The Adventures Continue

 Lille Football Game

 My Host Parents and I in Brussels

 Luxemburg

I continue to make memories and discover new things in my new home. In the last month, a lot has changed. I can speak French fairly well, my overall happiness level has increased and I have an awesome host family. I have traveled a bit more and experienced what it was like to be sick without my mom at my bedside.

I moved families in mid-November and have really bonded with my host parents and three sisters. I have a ‘petit chien’ named Champagne and my new house is very nice. My host dad knows just about everything and he shares his knowledge with me. It’s great, not only because I am learning random pieces of information every day, but also because I have the chance to speak French a lot more at my new family. Since moving my French has become a lot better and it is because I speak with my host mom and dad a lot. During the week, I am alone with my host parents because Lucie, the oldest, goes to university in Paris, Marie goes to University in Lille and comes home on weekends. And my younger host sister goes to a boarding school and is home on weekends as well.

With my host family, I have gone to the movies to see the new film, “Intouchables.” Which was really good and I, surprisingly, understood most of the beautiful story. My host dad and I went to go see a football (soccer) game in Lille and had V.I.P. access which was really cool. Football is pretty big in France and the energy in the crowd was vibrant throughout the game. We also went to Brussels to visit my host dad’s cousin. We went to the Tintin museum which was really interesting because a new Tintin movie recently came out and everyone talks about it. After the museum, we went to the Grande Place and had a Belgium Waffle and hot chocolate. They had just illuminated the Christmas tree so it was truly beautiful and really got me in the Christmas spirit. My host sisters and I laugh all the time and I really enjoy spending time with them. It feels really nice to be comfortable in your house and to be able to interact with the family a lot. It’s nice to be in an atmosphere where you’re welcome in the home you’re living in.

I went to Luxemburg with my classmates and it was pretty cool. We went to a lot of museums, went ice skating and wandered through the marché de Noël. It was different as I had imagined it as it was more modern than I thought it would be. There were many new buildings and it was missing the old beautiful buildings like we have in France. It was a good chance to learn a little about the European Union and a nice mixer to meet more of my classmates. I was with Kathryn (Australian), Sofie (Norwegian), Miso (Taiwanese) and Franco (Peruvian), my little exchange student family in my class, which is always enjoyable.

After the trip to Luxemburg I had a really busy weekend full of Rotary Events and Parties which left me sick. I had the flu for 5 days and it was a week of homesickness and regular sickness. It was only the second week living with my new family and they probably thought I was an infected Canadian. It was hard to keep saying, “I can’t go to school again today because I am still sick.” I felt badly because for the students of Beaucamps (My school) and most people in France,  going to class is very important and I kept missing school so my host mom thought that I didn’t like school. Of course I don’t like going to school from 7:15 to 5:45 every day and learning nothing but I would never tell her that… hahaha.  I learned that being sick without your own mom to nurse you back to health and give you back massages is not ideal but, as the French say, “C’est la vie.”

Once I recovered from “la grippe” I had a Class Christmas Party, Secret Santa. I received a bracelet from a girl named Pauline and gave my friend, Megane, a bracelet and earrings. I also went to my ‘host Grandma’s’ birthday party at my ‘host aunt’s’ house. It was really lovely and everyone was really welcoming which was reassuring because that was the family I’ll be spending Christmas with. I also went to a church called “Abbaye Mont Cats” for mass one Sunday morning with my host parents. It was a striking Church on the top of a mountain where the Monks make really smelly cheese.

Kathryn’s last day of school was the Friday before the break as she leaves on January 13^th to go home. A few classmates planned a going away party for her in the Foyer after school. We ate crêpes and a few boys in my class brought their guitars. Kathryn had everyone sign her flag and said her goodbyes. It is going to be really tough when she leaves as we’ve become really close over the last few months.

Time continues to pass and I have my return date set which is kind of scary. My mom has set a countdown on her phone for my homecoming and it is not too far away. Now that I am in a happy family, have more friends at school and can speak French fairly well, I am looking forward to the adventures ahead of me including a French Christmas, New Years and Paris.  

Toussant Vacance (All Saints Break)

Each day I continue to be amazed by France’s old buildings, fine cuisine, beautifully romantic language and the rich history. I discover something new every day and am learning so much about France, the World, people, culture and myself. It is bizarre though, I am starting to forget how different things really are between France and Canada. I was running on a rural road the other day and got thinking about when I first arrived and my eyes were always wide open, looking at the things I had never seen before. Three months ago I would be running down the road, awestruck by how different the cars were; but now, it just seems normal. The cars seem to be average sized, even though they are really the size a Smart Car. The light switches are not weirdly shaped, like they were before. The amount of bread people eat isn’t absurd to me anymore. I am no longer scared that we are going to have a head on collision with the car coming toward us on a narrow road and seeing dog poop on the sidewalk is just another average day. It is kind of sad, the fact that the magic is dying down. But in another way it is good, it means I am adapting to my new life. It means that I am here, doing what I am supposed to be doing. Baguettes, little cars, old buildings, light switches, dogs pooping on sidewalks and narrow roads and are my life now, where before all those things would have been very strange for me.

My most recent adventure consisted of a trip over the recent school vacation a few weeks ago. My host family, two exchange friends and I headed to Paris for two days and then to Brittany for a week. Paris was just as I had imagined it and more. It made my year here feel like more of a reality, I am not sure why, but seeing the Eiffel Tower made me feel like I was really in France. My Norwegian friend from school met Daniela, Miso and I in Paris and we spend two days getting to know Paris and seeing the touristy sites. On our first morning there, Sunday morning, went to Mass at the Notre Dame and after we watched the France versus New Zealand, Rugby World Cup game at a local bar where we witnessed grown, French men crying after they lost. We met some locals who showed us around the rest of the day which was really good because before we met them we had our map laid on the sidewalk and I was about to try to jump into it like Dora the Explorer.  We ate in a little café and then went to see the Tour de Eiffel; it was so beautiful. We didn’t go to the top because the line was more than three hours but it was nice to finally see it. We visited the Louvre, Arc de Triomphe, and got a taste of the night life of Paris. The next day we went shopping, and then ate a baguette and Nutella on the grass beside the Eiffel Tower. Sofie caught a train hone and then we went out with our new, French friends. I fell in love with Paris and I cannot wait for the next time go back; we’re thinking of going for New Year’s Eve!

After two busy days in Paris we headed to my Host Family’s summer home in Pornic, Bretagne. It was nice to spend a week relaxing at the sea side. We did a lot of biking, walking and exploring the little village of Pornic. There is a beautiful mediaeval castle in the town called Château de Pornic, which was very historic and lovely. The coast was breathtaking with sailboats on the horizon and rolling waves crashing into the rocks along the cliffs. We also took a day trip to Nantes, which is a city in western France, about an hour from Pornic. We went to a robotics museum and shopped a little.  The vacation was good and it was nice to see another area of France!

I moved in with a new host family a few days ago and I am much happier. They are a comfortable, loving, happy family and it was a much needed change. I have three host sisters who do not live at home during the week because they are at school but the house is full on the weekends. With so many people at home, it reminds me of a normal weekend in Canada and I like it a lot. The mother and father are caring and compassionate; they take interest in my life and help me a lot with my French. Things are still new and I am still getting used to the flow of a new family but I am really looking forward to learning new things and getting to know a different family.  

Last weekend we had our first “repas exotique” (exotic meal) which was a Rotary gathering that raises money for our district’s youth exchange program. Three times a year the district organizes an event where each country makes a meal for about twelve people and then serve tiny portions to about two hundred people. The other Canadian from Halifax made pancakes and I made 220 little Maple Cookies, 168 Chocolate Chip Cookies and 200 Rice Krispie Squares. I stayed home from school on Friday to have a Martha Stuart day.  They turned out delicious and I was happy with the maple cookies! As per usual it was fantastic to be with the other exchange students and nice to see a new town called, Lens. On Sunday we went to Canada! We visited Vimy Ridge to see the Canadian Monument which honoured the Canadian soldiers who lost their lives during the four year battle at Vimy Ridge. It was an extremely emotional experience and truly moving. After learning about Vimy in school, it was very interesting to see the actual land where the battle was fought. It was an eye opening experience and nice to go back to Canada for a few hours!

Friday marks my three monthaversary in France and time continues to fly by. I am really happy in my new host family and have lots of exciting things coming up like going to Brussels, Luxembourg and Lille’s Christmas Market. I still miss home but things are progressively getting better, so I am happy here!

“Travelling and wanderlust is second nature to us, it’s in our blood.”

Mont St. Michel

Sofie and I in Bruges

It’s been a long time since I wrote last and I have done a lot in the last few weeks. I have finally adapted to the French lifestyle, not fully but I feel like I am fitting in more which is good. I surprise myself daily by saying words in French in which I didn’t even know I knew. My French is really improving and I am proud of myself. I know I have a long way to go but I am able to have short conversations now, which is much better than when I first arrived and my only response was, “Oui!” 

My adventures continue from the last blog and I am always busy. A few weeks I was invited to go horseback riding with some friends from school. It was going well until we got to a field and my friends explained that they normally race here but they wouldn’t race today as I was not a superb horseback rider. My horse thought it was race day and took off into a full, Black Beauty, gallop. When we finally stopped, the other girls were laughing and said, “I guess he thought we were racing today.” Ha ha. It was not funny at all. I almost died but other than that, it was wonderful to see the country side that I drive past often. 

We had another Rotary weekend, which, of course was fantastic. We went to Mont Saint Michel which is a rocky tidal island and a commune in Normandy, France. It is located approximately one kilometer off the country's north-western coast. Since the 8th century it has been the Saint-Michel monastery with a beautiful church at the top of the castle. There were six districts and over two hundred Rotary Youth Exchange students. We saw the beaches of Normandy which was very neat to experience after learning about it in school. Each country sang their national anthem, there was a dance, we went on a 10 kilometer walk and got to know people from many different countries. On the Saturday night I only got twenty minutes of sleep; I went to bed at 6:40a.m. and got up at 7:00a.m. I was extremely tired but slept on the bus and slept in class the next day… haha. The trip was very informational and I had a fantastic time! 

A few weeks ago my friend, Sofie, who is from Norway, invited me to go to Bruges, Belgium for the day with her and her host family. The town looked like one you would see in a fairy-tale. There were waterways winding through the city, between buildings and sidewalks. The old bridges and canals give Bruges the nickname, “The Venice of the North.”  Even with the rain pouring down onto our umbrella tops, our spirits and lust to see the city were not dampened. We climbed the bell tower which was 366 steps, had lunch at a cute, little restaurant and went on a boat tour through the canals. The whole day was really enjoyable and I hope I’ll be able to return to Bruges again. 

I have also been to a few markets, had sleepovers with friends, continued rock climbing Tuesdays after school, been to Lille a lot and spent quality time with my host family. The other day we had my three other host families over  in order for me to meet them and it went really well. They all seem really lovely and I think I will be happy in their homes. 

          It has been two months now and it is so crazy to think so much time has passed. I am leaving for Paris this afternoon for three days, then to Bretagne and back to Paris with my host parents, Miso (Taiwanese) and Daniela (Bolivian). I am looking forward to the 12 day vacation! 

               I will leave you with something a friend of mine wrote who is from Canada, in France:

“I kind of had an epiphany tonight...everyone always tells me how brave I am and stuff for doing the exchange and I really don’t think I’m brave at all…But I realized like, if you really, really, really think about it...what we’re doing is so crazy. Completely giving up our lives in the places we know and love, and leaving behind the people we love for a place we don’t even know nothing about. We don’t know what it’s like, if we'll make friends, if it’ll be the most horrendous year or if it’ll be the best year. It’s probably one of the biggest risks we'll ever take. But whenever people spoke about exchange before I actually became an inbound I never thought of it like that. It was just second nature, like…why not go? It would be so cool, why not? Well today i realized there’s a ton of reasons I could have said, “why not” but it takes a special/different type of person to ignore the “why not’s” and just do it. Traveling and wanderlust is second nature to us, it’s in our blood. You guys are among the strongest and bravest people I know.”              –Victoria Cipryk

Rotary Youth Exchange Weekend, Lille and Belgium

The uphill battle of living in another country has progressively become less steep and it is leveling out more and more each day. The pattern of things getting better has continued and I’ve adapted more to the French lifestyle, for the most part. I am a lot less lost when it comes to school, the area and the language.

Last weekend was our first official Rotary Youth Exchange weekend. We met at the sea side in a town called Rue. It was really exciting to meet the exchange students who had not gone to Language Camp and to get to know everyone a bit better. We met in the parking lot of what looked like a beach but we could not see any water. We got on the back of a tractor and traveled two or three kilometres when finally we saw water. It was different than any other beach I’d ever been to… There were rows upon rows of wooden posts in which mussels had attached themselves to. We were at an “Elevage de Moules” which is a Mussels Farm. It was really neat to see how they were collected. (I thought they caught them like fish or something?)   We also enjoyed a high ropes / zip lining course the next day which was a good bonding experience and really fun. I am really looking forward to spending this year with such a good group of exchange students and I’m lucky to have such a good District. Each of my peers brings something unique and special to the group which creates such diverse friendships.

School is also getting better each day.  I’ve found myself less confused and more able to focus on lessons. I don’t understand everything the teachers say but I can pick out some things and from there I can comprehend a little of what is going on. On Wednesday, I woke up at six a.m. to catch my bus at seven. The other students and I were waiting for the sports teacher to arrive; instead we were told that he would not be there today. As that is my only class on Wednesdays, I began the four kilometer trek home since my bus would not come until twelve. I did all of this before I would have even gotten to school in Canada. It is crazy.

I’ve spent a little time in Lille over the past few weeks with my host mom and with other exchange students. I’ve gone shopping, opened a French bank account, and explored the city. I keep uncovering things that make me appreciate and enjoy Lille more each time I go.

This past weekend, Daniela and I had the opportunity to go to Belgium with our sponsoring Rotary Club to a “usine de chocolat” (Chocolate Factory). We had the chance to see how it was made and to taste it… too much of it actually.  We had dinner at a Golf and Country Club (Felt like a home meeting) with our Sister Club in Belgium. We ate steak that was better than the Keg (Sorry Maxine). It was neat to see another perspective on a Rotary gathering. On the way home from Belgium the next morning, I recognized the town we were driving through and realized we had crossed back into France without so much as a “Bienvenue en France” sign. It was quite a different experience than going to The States.

Saturday will mark one month of my being in France which is really hard to believe. The time has flown by and the exchange students from Australia, who have been here for eight months, say that each month flies by quicker than the last. I am hoping to start living this year by the words that Mr. Lynch always said to us about our last year of high school, “SLOW DOWN.” Often times we’re looking to the next thing and miss out on what is happening right now. Although I look to what adventure is awaiting me, I know that this year is going to zoom by and I mustn’t rush through it.  

Language Camp, Braderie and School

The past two weeks have been amazing and I have learned so much. Language camp gave me the opportunity to be immersed in French (At least during the day) and to practice the language as well. I made friendships that are very strong and I know some of them will last forever. It was really nice being with other people who knew exactly how I was feeling with being away from home. I felt relived to share my emotions with others who understood.

Our teacher was alright but couldn’t speak any English which was a little challenging. She was unable to explain things to us when we could not understand and we’d have to ask other Rotarians to explain. I learned a lot of grammar and some vocabulary as well. We went to the beach two times to play French games which was a lot better than sitting in the classroom. On Wednesday morning we all got 5 Euros and got to go to the market to ask vendors how much things were in French. I bought an apple and a pair of cheap shoes.

Being with other exchange student was so much fun. We laughed so hard all week that my abs hurt towards the end of the week. On Friday two of the Rotex (Returned exchange students) rode a tandem bicycle to the school so my friend and I got to ride it to the Beach and back. We felt very French. We played guitar and sang a lot of the evenings and got to know one another.

Saturday was Braderie in Lille which is a huge flea market that covers most of the city. I went with some other exchange students and we walked for hours finding little treasures and good food. We explored Lille and the millions of people around us. The streets were closed to cars which allowed people to flood them. We got in a ‘people traffic jam’ and had to turn around because we were not moving. It was a really crazy experience. I slept over at Jordan’s because the Metro was crazy that night. We went home early because someone told us that it was not too safe at night and we didn’t want to risk it. Her host family lives right in the heart of Lille so when we walked out her front door, we were at the festival!  The next morning we roamed around some more then I took the Metro home.

I started school on Monday which was really different and very confusing. Their school system is nothing like the system in Canada. Firstly, the school day commences at 7:45a.m. and does not finish until 5:20.m.  It is such a long day and I am not sure I’ll be able to last all year. We only have half days on Wednesday which is a relief. It gives students a chance to do school work and exchange students a chance to sleep.I go to a private school so it's VERY strict. There is a room called Perminals which is where students must go on ‘Spare.’ It is a massive room (The size of a large Gym) which has about  400 desks where students sit in silence. If you so as much as whisper,  you get shushed and the next time you're moved. I am scared of the teachers in that room. I get on my bus at 7:00a.m. and don't get off until 5:45. It is such a long day and this week has left me very tired. Teachers and students do not have any relationships whatsoever. A student would never hug a teacher like we would in Canada nor would they ask them how vacation was for them. It's surely going to take some time to get used to! I am looking forward to understanding what the teachers are saying and being able to participate in class. All the students are really welcoming and seem to enjoy having exchange students in their class which is nice.

Each day here in France gets better and better and I am loving that trend.

My First Week in France

This week was the first week of the "greatest year of my life." Everyone had said that my year abroad will be the best of my life and thus far, it has been amazing. 

On Tuesday, August 23 I said bye to my family and friends knowing I would not see them for a year. After a long day of travel, I was welcomed to France by a new family and a new group of friends with whom I will spend the year with. I am officially a Rotary Youth Exchange Student and I am very excited.

The Duflo’s (The family I am living with) daughter is in Canada (Niagara on the Lake) on exchange and her flight flew out a few hours after I arrived. We visited and ate at the airport. The first food I ate in France was a croissant, very typical. Once we saw Juliette off we went home to Le Maisnil and I was very tired. We ate and I went to sleep in my new bedroom.

The next few days were full of adventures. I have seen the big city of Lille and I have experienced the French way of life. On my first day in France, Pascalyne (my host mother) and I went to visit my school where I met some teachers and saw the building. After, we went to Mini Lille which is a shopping center in a small town near Le Maisnil. We went grocery shopping which was very different from Canada. That evening Daniella (An exchange student from Bolivia) and I were invited to a Rotary dinner in the President’s backyard. It was nice to meet my sponsoring club. People spoke to us very fast and I had troubles understanding what they were saying.

On Friday Pascalyne and I went shopping in a little town where I made my first purchase in France; a scarf (Everyone wears them here). The town was beautiful. That evening we went to the Dupont family’s home to meet all the families of Miso (Taiwanese Exchange Student). The Dupont family is one of the four families I will stay with as well.

On Saturday Pascalyne, Gérald, Jonathan and I all packed into the Volkswagen and headed down one of the many narrow roads. When we got off the highway my eyes lit up to see the old houses, French people and different buildings in the beautiful city of Lille. We ate, shopped and explored Lille which was a fantastic experience. I bought some shoes that are very fashionable here but kill my feet. That evening Danielle and I went to the sea side for dinner with two of our arranged friends (President of Rotary’s daughter and friend). Exchange students have a lot of arranged friendships in the beginning… The sea side was beautiful although it was very cold. After, we went to Lille and went on rides at the fair and then to a club/bar. Danielle and I danced like foreigners and had a good time.

I am so lucky to have been given this opportunity. I love my host family, France and the friends I have made. My host family is very patient and Pascalyne has been very empathetic. I couldn’t have chosen a better country or been placed in a better family!  

I am off to language camp this week to help me improve my French. When I come back in six days hopefully I will be a lot better in French. I might be able to talk to some people or not give my host mother such a headache from speaking English with me…. Hahaha

This week has been great and I look forward to the next few weeks when I’ll begin school, go to Paris, bike through Holland and so much  more!