We are still waiting for the snow. It would be unfair to let us be so cold and you don’t even see snow! : ) It is the coldest month now, I’ve heard, and can feel! Mostly about 5 or 6 degrees in the day, but we do get a lot of sunshine. At least then it does not ‘feel’ so cold, as when it is a grey day. But we know that spring is coming next! I have daffodils flowering in my garden already!

The first gymnastic competition for the girls is end of January and another one beginning of February. And the competitions carry on till June when it is the France finals, but that’s for later. The girls had to learn a whole lot of new elements in their routines. Mandi said that she’s probably one level up and Franci almost two, so we will see how it goes. It will still be exciting to see how things work here.

We also want to move closer to Danie’s work end of June. Where, we still don’t know, but we’ve started to look around over week-ends. The girls would love to stay at their gym, the boys want to stay at their school, and Danie has to stay at his work : ) The only problem is that those three things are in three different directions. I think in the end we will just consider the travel to work and start in new schools and a new gym. But, that also, we will see what happens.

And, I am trying to be really organised in the house. : ) There will always be bread (baguettes) in the morning to pack for the boys and Danie, never run out of milk, and I won’t have to go to Carrefour every day for whatever is needed… ok… So, I did my first ‘drive’ shopping at LeClerc. Buy on the internet and say what time you want to pick it up, then you just park at a ‘scanner box’, scan your bar code and in a minute or two someone comes and load your shopping in the car. Nice. That’s for all the boring things you have to buy every month, toilet paper, washing powder, and so on. Now, my weekly list is much shorter. First week went well, so let’s see!

…and just some interesting things…

parking in Paris…

you mess, you clean up…

‘traffic’ signs in the river for the boats…

pictures made from post-it cards in office blocks…

graffiti is everywhere in Paris…

and for those of you that watch 7de laan, a bookshop with this name…

We bought our christmas tree just before 1 December. It was new for us to see the whole ‘christmas tree selling’ thing. So many trees and they are geared for ‘packing’ your tree. The shops are filled with so many decorations to choose from, but our french tree stands here with all our old decorations, collected over the years…  no new french ornaments. : )

…homemade, LinkLadies craft evenings, Edgemead Market, one from Germany, etc…

As the lights are different, there are other things in France that are not the same as what we’re used to. Little things, for example: Q20 is called WD40, but it works the same! : )
One big difference that took me a while to realise and cost me a few euros was the fact that airtime expires. Yes, Use By… really. : ) When we came here I just bought 5 euros airtime for everyone and then a few days later we were out of airtime and knew we did not phone that much, but its finished! The kids thought that Mixt is really expensive in France, because that is all they used their phones for.
It does say on the recharge card that you buy at the shop: ‘valable 10 jours.’ Well, I knew that ‘jours’ are days and the ‘valable‘ sounded a bit like valid, but how could that be, so I just ignored those words. Probably for two months I kept on buying 5 euros every ten days till I had to admit that perhaps airtime really has a use by date! The end of this story is that all the kids now have contracts which actually works out cheaper with some youth specials. I still buy the ‘use by’ airtime for me, only now I buy some that can last for three months.

And something else: All children (and adults) write on ‘graph’ paper. All the exercise books for school are either big or small blocks, no lines, really! Danie realized this in his first week at work. He went to get a writing block from the stationary cupboard and could only find ‘graph paper’. So he asked the assistant if they don’t have ‘cheaper’ blocks, he just want to write on it. : ) She could not understand what he meant. That was a long debate till Danie realized that this is normal scribble paper. Even the cursive writing is a bit different. The letters are more curly. But the girls are already used to this and have changed their handwriting to curly french letters. Mandi finds it rather funny that the big boys in her class also write with these curly letters.

‘Grands carreaux, Petits carreaux’

Also in the last month: I broke a tooth, Danie broke a tooth, Mandi fell on her hand and was swollen and blue for a week, but luckily didn’t break anything and then to top it all, Jaco broke his foot.
All of this would have been nothing if we were still in SA, but add french and doctors with different ways of doing things to that, and its a whole new story.
The strangest part with doctors here is probably the absence of receptionists! Danie made my appointment with the dentist, (he had to go first). So, you enter their building and there is nothing and nobody. Now you wonder what next?! Do you walk down the passage and knock on the closed doors? There was an empty waiting room. Then I saw a sign that says, ring the bell and wait: Rang the bell, sat down, and now wonder if they heard the bell. Waited a minute or two, rang the bell again and waited again. But, not strange to them, the assistant came to fetch me and at least, the ‘dentist work’ was the same. : ) Afterwards you pay at the doctor. Everything happens in his consulting room. Just him and his assistant and they do everything.

Mandi of course had to go to the doctor and go for x-rays, but we survived that.
Jaco broke his foot at 10pm, with the next day being a public holiday… now we also know where the emergency clinic is, but that was not the end for him. He needs to get an injection every day to keep the blood thin. Now we know that you can get visiting nurses at home or could see them at the medical center at certain times. In the meantime the nurse showed Jaco how to do it and he just injects himself! Still not the end of this story: there are also blood tests once a week at the laboratory. Each time I test how long I can last before I have to say: “Je parle un peu français”, when I don’t understand what’s going on anymore. My most used phrase to tell them I only speak a bit of french. I feel really good when I leave and realize I understood everything and they understood me, and I haven’t used my phrase! : )

…and crutches in french? ‘Cannes anglaises‘… English walking sticks. : )

In the meantime winter is coming closer. Day temperatures are now between 5 and 11 degrees. The sun only rise after 8am and most mornings we have thick fog.

1.  We get more vacations.  We get 2 weeks off in the fall, 2 weeks at Christmas, 2 weeks in February and 2 weeks in April!

2.  I love Wednesdays.  We don’t have school but we have sports (I do track & field and dance on Wednesdays).

3.  You don’t have to bring your lunch to school.  Sometimes I really like the food at lunch but sometimes not so much.

4.  English class rules!  (Most of the time, I help the teacher)

5.  We each have mini-white boards (it’s called an ardoise).  In math, our teacher asks us questions and we each write our answer on the ardoise and hold it up.

Here are the 5 downers about school in France:

1.  The school day is too long.  It starts at 8:30 and ends at 4:30!  Blah!

2.  We have 2 hours off for lunch, but sometimes I get bored.  It only takes about 25 minutes for me to eat.

3.  History class.  We only learn stuff about France!

4.  I miss my friends in Vancouver. 

5.  And finally, I can’t think of another downer!  I kind of like it here!  Actually one other thing I do like about school in France is the principal of our school.  She is SOOOOO nice.  And pretty.

- Sophie

I’m maybe writing this for myself, but I thought that some things happened that we must remember and laugh about in a year’s time. So, here is Jaco end Pieter’s ‘report’ of their first two weeks in high school in Enghien-les-Bains, Paris.

Enghien-les-Bains is a suburb in Northern Paris, 14 km from Paris center, and by car it takes me 25 mins. to the school, but that is when there is no traffic. In early morning traffic, which lasts up to 10am it will take you an hour. This suburb is known for a lake, a spa (naturel hot water spring) and a casino. The school is also on the lake and beautiful big houses around the school, for which I am sure you will need more than a million or two to buy.

Enghien-les-Bains

The one unfortunate thing is that the station close to us is on the RER A train line and their school is on another train line, so I have to take them to Pontoise station, about 15 minutes away.

The first Monday I took them to school, 12h30, drove back and as I stop at home Pieter phoned to say that the french teacher never arrived and they can go home! Yes, just turned around and drove back. They said it was their meet and greet of the students day.
Tuesday, they started at 10am and after french and maths I fetched them at 17h30. By now they have met a lot of friends and were really enjoying school.
Wednesday morning we left at 6h50 to be at the station at 7h12 for the train. Danie went with them and they first bought the wrong tickets, then had to ask and eventually missed the train, so I had to take them to school, traffic and all. Wednesdays all schools close at 12h30 and for now they don’t have any classes on Thursdays.
Friday morning we were ready and on time for the train at 7h12. When they came at school there were nobody in their maths class, after asking at the office they realized that they have alternating week schedules and this was the week they actually don’t have maths and could have gone to school at 10am!

The second week started with Monday from 9am to 16h30. All went well and they went by train. Monday evening they came home complaining that they had so much french homework and work they haven’t even done in class! They started immediately, did not go to gymnastics and gave up after ten to go to bed. Well, Tuesday morning the teacher started explaining the work that they have now done! Then they realized nobody else did the ‘homework’ and that it was actually not homework, she just said that that was what they will do at the next classes! The teacher only speak french… they must have misunderstood her.
After this late night and ‘unnecessary’ hard work, Tuesday started. Their longest day from 8am to 17h30. And again they arrived at school for the first sports period and found nobody there, only to hear that they were supposed to go to a different venue for sport… and waited at school for two hours for the next period.
Wednesday was short again and Thursday off. Friday had maths and history and then the holiday started.

In the meantime winter arrived here by us. When I dropped them off at 7am Friday morning the temperature was 0,5 degrees. Luckily the trains and buses are nice and warm.

I am sure we will be more organised and ready for the next term, which is also only six weeks till the two weeks holiday over Christmas.

I have to say that apart from getting up at six some days, they are really enjoying school. They are part of the ‘french-learning’ group and like their new friends from any country you can think of and with names that they have never heard of. : )

lycee Gustave Monod…
The two houses is where the offices are and the classrooms are in three long blocks, one is the grey roof on the right. 

The casino on the right and the school is on the opposite side.

We went to 3 stores.  The first one was bad.  All they had for kids were Hello Kitty and Cars glasses.  No thanks!  The second store had some really cute Paul Frank glasses and the sales lady was super nice.  Bonus!  The third store had some chic Naf Naf glasses. Now I had to choose between the Paul Frank and Naf Naf and they were in different stores, but only a block apart.  I finally chose the Naf Naf ones because I felt they were more “me”.  What do you think?

After we chose them the sales man told us we could get prescription sunglasses for only 1 euro more (and he forgot to charge us the extra 1 euro!).  I chose some rockin’ black Ray Bans.

I’m kind of nervous to wear my glasses to school tomorrow, but my Mom says if any kids stare at me I should give them a big smile. 

- Sophie

Contrast that experience to Sophie’s field trip this week in Aix. Her class walked twenty minutes to the Musée Granet, where they studied ORIGINAL works by Picasso and Cézanne (who was born, painted and died in Aix). After the class viewed the paintings, the museum curator conducted a workshop, in which the children tried to create their own works in the Cézanne style.

These two field trips could not be more different. This is why we came to France.

- Billy

In the end it was arranged that we had to be at the school on Wednesday, 12h30. The school is in Enghien-les-Bains, a northern suburb of Paris. A very nice area. Lycee Gustave Monod, a highschool for the last three years of school. They will be in ‘seconde‘, equivalent to South-African grade 10. The school has a program for kids who can’t speak french. We met the lady in charge of the program. Very friendly. As we walked on the school ground she introduced them to some of their classmates. A real international group! Everyone is from a different country. Brasilia, Sri-Lanka, Argentina, China, Mexico, Russia and so you can go on.
They will have 13 hours of french lesson a week and join the normal classes for sport, maths and english as well. As their french improve, they will join the other classes. For now they only have to be at the school when they have class. They start on Monday from 12h30 to 4h30. I think the four months holiday was long enough and they are quite excited to start tomorrow.

Mandi and Franci’s letters came on Friday. They will be in Collège Moulin a Vent (middle school), just around the corner from us. Franci in ‘Sixième‘ (gr 6) and Mandi in ‘Troisième‘ (gr.9). I will phone the school tomorrow, but they will probably tell me to wait till later in the week.

Luckily, we could still enjoy a wonderful day at Eurodisney on Monday. There weren’t that many people. Still a lot, but no long queues  at the rides. It is so big that you can’t do everything in one day, we will have to save and go again. : )

Fantasyland

Frontierland

Discoveryland

Adventureland
 

Walt Disney Studios

]]> http://koegas2paris.wordpress.com/2011/09/20/the-schools-gymnastics-and-the-axe-majeur/ Tue, 20 Sep 2011 15:33:31 +0000 ButterflyHands http://koegas2paris.wordpress.com/2011/09/20/the-schools-gymnastics-and-the-axe-majeur/ 20 September 2011

There are no ‘new’ news about the schools… The kids did their tests 10 days ago and now we have to wait for the letters to tell us where they must go. The tests went well. An english comprehension test, which was easy and then maths, which was easy as well! So, according to the French school department they are all up to standard. : )
We thought the tests were because they can’t speak french, but when we came there and everyone else spoke french (they were all from french-speaking countries) we realised it is everyone coming from another country that must be tested. The people from the departement only spoke french, but their was a friendly mother from Mauritius who translated for us when we did not understand… I have to say that they actually felt bad that they could not speak english.
We tried to contact the schools directly, but they just said no, we have to work through the
‘Inspection académique’.
What we know is that the girls will be in ‘collège‘ (middle-school, gr.6 and gr.9), just not where, but there is a school in Cergy with a class for non-french speaking kids. (just a block or two away)
The boys will be in ‘lycée‘ (high-school, probably gr. 10), but it seems that the closest class for them will be 30 min away by train. The man that tested them, is a teacher of such a class. He said he had kids from 80 countries through the years in his class, but never from South-Africa and he was keen to take Jaco and Pieter, he was just not sure if he still had place in his class. His school is in Argenteuil… a kind man. They will all four be in classes where they will be taught French.
In the meantime we carry on with our French lessons and wait for the letters… the french like letters, no e-mails, but printed on paper and mailed to you. : ) As I’m saying what they like… they also still use cheques a lot. Danie hasn’t had a cheque-book for years in SA and now he writes cheques all the time. : ) And don’t even ask how much concentration it takes to write all those numbers in french… ‘Trois-cent-quatre-vingt-dix-huit euros et cinquant-sept centimes‘ 398,57 : )

The gymnastics is going very well. Mandi and Franci gym four evenings a week and are in the competition group. The gym and equipment are excellent. And the most important thing is that they love their new coach, Frédéric. They say he is just like Alfie (ACS, Monte Vista), funny and making jokes all the time. : ) Frédéric would not know what a huge compliment that is, because Alfie has a talent for working with kids… and he is an excellent coach!

The boys also joined a class last week. They have a class for high school kids and young adults who just want to stay fit and keep their gymnastic skills. So they go two evenings a week (8h30 to 10pm!) and really enjoy it.

To add some photo’s, I will show you the Axe Majeur Horloge. This is what Cergy is known for. As you approach the town on the highway, you see the signs on how to get there. They call it landscape architecture and was designed by Dani Karavan, a landscape architect… of course. : ) There is a whole lot of symbolism in this structure, but one day when my french is better, I will read the book that explains it all. He used the number 12 as a symbol of noon and midnight, twelve apostles, twelve tribes of Israel, twelve astronomical signs… (!?… weird?)  that’s why there are twelve columns, etc.
It is 3.2km if you walk from the top to the bottom (and a LOT of stairs!)

It starts with this building up on the hill, with the axis (the axe) in the middle.

and as you turn around here, you see the columns. Everything cement and gray…

…and then the surprise when you walk just behind the columns… a lovely view…
the red bridge that crosses the Oise river and then the ‘ile astronomique‘, an island that forms a perfect circle, which I think is man-made. 

The buildings in the background are at La Defense, Paris.

The highest point on the left is the Eiffel Tower and the big block just to the right of the centre, the Grande Arche.

For the locals this is a favourite spot to exercise… running those steps up and down…

-Devon

School lunches are a whole different story here in France.

First of all, NOBODY brown-bags it.   Food is so important here that the school catering is run by the mayor’s office.  A dietician employed by the City plans the menus in accordance with the state nutrition guidelines. There is also a committee that meets in the summer (with the mayor, the school principal and parent representatives) to review the lunch menus for approval prior to each school year.  Other than the strict health and nutrition guidelines, the objectives of the restauration scolaire include introducing more fruits and vegetables into children’s diets, giving them the opportunity to taste different foods, and expanding their gastronomic vocabulary. OK, we’re already sold!  It gets better.

The menus are posted weekly on the bulletin board in front of the school.  Here it is for this week, complete with nutritional information, and advice for parents on what to make for dinner to achieve the perfect balance of nutrition in a day!  http://aixenprovence.fr/IMG/pdf/Menus_du_soir_12sept_16sept_2011.pdf

For those of you working with your Grade 12 French, here’s a smattering of what the kids are eating for lunch this week:  sautéed lamb cutlets, brie and applesauce, roast veal, rice pilaf, fresh melon, local fish with Basque sauce….and of course pastries and fruit daily.  I dare say even Sophie is trying new things!  It’s very much frowned upon not to at least try everything once.  Keep in mind the children have two hours off for the mid-day break so they are encouraged to eat at a leisurely pace, and still have at least an hour to play outside after lunch.

How much does all this cost?  Well, in Aix, about 8,000 of the 10,000 school children participate in the restauration scolaire.  (The other 2,000 go home for lunch).  The school guide for this year estimates that each meal costs 8 euros and the parents pay 3 euros per meal.  Yes, 3 euros – about $4 Cdn.  We’re in for the year!  And I can’t think of one single parent back in Vancouver who wouldn’t sign up!

- Carol

We’ve been walking the fresh food markets almost daily (there are several throughout Aix).  We quickly noticed that carrying your goods in a backpack, however convenient, singles you out as a tourist fairly quickly.  At one of the markets, I bought a straw carrying bag, the same kind that the locals sport.  Within 5 minutes, two teenaged girls asked me for directions to the local post office!  Even more surprisingly, I was able to tell them where it is, in French!

La rentrée (back to school) went really well after a shaky morning on Monday.  Sophie and Devon speak beautiful French but all the same they were nervous (Devon downright anxious) about starting at a new school in a foreign country.  During the 2 hour school lunch break (!) we stopped by the school yard and saw both kids happily playing with their new friends.  They were ‘rock stars’ – the only students in the whole school of 150 students that are not from France.  When we picked them up at the end of the day they greeted us with huge smiles and spent the next 90 minutes recounting all the details of the day while we sipped rosé (and lemonade) on our pretty terrace.

Meanwhile, Bill and I have been living our dream for the past 2 days with the kids in school……a nice walk into centre-ville.…visit the morning markets, buy fresh veggies, fish/meat for dinner, come home for a leisurely lunch on the terrace, spend the afternoon relaxing, bike riding (’cause the morning was so busy), pick up the kids at 4:30, chat with them about their day, play a bit of bocce, make a delicious dinner with the fresh fare from the market.

Am I in heaven?

- Carol

This week in retrospect is this: better.

Things that happened:

• French school now! Yay, and very hard. I made friends with several French girls to help me translate my homework. Also, I am American and they are cool with me.
• At this point, I have tons of homework. I am doing French school, online studies, and whatever the International school gives me. It’s a pain in the behind so I expect someone to throw me a party soon.
• Yeah, we need some crazy good-times partyness up in herrr.
• All French girls do this: “coucou!” as a form of “hi!” I learned how to respond the hard way; awkwardly.
• Today is Saturday and I have shit on my plate: possibly… France Miniature, family party (as usual every weekend, look out stomach, you about to be force-fed to prevent rudeness), a film with a friend au cinema, and then homework, that is no longer Fiji sized.
• I’m getting fat.
• NO! I won’t let it happen. I exercise for an hour on my floor every night, and go for a jog five times a week. That’s what I’m doing now. I’ll do more once they stop feeding me 24/7.
• Here are my misses:
• I miss Kamiak Football games.
• I miss friends going to Homecoming.
• I miss my sister.
• I miss Sarah Silverman
• I miss Jimmy Fallon, but he’s on my computer screen a lot, so he’s still with me.
• On Jimmy’s monologue the other day, he mentioned a joke about the bomb threats in Europe. It was cool. It was like he was talking to me…
• I love being here more than I miss these things.
• I hate online school.
• Ah! Badminton! Every Friday is badminton for three hours after school. I have no idea why, but it’s the hippest thing here in the French high school. Every one (well not everyone, there’s definitely defined groups as all schools would have) has a badminton racquet and Fridays are the badminton days and it is a popular sport choice for P.E.
• Outside the gym are faucets of water and the French kids drink out of them like dogs.
• French people don’t really shower, or it isn’t evident.
• Aaah! Drama. That class is taught by a British teacher and it get’s physical. I like that class. The teacher is such a professional, it makes me happy inside knowing there is organization embedded somewhere in my education.
• October Holidays, “Toussaint” holidays, are from October 22 – Nov 2. Possible destinations for me: France and Latvia, Bruxelles, Belgium then Latvia, and Italy is somewhat of a choice, too. Dad and I will discuss this further and I will attempt to finish my paperwork with him this weekend.
• I really need more pictures on this thing. Reading is boring.
• I bought series “Friends” season 10 in Villennes. To improve my French, of course, I am watching it in French with sous-titres en Anglais. It gets hilarious.
• Within the next few weeks I’ll need to get Dexter, Heroes, and Mad Men. My French will be superb.
• Sad news Monday: our friend Alexandre the fourteen year old French-American is leaving the International school to move back to the US. And he chose the best place to be! Utah! Well have fun in crazy Mormon Utah, Alex. We’ll miss you.
• Tita Loubelle is visiting tomorrow!!! Best news ever. I hope it is fun.

Ah, and lastly, my brain has been occupied with a set of thoughts lately, that I felt should be exclaimed in a speech. I probably won’t have enough attention to make a speech in class with the International school, however, my opinion on this specific matter hasn’t changed since the second day here. The specific matter is this: you can’t be in this world and live in two. Basically, the students of the International school feel they have to be in complete and thorough touch with their companions and comrades in their home country, all the time. My opinion rests in the statement that Mrs. Zicari made, “You can’t live in both.” The other day, there was a private meeting with the host-families and their exchange students, and here, Mrs. Zicari made this statement. To be honest, I dislike Mrs. Zicari’s attitude towards most things. Yet these words reassured me that I wasn’t going insane. I don’t want to be in touch with America 24/7. Sure, at night, before I go to bed, I’ll call my father, or Skype my friends. The extreme lengths that the other internationals go is bringing their laptops into their classes, hammering the keyboards at such odd hours in the morning, staying up until 2 AM to learn about the last party or your friend’s homecoming dress… it’s pointless. It stirs up a stronger homesickness in a person than anyone can imagine. My first day was a homesickness hell. But from that point on, I’ve made the best of where I am and what I choose to do. To conclude this rant, my words are simple. As a group of students from all around the world who received this opportunity to be with other students just as different as they are, we must utilize our very limited time. Let us not forget that a majority of us have less than four months together, and upon returning home, you’re friends in your country will still be there. Simply put, our international family, who was born six weeks ago,

must spend time with each other, and not next to each other.

I feel a tad bit sick. Tout le monde** feels sick though.

It’s time for bed, I’m pooped from today’s two hours of badminton, and Celia’s crazy demands. Spent pretty much my entire afternoon with Celia doing her homework, reading, drawing, pretending to be listening, etc. Gaelle literally just popped into my room to let me know that I have the right to say ‘NO!’ when Celia demands too much attention from me. Wahoo!

School isn’t tiring me academically—it’s ridiculous. I don’t mind the vacation; it’s like I’m making up for lost time in the social realm of Geena’s life. I’m savoring every moment of it. Let me tell you, Brazilians rule.

Academics for me are incredibly easy and even more unorganized that I can’t bear it at some times. I’m in the process of registering my online courses in order to be caught up for February at Kamiak. I’m not going to doubt this matter, only going to work my hardest. I know it’ll be alright.

French class isn’t getting much better, but with the help of my host family, my French is.
However, evidently my English is depleting  for I ended the previous sentence with a preposition. People who don’t speak English are my life now. I’m always having to read slowly and explain what words mean. Google Translate is my survival kit for Chinese, Spanish, and Portuguese.

Of course, the classes are just bull. In addition to my own academic suffering, it’s frustrating when students from all around the globe expect an “American” education, and I have to waste my words and energy explaining to them that American high schools do not function this way at all. Tout le monde** knows this school is unorganized. Tout le monde** likes me too so fortunately it isn’t hard to persuade them about the reputation of schools in the U.S.

Je suis fatigué. Oh, je vais prendre le bus demain matin, mais don’t worry about me. I got this.

Thanks for readin’ mon Franglish.

Presently, my room.

Good night everybody*.

*Everybody = tout le monde

**Tout le monde = everybody

Left to right: Elizabete, Agathe, Tereza, Sofia, Nina (Marina), Luke, Josh (in the back)

Today is the day I remember to write words for my experiences in France. Or it is just the day that I have a chunk of time in the morning before school to jot stuff down, and there will be NO pictures. Sorry to people who can’t read. Really. I feel sorry for you.

Today, today is Monday. Yesterday was Sunday, and before that was Saturday. Before that even was Friday, and before that were a bunch of days I can’t remember. I remember this weekend though because I put bullets of information on a piece of printer paper so I could compile a set of thoughts for this morning. Here goes:

On Friday, I went to school as usual, and then as unusual, I did not go home to my host family. I played badminton instead! The French students are really into badminton. It doesn’t even work you, it’s just extremely fun and sometimes boring if you aren’t playing right. So that day was the free day, and I only went because my Brazilian friends went. Marina and Tereza are Brazilian from Belo Horizonte, Brasil. They and the other one, Sofia (♥), teach me Português! I truly believe I know more Portuguese than French. …nahh

Continuing through Friday, I’ve been playing badminton for two hours with the rest of the French kids, only our group was me, the Brazilians, Thomas Zicari, Titus Payne, and Luke Skywalker, students from our school. Because the session of free badminton (otherwise it’s 40€) ended at 7:00, and Tereza, my child, left me for her host family at 7:00, I just stayed at school for the night, at the suggestion of Gaelle.

Staying at school was extremely fun and I had time to bond with all my friends from the International School. Samir, the young French man who watches over the boys dorms, joined us in our fun. He likes Daft Punk, Phoenix, and Vampire Weekend. He even saw Daft Punk in Paris. HOW SICK IS DAT?!

Alas, Friday became Saturday after a night joking with friends. On Saturdays, the boarders at the school go into Paris with Audrey, the cute young Parisian woman who picked me up from the airport. She knows her stuff and she’s an art student. So two days ago was my first trip into Paris with the school for shopping. Of course my Latvian friend, Elizabete, helped me shop. No she didn’t help me shop, she shopped and I paid for clothes. Of course, they were for me.

Audrey took us through that specific section of the city and later returned with us to the train station where she said goodbye. The other students and I took the thirty minute train ride home to Verneuil.

I was supposed to get picked up by Gaelle that evening at 6:30 PM SHARP because Gaelle had a meeting with a friend at 7:00PM. I called Gaelle using a friend’s phone, which is a big gesture because minutes on these pre-paid phones are like 2€ each. Gaelle said I was spending the night at school again! While I was talking to Gaelle, I had no idea that there would be a “party” that evening, but overall that was the reason I was staying at school.

Brazilian Night

Soiree Brésil was Saturday night. It was to celebrate the work that a group of French students did in the poor cities of Brazil, completely unrelated to the Brazilians in our international school. But everyone went to the party anyways. There was a big-band all dressed in white suits, and they played old-people music that only old people knew how to dance to. Even I knew that it was not Brazilian music. Brazil gets crazy. This was chill. It was loud, but relaxed.

Luke Skywalker, his name in Chinese, I don’t know (no one does), danced his ass off when the disco beats came out of the big-band. There were of course several American tunes scattered throughout the night. Also, Tereza’s host family stopped by with Tereza. The family was only a single mother and a fifteen-year-old girl. Boy am I jealous. Tereza’s host-mom is the hippest mom in all of France. Tereza is very happy with her host-family, but mine’s not bad either. They just have a lot on their plate.

Anyways, the adults and kids danced and talked. That was pretty much the evening. Honestly, our group of students, Samir, and Tereza’s host-sister Agathe were the youngest ones in the room. The fifty or so other people were either forty or older. That’s why Luke had to start dancing to make us alert again.

Funday Sunday

Sunday was a day of depression. Everyone was depressed and the sky was depressed and the trees were depressed, but somehow we enjoyed each other all being depressed together. Sofia and I decided to go for a run, then we snuck out of the school with Marina and Filipino Josh. We bought some baguettes at the only store open on Sundays in walking distance. Vova (Vladymyr, the Ukranian), Samir, and I played basketball 2 on 1 in the gym. Samir against 1.85 meter Vova and me. I still don’t know how tall I am in meters, but I believe myself to be 1.65 or so. Later on Sunday, around 6PM we all sat in the boys dorm watching Sex in the City 1. Elizabete brought it from home. She is in love with America, NY,NY to be more specific. And that’s why we’re great friends. I am in love with it, too.

I ran to pack my things. I had three bags, all very small, one of them filled with my purchases from the previous day. At 7:15PM Mr. Murphy drove me home to the host family’s house. Thomas came along, thinking he was going to get a ride home, but Mr. Murphy ended up staying an hour drinking champagne with my host family. Thomas and I sat and spoke in English. We get along well.

So that was my weekend. After Mr. Murphy and Thomas left my house, I ate dinner with the family. They seemed to have a more welcoming attitude then before. I’m positive it had to do with my weekend away, but that’s fine. I appreciate my host family. Actually, I extremely enjoy doing homework with Celia, although she takes ages to finish circling a’s, e’s, i’s, o’s, and u’s out of words. And Alexandre is the sweetest boy alive. He is my favorite person ever. I’ll never get mad at Gregoire, too, since he does the most hilarious things ever, for example knocking his head to the left and the right, speaking loud, and smacking his lips when he wants to make an important point. Let me remind you that he’s three years old. So cute.

School academically isn’t any better yet. The teaching, besides Mr. Zicari, has not improved one bit. It irritates me more and more everyday that the foreign students who came to this “American School” now perceive American teachers and education like the one they are receiving here. It’s total blasphemy. I do let my friends know this is not how school works in America. Not at all.

Can’t Complain

I can’t complain about my friends here. No way. Without them I’d have nothing. I’d be 24/7 depressed without them. As an individual, I’ve always considered myself independent. In fact, my whole Freshman year of high school, I distanced myself from any real friendships. My friends were all surface friends.

Now, I am not less independent, but more dependent on relationships and love for others. What I’ve learned from the French is that you have to live your life in every minute you can. Don’t sleep nor sit around. Life is about being with other people and accomplishing whatever you want with them. Not a great choice of words, I know; there’s really no way I can describe how to live. Just live.

However, I didn’t completely learn life from being in France. No matter what location this school would have been in, whether it be Saudi Arabia, Cambodia, Russia, Ukraine, Latvia, the Philippines, South Dakota, Seattle, Brazil, Paris, the Ivory Coast, Israel, New York, South Korea, China, Serbia, Syria, Namibia, Vermont, Mexico, or even Everett (no, no, no, no, not Everett, never-freaking-mind, not Everett) I would still appreciate the grand and diverse family of twenty-three that I spend my time with here in Verneuil-sur-Seine, France.

Next week I will try to show pictures of the friends here I call family.

Au revoir for now,

Geena

Realization: my French is horrible. I need to get off my butt and learn French. I know only a few words more than I did three weeks ago. I’m listening to online French radio all the time, and talked to Gaëlle’s mother, who came over yesterday, in all the French I knew. She said good job for trying, in French. That’s awesome.

What’s not awesome is that Alexandre, one of the little twins, is in the hospital overnight for some sort of asthma problem. He’s been there since Tuesday night. Gaelle’s mother is here to sleep at the hospital with him for the nights he is there this week.

Alexandre is the one that doesn't hate me.

Yesterday, we went to the Louvre! [said yesterday] I’m gonna have fun! The students including me are presenting paintings and their information! Hopefully too many Japanese people won’t crowd the Mona Lisa! I want to see it! And school starts in ten minutes! Bye!

I chose "The Raft of the Medusa" from the Salon de 1819 to present. I chose it after combing through two art history books, the Louvre website, and the Louvre app for iPod.

and literally nothing has happened yet.

I (me, myself, just me, out of all the people here, for some reason), have only been into the city once. Let me point out that there have been at least four trips with the other students to go the city since I’ve been welcomed into this priso– I mean, my famille d’acceuil.

Nah, I love it here. Excuse my negativity, I’m just tired. This seems to be an obligatory post for me tonight. However, I am thankful for this lovely family. And of course it’s lovely poisonous water (see below) and lack of trash cans.

Then the story takes a turn into the void of Empty-Mind Land…Geena is lost in her empty mind…She blinks slowly and sleepily, wondering where to go next. Where does she go next? Ah, lost no longer, she sets off for the land of Pissed-Off-At-Herself…

I’m sick and the family is still very hesitant towards me. Let’s use that as an excuse to explain why I am hesitant towards them as well (even though we all know Geena can’t help but be awkward with anyone.) Working on my français. Haven’t said any words in French in the house except ‘oui’ and ‘non.’ Not even ‘merci’, it always just comes out as ‘thank you.’ My tongue isn’t really friends with my brain.

…

[pause]

The grandparents came over today, Denis’ parents. I was not informed/notified/hinted at/told/written-to/spoken-to/emailed about this out-of-the-blue visitation of the parents of [one] parent.

As I write this, I am being shunned in my room, from the dinner table where the family sits. I don’t mind. I know that I should be in my room so I went, and I could care less what I’m doing alone without them, but what they say in French that I cannot hear…that is what I wish I knew.

Let’s talk about my day a little bit. Let us keep it simple for I am extremely tired. In bullet form, simple, quick, Geena’s day: go—

• Failed at playing soccer today.
• Played for two hours and it felt like nine.
• Definitely sick- it’s from the water, I know it. The more I drink the worse it gets.

[Geena takes a break from typing. She sips from her glass of water, then gags.]

• Sickness started on the morning after the party (so, Sunday morning.) Maybe it has to do with the alcohol from Saturday night. But I swear it’s the water.
• Homework is nothing at this dumb school. Let’s say we can compare the size of homework by school via landmass. For example, if the regular amount of homework I would get at Kamiak is…let’s go with Russia, then the homework I get at Notre Dame International School is somewhere around the size of…Fiji.
• At least the international school is working on getting me into the French school—oh wait! They are too unorganized to run themselves.
• Today was good with friends at least. I kind of wish I still was boarding at Notre Dame because of the freedom. I couldn’t walk around Verneuil with friends today, and I never will be able to.
• Tomorrow I have to take the bus home.
• I want to buy a Kindle via the internet but French addresses are weird so it’s not working.
• I am frustrated about the previous statement.
• Ah, yes! Loubelle (my “relative” that lives in Bruxelles) emailed me two days ago and said I could visit during Christmas and/or any available weekend she could come visit me here.
• I want to go to her house for my birthday.
• The train takes an hour and a half from Paris to Bruxelles.
• Loubelle said she was ‘already very excited to meet me.’
• I got so excited I have not yet replied in fear of saying something awkward.
• I suppose waiting for a long period of time makes this all the more awkward.
• Everyday here I laugh at the noisy children because of how funny they act.
• Everyday here I have a headache because of the noisy children.
• I like Colombo.
• All the outdoor window shades are set to close every night at 8:30 PM.
• I freak out every time they close.
• My snack stash is running low on supply.
• Back to Carrefour soon.

[Exeunt host-grandparents.]

[Geena exits, towards the bathroom.]

30.8.2010

“My cultural experience is like my social/personal life at home. I thought I was supposed to see change at this point. How it goes down:  I become intertwined with people that I fall back on them and let them be. But as I continue to do that, I short myself and hold back any talents or charisma that I may possess. Thus, my personality suffers. And to this I say: my cultural experience/life is like a ladder with all of us climbing up it. Once I climb too far up, I am what I think is courteous and let the others pass, leaving me behind and unnoticed. I often need to climb back up, and when I do, I climb harder and faster, reaching my nearly-full public display of true talent and person. I must learn to remain at the top of this ladder, even when everyone is looking up and me, and well, at my butt. It’s kind of a life-heaven comparison, but I wasn’t going for that. I meant this as a “reaching-potential”  metaphor, and that I need to step up my game.
End of self reflection. And you read it so good for you.”

Firstly, because I was too lazy in the past, I did not set up my blog. Obviously it’s ready now.

My overview of the post above: I was afraid.

Today, my thoughts of Notre Dame are completely different. Actually, immediately the following day of that post, I felt that all of the international students, and the Zicari family, were like one big family. You feel total comfort. And that stands true today. Except Mrs. Zicari hates me. So if she were the mom of the international school, then perfect, it’s just like home.

This isn't nearly half the International group. There with Elizabeth, his daughter, Mr. Zicari sits in the red shirt. These kids all go to the Notre Dame International School with me.

Some of the group at the Petit Palais, only because the Grand Palais was under construction.

Crepe night! The second night the International school went out for desert. I am sitting next to Erica, and next to her is Elizabete. Erica, from the midwest, gets a little homesick now and then. She's like midwesty South Dakota family-attached. Other than that, she's fun. Elizabete is from Latvia and she's very artsy and likes Woody Allen. We get along very well! And Lawrence the little boy in the yellow is one of the Zicari's children. He is nine, and hilaaarious. Others in the photo are Patrick Zicari, Tulenni (from Namibia), Thomas Zicari (next to me), and maybe Titus is in the back.

Other end of the table. At the far end is Mr. Murphy and his wife, and should be Mr. Zicari too on the left, but I don't know if you can see him. Don't I look goood.

Soon.

Soon.

In the meanwhile, look at this picture of Célia!

Really though, math was fine. Precalc. A little easy but it’s my highlight of my day. Brings joy to my eyes when I see math written out all over a piece of paper. I love math like I love art. It’s beautiful; math is beautiful. It is art, and like art, I love when it surrounds me.

Tonight I came home, awkwardly awkwarded with the family, told them I had some homework, and went off to my beautiful comforting room where I watched “Colombo”, which Denis introduced to me (so good mystery stuff- watch it), and did my Precalc homework. Ate dinner, then read to the children in English, as to Gaelle’s request.

That was fun.

Ah.. I’m getting so tired.

You know what I’ve noticed? The French love to go in circles. There are roundabouts in town for no reason at all. And the streets are narrow with those beeping cars.

I mean, I learn new things every day. I’ve learned that when eating meals, it is better to waste food than to eat it all. In some world like this, I need to learn quickly. Americans like to eat their food fast and get meals over with. Here in France, the meals are very slow (duh, Geena) but they become slower when you don’t eat all that’s on your plate. I’m not even joking– wasting food in a meal is good. I mean, I know about respect. I mean, I know. I try so hard every day, just in America to gain respect. As I’m in France now, I’ve heard they eat slow around here. So I’m like, “yeah, Geena, you can do most anything anyways, just eat really slow and you’ll be fine.” Well, I’ve eaten too slow, and quite too much. I haven’t gained weight, you see. Just stupidity. During meals in my host family’s home, I’ve decided there are three factors to making a meal slow.

1. Eating small bites.
2. Talking in-between bites.
3. Absolutely do not finish what is on your plate.

Holy crap that’s hard, especially when it’s completely possible to eat a whole roll of Camembert.

Cheese from the heavens

Where I sleep (couch opens up)

Closet (empty from first day moving in)

My big window facing the driveway. At night the automatic shutters close over all windows from the outside. So top-secret modern-window technology

Just had dinner with the family. They are very supportive of my French school journey.

I recall the nightmare of today when I spoke to Mrs. Zicari. I was getting so frustrated as Mrs. Zicari tried preventing me from taking online courses.

Or she is just extremely upset with it. She never really said NO

I’m going to do it no matter what. I’m going to spend five hours a night on that and it will take a long while to get things up to date.

I’m taking classes via Insight schools and I hope everything goes how I plan.

Here’s the tentative (very) (because of my possible course of French school) schedule of my International School.

My schedule. Dumbdumb

The meals are good in this family, this is my third day with them and they are just terrific.

What I like about it here is the weather and country. I couldn’t be more in my comfort zone. All I have to do now is learn how to speak french and I’m good.

I want to be able to talk to strangers. I think we all do, don’t we?

The family:

Denis, the daddio, is super hip. He is very young. Actually the whole family is quite young. He sells windows, plays golf, is healthy and thin, and loves Will Smith. I like how he chooses to listen to all music.

I do hope he introduces me to French music.

Gaelle, the mother is very nice. She loves her family and they love her.

The boys, Alexandre and Gregoire are very cute and friendly. They’re French is so fun to listen to!

Celia likes to play.

So I played for what seemed like ten hours with Célia playing “Littlest Pet Shop” with those american toys and what not. She loves Hello Kitty. Oh and also she snatched my camera and took literally hundreds of pictures of me, after rearranging three hair clips in my hair, or on my nose. She did the same.

Here are a very small sample of the hundreds of photos taken by Célia.

You can tell I was really enjoying that.

Well that is all I have to say.

See the photos for more photos of these people!

Also for hints on what to talk about with kids at International schools–Things that are universal:

Pop music

Films

Will smith

Computers

Speaking of speaking French… [eye roll]

I’ve been told to go into the French school, instead of the International School. It’s been over a week since I’ve been here and the schedule has JUST been determined, and it is tentative. It’s ridiculous. It frustrates me that the whole Zicari family, who is Mr. and Mrs. Zicari, and the Mrs’ father, Mr. Murphy (the only three teachers at the International School), are so unorganized. I haven’t been told anything in confidence yet. The only trust I can put in someone is my host family, they are very sure of themselves, and find me going into the French school very odd, too.

Yet I find that going into French school will get me some language help, and I could be good at the language by the end. Not fluent, but good.

Fluent is fucking impossible.

Now don’t take my negativity towards the school as a hate for this trip. I absolutely love it here. It’s beautiful and the other students are so nice. My host family is great! And I just have to improve myself; clothing, language, and person.

Yesterday, Sunday, the family took me out to visit their friends, who are also their neighbors. That family had young girls around my age and I played with them. They spoke all French, but one girl knew a bit of English. She invited me to eat lunch with her today, and I most definitely wanted to hang out with some of the French students so I looked for her today and failed in finding her. It was a sad little moment.

I need to learn more French, have a better time, and not worry about what AP classes I am losing. You know what? It just may be that I am terrified of what people at Kamiak will think when I am less smart and more French when I return. Can it be that it’s better that way? New change, maybe. I shouldn’t be worried about what Kamiakers may be thinking then.

Well as for school, I’ve stressed the idea of online classes. That proposal did not go so well with the teachers. They want me to fully immerse myself in French culture, even outside this International School. What I can do is lie to them, say, “Oh yeah, I’ll do what you say because you are totally in charge.” They are in charge, c’est vrai, but what about their stupidity? I don’t understand how Mr. and Mrs. Zicari are qualified teachers when this is their first year, they are from Buffalo, NY, and Mr. Murphy is all the same, also being the grandfather of the couples’ children.

So maybe I’ll do what they say.

But.

Be secret about my hardass work on American classes. They keep telling me American schools are so easy anyways!

Like hell no they’re not, if you choose not to make them easy!

So here’s what I’ll do: take both.

This requires regular 8:30 to 5:30pm class at crazy culture shock French-speaking school, then 5 hours (every day) of school each day online. This will make me puke and kill me inside and out, but I totally want to go to college. So I think it’s cool.

Here’s how my Dad and my conversation went on Skype about this predicament:

So, I’ve said a lot of those. So, this is how it will be. So far. So, bye.