The End of My Adventure

Three weeks may seem like a long time, but lemme say that these past three weeks in France went by WAY TOO FAST!!!  I now truly understand the meaning of the phrase, "time flies when you are having fun" because these past weeks flew by.

With that being said, this trip has been everything I could have hoped for and more.  I stayed with the nicest and most welcoming host family who made me feel at home the whole time.  I also got paired up with the coolest host sister.  I am looking forward to showing her my world in the States.  I am going to miss all the friends I have made here so dearly, but who knows, maybe I will get to come back here when I travel to France again this summer???

To wrap up my time here I decided to make a list of all the cultural differences I have noticed while living here.  This short list obviously does not cover everything, but it is just the main points that have caught my eye.

1. All the cars here are small compared to the ones back in the states.  The car brands are also very different.  Rarely did I see a recognizable brand and when I did it was almost always Mercedes or BMW.  All the cars here are manual shift as well.
2. On Sunday everything is closed.  Only very specific stores are open and barely any cafes are open.
3. For breakfast (at least in my family) we only had bread with butter and jam and juice.  Lunch was a different story.  We always ate a full five course (delicious) meal.  Dinner was smaller than lunch, but still rather large.  There was minimal to no snacking between meals.  This was difficult for me to adjust to.
4. On the topic of food, when they eat they always use their forks and knives, no fingers what so ever.  Yes this includes french fries (which aren't french), hamburgers, and peeling oranges.  I must say my eating abilities with forks and knives have improved as much as my French on this trip.
5. This is a rather obvious one, but they use the metric system here.  I knew that before I came here but it was still rather alarming to look at the speedometer on the car and see the number 130.
6. The toilets and showers/sinks are separate in two different rooms.  
7. The houses here are very small compared to the ones in the states and there are a lot more apartments here.
8. The trees are very pretty and bizarre here.  They grow in the coolest ways and really resemble a mini monster, moving tree from Harry Potter (I don't remember the name) that totaled the car.
9. Pretty much all the popular pop music the youth listen to here is the same as in the States and they know all of the popular artists.  My host sister and her friends would sing to me songs in english so I could correct their words.  It was weird at first, but actually became kinda fun!
10. A lot of the clothes here also have english writing on them.  This was probably the funniest thing because the sayings on the shirts would be so random and make no sense.  For example one shirt I say had flowers all over it and it said, "some things aren't important."  Another shirt (that when looked at would be described as a white t-shirt) said, "white tee."
11. Yes it is true that in France everyone kisses one another on the cheek as a hello (they are called bisous).  This is similar to hugging at home, but they do it to people they just meet as well as good friends and family.  It is like their hug and hand shake combined into one.  Girls do the bisous to both boys and girls but guys will shake hands with other guys. 

Well thats a wrap on this amazing, fun, and memorable trip.  Until my next adventure...

<never stop wondering, never stop wandering>
Marian

Lycée (high school in France)

Okay so their school is literally amazing!!!  There is so much I want to say in this post, so sorry in advance for all the writing.  There are just so many differences between school in France and in the States.  Here is a little background about my host sister, my school, and the purpose of this trip.

So I am not here for three weeks just to sight-see, eat amazing food, and see the best city in the whole world....I also go to school.  Yes I know ugh school right.  Well no, school here actually rocks (as much as school can rock)!  The purpose of this three week exchange is to experience learning in other cultures and become culturally aware.  I go to a school in Montauban called THEAS.  It is the last name of some guy who saves homeless people during the winter.  The school is very new, has only been around for five years or so, and is the result of all the private schools in the area coming together to make one perfect one.  It is a smaller, private school with only about 1,000 students.  My host sister is the equivalent of a Sophomore in high school.  It is kind of weird to be 17 staying with a 15 year-old, but my host sister is so mature I don't notice it at all.

Here is her class schedule.  There is no rhyme or reason so don't try to find a pattern.  The best correlation I can make is if you combined high school and college you would get high school in France.  They have much more freedom than our high schools at home, but their classes are more structured than college classes.

DNL: a history class in English
EPS: PE class
ECJS: a research class
ESP: español short hand
MPS: something similar to a forensics class
SES: economy class
AP: a class where they discuss various historical and cultural events.  The teacher changes every three weeks.  When I was there the event they were discussing was the Rwandan Genocide.
SVT: biology

Each blank in her schedule is a free period.  Each two lines represent an hour of class.  Lunch is every day at noon.  When classes are split in two it means that on week A she goes to that class during that time and during week B she goes to the other class.  This is similar to A day and B day that we have in the states, except for weeks.

This is the front of the school.

Here are two panoramas I took of the school.  It is basically a giant square with a huge courtyard in the middle.  There are two food areas.  One is like a quick order window where you can get a sandwich or coffee and is open from 10-2.  The other is your typical cafeteria called the self.  Here is where Clara and I normally eat.  You get a five course meal complete with all the food groups.  It is incredibly fancy and delicious food.  To give you an idea of just how fancy it is, the first day of school I ate calamari.  And yes it was DELICIOUS!!!!!

So here is a list of the differences I have noticed between my school in the states and their school in France:

1. They don't have bells at their school.  Instead they play music between classes.  It is a new song each week.
2. The teachers rarely use technology in the classroom.  Most of the time there isn't even a powerpoint, let alone smart boards in every classroom.  The classrooms simply have whiteboards.  All the teachers lecture.
3. Teachers move rooms, not students.  This means that, with the exception of a few special classes that require specific rooms (like art and some science classes) you stay in the same room all day.  These rooms are very bland too because teachers can't decorate them at all.  Just white walls.  I must say it can get rather boring.
4. Their attendance is done all electronically with each student having a barcode that they scan, very similar to the grocery store.  This is weird because this is hi-tech when the rest of the school seems to not be.
5. All the steps are on the exterior of the buildings.  There are three floors in the school.
6. There are 15 minute breaks every two hours of school.  School officially starts at 8am and ends at 5pm.  That is very different than my 7:20 and 2:20 start and end time, but I like it better.  There is a break at 10am then lunch at noon then another break at two.  Although school is long, most days the students have free periods.  These can be during lunch for an extended lunch, in the morning for a delayed start, or in the afternoon for an early dismissal.  Also students have the option to take extra classes.  For example Clara loves art (she wants to be an architect when she grows up) so she took an extra art class on Monday.  This means that school does not end until 6pm for her that day.
7. Since school is so long, they barely have any home work.  Most of it is to study for exams and tests or complete one exercise out of a textbook.  Rarely do they have a lot of homework to do every night.  
8. So lunch is an hour long every day...AN HOUR LONG!!!  I am so used to cramming food down my throat in 30-35 minutes before running back to class.  It is so relaxed here during lunch.  Some days you even have more time for lunch because of the free periods I mentioned earlier.  Also, it is normal for everyone to go off for lunch.  People simply walk off campus and eat somewhere.  There is no age restriction on this like there is at my school.  The cafeteria food is the best (and doesn't cost extra) so my friends and I usually eat there.  Clara thought it was bizarre when I told her I leave campus every day for lunch.
9. Every Wednesday is a half day for all students and teachers.  That part rocks!!

Selfie of my host sister and her best friends in the courtyard.  We had a thirty minute free period between lunch and Spanish class!

We usually have to wait for the bus because here the driving age is 18 and like I said my girl is only 15.  We usually take a lot of selfies during this time so here are some of those.  We also like to play games, sing american songs so I can teach them the right lyrics, or quiz me on how to say body parts in French.  I have to say I am now fluent on body parts in French haha!

Usually what my face looks like because these girls are quite crazy...but a bunch of fun!

From left to right: Clarisse, Claire, Clara (my sister), and me

I just thought it was cool to share this.  These signs are all over the school and in front of almost every classroom door.  It is very cool to see such support coming from a school.

<never stop wondering, never stop wandering>
Marian

Saturday and Sunday Fun

SATURDAY:

Today was more of a chill day to recharge from our fun yesterday.  I slept in and had a small breakfast then did some homework (yes I still have homework to do from America...it stinks).  It's okay though because she had some homework to do too.

We then went to her friends house to pick up my belt I had forgotten.  The good part about this was that I got to see Clarisse one last time!!

On our way home, through the French countryside, we stopped at the local lake where all the kids go during the summer.  It is not the prettiest weather today, but it is never not pretty in France to me so I took some pictures of the Lake and where we walked.

Just a random pic of the cool tree archways that are everywhere here.  We passed this on our way to the lake.

The stunning lake!!

One of my favorite pictures.  This shows the beautiful background as well.

The ducks came swimming when we got there.

They kept gathering around and quacking because they wanted food.  Sadly we didn't have any.

When we got home Clara and I baked a chocolate cake together.  She knows how much I love chocolate and she loves to cook so when you combine the two together it gets pretty delicious.  Earlier this week we made the best chocolate chip cookies that we devoured in two days.  The cake was just as delicious as the cookies too.

Our yummy chocolate cake!!!!!!

After cake making we headed out for some fun bowling with Clara, Valentin, her mom, and their family friends I had met before in Toulouse my first day.  They are some of the nicest people I have ever met.  The mother, Marie, owns a take-out service in Montauban because there is no such thing as take-out in France.  After losing in bowling it is home where I showered then ate a delicious Spanish dish.  This is the second time I have had it and I love it.  You take toasted bread and rub garlic on it then rub a tomato on it to get the juices on it then put thinly sliced ham on and eat it.  It sounds weird and disgusting I know...but it is DELICIOUS.

Side Note: When we were going to the bowling alley we stopped at a super market to pick up a few things and there was a Frozen picture thing (idk what you call it) there so you know I had to take a pic with it.  I got some strange looks because I got so excited but thats okay its a good picture!

I am Olaf and she is Elsa

The end to my Saturday was by far the best.  After having the delicious dinner I got a call from my mom telling me I got accepted at both UNC Chapel Hill and Wake Forest University.  Because my French family is so amazing the father immediately put in Bon Jovi (because he knows how much I love his music) and the mom grabbed the champagne glasses to celebrate.  It was a great end to an even more fantastic day!!

SUNDAY:


We woke up rather early today (compared to yesterday) and headed out to Toulouse with the whole family.  When we got there we walked through the Royal gardens on the way to the Toulouse Natural History Museum.

The scene entering the garden

My awesome sis and I (she is so much taller than me haha)

A bridge over a street leaving the garden

Funny looking bird duck thing in the the garden

After a visit to the natural history museum we met up with their family friends from bowling to enjoy a delicious lunch out at a cafe.  Many things are closed on Sunday so it was difficult to find a place, but it worked out.  I got a delicious burger and the best cheesecake I ever had.

Now it is homework and relaxation for the rest of the day as my last week of school starts tomorrow.  I am very sad that this is my last week, the experience has gone by so fast...

<never stop wondering, never stop wandering>
Marian

My First Friday in France

So first we had to go to school, of course, but it was a good day for that.  First off they don't have substitutes what so ever so whenever a teacher cannot make it to class the students just have a free period.  Yeah I know that is awesome!  So Clara's SVT (biology) teacher was not going to be there which is her two hour class after lunch meaning we were already going to have a half day.  When we got to school for her economy class at eight we found out that the teacher had to do something for grading for the BAC (their big final test kind of like the SAT but a lot different) so we had no class in the morning.  Clara and I simply chilled at school for two hours watching TV and talking with other students until her debate class from 10-12.  So long story short, we only had one two hour class on Friday!!!!!

After school Clara, her friends and I went shopping in downtown Montauban.  The shops were bigger than I expected.  Here are some pics of the shopping area.

Here you can see the shops are below and the apartments are right above them.  Very different.

Another shot of the shops and apartments in downtown Montauban. 

This is the town square where there are a lot of cafes and seating.

After we finished shopping we met up with Clara's boyfriend, Valentin, and went to the pool.  The pool was so so so nice.  There were three pools total; one outside and two inside.  There was also a hot tub and indoor and outdoor slides.  We had a blast there!

All of us at the pool.  You know we had to take a selfie haha!

From left to right: Me, Clarisse, Claire, Clara, and Valentin.

 Yes, I know.  Clara's two best friends from school literally have almost the same name as her.  It is very difficult for me to keep straight too.

After the pool we went to the library to chill until her mom picked us up around 6.  I took a little 15 minute power nap because the pool had drained all my energy.

When her mom showed up is when things got sad...

Her two best friends, Claire and Clarisse, are leaving this weekend to go to Spain for a week with other kids from their school.  This means that is was the last day I would get to see them before I leave.  I have gotten very close with them and cried when we had to say goodbye.  Before we left you know we had to take some selfies and group pics outside the library.

Claire and I

Clarisse and I

They bought me gummies before I left so we took a picture holding them.

Then we ate them haha

Just a candid with some of the coolest people in France.  I am gonna miss them so much!!

Okay now for a good normal pic with them.  It was tough saying goodbye!!

After that we went home and I got to meet Clara's brother, Alex, who is a student in Spain and just got home.  We played ping pong for a little with him and his friends before eating some pizza.  The pizza was very good here, but I have to say American pizza from Marco's is a little better haha!

Finally; her mom, Clara, Valentin, and I went to the movies to see Divergent 2: Insurgent.  It was all in French so I didn't understand all of it but I got the main points.  I honestly spent most of the time staring at the actors lips to see how easy it was to tell they were actually speaking english.  I have to say it was hidden quite well.

Anyway, it was an awesome and fun first full Friday with my French family.  Looking forward to the weekend!!

<never stop wondering, never stop wandering>
Marian

PARIS

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!PREPARE FOR PICTURE OVERLOAD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Paris was absolutely amazing and I loved every part of it.  It is now my favorite city and I could easily see myself living here.  Three days was simply not enough to take in the whole city, but it was a blast.  I also liked seeing my fellow Americans (and speaking some english).  Sit back, relax, and enjoy the pictures (and many selfies sorry) from my adventure in Paris.  Explanations for pictures will be in the caption under the picture.  Please comment is you have anything to say or any questions!

Waiting at the train station for Paris.

All of us are ready to hit the big city!

Gotta take some selfies on a 6 hour train ride

The french countryside from the train

The french countryside from the train

The french countryside from the train

The french countryside from the train

The french countryside from the train

A lot of protection at the train station...

First selfie in Paris YAY!!!

And another selfie cause why not...

The Louvre

The Louvre

The Louvre

But did you really go to Paris if you didn't "touch" the top of the Louvre pyramid?

And you must do it in selfie form...duh

The streets of Paris

The Concord.  This is what the Washington monument was based on.  There are hieroglyphics on each side of it.

A rough picture of the Champs-Elysées at night

MY FAVORITE STREET EVER!!!!!

The Notre Dame at night is stunning.  Sadly on our trip we never got to go in because of giant lines.  I'm sure it is just as stunning on the inside.

Fam Team Squad 

Fam Team Squad selfie

Side of the Notre Dame at night

The seine

Selfie at the Louvre

Louvre Pyramids in the morning

A small pic of the MASSIVE Louvre.  It used to be a castle for a family...

Me being artsy at the Louvre

Selfie at the coolest Arc in the world!!!

L'arc de triomphe

Going under the biggest round-about in the world to go up the arc

The stunning architecture under the Arc de Triomphe

The eternal flame under the arc symbolizing that we will never forget the people who gave their lives in the war.

The stairs to the top of the arc...it was tiring...

Fam Team Squad on top of the Arc

I loved being on top of the arc and seeing the whole city.  It was a little cloudy that morning but you can kind of see the Eiffel Tower in the distance!

The city from the top of the Arc with the Eiffel Tower in the distance

The ceiling at The Lafayette (it is a giant, gorgeous mall).

On top of The Lafayette

Fam Team Squad on top of a mall

The roof of Sacre-Coeur.  It was one of my favorite places we visited.

Seeing this church was defiantly worth walking up a huge amount of steps in the hilliest part of Paris

The beauty of it all is stunning!

The Saint-Chappelle church.  Built in the 13th century it is one of the oldest standing buildings in Paris.

It was also one of my favorite sites we visited because the whole ceiling was made out of stained glass windows.  It is the largest in the world.  The stained glass window has a scene from every story in the bible. 

My first picture with the Eiffel Tower!!  So much bigger in person.

Casually touching the top of the most glorified antenna in the world...no big deal!

When you are super excited to be in Paris!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Fam Team Squad at the Eiffel Tower

Selfie with the most famous painting in the world (the Mona Lisa if you can't tell from the pic)

Islam art in the Louvre

The back of the Notre Dame.  Even cooler than the front!  

The relaxing Jardin de Luxembourg

The prettiest cafe in Paris.  This is very popular and many celebrities have eaten here

Napolen's Tomb

On the second level of the Eiffel Tower

And a selfie of course!!!

On top of the largest antenna in the world!!!!

Selfie as well because the Eiffel Tower is cool

Fam Team Squad (minus bella because she is afraid of heights) on top of the Eiffel Tower!

The coolest part of the Eiffel Tower was by far the glass floor.  Kinda creepy but really awesome!

Do we look french yet?????

We didn't actually go in...

Just had to get a selfie!!

The chalk/street art was so cool.  This was done in a plaza right by our hostel.  The artwork was supporting marine life.

Walking along the Seine

Over the Seine is the famous lock bridge.  There were so many locks on the bridge it was astounding.

We ended our trip relaxing in the Jardin de Tuileries.  This was the first time the sun stayed out for a long time and it was very relaxing.  As I rested before the 6 hour train ride I overlooked the Louvre (the giant building in the distance).

The gardens were beautiful!!

<never stop wondering, never stop wandering>
Marian