It's not my taste

  This was originally supposed to be part of my last post, My First Good-Bye, but in all honesty I was scared I would get in trouble for under age drinking. 

Now there's a hook!

  While I was out with my grandma and mom during our stay in Florida, they decided a bottle of French wine was necessary to celebrate my upcoming AFS experience. After being let down by Sams Club's limited supply of French wine, (and by limited I mean none) we stopped by a liquor store stacked floor to ceiling with several options of wines grown on the Rhone river, where I'll be living!


  To give you a better idea, I'm going to Tournon-sur-Rhone, and on the opposite side of the river is the commune, Train-l'Hermitage.

  Which is "a notable wine producing commune" so naturally, we began a search for wines from this area. In the end we bought one that

• I could barely bring myself to swallow. 
• one google search later, revealed that it was actually grown no where near Tournon.

Here's a picture of me with Cote-de-Rhone wine prior to tasting, hence the smile. 

My First Good-Bye

Hello!
  I got home a few days ago after spending a week in the sunshine state! Along with soaking up the sun and getting a lovely tan, this was the last time I would get to see my grandma until I get back from France. 
   If you haven't caught on:

• a. you should be embarrassed of yourself.
• b. the sunshine state is Florida!

  The day before my family and I left for Florida, a package came for me in the mail and I was so touched to see it was from my host family! After taking some lousy guesses as to what it could be, (hint: bendable and square) I opened it to find Le Petit Prince, the classic french tale! 

   If you still don't know what I'm talking about:

• a. you should be embarrassed of yourself.
• b. the cover looks like this:

  Back in sixth grade I remember my french teacher made an effort to get my class to read it but quickly dropped it when no one made an effort to understand. (That's what happened in my memory anyway, take it with a grain of salt.)

  Well, unlike my sixth grade self, I was excited to read this book and took it with me for my trip. I loved reading it by the pool and was proud to learn that I understood the humour as well as the deeper meanings. This was the first french book I've read in awhile and having finished it in two days has given me the confidence and interest to read some more in french! If you remember, the way I learned french was through immersion as a kid, so I definitely believe reading, and simply seeing french written down works wonders.

    

  In more exciting news: a manatee hit me! .....at least that was it's plan.

I know they are supposed to be friendly animals but this one looked pretty vicious swimming right at me in the Gulf of Mexico. Luckily my shrill of a scream chased it away, potentially saving my life. 

  I also ate a yummy dinner at a restaurant in my grandma's neighborhood where we ran into many of her friends, who all made me feel like a celebrity letting me know that they read this blog! So thank you, Nana and friends for 99% of the views of this blog. (:

   At the end of a great week spent with my grandma and about 500 million games of triple solitair, all thoroughly enjoyed,

it was time to say good-bye. Call me dramatic, but in no circumstance do I like good-byes. And in this circumstance I had been dreading it. My grandma lives in Florida but at least once a year my family will go down to visit her and she'll usually come up here more than once. For me to imagine not seeing her for a year, well, I'd rather not. 

(Nana- don't cry when you read this!)

Well, the Delta airline employee's politely informed me that there would be no crying tolerated in the airport and so I would need to pull my act together.  Not to mention, my mom forgot her wallet and so my grandma drove it back to the airport, giving me one more quick good-bye! 

But like my mom says, you'll always be in my heart wherever you are. 

Or, in this case, wherever I am!

Schools out for summer!

No more pencils
No more books
No more teacher's dirty looks
(Okay, I admit it, I've had this childhood rhyme/song stuck in my head for the past week...not helpful when you're trying to remember the parts of a flower for your Biology final.)


   Maybe the song isn't relevant to Biology, but it is definitely applicable to my life! 
Correct me if I'm wrong but I don't think I am alone when I say that I LOVE summer. From the lack of any obligation to wake up at an absurd hour, to catching lightning bugs when the sun goes down, summer is three months of freedom, from the judgement of people at school as well as the stress of schoolwork, which combined, make it a pretty fabulous time of year. 


   My last day of school was yesterday, June 15th, and like all last days of school, when the bell rang the burst of excitement combined with the relief of being done with a whole year of school was nothing less than magical. As if all the worries of the past year suddenly become meaningless at the sound of a bell. 
While walking out the doors of my high school yesterday I felt more than the usual excitement and relief described above. Along with the satisfaction of completing my sophomore year and seven required credits to graduate from MCPS, there was also a feeling of a new beginning. 
Yesterday marked the end of my attendance at Rockville (for a year anyway..) as well as serving as a stepping stone, if you will, towards the reality that I am leaving in 2 months and 14 days.
Meaning I had a mix of feelings, ranging from relief and excitement to nervousness and oh you know, that feeling that goes something like, "what the heck am I getting myself into?" 
No I'm kidding, I only have about 1% of that untitled feeling. 


  But in all seriousness, this summer will, without a doubt, be very different from any other summer of my life. While in the past I've found ways to pass the days in ways such as volunteering, swimming at the pool, seeing friends or playing sports, okay...well maybe not so much sports, but you know what I mean..."normal" summer activities. 
This summer, in contrast, will be busy busy busy. I won't be able to volunteer because as part of my agreement with my dad I'll spend my monday-friday mornings in summer school. *sigh*
After several charts and lists and checks and double checks, it is to my relief, that I will have enough credits to graduate with my class after spending a year abroad, even if MCPS does not grant me credit for any courses that I take while I am abroad. However, I am taking English 11 this summer to avoid taking two english classes simultaneously senior year. 


In addition to summer school, I will be kept pretty occupé between getting my visa, shopping for items to make the 44 pound limit even more difficult, and visiting family that I won't see for 10 months!

The Itinerary

As of a few days a go, I knew the where, what, why and who of my exchange, but the details on when and how were a still tad sketchy.
Three days ago all that information was at my fingertips in my inbox. 
A plane of AFS kids will be flying from New York to Switzerland over the night of September first. (I'm one of those kids!) We arrive in Zurich the morning of the second and will board another plane to arrive in Paris that afternoon. 


I don't think I've ever mentioned where I live before and now seems like a good time, all 15 years of my life have been spent in Rockville, Maryland. Since I am a few hours from New York, my family will have to send me off from here and I'll take a plane to New York on August 31st. AFS has asked that everyone arrive in New York before four a clock on the 31st in order to attend another orientation.
Saying good bye to my parents and brothers in an airport...not my favorite scenario. 


But hey, I have a plane ticket to Paris!!


A big part of the trip to France is obviously luggage. What I can bring is:

• 1 carry on, 22 pounds 
• 1 checked bag, 44 pounds

I'm supposed to fit 10 months of cloths, shoes, and makeup in 66 pounds?! C'est fou.

Pre-departure Orientation

  This is going to be a pretty boring post but it's relevant to any and every exchange student: the Pre-departure Orientation! 
AFS, and I assume all other exchange programs, require than every participant attend one of these gatherings before their departure. 


  I went to the one hosted for my region last weekend (Saturday June 4th.) It wasn't my first AFS event, I actually went to another orientation back in January. And although I felt that it was designed more as an event for students from abroad living around here, it did give me the chance to meet them as well as talk to people who were there testing the waters. Considering I was already relatively far along in the application process and knew where I wanted to go, this orientation wasn't a huge help to me. 


  In contrast, the pre-departure orientation was much more effective and made the whole seem so much more real and ...close.


  Before saturday people would ask me something a long the lines of "so, are you excited?" and I would always reply with a simple but enthusiastic "yes!" But even as I said this, it hadn't really sunk in that I was really leaving... until this orientation. Now when people ask me, I can barely keep from jumping up and down and can't help but think to myself "what a silly question. DUH I'm excited! That's an understatement"


  You may be wondering, what they said to get me so pumped.. or what they put in my drink, but it was more the people that I met there.
  Like the previous orientation, there were some silly games that, I'm sure, taught us some kind of valuable lesson, but what made this one different was the fact that everyone there had been accepted and knew where they were going. This made it remarkably easy to strike up conversation and make friends. I had something in common with everyone in the room, because even if we chose different parts of the world to adventure to, we all had the same crazy drive to go somewhere.  There were about four other girls going to France and it was cool to know that we would all be flying to Paris together. 
  Along with a lot of time to mingle amongst ourselves, we also talked to the AFS students here, who will be going back home in a week, listened to the experiences of volunteers who went abroad in past years, and did a few exercises with potential scenarios that could happen during our time abroad. Like, "I'm gaining weight from all the food here." 
  Yes...I am seriously concerned that this one will apply to me.

All The Necessary Information To Stalk Me!

On a scale of 1-10, how creepy is it that I google earthed my future home to the point that I already know my way around the city?


Yeah...maybe you shouldn't answer that...


So I was really lucky to have been placed with a host family extremely early and so far my relationship with them has been evolving through e-mail.
The family lives in a city named Tournon-Sur-Rhone which is located in the Ardèche department and the Rhone-Alpes region. Tournon, for short, is a town of a little over 11,000 on the bank of the Rhone river with views of vineyard covered hills, and the home of a ruined castle. 

Are you swooning yet? 

I sure am, I can't believe I am actually going to be living in this amazingly photogenic/beautiful/fairy tale town for a whole year! 

As for my host family that has given me the chance to live here, they seem great! 

The parents are both doctors and they have two beautiful daughters, Clothilde (who will be away for college, but I'm hoping to be able to spend vacations and maybe even weekends with her) and Hortense, who is my age! From the multiple e-mails that we have exchanged, I can tell we will get along.

I've never had a sister or even lived with a girl my age for anything close to a year but I'm nothing but excited. She even shares my love for Taylor Swift! I can already see us singing karaoke together. 

The family also consists of two adorable dogs and two of the cutest cats I've ever seen. 

I will be going to Lycee Gabriel Faure which is the oldest school outside of Paris and in walking distance to my house.

Compare this to the high school I currently attend:

Not comparable? Yeah I thought so.

Bonjour!

Warning: This post could pass as a book...I may have gotten a little carried away...


I'll start by saying that I am so excited that you've stumbled upon my first blog post! And rest assured, there are many more to come!
I have officially begun my countdown to departure with 2 months and 25 days (supposing I leave on the first of September...but I'm anything but sure about that.)


So considering I've started this a little late in the game, (I believe my experience abroad started when I got the crazy idea in my head and will be on going forever and ever and ever) I'll take us back about a year.
I can sum up my drive to study abroad in three points.

• I'm not absolutely head over heels in love with the high school I attend and leaving it for a year will not break my heart. (leaving my family, on the other hand...now that might. but we'll get to that later!)
• I am absolutely head over heels in love with French. Ever since I was little, the language and culture has had a immense impact on my life, which we will, once again, explore in detail plus tard. 
• I want...let me rephrase that, I need to step out of my comfort zone! Maybe it's a teenager thing, like a young version of a mid life crisis, but for some reason I'm more than eager to get out of my house/neighborhood/city/everything I've been around depuis toujours. And try new things, meet new people, and discover... who knows what! 

Sound familiar?

No? okay, maybe I'm just going crazy.

So the first bullet became relevant as early as freshman year of high school. Let's just say, it wasn't my niche. I never really found where I fit in, I'm not class president, a cheerleader, or a drama kid. I felt average and lost in the crowd. And even though I had a group of friends and made the most of it, in the end I decided to step out of the crowd, and jump into a totally new environment.

I wanted something more, to see the world, to live my life. 

Now if you ask me, my parents had this whole thing planned from a very young age because it was they who decided to put me in French immersion. That's right, I was five years old when I was first exposed to french and by winter break of first grade my class was obligated to speak french all day. or else...

Of course, growing up saying the pledge of the allegiance in French and taking field trips to the embassy (and later even one to Quebec!) enormously contributed to my interest in French. I am thankful to my parents for making that decision and am now doing my part to keep my French skills up to date and constantly improving. Which, believe it or not, is hard to do sitting in French 6, watching movies for the majority of the school year. 

The third bullet is pretty self explanatory, and if you are also interested or planning on studying abroad I feel as though this would be the point with the most relevance to you. It's more than a want, it's a need to learn with all of your senses. To hear bits of French arguments on the street, to smell fresh pastries, not to mention taste them, to see the Champs-Elysees that most people only get to see while they watch from their televisions as Lance Armstrong finishes the last bit of the Tour De France, and to touch...whatever there is to touch in France. All this cannot be satisfied sitting in the high school of my hometown. And that's why I will do it all while attending the high school in my host sister's hometown!

And there you have it, the three ways I convinced myself that studying abroad was alas, my niche. 

However, it wasn't that easy persuading my parents that this was the right thing to do. In fact, that last sentence is quite the understatement. It was almost impossible. 

My mom was my first victim, and much easier to tackle than my dad, as she, like me, speaks and appreciates French. She became my partner in crime to introduce this whole idea to my dad. I should start by telling you that my dad is, although a smart guy, the kind of person who walks down the street of a foreign country believing that everyone speaks English. And although he likes to  travel, he didn't understand why I couldn't wait and just visit France as a tourist, or even do junior year abroad in college. 

Which began my daily presentations over dinner. One night it was e-mails I received back from college admission officers explaining that yes, indeed, studying abroad as a high school student demonstrates maturity, independence, and pursuit of individual interests. The next, blogs of current exchange students enjoying their time abroad as we spoke. Many of these dinners ended with me in tears and the temptation to give up and compromise but I just couldn't. I knew he would cave, because in the end, there is no denying the amazing experience that studying abroad in high school presents.

The difference, I explained to my dad, between now and in college, is the opportunity to live in a host family, to be part of that host family, to live the life of a french high schooler (which is obviously different than that of a college student,) to live in a neighborhood, to be younger, more open minded. The list went on and on until finally, my family and I watched with wide eyes and stopped hearts as my dad signed the AFS contract over cherry pie, after Thanksgiving dinner. (true story, yeah I know, I can't wait to tell my grandkids one day.) And yes, I already had every other part of the lengthy application filled out and ready to go for that very much anticipated day. That night I submitted my application with my brother's hand over mine as I clicked submit.

In the end, both of my parents are reluctant to let me go and as scared as any parent would be, to send their last child (not to mention, only girl) overseas for a year to live with a family they've never met. But between my awesome persuasion and the security and support structure that AFS instilled in their minds, I've gotten away with it! Hurray!

After submitting my application, I was nervous for the duration of the months that it took for me to be accepted (which I was in February), and having only put down one country (France), and having rejected a significantly large part of the population by saying no to household smoking, I was nervous, to say the least, about if and when I would get placed in a host family. 

AFS kept me busy between arranging an in-home interview (which turned out to be nothing to worry about) and orientations. But to my surprise, I actually got a host family significantly earlier than expected. On April 5th (yes, just two months after being accepted!!) my mom called me while I was on the bus coming home from school and told me that she got an e-mail saying that all my host family information had become available. I couldn't hold back a scream and, wait for it, tears...yes, I actually cried... out of happiness, of course! (my apologies to my fellow bus riders.) I ran home from the bus stop and proceeded to wait before opening the e-mail, just to torture myself and my mom, who was sitting beside me, a little longer. 

When I finally revealed the information I was extremely pleased to find out that I will be living in a small town of 11,000 on the bank of the Rhone river, with two host sisters, (however, one will be away at her first year of college) two host parents, two cats and two dogs. (I put on my application that I love animals!) 

Later in the week I was actually sent the exact application that my family filled out and was amazed to find that our answers to questions were pretty much identical! Ever since then, I've been e-mailing all of them several times a month and am building a great relationship with every one of them!