Les Bons Temps

Il y a deux étés, j'ai voyagé en France pour vivre avec une famille pendant trois semaines.

Two summers ago, I traveled to France to live with a family for three weeks.

My experience in France was eye-opening, overwhelming, and fantastic.

I've wanted to speak French since I was little. My grandmother was a high school French teacher, so I was constantly surrounded by French books and phrases. I began learning French when I was smaller than I can remember by watching Disney movies in French and singing French songs. French has always been a big part of my life.

In high school, I was connected with the Junior Diplomat Program (a foreign exchange student program). Through the program, I met Marie Charlet from Saint-Omer, France. They matched us together based on our personalities and lifestyles. Marie spent three weeks at my house following my freshman year of high school. We easily became friends, and decided that I would stay with her family for three weeks the next summer.

We set everything up, and I was off to France.

CONFESSION: I cried at the airport when it was time to leave my parents. I really wasn't expecting to, but I was incredibly nervous and scared. Sometimes, you just feel small.

I kept a journal while I was in France. {I'm weird and I do things like that.} I wrote in it every day, and I'm really glad I did. Otherwise, I probably would have forgotten a lot of the things I did. I also wrote down new words I learned and kept random things in it.

a collection of flowers on a page of the journal

the last page in my notebook

 

I don't have the time or energy to talk about everything I did in France, so what did I learn while I was in France? (because everything is a learning experience, right?)

• French people speak very fast.
• I can fall asleep while sitting on a public metro in Paris.
• It is always safe to order any food item as long as you see that it has chocolate in it. [The first food I ate in France was pain au chocolat- bread with chocolate.]
• I love my family.
• I do not like alcohol. There is no legal drinking age in France, so I tried beer and wine a few times. It safe to say that I have no desire to drink ever.
• Different cultures have different morals. 
• Smoking is a gross habit.
• France is beautiful. {The people are even more beautiful.}
• It is much easier to pick up on a language than you would think. I was completely lost the first few days, but, by the end of the trip, I was able to understand almost everything.
• French people should be fat, but they aren't. I ate alllllll the time in France. The food was so perfect. nutella, bread, macarons, pasta, chicken. It was heaven.
• Having sunburn on your hands and feet is incredibly unpleasant. I got ridiculously sunburned in Nice. My nose was peeling for a solid two weeks.
• Kids are perfect. They understand even when no one else does.
• I am not good at card games.
• In France, they just watch a lot of American stuff with French voice-overs.
• Lizards can, in fact, be found everywhere. {funny story: Marie and I found a lizard in our room one night. We named him Randy, but then he escaped. To avoid waking up to a lizard on our face in the middle of the night, we pushed our small beds together in the middle of the room.}
• Motorcycles are pretty great.
• Laughing is always a good option.
• I LOVE ITALY. We were able to visit Italy for a day. It was beautiful. (Italian cappuccinos are my life) 
• Making friends, no matter what language you speak, is really not difficult.
• I love the markets in France. They're very open with just about anything you could ever want.
• McFlurries in France are wayyyyy cooler than the ones in America.
• Raspberry flavored things are better than strawberry.
• Everyone knows you're supposed to wish on a shooting star.
• There are no berets in France (unless you're in a tourist shop). They didn't even know what they were when I asked.
• While in a foreign country, never leave your dictionary more than a few feet away.

Every person I met in France was incredibly nice to me. They were generous and helpful. No one laughed at me for not understanding, they just found another way to explain it to me. 

The three weeks I spent in France were overwhelming sometimes. Sometimes, I was frightened. Other times, I felt alone. Most of the time, however, I was filled with laughter. I felt happy and loved.

Notre Dame

Saint-Omer, France

Marie's adorable little sister, Lila

What I really learned from going to France was how much I can really expect from myself. I went far beyond my expectations and became much more confident. 

A few things I learned that you might enjoy:

• salope: slut
• chatouiller: to tickle
• lezard: lizard
• putain: "a bad word, but we say it a lot"
• tranquille: quiet or to be calm
• prete: ready
• pet: fart
• dragueur(euse): to flirt
• Tu ne peux pas m'attrape: you can't catch me
• C'est bonne: It's good

Prayer in Islam

I am not an expert.

I'm taking World Literature right now, instead of AP Literature. [no regrets]. Obviously, in this class, we read stories from places around the world. It's neat to see  the cultural, religious, and social differences portrayed in the stories, but it's also interesting to note the common themes. I love learning about other cultures, as a mentioned in wanderlust.

The most terrific story we have read so far has been A Thousand Spledid Suns by Khaled Hosseini. 

The story follows the lives of two Muslim women in Afghanistan. It's incredibly sad, but surpisingly full of joy in random places. {You have to continue reading just to see what could possibly happen next}.

This book made me think a lot about Islam. There are so many stereotypes out there (as with any religion), and I realized just how little I actually know about it. I've been trying to learn more about it, so I can understand the culture better. {I think everyone should learn more about other cultures}.

The thing I like most about Muslim practices has got to be their devotion to prayer. The Islamic faith calls for Muslims to pray five times daily- at dawn, noon, afternoon, sunset, and evening. That's a lot! 

Can you imagine dropping everything you're doing to be with God five times a day? That's a powerful way to keep God at the center of your day. That's something I really struggle with as a Christian- remembering and thanking God throughout my day. 

I love that they are reminded constantly of their religion, but more importantly, of God. 
 
Whether you're Muslim, Christian, or whatever you may be, it's important to remember the things God has done for you as you go through you day- to thank Him and seek His help.

Could you put your life on hold five times a day to be with God?

Wanderlust

{won-der-luhst} 

A strong, innate desire to rove or travel about

I've recently started watching a lot of HGTV(my parents are in the process of fixing up our house), and I got hooked on a show called House Hunters: International. I'm not really sure why, but it never occured to me that Americans can just pack up their things and move to another country simply because they want an adventure. [I guess I was influenced by all my history classes  discussing people moving to America, not away]

That got me thinking. If I could move anywhere,

Where would I go?

• Italy: The language is beautiful, the cappuccinos are fabulous, and the atmosphere is exciting.
• Ireland: It's gorgeous

 

• England: Everything happens in England! I would understand the people and the culture would pretty similar. I might even meet Harry Potter.
• Austria: "The hills are alive with the sound of music"

• Greece: Things seemed to go pretty well when they went there in Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants.
• France: I've always loved the French language and culture.

 

Marie and Me at Notre Dame

Living in another country would be incredibly interesting! I love learning about the history and language of other countries. I might just have to do that- pack up someday and experience something new.

America is pretty fantastic, though. I'll definitely have to write a post about places I want to live in America sometime.

I just want to travel and be adventurous!