badminton today, and slowly continue to improve. On my way home from the bus stop I bought a delicious pastry which was a type of apple tart/pie and very good. However my favorite discovery so far as French pastries go is the religieuse. Two round, chocolate, cream-filled pastries are stacked on top of each other with a white collar of icing in between. The pastry together forms an abstract figure of a religieuse, French for nun!