Progress

One of my good friends from Tournon made me two CDs back in September. The idea was to introduce me to some of the songs that every French teenager knows by heart and can sing along to at any given moment. We listened to them, track by track, with a group of my friends. They sang their hearts out while I listened to them for the first time. They said to me, "by the end of the year, you'll be singing with us". I understood only about half the lyrics and merely laughed at the thought.

Last night, I popped one of those CDs into the car's disk drive. With the windows down, and surrounded by a new group of friends, in a different part of France, we belted every song in unison.

I have a lot of favorite parts of my exchange year. Many reasons why I love this experience. Many reasons why it's made me love myself. But recently, the most prominent reason, is the progress I've made in French. Yes, I knew a proficient amount back in September. But being immersed in French all day, every day, for eight months (and counting) teaches you a level that can't be attained in a classroom.  I use expressions, slang and curse in French by reflex. I am bilingual, and it feels great.

Oh, in case you were wondering where we were going last night, we spent a night out on the town in Besancon, after a very French meal at McDonalds:

Election day

Four years ago I was sitting infront of my TV with my family. I had the outline of the U.S infront of me and two colored pencils, red and blue. We were watching the Presidential elections. As the votes came in, I colored in the states accordingly.

Four years later, I'm witnessing the elections in France, not with colored pencils, but wine and apperatifs.

The French presidential elections work very differently than in the U.S. Yesterday there were ten candidates and today there are two. Nicholas Sarkozy said that he was eager to get to this stage of the election because now he has one opposer to beat, as opposed to nine!

Over dinner the other night, my host sister, who is taking part in her first presidential election, opened a big yellow envelope. Inside were ten pamphlets, campaigning for each candidate. Every registered voter got these magazine type ads in an effort to increase awareness and inform voters equally on each candidate.

To get your name on the ballot, you must get 500 signatures from elected representatives. In this election there was Sarkozy, Holland, Le pen, Bayrou, Melenchon, Eva Joly, Poutou, Dupont-Aignan, Arthaud, and Cheminade (okay, I admit, I had to look up the last three!)

There were no big surprises last night, since Sarkozy and Holland were expected to advance to the second round.
What did surprise me is that Holland got more votes than the current President. In AP NSL last year, we learned about the incumbent advantage and so I thought, naturally Sarkozy would have the lead. But in reality, the fact that he is the current President, is proving to be a disadvantage. The French people are longing for change. Last night, no one would give interviewers specific names as to who they will vote for, but unanimously insisted against the current head. They are more than ready for the sixth republic of France.
What also surprised me was Marine Le Pen's success. She did really well, coming in not far behind President Sarkozy. Scary.
I watched her speech after the results, where she beamed with pride. The words of her speech were chosen to appeal to the people in France who are suffering. She aimes to make them feel as if she is going to change their current situations. Le Pen is very popular in the region of France where I am, among factory workers and farmers. My host dad works at city hall and counted the votes for my village; as well as in the town where I go to school. Le Pen came in second behind Holland!

I posted a picture with Le Pen's poster, on my facebook.

The amount of feedback that I got came as a surprise. I've found that French youths are very interested in politics and aware of their beliefs. I have French friends from the two high schools I've attended here, who argue and debate in the comment section. I just don't see that happening between my friends in Maryland.
Also, voter turnout was impressively high for this election: 80% of registered voters cast their vote, as opposed to the 60% who voted in the U.S in 2008.



In 15 days, all those people who voted Le Pen or the other seven candidates, will choose between Holland and Sarkozy.

Election day in photos:

I went with my host mom and sister to vote. It took place in a small room in my village.

My host dad, who put all the votes in the ballot box. 

All the candidates names

My host mom taking one of each 

You then go into the curtain, and put your vote in a blue envelope. 

My host sister casting her vote!

You then sign your name to prove your presence and vote.

The 5

One of my favorite young adult authors is Sarah Dessen. I am such a fan of her writing that in between the release of her books, I read her blog. Her posts are made up of five updates, each one completely unrelated but all amusing. These are called "the five" and here are mine:

1. Along with my host mom's day job, she sells lingerie. The new catalogue recently came out and my host mom let me go along to meet with the other ladys who work for the company. There were six of us and, over coffee and brioche, we looked at the new stock and shared our opinions. They even let me model the new stuff. I had a lot of fun doing a catwalk and giving my opinion on what would sell and what wouldn't work as well (in my humble opinion). When we got home my host mom showed me the suitcases full of things she had yet to sell from catalogues past, and even gave me a gift. It was really fun and I learned about the different sizing and materials.

2. It occurred to me that I never even mentioned Easter! We spent the day at my host mom's parent's house. They live next to Vesoul, a big city, but far enough to be in the country. They have a beautiful home decorated with things from all over the world; as they spent many years in New Caledonia. There were all six of my host mom's brothers and sisters. We ate four courses over four hours, not even counting all the chocolate we devoured.

3. I saw the movie, Titanic for the first time! No one wanted to believe that an American had never seen the #1 box office film in the U.S so my host family decided to take matters into their own hands. My host sisters and I drove all the way to Dole to see it in 3D. However, the line went all the way down the street, so we ended up making a u-turn and driving back home to watching it on tape! It also coincidently happened to be the 100th anniversary of the tragedy. I also saw "La vérité si je mens". A french comedy that was showing at the movie theater in my village. The theater is actually a big room with a projector and plastic chairs and the movie stopped half way through in order to change rolls. It was pretty funny but my favorite part of the night was walking home from the theater with my host sister, under the stars.

4. Although I am currently on vacation, my host parents are not. Therefore we took advantage of the weekend to do some things together. Today we went to Besancon, a big city about an hour away. We went to an auction, my very first. It was just like in the movies, someone who pounds a hammer and all that jazz. There were beautiful wood armoires, desks, paintings, rugs, you name it. We also stopped at a market in centre ville where sellers had come from all over France to sell their region's specialty. We bought some foie gras and a delicious almond cookie from Provence.

5. It occurred to me that my most recent blog posts are more detailed and personal than in the past. Which is directly related to the fact that I'm writing my parents much less often. I used to write home often, giving detail about everything and then wrote about those things a second time around, more vaguely for my blog's audience. But now, eight months into my year, I'm writing less and living more. Taking less time to look back in retrospect and more time to look in front of me. The result is one blog that doubles as a letter home, which I think has altered my voice a little bit.

Le Pays D'Amour

A substantial update post is due as somehow we have gotten to the 21st of April with only three blog posts from my part. I can't blame that on a lack of events because that it definitely not the case!

Today is the first day of vacation. (I feel like I'm always writing about vacation!)
I'm now in zone C, which means my friends all over France have already had their holiday and are now back in school, and mine is just starting. It's a rainy first day of spring vacation. And as for all spring breaks of my life, I am sick. I have no idea how my body could possible see the calendar, but to my memory, I've been ill for every spring break of my life.
It's nothing grave (I apologize in advance for the random French words mixed in to my sentences from now on, as that is just how my brain works). It's just a cold and it didn't stop be from going to watch the soccer game in my village today. Not only two hours sitting in the windy weather, but also the pouring rain/hail. No, I'm not that big of a soccer fan, but I happen to be dating the goalie. ;)

I only have about two more months left in France but I'm living every day as if it was the first of September and the beginning of my adventure. So when this guy asked me out, I ignored all my friends who brought up the fact that I'm leaving and this will make that that much harder, and said yes. And I'm quite glad that I did because having a boyfriend in France is really une bonne experience. It's remarkable how different relationships work in France.

Back in Maryland, people tend to be friends for quite awhile before they start dating. And they are together for awhile before any mention of the word love even comes up.
Here in France, three boys asked me out in one week. And in the same sentence where my boyfriend asked me out, he said he loved me.

***culture shock***

Everyone knows that je t'aime means I love you. But it seems to me the French use this phrase much more lightly than any anglophone. Perhaps there isn't really the same weight to aime as there is to love, or perhaps the French just have very large hearts. But in any case, I have a boyfriend who m'aime and who won his soccer game today! 

Another thing the French are much more open about, and the biggest difference in my opinion is the absolute acceptance to P.D.A (public displays of affection). Making out in the middle of hallways, in the bus and right in front of parents, teachers and friends, is simply not done at my high school in Maryland. It would be considered pretty weird, but here, well it's completely normal. I'm not sure I would be okay with such utter P.D.A except I know that this is just a culture difference. 

At the soccer game today, I met his parents who had already heard all about me. They invited me to lunch next Sunday and gave me the bienvenue to their home at any time. As for my host family, I can tell they're not too sure how to react. Even though my boyfriend lives in the same village, our families don't know each other, and that makes mine nervous. An invitation to Sunday lunch with his family made my host family say, "uh-oh". Although my host family is cautious to the fact that I'm in a serious relationship (and leaving in two months), I have my feet on the ground and am aware of how hard it will be to leave this life I've made for myself here. 

So there's the beginning of my "French kissing French boyfriend in France" story. I'll keep you tuned in. 

I find this post in it's entirety slightly ironic because I'm not so sure I would have written it eight months ago. I write a column for my high school's newspaper and in the last issue a sentence containing the word 'underwear' was cut out. I still can't grasp the problem with the mention of underwear. Either I've forgotten how immature high schoolers can be or U.S culture is much more conservative than I ever realized (or both). I think living in France has made me much more open about certain things. Between members of my host family walking around in their underwear, and the P.D.A everywhere, I don't consider that kind of thing taboo anymore. 

In the end, a year abroad doesn't just open your eyes to a new culture, but also to the one you've known all your life. 

Spring Carnaval

It's easy to decide that something isn't your thing, to pull out your cell phone and sit on the sidelines. I've done it many times, and I'm sure you have too. But as an exchange student, it is especially important to not do this. If you decide not to take part in something and really give it your all, you're passing up opportunities, experiences that may never come your way again.

I advise that in situations that stray from what you're used to, you put on a different pair of figurative shoes and play along. Otherwise your eyes will find themselves judging and you will look and feel completely out of place. 

Today at Calvacade, a spring carnival, I was an actress playing the role of a village girl.

My host dad helped organize the carnival for my village. Everyone was very excited about the day. Organizations prepared floats, fliers were put up from here to the cities (and those are pretty far away), and my host sister and I were hired to sell confetti. 

I was excited about the day myself, but it turned out very different than any carnival I ever pictured. It brought together the people from this small village, people who have a very different lifestyle than myself. 

The floats were attached to tractors and for part of the route, the spectators were cows. After the initiative feeling of being out of place among the village people, I decided to change that. So after the introductions where people were clearly caught of guard at meeting an American, I did my best to fade that factor and be a part of the carnival.
I walked in front of the floats with my host sister and two friends selling confetti. We traveled all throughout the village and ended on the soccer field, where each float put on a show. My host sister’s hip-hop club did a dance, hippies sang a song, and the soccer team kicked around soccer balls. When all the confetti was sold I changed jobs and worked the snack bar. We sold waffles, syrup drinks, wine and beer (note that none of this is available at my U.S high school's snack bar). At the end I got my own, well-earned nutella waffle. And then I headed home with my host family.

My host sister, host dad, and I dressed up!

My two host sisters (19 and 14 years old).

Host sister and me

Following the parade!

My host dad leading the floats.

That wasn't the end of Calvacade. I deeply regret not taking pictures, but dinner was hosted in the village hall that night and we all dressed up. My host sisters didn't come so I went with my host parents. I ended up being the only person younger than 40, which was fine for the meal but got awkward when it came time to dance. My host dad taught me a few French dances but after a few songs, he danced with my host mom as I took on the role of a waitress. I cleared tables, prepared and delivered the cheese, salad and pie courses. I played bartender and sold beer and wine (note the irony considering I have another five years before I can legally drink).

The party went on until two in the morning. It wasn't the carnival, or the dinner party I expected, but by living in the moment and playing the role, the role became myself and I had a great time. 

Youtube in French

   If you understand French, and haven't yet seen these two youtube humorists, I know what you're going to do for the next few hours. 
I just picked two that are kind of relevant to this blog, but all of their videos are hilarious.

• Norman

• Cyprien

career day

   In terminale, I heard a lot about the bac. It was on my friends minds all the time and my teachers talked about it non stop. I was impressed by how all my friends already knew what they wanted to do and where they were going to apply the following year. 
Premier isn't so different. These kids are 16 and choosing their career path. And with the French system, there isn't much turning back once that decision has been made.


   I really have no idea what I want to do, and am slightly terrified by the idea of choosing something to do for the rest of my life. Surely, there are some French kids who feel the same way. 
On Thursday, we took a field trip to a high school hosting a career day. Before leaving we got the list of all the subjects you can study and in what room they are held in. Although, this list really didn't apply to me (they are post Science bac options) I decided to play along. I highlighted 

• Licence Langue Etrangers appliquees (Foreign language application license, with the idea of being an English teacher in France.)
• BTS Commerce International (international relations)

   It was an hour and a half away, which made for a three hour bus ride...and endless views of cows and grass outside my window.
   Once there, we were let off the bus with no instruction or direction. The other exchange student and I decided to find the foreign language room while our friends all headed for medical fields. After half an hour of knocking on doors, walking in circles, and taking pictures in the bathroom, we decided we were in the wrong building. Across the street we found our friends who had planned out their life, and our room.
   I talked to a British professor who teaches English here. I inquired about how to teach in France. To sum it up, it would be complicated. I'm not sure what I want to do later on, but I am positive it will bring me back to France.