Royan Orientation....Trip of A Lifetime

Okay before I get to telling you about my amazing trip to Royan this past weekend....I have an announcement. I will be posting now on, religiously, every Wednesday. Yay! Okay one more thing a quick story. My host mother happened to be gone this week....which left all of the driving around, school stuff, and (dear God) cooking to my host father. The first night my host father attempted a meal he made a microwave pizza, bacon, and meat from a can. The pizza was raw and cold and the bacon was rock hard, and the meat from a can....well was meat from a can. The next meal he completely gave up and brought home food from his private clinic. We ate patient food for dinner. Needless to say I am making dinner tonight.... On Royan This past weekend was the first of five Rotary gatherings where ALL the exchange students in District 1690 come together and eat, complain, and most importantly laugh. The weekend started with a 4 hour 30 minute drive from my home town of Ustaritz to our host city Royan. Ya Wen and I were the first students to arrive at the camp site. In fact we were there before the host Rotarians. So there we were one large American girl and one very small Taiwanese girl....looking like the odd couple standing in the middle of a bunch of RVs and portable homes.

Thank God we were saved by the head camp organizer who took us in his little go cart to our separate cabins. Here is some pictures of the cabins I took when we got there.

(The room three of us shared)

(Thats gonna be interesting....)

(Emily Anne Does NOT like small showers) I tried to stay out of our cabin as much as possible. When all the students started trickling in we all greeted each other and exchanged pins. Each student needs to bring pins with them to exchange with other students. Mine are little American flags made out of safety pins(they went over great)!The meet and greet was moved over to the dinning hall where we were once again told all of the rules of being an exchange student (there is really only so many times we could be told NO DRINKING< DRIVING< DATING OR DOING DRUGS) Then we retired to our rooms and like good exchange students we all went to bed early and slept all night. There was no "sneaking to others rooms" or "talking until 2 in the morning". Nope just good old sleep. That is all I can say about that night. We all woke up bright and early the next morning...none of us tired of course because we went to bed early. Breakfast we followed with a flurry of activity. We were going on a boat ride! To an island! With a lighthouse! And a 1 mile walk over hard sand in bear feet! No but seriously....it was a long walk....and a bumpy boat ride. But the view was worth it...not really but the friends I made on the way was really worth it. I could not ask for a better group of people. I have never felt so comfortable with strangers.

(The Americans) Part 2 Next Wednesday! Or sooner! Maybe Not!

The First Week of School...Let the Headaches Begin

I am just finishing up a study session with my favorite host brother Pierre. We were working on translation English phrases to French. I am pretty sure I learned more French than he learned English....helping with homework has many advantages. 1. Pierre seems to like me a little better each time we finish! 2. I always learn useful French phrases 3. The pictures in his English book are super funny.... So far in school I have had no homework....this is solely because within the week I have not yet had the same class twice. Before I go any further I just want to say I have wonderful friends that help me whenever...and wherever I need them. I am just saying...when you get stuck in the bathroom stall because the locks are weird and three girls pull from the outside just to make sure you get out in time for class...that is friendship. I also love my school...they are one of the best in the regions and the teachers are super cool.

Okay now that that is out of the way. I can finally tell my loving, adoring, passionate crowd that French school pretty much stinks. I go to school from eight in the morning to six at night. I think taking this much foreign language might damage your brain....permanently. I get massive headaches(I have taken to carrying around tylonal everywhere I go) from all the French. I have a glorious English class once a week for two hours....its like heaven on earth. I am taken from my mine field of unknown French words to an oasis of "English Only" Hallelujah Chorus take it away: When I first started school I was ashamed to tell my classmates that my school finishes four hours before theirs does. But then I started noticing something...hardly anyone plays sports(I mean like lagit varsity...practice every day sports), there is no choir, marching band, real art program, sports teams, or school clubs. All of my friends dont play sports...and they dont really have their hobbies well developed. I realized that even our American school system is not as vigorous(and some what tedious) as our European counterparts, we have something much more important. Our students are more well rounded. I play an instrument, play a sport, I paint almost everyday and I firmly believe my education is as good as the rest of the students. So what should society value more? I am not sure but I know from being in both situations I love finishing at 3:00 in the afternoon. When I finish at 6 I just feel like crawling into bed. But, the other students make it it bearable...we whine and moan together to pass the long hours in the classrooms. We fan each other with our planners to beat the heat. There is a light at the end of the tunnel. I understand a little more French each day. I can laugh and speak with my classmates. I can understand a little bit of my teachers lectures. And now I have now learned,with much pride, to tell the dog to GET OUTSIDE (in French of course)!!! Au Revoir

The First Few Days

I first and foremost want to say that my family is AMAZING. Especially my new host mom Blanca...she could possibly be a saint. She is so patient with my broken French. Since I have arrived I have found out the most important aspect of the Halary's life is being active....which I had to become accustom to very quickly. On the first night right after we got off the plane we had what they called a "small get together" at their house. WRONG. It was a party. I sat in a corner....just about ready to die of fatigue, telling everyone all the while I was "okay"(HA). Day two we took it really easy...by easy I mean we awoke at 8 AM and started on the tour of the town by 9. They tried to explain to my the intricacies of a French meal. "A French meal is about Process. First you have the meat, cheese, nuts, bread, more meat, and more bread. Then you have wine. Then you sit down an you have a salad course, with bread. They you have your main meal, which usually consists of meat (like duck, ham, steak, salami, or chicken) a starch (rice, pasta, THIS IS NOT INCLUDING BREAD)bread, and a vegetable. Then you have your fruit and cheese course (okay I have tried a lot of their cheese....let me tell you this, it might smell like a rotting corpse but it really tastes good!) Then you have dessert and some more nuts. Then MORE wine....and usually some other hard liquor." I usually don't even make it through dinner before I start feeling like a stuffed Christmas turkey. Their ten year old son can eat more than me. When we returned from our grand tour of Bayonne it was time to unpack. Blanca found me sprawled asleep on my bed a half and hour later. She didn't wake me up I just found her peering down at me,looking worried about my lifeless body. Though packing was not finished it was time for Blanca and I to prepare dinner. Really it was me watching Blanca moving like a ninja through the kitchen. She moves through that kitchen like a fish moves in water. Here is something weird, we dont eat dinner until 8 or 9 at night....I am usually starving by the time we get there! After dinner I gave the whole family their gifts from America...which they all loved! Yay for See's Candy!It was off to bed for Emily Anne (by now it is 11 PM the family usually stays up past 1 AM including the 10 year old!) Seriously though every person in my family has been amazing...they all try to speak English to me and they are always checking on me its almost like being at home...almost. Here are some thing I miss My Mother and sisters The smell of the ocean (I have been to the beach here and I know it sounds crazy but it doesnt smell the same....) Dry heat Palm trees My room Panera my rabbits my birds English American radio (the French have some weird music) my bed my books and a few other things I hear it gets easier with time. The people here have made it easy to love France...I hope I have the strength to love it the way they do. Here are some pictures of my new home

Side yard

The pool

Where we eat a lot of our meals

My Room....its huge

View from my rooms window I am going to sign off for now next time I am going to tell you about our trip to the ocean! Au Revoir! Emily Anne