Joyeux Noël et Bonne Année (Merry Christmas and Happy New Year)

Christmas was definitely well spent this year. My trip to Alsace was absolutely wonderful in every sense.

We left Monday, the 21st, around nine for the Nice airport. I packed in one of the big suitcases I brought my life in when coming over to France. It was all I had, and I figured I'd want some extra room to bring back souvenirs and presents for people back home. As we're checking our bags I'm sweating bullets worried that mine will be over the 20 kilo limit... I guess you could say I overpacked a bit (oops). I weighed in at 18... whew. However, my bag exceeded the 90 cm long length limit. The man at the counter jokingly said the French just weren't accustomed to the large sizes of everything from the U.S. So my bag had to go to a special "oversized" area. Typical.

The flight was only a little over an hour long. We flew into Strasbourg. My host parents generously gave me the window seat which had a breathtaking view of some towns on the outskirts of Strasbourg covered in snow and nestled in valleys between rolling mountains. At the airport we were greeted by my host mom's parents and every bag except for mine. After talking to the baggage claim woman we learned that my bag was still in Nice. They never put it on the plane. It would be coming on the last flight from Nice that night. My host grandparents live about an hour or so away from Strasbourg, and the suitcase delivery service wouldn't be running until the next morning. Oh well, just one night spent in my host grandparents' pajamas. At least my bag wasn't lost, and I now have a little Air France travel case with toiletries and an XL t-shirt for a souvenir.

We loaded up in the car and started to make our way towards the small town of Soultzbach-les-Bains. On the way to Soultzbach we passed through the city of Colmar. Colmar is the hometown of Frédéric Bartholdi who designed the Statue of Liberty. They erected a slightly smaller Statue of Liberty, in his honor, in 2004. Lady Liberty greets the people as they enter this beautiful town. Yes, I had to go all the way to Colmar, France to see the Statue of Liberty (which, ironically, I did not see when I went to New York-now that's a shame). My host mom's sister, Sophie, lives in Colmar so, naturally, we stopped to have apple tart and coffee at her apartment. I was bombarded with snowballs as I got out of the car when we arrived at Sophie's. My host parents were magically transformed back into children when their feet hit snow, as was I (although I still think of myself as a child most days). I'm always down for a good snowball fight, and I understand what it's like to be deprived of this white, cold goodness that falls from the sky. It made me extremely excited to live in Vermont next year! Sophie is so nice. I was looking forward to meeting her and then getting to spend more time with her throughout the week. After our afternoon coffee we continued our drive to my host grandparents' house. By the time we arrived in Soultzbach it was already dark. We took a little drive down into the small town, and I got to see the lights and decorations with the snow. It is such a cute little town. We got to my host grandparents' house, and they showed me around. It finally felt like Christmas as the snow fell that evening.

I awoke the next morning in my host grandmother's sleep shirt and my host granddad's pajamas pants to be told that my bag would arrive around 12. After a leisurely breakfast my host mom and I played a game to continue the lazy morning. My suitcase came just before lunch, perfect timing.

Soultzbach is right next to Munster-home of Munster cheese, which smells really bad but tastes really good. My host mom and I decided to take a walk around Munster and spend the rest of the afternoon there. It was a bit gray and rainy but not awful. The town was still very picturesque. I love the style of buildings in Alsace. They all look like Hansel and Gretel's cottage in the woods, which makes sense because Alsace has heavy German influences. A large building in the center of Munster had windows that were all decorated to be an Advent calendar. A small Christmas market, which offered some warmth with multiple little fires, displayed hand made crafts and sweets. Munster had several stores for being such a small town. Many of the stores were Christmas shops. My host mom and I spent a good bit of time in the majority of the stores there, only shopping for ourselves for a small portion of our afternoon; how selfless we are! My host mom and I always say we're friends because we both like desserts, chocolate, taking walks, and shopping. I already began to see the specialties of this region of France. It's definitely an area that caters to the Christmas season.

France is a small country but with much to offer. Throughout my time here, many people have asked me the specialities of my region in the U.S. And while there are some things more specific to the South, it is nothing like France. Each area here has specialities that exist, for the most part, only in that region. The architecture in Alsace is completely different from that in Provence. There are differences in food, tourism, and accents. It was very interesting to see.

Wednesday my host dad, host mom, and I took the little train from Soultzbach to Colmar to go to the much larger Christmas markets there. After breakfast we went down to the small station and hopped aboard. We got off the train and walked into the city. Colmar was absolutely beautiful. I think I took a picture of every building in there. Christmas markets were everywhere. Buildings were wrapped in garland and Christmas trees filled the streets. All that was missing was a little bit of snow (a lot of it had melted because the week of Christmas was actually a bit warmer than the preceding days). The Christmas markets were stands set up with vendors selling everything from giant pretzels (a speciality of the region) to cactus flavored chocolate (it tasted mostly like white chocolate with a hint of cactus-it was green!). I saw la creche de Noël (the nativity) with figurines and live goats and also fully in chocolate. Throughout the day I got to taste samples of several different types of Christmas sweets. My host dad bought me a pretzel-the best one I've ever eaten. I tried de vin chaud, hot wine, which is a hot red wine with a spiced taste somewhat similar to apple cider. I also had a sandwich that was on the same bread that makes up a pretzel. My host mom bought us each une tete de nègre (yea, interesting name) which has a white creamy interior (similar to whipped cream) and is covered in a hard shell of chocolate. MMMMM... so delicious. In the evening before getting back on the train my host mom got une gaufre (waffle), and I got un manala (the little man made from brioche-same thing my host dad made his birthday weekend). Ok, so the food part aside, I have to mention La Petite Venise in Colmar. Little Venice is an area in the town which gets its name because of the little river that runs through it. All of the buildings are bright colors, such as yellow, purple, turquoise, and green. There truly is an air of being in Venice (although I can't really attest to that as I've never been to Venice-after I go in April on the EuroTrip I'll change this statement if I find it contradicting my actual venetian experience). A faux santa was even on a gondola in the river. It was wonderful! I loved Colmar, and I want to go back during the Christmas season at some point in my life.

After getting back to the house, we relieved ourselves of all the shopping bags to settle down for the evening. I believe this was the night that my host grandmother called me over to the kitchen. "Leslie, viens ici. Regardes. On vas manger ça ce soir, mais pas toi." I figured this was a meat item since she said I wouldn't be eating it. As I looked at the crescent shaped, red meat on the cutting board I realized that it was a tongue. Yes, they ate cow tongue that night. My host family jokingly said that it was an Alsatian rabbit tongue. I didn't get a chance to steal a picture before they cut it, but I'm not too upset about that. Needless to say, I had fish that night.

Le Repas de Noël (The Christmas Meal)

J'ai hâte pour Noël. No, I don't hate Christmas-I know, it looks deceiving; literally, I have impatience for Christmas. Better said, I'm looking forward to it. Lunch, today, put an extra gust of wind under my holiday spirit sails. It was the Christmas meal. In honor of this momentous Thursday eating, I wore the ornament earrings and Christmas socks Parker sent me in my package. I also wore my red coat and a green headband. The extremely warm and fuzzy socks were pulled up over tights with shorts to show them off nicely. Yes, I looked a bit bizarre, especially in the French world of black, gray, and brown clothing, but I felt it was my duty to show of my good mood for the holiday I love most. Classes were stopped from 12:30 to 2:30 in order for everyone to have a bit more time to savor the tastes of the season. The meal consisted of l'entrée (appetizer-again, deceiving) of smoked salmon, foie gras, and toast. Le plat principal was fish, for me, green beans, and potatoes dauphinoise. Dessert was a raspberry cake, somewhat like a congealed salad. Everyone also got an orange, bread and a choice of cheese (of course), a little bag of chocolates and candies, and a choice of an orangina or coke. All this at the high school cafeteria. If there's one thing the French know, it's food. They know how to cook it , serve it, feast on it; everything concerning food is taken care of here. This being said, I was very happy to take part in the festivities with my friends over good food.

My good humor has also been enlightened by the stash of Disney movies I found in Deborah's room. I've already watched Alice in Wonderland, most of Aladdin, and Pocahontas. Not only is the dialogue dubbed into French but also the songs. It's interesting to hear how everything is translated.

On a very sad, negative note, I can not go to Paris with the youth center in Cavalaire. It's not possible because the big trips are only available for youth under 17 years old. Yes, I was very upset, but I'm still expecting my holidays to be extraordinary. I'm continually looking forward to Alsace, especially since it's only four days away!

Le Sapin de Noël (the Christmas Tree)

Yes, as my title hints, the Christmas tree is now up and decorated at my house, grâce à moi. My host mom told me I could decorate the tree so after we got it standing and put the lights on she let me have my way with it. Last week when the two of us were in a home store, something similar to Pier 1, we found an American flag ornament that she bought so that I could have a French and American Christmas tree. ☺After I put the last ornament on I told her that I had a little gift for the tree. I then proceeded to give her an ornament Mom had sent me from Tupelo from Midnight Pottery. It is the state of Mississippi and very cute. It's hanging towards the top of the tree. Another Christmas decoration that I'm very fond of is la couronne de l'Avent. Apparently these are very widely known in Germany and since my host mom is from Alsace, which is heavily influenced by German culture, she knows of the decoration from Alsace. It's a round wreath for the table that holds four candles which decrease in size. We light a candle each Sunday before Christmas, beginning with the tallest. It burns down to the size of the second candle. On the second Sunday we light the first and the second, and they burn down to the size of the third, etc. I was so excited the first Sunday to light the candle (which we actually lit Monday because we weren't at the house much Sunday. Oops!) I'm definitely in my full on Christmas mood, though, with all the lights in town, decorations in my house, etc. It also helped that my wonderful, amazing, beautiful, hilarious, perfect, bff Parker sent me a indescribably magnificent Christmas package! It included all the essentials: fuzzy Christmas socks, a Santa hat, blue ornament earrings, candy canes and chocolate, the perfect holiday card for me, a letter that provoked laughter and tears, American flag sunglasses, and a magnetic Barack Obama that I get to dress in all sorts of outfits. That's right, I get to dress our president every morning after stripping him down to his knickers at night. My host parents and I had some good laughs over that.

Friday night I shared with Paul a wonderful fusion of chocolate-ly goodness called Brownie S'mores. Brownie s'mores were created by the wonderful Kathryn Carroll and Kelley Frances Fenelon. However, I made this deliciousy goodness with my aforementioned friend of perfection, Parker, and my equally glorious friend, Janie. Brownie s'mores are quite easy to make. Just put the brownies in and when they are finished with half their time, take out the pan, place crumbled graham crackers-or in the French case butter cookies because graham crackers are not available-on top, then bars of chocolate, then graham crackers again, and finally, top it off with halved marshmallows. After, you put it back in the oven for the rest of the cooking time and voila! Brownie s'mores. MMMMM! I'm so happy I've brought this creation to France; although, now I must share it with a French person.

Saturday, I went to Toulon... yes, again. This time we met up with Anna, a New-Zealand exchange student that's not with Rotary. She lives in Toulon so she took a bus out to the shopping center. While we were there, we ran into Tracy, another exchange student with Rotary that doesn't live far from Cavalaire. It was good to spend time with Anna and Tracy. We ate lunch at a Mexican restaurant!! Oh I was so excited!! I had missed Mexican so much... of course, it was Las Margaritas, but I settled for what I could get. As night fell and our exchange student group dwindled back down to three, we went to wait at the bus stop. Paul and I had the not-so-great experience of missing the last bus to Cavalaire on the last Toulon visit so we went extra early to the bus stop. After waiting and seeing six or seven buses pull in and stop, we finally saw our bus, number 8814. We stood on the curb and signaled for it to stop but for some unknown reason it did not even attempt to pull into the stop. It didn't even veer a little to the right. Paul tried to chase it down to the next stop, but it didn't pull in there either. Oh it was awful! Of course our bus just drove right on by. Why would it stop? Ugh, so once again we went and sat in the warm McDo where I called my host mom who came and picked us up. Apparently the shopping gods don't want us to get back home after our day trips to Toulon.

The following day my host parents had seven friends over to the house to eat lunch. One of these friends was a Moroccan man who made couscous for the big meal. It was a wonderful blend of sweet and spicy with the sauces and all. Oh, I loved every bite. This wonderful meal was preceded by appetizers and followed by cheese and dessert. Five hours later, I was stuffed. Yes, we stayed at the table from 12:30-5:30. Typical. But I'm not complaining. The food was superb and everyone was friendly. My host parents' friends had some bold personalities that made everything very amusing. Our much laughter and wine, everyone returned home, but the leftover couscous stayed (yes!)

After school Friday I'm out for Christmas! Woo hoo! Holiday time gives everything a euphoric air; one that awaits me year after year. We're having a Christmas meal at school Thursday. I'm planning on being the obnoxiously excited Christmas kid by wearing most of the items Parker sent me. Oh well, I have no shame. I'm an American.

L'Anniversaire de Christophe (Christophe's Birthday)

I've definitely started getting into the Christmas spirit after December rolled around. At first it was hard because Thanksgiving wasn't present this year, but now I've been listening to Christmas music, wrapping presents, and making cards. I haven't had the chance to make a Thanksgiving meal for my host parents. I don't know if we'll have time to get around to it. I converted all the recipes and made a list of ingredients in French but without a break from school for Thanksgiving I didn't really have the time. Thanksgiving week passed slowly. It was the most homesick I've been since arriving. My family in the States didn't do anything too special, but it made me miss my house, cooking with everyone, our fireplace with a fire in it (although our fireplace here is lit all the time which warms my soul). Plus I missed decorating the tree which is always something joyous to look forward to. I love all the Christmas decorations that consume much of my house the day after Thanksgiving. To say the least, I was feeling a bit blue.

However, this past weekend was the perfect antidote for my not-so-perfect mood. Saturday, the 5th, was Christophe's (my host dad) 50th birthday. In celebration of this, his mother and his sister with her daughter and the daughter's boyfriend, came down from outside of Paris, his brother came to Cavalaire from Alsace, and his other sister came from Rome with her Italian husband and their two daughters. It was so wonderful to meet them all! Everyone was extremely warmhearted and kind. His sisters told me to come stay with them anytime; definitely opportunities I will try and take advantage of in some point in my future. The weekend was spent eating a bounty of food and talking a plentiful amount as well. I spoke a good bit with Amelie (Christophe's niece) and her boyfriend Nicolas, and I also spent a good bit of time with Elisa (one of the nieces from Italy). We ate every night at a house just up the road that has a bit more room. My host parents' friend owns it and rents it out in the summer. Every night we ate at a long, lovely decorated table. It was so picturesque in the cute little French house with everyone talking and laughing, toasting, and passing around the delicious food. Saturday night for dessert we had a lavender cake with raspberries that Christophe made. It was delectable. Christophe also made Manala for Sunday morning breakfast. Manala is an Alsatian bread shaped like a little man. They look similar to gingerbread men except they're puffy and bready. It went great with my morning cup of coffee. Christophe also made a Tarte Tropezienne. It was mouthwatering as well. It was a weekend full of jubilation which made me completely lose all traces of homesickness. I truly feel like a member of this family. I'm very comfortable with my host parents, and I'm starting to realize how extremely hard it's going to be to change host families and in a few short months come back to the U.S. But, I make myself focus on living in the now and concentrate on soaking up every moment as it happens, so I'll cross those bridges when I get to them.

This weekend really boosted my confidence in language skills. I've realized that I understand basically everything now, give or take some words. Speaking remains as the more difficult task, but I've definitely progressed a substantial amount and will continue to do so. My classes at school are much easier to follow as well. And after hearing my host parents' nieces fire off rapid Italian to one another, I think I'm going to try and sit in on one of the Italian classes at school when I have a free period. It's an advanced class not for beginners, but since it's during my free period I figure why not. I can at least be exposed to it.

The town is now decorated in Christmas lights which were illuminated this past weekend. A sleigh with reindeer is down in town along with other lights on the light poles and the likes. I'll take some pictures next time I'm down in town at night. Seeing all the family and then the Christmas lights and receiving my Christmas package with all my presents from my parents has cast an air of delight over me. I've been in the blissful mood that comes this time of year. My host mom's parents have been at their little house in Cavalaire for the past two weeks but are going back to Alsace tomorrow morning. Tonight after dinner they took some of my Christmas presents for me so I wouldn't have to take them on the plane on the way over. They'll be waiting for me. The time is passing my very quickly. Just the second half of this week, next week, and then I'm leaving for Alsace for Christmas. I've signed up for a trip with the youth center in Cavalaire to go to Paris the 27th to the 31st of December. I'm extremely excited and will blog about that more as it gets closer to time and then of course after. For now bonne nuit. I have sport tomorrow morning, which equates to running in the cold. Alors, it's necessary that I get some sleep.

Tentation (Temptation a.k.a. New Moon in France)

Yes to all of you who care New Moon was wonderful! The two hours went by so fast... the book of course is better, but the movie was great! I had to watch it dubbed in French so the voices weren't the same but oh well! I went to see it in St. Maxime, which is an hour bus ride away. The theater was complet (sold out), and we had to sit on the front row. I'm just so happy I got to see it though!!!

Saturday my host mom and I went to the shopping center in Toulon. This was my first time to go to this one; usually we go to Le Grand Var which is a bit before Toulon. We left mid-morning and had a good shopping trip. I bought two shirts. Then we headed back home. Saturday afternoon we watched the French movie LOL (Laughing Out Loud). I loved it!! I'm really hoping I can find it to buy in the states because dvd's here don't work in the U.S. LOL is about a teenage girl who lives in Paris and her life at high school and with her family. The mom in the movie is played by Sophie Marceau who played in the movie La Boum when she was about 14; LOL is a take off of La Boum. I have yet to watch La Boum, but I hope to get around to it sometime before May.

Sunday I returned to St. Maxime, but this time I was with my host mom. Why did we go to St. Maxime? Because that's where one could find Le Salon du Chocolat that was held this past weekend. My host mom heard about it on the radio and decided we should go. I, of course, did not object to this idea. We got to St. Maxime, searched for a parking spot, finally found a parking spot, then went to the port to enter the exposition. The delicious smell of chocolate wafted through the space as we entered. We shuffled through the aisles amongst all the people, looking at all the scrumptious treats all the venders had to offer and taking a sample of whatever was offered. I tried dark chocolates, white chocolates, milk chocolates, and even chocolate wine. Yes, white and black chocolate wine was there... quite interesting. I did not leave empty handed, but the chocolate I bought is going in my Christmas package to my family. My host mom bought some chocolate, though, to eat with our afternoon coffee.

Which brings me to my next topic. I do believe it was destined for my host mom and me to live under the same roof. We've bonded so much over her yummy desserts, my attempts of making decent cookies with French ingredients, and chocolate. She had a few days off from work at the end of last week, and she made some different little desserts. She had also made some little cakes that we have yet to finish. Tuesday of this week there was une grève (strike) for the teachers that chose to participate in the schools (J'adore la France). Only one of my teachers was present that day so I stayed home. My Tuesday morning instead was spent baking triple chocolate chip cookies. Also, last week my host mom had bought a box of these little cakes from Spain or Portugal that she had tried at work. So we sat down after lunch to our coffee with a multitude of dessert options and just laughed. After, we almost forgot to have our piece of chocolate until a commercial reminded us. But we ate a casserole of zucchini and cheese for lunch that day so as long as we keep it balanced we're all good.

Oh I forgot to mention last post that in France everyday has a saint. Today, for example, was Sainte Catherine. Saint days aren't a huge deal, but one would usually wish another a happy saint day as need be. There are also fete days which are the same thing. I don't have a saint day, but my fete is the 17th of November (on Sainte Elisabeth, probably because Leslie somehow derived from Elisabeth). I went downstairs that morning to find an adorable coffee mug with candy and a card that said Bonne Fete Leslie. I ♥ my host parents! They're so sweet and considerate; always doing little things like that, that mean so much. I must say I'm very happy in France.

Les Films (Movies)

What do the end of the world, Michael Jackson, and Charles Dickens all have in common? These were all the subjects of movies I watched this past weekend and week. The movie 2012, pronounced deux mille douze en francais, came out in France and also in Cavalaire. I think I've mentioned before that the theater in my town is just one theater. Usually movies don't play here until after they've been released for a few weeks so everyone here was ecstatic about 2012. My friend Imogen who is an exchange student from New Zealand is leaving next week to go back home. The school year from New Zealand runs from January or February to November, and she's been on her exchange for the New Zealand school year. I'm not very happy that Imy is leaving because I just met her in September :( But at least we got to spend this time together. She lives between Gassin and St. Tropez and wanted to spend her last Saturday in Cavalaire with everyone. For lunch, Imy, Cara, Paul, Clare, Clare's dad and little sister, and I ate pizzas at Clare's. It was an English-speakers lunch with accents from around the globe represented: British, New Zealand, American, and American with a Southern accent :) Megan (Clare's little sister) helped Imogen make a cake-sponge cake with raspberry jam in the middle and sprinkles- to take to everyone meeting at the movie. We got to La Maison de la Mer and took some pictures with everyone. After we climbed the stairs up to the top and ate the cake from Clare's and a cake that another friend had brought. Both were delicious! And after we spent two hours seeing how the world would end. Typical fin du monde film. Not my favorite, but it was time well-spent with friends.

Par contre, the Michael Jackson movie "This is It" was INCREDIBLE! Paul and I went Sunday to see it, and it was definitely worth the 7 euros. I am a huge M.J. fan which I didn't realize as much before. That man could sing and oh could he dance. Yes he might have been accused of getting to know to many little boys too well, but he definitely earned the title of King of Pop. I've been singing his songs and moonwalking to my classes for the whole week.

Tuesday evening was the Rotary movie night. For the past few years Rotary Clubs all around France have a screening of a movie for Rotarians and their families. They do this to raise money for helping brain diseases like Alzheimer's and cerebral palsy. The movie this year was Le Drole de Noel de Scrooge better known to us English-speakers as A Christmas Carol. This version was computer animated with Jim Carrey and Colin Firth and dubbed in French. I really enjoyed it and was actually quite disturbed in some of the scary scenes. Not gonna lie, I got a bit scared when Marley's jaw fell open and when the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come came. I really liked this version even though in French Scrooge couldn't technically say "Bah! Humbug." After we had aperitifs with the Rotarians. Always fun.

In other news, I got my stitches out. I think I'll have a bit of a scar, but I think I would be disappointed if I went through that whole ordeal and didn't have a scar to show for it. Plus, it's the back of my ear and unless I say, "Hey wanna see my scar?!" and pull my ear forward one will not be able to tell a difference.

NEW MOON CAME OUT IN FRANCE!!!!!!! It came out Wednesday the 18th which is bizarre because it was released here before the U.S. I don't know why. It's not coming to Cavalaire this weekend so hopefully if the bus and rides work out I will be seeing it in St. Maxime tomorrow. I am so excited! I am a little upset that I won't be able to hear the actors' real voices :( but oh well... it's New Moon! I'll definitely be updating my blog after seeing it!

Les Aventures de Vacances (The Adventures of Vacation)

My last blog post left off the first Sunday of vacation. The whole next week, Mon-Fri, I didn't have school and also the Mon-Wed of the next week. Les vacances de Toussaint was very nice. I enjoyed my time to sleep late, read, relax, and so on. However, this time was not all spent lounging around.

Monday the event of the day was a walk with my host mom. We drove a little ways out, still in Cavalaire, to a spot where many people go to walk or bike on lovely little afternoons. We drove through an old train tunnel and parked the car. We ended up walking to Rayol, the next town over, but it didn't seem that far. On the way we picked some small red fruits off of a tree. I don't know the name of the delicious, little things we ate, but I see the trees frequently throughout town. We ended up going down to a beach in Rayol that has small rocks instead of sand. These rocks make the water of the Mediterranean the epitome of blue. The weather was absolutely perfect. It was the end of October, and I was able to wade out into the water comfortably. It was sunny and warm. As I looked around at the breathtaking scenery I thought, "This can not be real. I actually live here!"

The next day, I went with Paul, Cara, and Eva to Toulon. The four of us walked around a good bit, did some shopping (I bought a purse that I'm in love with), had lunch, and came home. I spent the night at Cara's. It was my first night away from my French home since I've been here. We had a good night talking and watching movies. Spending the night at Cara's was also good because I got to spend a little more time with her host parents. I think it's going to be quite hard to change host families, but at least the three of us know our other host parents. We won't really have too much of the awkward beginning of living in a stranger's house. Changing families is a good thing too, though. I'll get to experience three different families who have different ways of life.

Mercredi matin was the market in Cavalaire. Cara and I met up with Imogen, and the three of us wandered through the venders. Sometimes one can find wonderful, inexpensive things at the market in Cavalaire. Other times it's just fun to see what all is there. We all three bought the same thing Wednesday morning: apples. They were juicy, crisp apples too. That night was spent hanging out at Paul's. As well as Friday night.

Thursday and Friday I took a first aid/safety class at the gym of Cavalaire. I was there basically all day Thursday, with some time off for lunch, and Friday morning. We went through all the topics of safety: CPR (RCP en francais), burns, cuts, people passing-out and such. Ironically enough I'd use some of this information later on in the vacation. The safety class was a success. Turns out there's not just one emergency number to call in France, like 911 in the states. Oh no, there are four numbers. 18 is for the fire department. 15 for the emergency physicians. 17 for the police. Finally, 112 for all emergencies throughout Europe. So American travelers coming to Europe, when in doubt dial 112.

Now for a more exciting part of the vacation. Saturday, Halloween, I went to Toulon with Paul, yes again. We met up with one of his friends from his Rotary District in New York. She is on an exchange about 30 minutes away from Paris but was down in this area for vacation. The two New Yorkers and I saw the film Le Petit Nicolas. This movie is based on the popular children's book by the same title. I loved the film and picked up on most of it. It was very funny, and hopefully, it will come out on dvd so I can bring a copy home. After the movie, we ate lunch and spent time walking around. That night Paul and I were going to a Halloween party one of our friends was having. Excitedly, we talked about our costumes and what we expected of the night. His friend left with her host mom that evening, and the two of us went to wait at the bus stop for our bus back to Cavalaire. A bus going in the same direction as Cavalaire, about 15 minutes before our bus was scheduled to arrive, pulled up to the stop. Paul told me to pull out the schedule and check the bus number, just to be sure. I called out 7801 and only as the bus pulled away did I see that I had read the wrong line. Our bus, the last bus to Cavalaire for the night, had just pulled away. Oh writing this now brings back how absolutely awful I felt at that moment. We were completely safe and knew our way around so I wasn't worried for our well-beings. I felt awful because I knew one of our host parents was going to have to make the hour and a half drive to come get us. My host parents had neighbors over who were leaving town the next day, and Paul's host parents were working that evening. We both called our parents to tell them what had happened, and we they told us that another bus was scheduled to come. We waited, hopeful that another bus would show up. It didn't. Finally, we went to sit in the crowded McDonald's because it was getting chilly outside. Paul's host dad came and got us. I felt so terrible. I hate feeling like an inconvenience. His host parents and mine assured me that it wasn't a problem. I got back home right around midnight and was so exhausted. We missed the party. Never again will I forget that the last bus to Cavalaire is 8814. Never.

The following day was a dreary one. No sun, a bit of rain, cold. I stayed home and played board games with my host mom for a large part of the afternoon. It was wonderful. It's so good to have a day every now and then when it's cold and dreary to sit around in sweatpants and play games or watch movies. This happiness is multiplied when there is a fire in the fireplace, and there was.

Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday were all scheduled for sailing in the afternoon. It turned out to be too windy Monday and Tuesday afternoons... what an oxymoron! So sailing was left just for Wednesday afternoon. At two I went down to the sailing school. Five others were there for sailing. We put on our lifejackets and went over to the beach to the catamarans that we would be sailing. Three boys were together on one and Paul, an 11 year old girl and I were going to be on the other. This was my first experience with sailing. For those of you that don't know what a catamaran is (don't worry, I didn't) it's two pontoons with a trampoline-like material platform in between. When I first saw the thing I leaned over to Paul and asked him where the boat was. It had no substance, just a little mesh thing. First, the three other boys went out and the rest of us rode in the inflatable motor boat (the sailing instructor and the woman who oversees rock climbing at the gym were in the motor boat too). The sailing instructor, Loic, told the boys on the cat what to do while Paul, an experienced sailor of 9 years, explained all the jargon and mechanics of this sport to me. Finally, it was our turn. The wind was slow at first, and we just had the main sail open. Paul did most of the controlling in the beginning. I looked at the scenery and water a lot. After being out a while and getting a feel for things we got to open up the jib, which is the other sail on the boat. The other girl and I controlled the jib. With this and a stronger wind we went substantially faster. At one point, I got to control the tiller, and thus, the direction of the cat. I was not too great with that position. Paul kept shouting, "Leslie, you have to look forward when controlling the boat. Look in front of you!" It was great. As we started heading back for the beach to go in, the wind picked up. Therefore, we started flying through the water. The catamaran was moving mostly on one of the pontoons, and then out of no where the boat flipped completely forward. I landed on the sail in the Med. It was cold, and I had a throbbing pain behind my left ear. Suddenly, the girl on our boat, now in the water, called out sang a.k.a. blood. I moved my hand away and saw that she was right. There was blood; lots of it. I felt a large cut on the back of my ear. At this point only a few things were going through my mind. First, apply pressure to slow the bleeding (thanks first aid class!). Second, all I could think of was that scene in the movie Pineapple Express where the top of Seth Rogan's ear gets shot off. I didn't want to be missing half of my ear like that. Finally, Loic came out to get us, and I climbed in the little motor boat while the other two flipped the catamaran back. We made it back to land where I called my host mom to bring me some dry clothes. After a quick shower and changing, we headed off to the doctor's office. This brought about the second first experience I've ever had: stitches. Yep, seven stitches in the back of my left ear. I got to wear a lovely little bandage and washing my hair without getting my ear wet was fun, but now all is better. It doesn't hurt anymore, and it makes my first sailing experience sound much more exciting!

Then it was back to school. This past weekend went by without too much excitement. The application for Camp DeSoto is up so I'll start filling all that out. Tomorrow (Wednesday) I don't have school. Tomorrow is a ferie for l'Armistice which means that no one works tomorrow and no one has school. J'adore la France. Yesterday was the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. We watched the news coverage for that. I really liked the giant dominoes that people all around the world had made that they lined up and pushed down. I also saw on the news that the healthcare reform passed in the House and is now moving on to the Senate. The times they are a changin. On verra.

I'm sorry it took me so long to update. I'll be more diligent so my posts won't be these gigantic blocks of jumbled time frames. Hope all is well with everyone. I'm going to watch Australia with my host parents. Bonne nuit!

L'Ile de Porquerolles (Porquerolles Island)

Friday at 3:30 p.m. my fall vacation, of a week and a half, began! This break was much anticipated, although school is not that overbearing. A sense of freedom always comes with vacation time, though. I'll start with Saturday's activities then move to Sunday's trip which gives this post its title.

Saturday Paul and Cara came over for lunch. My host mom has had vacation time and was home Saturday morning so she said I should see if Paul and Cara wanted to come eat over here. It was funny to show Cara and Paul their future home (since we'll all be switching with the same families). We had a delicious lasagna for lunch and for dessert my host mom made a tart of mirabelles. Mirabelles are a small fruit, like a mini plum, that are found in regions of France, particularly Alsace. I had forgotten that Saturday was a special day. This Saturday was the 24th of October, marking my two months in France. My host mom had not only made a tart but also a lot of little chocolate cakes. She put a candle in two of the cakes and put some halloween cookies I made (Deborah sent her mom Halloween cookie cutters and sprinkles since these are not easily found in France) around the cakes. It was a wonderful little display perfect for representing the festivities of this month. After eating this large lunch the three of us watched a movie and hung out at my house.

The time changed Saturday night, actually Sunday morning at 3 a.m. It went back an hour, so at seven the next morning (when I woke up) I thought it was six. The reason I woke up at this ghastly hour is because there was a Rotary District rendez-vous at Porquerolles Island. The island is about an hour drive away from Cavalaire. I rode with Cara and her host family which is composed of her host parents and brother. We ended up leaving a little after 8 and missed the 9 o'clock boat that all the other exchange students and rotarians went on. But, no worries! The second boat left at 10 so we got to spend a little time looking at a fort near the port. We arrived on the picturesque island and walked a long, long while to find our group. I've found that I really enjoy just walking. The scenery was absolutely beautiful. A lot of the walk was on a path lined with tall trees. We saw some olive tree fields and some fruit tree fields. After meeting up with everyone, we walked along some of the coast of the island. I've never seen such clear water. It was the perfect shade of blue-green. We ate our picnic lunches and afterwards walked some more. I saw several of the beaches of Porquerolles, le Moulin du Bonheur (the Windmill of Happiness), and le Fort Sainte-Agathe. A day well-spent.

A few things are planned for les vacances so we'll see how this week plays out. Bonne journee tout le monde.

Rendez-vous a Marseille

I skipped school today! But it was a necessity. Today was my visit at the doctor's office in Marseille for my visa. I slept in a little late, and after my breakfast and morning routine, my host mom and I left. We stopped a little before Toulon at the centre commercial that I visited the other week. This was about the halfway point of our journey. We decided to take advantage of our morning by doing some shopping. I was in desperate need of a heavy coat. I didn't bring too many winter clothing items because they're bulky in a suitcase, and I figured I'd do some shopping once I got here. I'm now happy to say that I have a coat for winter and another lighter jacket, a shirt, a hat, and a scarf. Alors the morning was a success. We grabbed sandwiches at a kiosk in the mall (mine was tomato, mozzarella, and pesto on olive bread... so good!) and then were back on our way.

By a gracious stroke of luck we found the road that the Office of Immigration and Integration is located on. Marseille is a very big city. I didn't get to see too much of it today though. Oh, did I mention it was raining today? That will come into play later...

So we found the office and went up to the counter, checked in.. blah blah blah. I waited and waited. A lot of Americans were there. A group of young adults, I think with a university, were there together. I talked to a guy from Morocco that was coming to a university in France. I had to get a chest x-ray (which I got to keep as a souvenir :D). Then, I had a visit with the doctor and talked to him for a minute. Following was a talk with a nurse who weighed me, took my height, and gave me a little eye exam. A routine check-up. I'm healthy! Thank goodness, or else they would have not let me stayed. We returned to the receptionist to wrap everything up. Unbeknownst to me was the fact that I was supposed to bring a passport photo for my form. My host mom overlooked this too so we had to go to the nearest metro stop to one of the photo booths. This was easier said than done because it was absolutely POURING down rain. It was ridiculously funny how much it was raining. Thankfully the metro stop was just at the end of the street, not too far away. We stepped out into the sheet of rain, and in seconds we were both completely soaked. The wind was hammering the bullets of water into our faces. I gave up on avoiding puddles after my shoes became filled with water. We both just started laughing as it came down harder and harder on us. After asking a few people if we were heading in the right direction, we made it to the shelter of the underground. I took a lovely picture looking like a wet dog, but it was just for my medical paper so I wasn't too concerned. I think I have five more copies of it though. We traversed back to the office, trailing water behind us and finished everything. Back into the rain we went to get to the car. The water was just up to the bottom of the car door when we returned. I quickly hopped in, and my host mom blasted the heat to dry us off and keep us warm. I don't mind being in the rain... what I hate is the feeling of my jeans being soggy and stuck too me. I took my shoes off when I got in the car and poured a little water out of them. The jeans, however, I was stuck in. The traffic was a little heavier on the way back home. We left right around five o'clock and got home at about seven thirty. The sky was gray from the beginning of the trip home and then turned black a little before seven. The rain came and went. Right before coming into Cavalaire from Toulon there is a long stretch of road that winds around the coastline. It is an absolutely beautiful drive with perfect ocean views from the tall cliffs above. It's a bit scary on a bus... it's a little less than terrifying in a car when the visibility is almost zero because of the thunderstorm. I was a bit on edge in the wet darkness, but I made it back in one piece.

Tonight on the news one of the stories was about the terrible rain in the south of France today, particularly Marseille.

Cinema des Antipodes

School this week has been wonderful because one full day (Tuesday) was spent on a field trip in St. Tropez, and this morning (Friday) I went again to St. Tropez. Why, you might ask. Because the Antipodes film festival has been happening this week and into the weekend. My class (Premier L-for litterature) got to go all day Tuesday with our English teachers to the Australian/New Zealand film festival happening. Tuesday we watched 17 short films which were all very interesting. Only one or two of the films were not to my liking. Tuesday mornings are one of the market days in St. Tropez too so I got to see a little of that. After the morning half of the films we went to an exposition of photographs from an Australian explorer back in the day. The photos were from an exploration in the South Pole. An Australian visual artist was there showing her own photographs from an expedition on a Russian icebreaker. She's studying global warming and the melting icebergs. I was enthralled... I know think I'm gonna have to go Antarctica or the Arctic Circle. Following was lunch with a group of friends in my class on some of the large rocks by the sea.. quite beautiful! After it was back to viewing which I was happy to do.

Thursday was the first day of real cold here. It was rainy and in the 50s... I definitely felt the change in temperature, but I'm excited for the new season. I need to buy a good coat though. Haha, back to Toulon!

Today, we went again to St. Tropez. We watched a longer film (an hour and half) accompanied in the theater by Anthony LaPaglia-the actor who plays Special Agent Jack Malone in the tv show "Without a Trace." I got his autograph after. The movie was very touching. It was about a strange man who shows up in this town on the coast of Australia. He ends up spending time with these two twin children and their family. The twin girl ends up dying and her brother must cope with the loss, and then there were other little plots and connections. After that film we changed buildings to watch a documentary of an adventurer, John Muir, and his lone traverse across Australia. He went only with his Jack Russel terrier, Seraphine. I absolutely loved the documentary. It made me realize even more that I want to do something with the environment.. he lived solely off the land, taking minimal supplies. Very inspirational! I went back to school to eat lunch, but I didn't have any classes this afternoon (normally I just have English, and my English teacher stayed in St. Tropez with the second group of students).

My day only continued to get better. When my host mom picked me up from the bus stop she told me that a package had come from my sister. Lauren told me that she mailed me a package last week so I've been expecting it. I'm so fortunate to have Lauren as my big sister and role model... this is what all my wonderful sister sent me: a Michael Jackson t-shirt (haha I started cracking up when I unfolded it-I can't wait to wear it), a Furman Tri-Delta t-shirt (it's extremely cute), two Twilight saga magazines giving on the scoop on New Moon (plus they had posters that are now hanging up in my room-I now sleep under Robert Pattinson's beautiful face), an Orbit BigPak in my favorite flavor (spearmint), two really cool picture-like things she made for me with quotes on them, a singing Halloween card with Halloween stickers :D, a pack of cute pens, the movie Dazed and Confused (thanks!), and the book The Time Traveler's Wife (she just finished reading it) with a really cool bookmark that she made me. So basically it was the best thing ever. I love you Lauren!! I'm working on a package for you, but I only have one thing so far.. I'll get on that :D So that's all for this week... if anything interesting happens this weekend I'll be sure to post.

L'automne (Autumn)

The weather was absolutely wonderful this Sunday. I've entitled this post Autumn because the temperature seems to be dropping some as we move further into October. I've never had a favorite season because as one ends I'm ready for the next one to begin. I love it when the seasons change, and although I'm sure we're still going to have a few more scorching days here, I'm beginning to feel giddy as the wind blows more, and I can put on more layers of clothes.

This morning my host mom and I went to the Sunday market in Croix Valmer which is another town over. The markets here are filled with venders selling everything from clothes to cheese. Typical France. On one side there are men calling all the women mademoiselle so they'll buy a piece of jewelry and on the other there are five different types of provencal olives. It's great. I definitely had a relaxing day today. After the market we returned, and I did some homework. Then lunch and then a stayed for about two hours by the pool. The water was pretty chilly but lying in the sun with the perfect weather was amazing.

Yesterday I went again to Toulon. Well actually I went right before Toulon to le centre commercial. This was the destination Cara, Paul, and I attempted to find last time but didn't. This time we had a native friend with us. We ate at a pizzeria near the movie theater that boasted a large billboard for New Moon. (I can't wait!) After lunch we went to the shopping center and spent some time browsing in stores. Cara and I got really excited when we found the Sephora. Poor Paul had to patiently wait while we ooed and awed over all the pretty makeup. After the first shopping center we had to walk with our friend to catch her bus. Before the bus stop we visited the McDonald's (they call them Macdo in France). We went for McFlurry's. My topping was CaramBar which is little caramel crumbles. It was pretty good. MacDo is definitely nicer looking in France but overall quite similar. After that excursion we went to the other shopping center in the same area and went to a few stores. I bought some shirts (and a little makeup at Sephora) and Paul and Cara got a few items. We took the bus and arrived back home. My host grandparents left to go back to Alsace today so last night they ate at our house. We had a crepe night. I love crepe nights. My host mom has this little crepe grill that she puts in the center of the table. Everyone has their own little spatula and all the toppings are out on the table. Before living here I had just had crepes for desert, but they eat them for meals. I really like Munster cheese in my crepe. Salad is good too. And then we have nutella and jelly and other stuffings for sweeter crepes. It's definitely a fun dinner.

Life is good for me. The weather has me happy. The vegetation here stays the same for the most part in the winter. Deciduous trees are not common in this area. I'll miss the changing of the colors, but I am happy that I get to have these beautiful plants flourishing even in the cold parts of the year. I will enjoy all the green.

Beaucoup de choses (a lot of things)

I decided to wait for the end of the weekend to do more of a mass post. This week was just school as usual. I really enjoy school now. I love my friends so much! Wednesday was my first rock climbing lesson. Paul, Cara, Clare, and I got schooled by some 13 year olds that are like spiderman. It's so much fun, though. It's the four of us and five others. I'm really excited for next Wednesday.

This weekend was actually pretty busy. Friday, Eva (a friend from school that lives in the next town over) came to Cavalaire. Paul, Cara, Cara's host brother and his friends, Eva, and I went to La Salle des Fetes for the 80th anniversary of Cavalaire soiree. A d.j. was there, who was actually pretty good, but we did not stay long. I was embarrassed to even go in. This "soiree" was the exact replica of a middle school dance. The refreshments were lined up on the tables at one side of the room. 14 year old girls were standing on one side while the adults and some guys were standing on the other. All in all, not good. I kind of expected it to be a bit lame though so I wasn't too disappointed. We all decided to walk around the port and hang out around the beach for most of the night. That seems to be a favorite activity of ours... walking around. I guess that's typical though. I was so exhausted Friday night, but I added to the exhaustion by getting up early Saturday morning. Why did I get up early Saturday morning, you might ask...

Saturday we went to St. Tropez with some Rotarians to meet with all the exchange students in our French Rotary District. A sailboat race was taking place on the beautiful Mediterranean, which means that St. Tropez was packed with people. After finally finding a parking spot, we met up with the other exchange students. Our group consists of a Japanese girl, an Indian girl, four other American girls (not including Cara and me) and another American boy (not including Paul). A nice sized group. Everyone is very nice and easy to get along with. We lucked out. St. Tropez was fun. Everyone brought a lunch, and we found a nice spot on the beach to have a little picnic. After some good conversations and laughter, we all walked around St. Tropez for a while window shopping and eating good ice cream before going our separate ways. I really like how involved Rotary keeps us. It's nice to have all the activities and connections with people. Saturday also made me realize even more how thankful I am to have Paul and Cara. Everyone is alone in their town except for two of the girls. I love being in the same town and school with these two, though. The three of us are already so close. I don't know how we got so lucky because we get along incredibly. This experience has bonded the three of us together :D

Saturday night I went with my host parents and my host mom's parents (they have a vacation house here) down to La Maison de la Mer to watch les artifices (fireworks) for the 80th anniversary. Something about fireworks just makes me giddy. I love the big banging sounds and the bright colors exploding in the sky. Just magical! I tried to get some good pictures but none of them turned out to be worth anything. After the fireworks, I (again) walked around the port and town with my host parents and grandparents. Yesterday my host mom explained to me that there is a German town that celebrates the customs of Cavalaire and vice versa at a certain time. Apparently, that's this weekend. Many Germans are here to share some of their culture with our town. German musicians were playing in the streets last night... very cool. And last night, there was an Elvis impersonator, ironically, at a restaurant on the port. I'm pretty sure he was British because he didn't seem to speak too much French. Very funny!

Today the weather was absolutely perfect. A nice wind has been blowing (which is good at night because I hear the ocean even more clearly). My host grandparents took us out to lunch at a Provencal restaurant with a great view of the ocean. We ate for three hours; well we talked too. I know all my blogs are about food, but I have to document this gastronomical experience. First, everyone got a little coffee cup with a fish bisque. After, I had this puff pastry with goat cheese (I forgot the French name, but I'll ask because I'll need to be eating this when I return to the U.S.) and salad. My main course was a delicious fish in a sauce with some sort of potato-ish vegetable. The fish was brought out in its own little pot. Everyone got a slice of cheese after that, that looked like a piece of cake. Finally, I had my dessert. It was called la peche melba and was a giant cup filled with vanilla-bean ice cream, a large chunk of peach, raspberry sauce, and whipped cream. Fantastic! One coffee and three hours later, we were finished. I love France! We took a nice walk along the beach afterwards. Again I must say, perfect weather today. The wind made me want to go sailing. After seeing all the sailboats in St. Tropez and out on the sea today, I really must have a hand at it... hopefully soon.

I think the Autumn weather is starting to make its way to the south of France. It gets really cool at night now. I always like the changing seasons. I don't have a favorite. I always enjoy when one ends and another begins. I think the weather has had me in a good mood. I absolutely adore sleeping with my window open with the cool breeze. I do have to say, I was looking through some photos today, and I miss my family a good bit. I'm definitely settled in here and feel very much at home, but I will be excited when they come visit (even though it's a long way away). I love y'all and all my friends too! Alright, bonne nuit. I have to get some sleep for school tomorrow.

Toulon

French is actually getting easier to speak and comprehend! I am so excited! I'm very tired tonight but also in an incredible mood.. mostly due to the fact that I changed classes at school today, and now I am with some of my friends in Premier L. It's great because I speak more French now that I have my friends to talk to. My schedule changed so now I take a lot more French, history, English, Spanish, and then just a little math and science. I know it will help me learn French faster because I have my friends to talk to and a lot more reading and writing. I'm definitely thinking this is a step up.

Saturday was my eventful day of the weekend (as usual). Paul, Cara, and I went to Toulon which is a two euro, two hour bus ride. Isn't that great? Two euros for the bus... very cheap. The plan was to go with some French friends too-since they actually know they're way around Toulon a bit-to go shopping, but instead it was just the three Americans lost in Toulon. Don't worry Mom, we weren't really lost. We got off the bus at the Gare Routiere, the main bus stop in Toulon with the train station right next to it. The city was very beautiful, or at least the part I saw. The buildings are all very picturesque-old, tall, pastel colors with iron rails on the windows. We sat down at a cafe for lunch and after eating and talking took a stroll through some of the streets of Toulon. We made our way down to the port and saw, yet again, some beautiful, gigantic boats. These French Riviera towns just reek of them. After walking through a few port stores and such, we went back up the streets and found great window shopping entertainment. Several boutiques lined the narrow paths that lead to a center open space with a mini-garden. We found another cafe where we ordered coffee and crepes. In taking after the French, we sat at this cafe for a good hour or two talking about life and watching the people go by. I wore my beret-like hat. Ooo I felt so French. Back to the bus we went. Halfway through the return Cara and I had some fun singing Backstreet Boys and Spice Girls (what else?), always a fun option to pass time on a bus. All in all the day was very enjoyable with a lot of laughter among the three of us and some beautiful scenery (pictures to come for this post once Paul and Cara put them up on facebook, and I can take them off there).

Sunday was another relaxing day. Well the morning wasn't relaxing because Paul, Cara, Cara's host brother, and I went for a run on the Promenade sur la mer. After the misery of that was over, the rest of the day remained calm. We walked back on the beach, where I stayed for another three hours or so lying in the sun. For lunch I had an ice cream and a walk down the port. A good way to spend a Sunday afternoon... I highly recommend it to those who have the opportunity. Yesterday afternoon my host mom's parents arrived at their vacation house here. They came over for supper last night and are both extremely nice. They came bearing many gifts from their Alsacian home: cakes, wine, bread, fruits, the list goes on... I will enjoy getting to know them better, very much.

Alors, all in all it's been a good several days. Today I really felt like I could see the progress in my French which got me really excited! It's getting to where I will just start speaking French without having to translate the English to French first. Don't get me wrong, I'm not anywhere near fluent yet, but I'm getting better. I think that's everything for now though: Toulon, beach, class change... of course, there is more to come.

Un Mois (One Month)

Today I've been in France for one month! I feel like I've been here for a long time but a MONTH! A whole month has passed by, and it passes quickly. I'm much happier in school now because it's not all so confusing and new. I actually know what to expect, which is nice. Tomorrow I have a biology test... yikes! But I'm not too worried.

Yesterday, for my lovely Wednesday afternoon, I met up with Cara and Clare. We walked around our town for a while and took a few pictures.... then we met up with Paul at the gymnasium/sports complex. This town has so much to offer. The gymnasium is so nice, and Paul, Cara, Clare, and I signed up for rock climbing Wednesday afternoons. Next Wednesday will be our first. There are four or five climbing walls in the gym so it's a pretty nice size place. I think this weekend we're planning on going to Toulon to do some shopping (the bus is only 2 euros!), and the following weekend we're going on an outing with Rotary (I think a winery!). The next weekend, if this all goes as planned, I think we're going sailing with the sailing club here. Paul and Cara are both obsessed with sailing, and apparently I'm missing out so I figure we need to have a go.

Tonight after dinner, my host mom surprised me with a Tarte Tropezienne avec les framboises (raspberries). She put a candle on it and everything to celebrate my one month in France day! We both had some (my host dad doesn't really like desserts, isn't that odd?!). C'etait tres, tres bon! My host parents are so great!

Here's something interesting that I realized today... at school Paul and I both had an hour free period after lunch, and a girl in his class came and sat with us for the latter half of the break. The French think that most American high school girls are what they call "pom-pom girls." While Paul's friend asked me if I was a "pom-pom girl" I realized that Cara and I had gotten this question a lot. I think the French teenagers watch the stereotypical American high-school set films and think that the social classes of jock/cheerleader, punk, nerd, etc. are clearly outlined like that in all American high schools. Quite funny!

Another observation I made today on my way back from sport was that there are two places at my high school here where I am engulfed in a cloud of smoke. The first is outside the gate during the 15 minutes breaks at school. I had to walk through a thick fog of cigarette smoke on my way to sport today. There really are smoke breaks for the teenagers; a far-fetched concept for those of us who won't even see teachers smoke on school campus. I steer clear of that area during breaks, but it's inevitable if I'm going to gym. The second is in the girl's locker room after gym. I think spray deodorant is given out free in these French towns because EVERY girl in the locker room starts spraying it on right when her foot hit the tile floor. I embarrassingly pull out my solid deodorant while trying not to choke on the cloud of antiperspirant.

Well those are my random little tidbits of today. Tomorrow is Friday! Yay!

Le Jet Cup

I'm catching up from yesterday's news today. Today was just school... nothing special. But yesterday I was social :D

First of all, the weather yesterday was beautiful. After a week of treacherous downpour, the French Riviera sun returned to us! The temperature was perfect; cool in the shade and warm in the sunlight. I went into town at the beginning of the evening. I met some friends on the Promenade sur la Mer, and we found a place to watch the end of the Jet Cup. I can't remember if I've talked about the Jet Cup in my past few blogs, but it is the world Jet Ski tournament. It is help in my town because some wealthy man began having it hosted here several years ago. There are always activities and interesting things happening here even though it's a small town. So we watched the end of the Jet Cup and then walked around the port for a little bit before catching our movie. As we started down the port, we saw the simple thing that would entertain us for a chunk of time before the movie. Someone had put soap in the fountain on the port making a wonderful fluffiness of fun! I wanted to jump in the fountain and play in the bubbles so badly, but I resorted to scooping them up with my hands. After a few bubble wars and an ice cream we went to the theater to see "Final Destination 4." The tiny theater can only play one movie at a time, so the selection is limited. "Final Destination 4" was exactly like "Final Destination 1." I think the dialogue was even similar which was good for me because I could pick up on more of the French. It was actually quite amusing to watch a poorly made, gory thriller in French. That's all that happened yesterday. I feel like it was really eventful but hanging out with friends doesn't sound as exciting on a blog.

I really like my friends, a lot. They're all so nice! I wish they were in my class at school, and then everything would be flawless. School is good though, and I see my friends several times throughout the day. In my English class we're talking about Woodstock. Haha, I thought it was a random topic but, nevertheless, interesting. It's nice to comprehend what's happening in at least one class. I did get really frustrated today with not knowing what was being said. I just can't let it get to me though. I know the language will come; it's already getting better. I find myself forgetting English words and thinking only French ones instead. I'm being impatient though.

Well that's really all. Not too much happening right now. I think I'm making plans for Wednesday so hopefully something exciting will come along, and I can give you readers something worth your time. Tuesdays are my long days at school (8:30-5:30) so now it's bedtime. Night to all!