Reliving the Dream!

I'm going back!
I was recently invited by a friend of mine to join her in visiting family in Germany and touring Europe for three weeks this summer. THIS summer! Which means I'll also be visiting Bourges, where I lived for 10 months as a Rotary Youth Exchange Student last year!

I am beyond excited! I will get to know Germany better, and I'll revisit cities such as Venice and Paris. I'll adventure through cities that I haven't seen before, and I'll witness the culture of a couple countries I didn't visit last year! I am so ready!!

Through my travels in China and with the Rotary, I've developed a passion for cultures and people. I love to learn their stories, and share their cultures with people who don't receive as many opportunities to travel and create relationships across borders themselves. I definitely consider myself a traveler by now, and I hope to have a career in which I may continue to travel and grow.

I do need some help though! Seeing as I'm a jobless high school senior, it'll be a little difficult to pay my way through Europe. I've managed to pay for my plane ticket between the continents, but I will need money to travel between countries there, buy food and souvenirs, and thank my hosts with gifts.

Therefore, please consider donating to my Paypal account so I may live this summer to the fullest. I will be ever so appreciative, and I'll be sure to share our adventures with you on this blog!

Thank you very much!


~Ly

Fin

Fin
The French word for "The End"

My exchange is over, it's been finished for nearly two months now.

June 27th, 2013 I drove to the airport from an apartment in Paris with my host sister and my host mother. We parked and entered the airport. I wasn't sad, in fact I could have nearly danced with excitement! I was incredibly anxious to see my friends and family back home, back in the good 'ol US of A, back in Seattle and Tacoma, where I could catch a bus to the Puget Sound and breathe in the salty air, and turn slightly to see the fantastic Mount Rainier in all its glory, displaying a hue of pink and orange as the sun kisses it goodnight. Home. I was homeward bound.

Don't get me wrong, I was saddened to leave my friends and family in France, to leave my exchange life, and to return to "reality", but I had already said my "Au revoir"s and "À bientôt"s. I was ready to go home. I checked my luggage and waited a while around the airport with my stomach in knots making it impossible to eat anything without feeling ill. Finally Marie's escort arrived and we kissed my host mother goodbye before slipping into the security line and continuing to the appropriate gate.

At this point Marie and I were absolutely giddy with impatience! She was to spend two weeks at my house and discover the brilliant NorthWest before returning home. We were the first to board the plane, and we wore smiles of utter joy the whole time. The only time during the flight did I cry over leaving my loved ones in France was after watching Les Miserables... (don't judge me!)

Anyhow, I spent the duration of the flight watching movies, reading the lovely messages people wrote in my journal, and trying to sleep a little. It's always a struggle to fall asleep on planes for me due to my not-so-terrible-but-slightly-above-average length.

Upon arrival, Marie and I waited for our luggage and advanced toward the gate which my family was waiting at. We were riding up an escalator when I heard frightening screams and thought to myself, either there's a terrorist attack and we're going to die or those are my best friends who just saw me. Sure enough, I looked up and my family and 3 of my best friends were holding signs and shouting down at me. Terrorist attack indeed! I stepped of the escalator and immediately gathered whoever was there into my arms. It's a wonderful feeling to hold those you love and whom you hadn't seen in 10 months, but it also strangely felt as if I never left. On the way home we all stopped for a smoothie (which the French lack) and my friends were taken aback to find that Marie had never had a smoothie before then.

I walked into my living room and saw a massive amount of food on the dining room. (Hint 1)
I proceeded upstairs with my luggage behind my brother and at the top of the staircase he looked to his right and shook his head and looked back at me. (Hint 2)
After I walked a couple more steps a bunch of my friends popped up and peered over to me and shouted "Surprise!" Oh la la, they sure got me! I thought all thought all that food was to be consumed by me, myself, and I! ;)

The evening contained catching up with these familiar faces and playing games, venturing out to the local park, and each a LOT of food! (I still didn't have much of an appetite.) By the end of the night Marie and I were absolutely exhausted and our jet lag got the best of us. Possibly too well because we woke up at 6am the following morning.

Well, that's how it went....the finale to my year as a Rotary Exchange Student. What an incredible year. I will never forget it, it will always live on as a beautiful memory.

Huh..a memory indeed..two months later some of it seems as if it were a dream. It's a little sad, I don't imagine a lot of people to be totally ecstatic that their year ended. Sometime's I feel frustrated that it's ended and I yearn to visit my families and friends quite soon. However, I am indescribably thankful and happy that it did happen. It changed me, everything about it changed me. It made me grow up quicker and mature rapidly. I don't mind the change, I haven't found anything I don't like about changing and maturing thanks to this experience. I am so grateful for it.

So, thank you, to everyone who made this possible. Thank you to the Rotary club of Tacoma (Tacoma 8) the Rotary district 5020, the district 1720, the club of Bourges (Bourges Jacques-Coeur), and everyone affiliated with them. Thank you to Emily Voorn with It'sYourWorldTravel, who made the whole visa process incredibly easier, and to my fantastic host families. I couldn't have asked for better ones. Thank you to God, who's blessed me abundantly with His grace and love throughout my whole life, and to my family and friends who've supported me. Thank you mom and dad for wanting this for me as much as I wanted it, and for supporting me. I wish I  could share my stories with you, dad.

That's it I suppose...the 'fin' has passed, and onward I go, diving headfirst into my future, making the most of what I can. There won't be anymore posts, and though I rarely updated my blog, I suppose I'll create a new one if I miss writing this one. (Seriously, so sorry for not updating often....you know....had a couple months of jet lag..)

Bisous à tous.

The Beginning of the Goodbyes

La Famille Fayet,

Comment je peux commencer à dire merci? Depuis le premier jour, vous m'avez fait sentir les bienvenus. Vous êtes toujours gentils et je suis reconnaissante  pour tous que vous avez fait pour moi. Je pars avec des bons souvenirs, merci pour ces souvenirs, pour tous les voyages, pour votre bonté, pour tous.  Je ne sais pas quand ou comment je pourrais vous voir encore, mais j’espère quand même que je serais capable de retourner dans le futur et rendre visite chez vous. Vous avez tous toucher mon cœur, vous n’êtes pas que ma famille d’accueil, mais vous êtes ma famille dans mon cœur. Vous avez m’appris beaucoup des choses, vous allez rester dans mon cœur et dans ma vie pendant toute la vie. C’est vraiment dur de vous quitter. C'est incroyable combien vous signifie pour moi en cinq courts mois. Je vous promets que je vais envoyer des photos, des nouvelles, et on va skyper. Je vous promets que je reviendrai un jour. Si vous voulez venir à Tacoma, vous êtes tous toujours bienvenue chez moi.

Encore, merci pour tous. Vous allez me manquer beaucoup. Je vous aime.

Sincèrement,

Lydia Mangan

Ta fille américaine 

Sunday, June 2nd, I left my wonderful Fayet family, and moved back to my first host family. I won't lie, it was incredibly hard to do. The weekend before, my host mom Anne-Catherine had thrown me a little party with my exchange friends and family. At first, I didn't understand why my friends were standing in the living room yelling "Surprise!", but after it was explained that my mom wanted to celebrate my last weekend with them, I was incredibly touched and gave her a huge hug. This family truly made me feel as if I was a part of the family. They included me and my family in their prayers, they took care of me when I was sick in my first few days with them, and were there for me through emotional issues. My host mom was always so sweet, my host siblings were always so adorable. They'll always have a place in my heart and I will miss them dearly. 

The night before my departure I began crying at the dinner table. My host sister, Therese, gave me a hug and told me she loves me, and I said I love her too and everyone said "Awwww" and a couple other siblings joined in the hug, so naturally the tears flowed. Sunday morning I wrote the letter above for my family and attended mass with them. We ate lunch in the garden and they sang songs as my host brother played the guitar. Upon leaving the house, my family played "The Star Spangled Banner" in the dining room so that it could be heard outside, held a large French flag and saluted until the song ended. They sang "The Port of Tacoma" and hugs and kisses were exchanged as I cried and climbed into the van. My host parents, and Therese, Etienne, and Charles escorted me back to my first family. They stayed for coffee, a strawberry tart, and small talk. I walked them back to their car then returned to me first host family.

Parting with my second host family struck me pretty hard. I assumed it was because that was the first goodbye of my exchange and because I was realizing more and more everyday how close my exchange was to its end. I had merely a month left before I would have to say goodbye to everyone. To the wonderful exchange students that had become my closest friends and to my caring families who were so kind and welcoming. It was difficult to think that this amazing experience was coming to a close, but it was inevitable. I knew this would happen from the very first day.

The Fayet family had always been so wonderful to me, they included my family in their prayers, they were there for me when my grandfather passed away, and they made me feel so loved. I really felt like I was a family member. I realize I'm repeating myself, but that goes to show how magnificent they were. This post is dedicated to them for that.

Les Fayets, merci encore et encore. Je vous aime beaucoup. À bientôt. 

Euro Tour

On the 11th of last month I caught a train to Paris to embark on a tour of Europe with about 50 other Rotary Exchange Students that live in France. We had a couple hours of free time for lunch so a small group of us walked to Notre Dame to cross the bridge with all of the locks on it. It was the same thing as on the Great Wall of China. We had a quick tour of Paris and spent that night in Reims. The next day we went to Strasbourg, which I found to be a beautiful city. I compared all of the cities we visited to Paris, so when I arrived in Strasbourg I noticed how clean the city looked and how wide the streets felt. A group of friends and I ate lunch near the magnificent cathedral and afterward I ate Italian gelato and shopped for little souvenirs. This city was very unique because it looked like a German town with a pop of Italian, but it was in France. Loved it! We shared our hostel that night with Belgian firefighters.

The 13th we drove to Nuremberg in Germany. Our chauffeur (who comes from the south of France) found a carnival so we were allowed to spend our lunch time there. We filled up our two hours of free time with eating wurstchen and pretzels and riding carnival rides that made us light headed. It was great! We had a bus tour of the city but it was difficult for any of us to pay attention to the tour guide because we wore ourselves out at the carnival. We had half an hour of free time later in the afternoon and we spent that night at a hostel with a group of Australians.

We arrived in Prague on the 14th. It's a beautiful and colorful city full of different architecture. It was fascinating and one of my favorite cities of the trip. After lunch we split into two groups and had a four hour tour of the city. This was also the day of my friend, Miranda's 19th birthday. She was ecstatic to be in Prague for her birthday! We stayed in Prague on the 15th and continued our tour of the city for another three hours before lunch. In the afternoon we had five hours of free time which I spent with Sydney and Victoria. It was interesting to order lunch and listen to the waiter's accent. During the whole trip we recognized that we felt as if we had restarted our exchange year again, in the sense that we couldn't understand anything the locals were saying around us. That night everyone was hanging out in the hallways of the hotel and I had an incredible amount of energy so I began doing cartwheels. A couple others joined me and I ended up learning to Irish dance. Those nights at the hotel were shared with Italians.



On the 17th in Austria, we had some free time before our tour in the afternoon. Vienna was absolutely gorgeous, another one of those cities that I preferred to Paris. The next morning we rode nine hours to Lido Di Jesolo in Italy where we stayed in a hotel on the beach. We weren't allowed to swim, but it was nice to run around on the beach. I haven't done that in a while; in Tacoma I have the sea and the mountain on either side of me, but Bourges is landlocked and completely flat.

The morning of the 18th we took a boat to the sinking city, Venice! It was extremely hot, which was nice because we had grown tired of the depressing winter weather in France, but the sun wore on us quickly. Our tour lasted two hours but we all complained how hot it was. I ate lunch in a restaurant with Miranda, Sydney, Victoria, Zac, and Andika. We ordered pizzas and all had the same reaction with the first bite; we didn't know what to do with ourselves or what to say. The pizza was incredibly delicious, better than anything I've ever tasted before. Every ingredient tasted so fresh as if a pig was slaughtered that morning and the tomato picked minutes before to make this pizza. No doubt about it, Italian pizza is the best in the world. Later Miranda and I ate real Italian gelato, which was also delicious beyond description. I bought a journal with a map of Venice on the cover that I'll ask everyone I've met on my exchange to sign. I've already read the entries of the students I met on this trip but I will wait until I'm on the airplane home to read what others will write. We did the typical touristy thing and rode the gondolas through the city, which I believe was definitely worth it, and we finished off our visit with a flash mob in the main square. Some other people joined us and many recorded it. That day was pretty close to perfect.

On the 19th we visited Milan. I thought that there as much to see, but maybe that's because we had just come from Venice or I was used to visiting a bunch of grand places at this point. The cathedral was magnificent though! It was very hot again so I believe our tour was cut short because we were too exhausted and overheated to be able to focus and listen for too long. I had pizza for lunch again but the pizza in Venice was much better, and of course I ate gelato a couple more times. You can't eat enough pizza, pasta, nor gelato when in Italy.

We arrived in Geneva, Switzerland on the 20th but only saw the United Nations. I recently realized that I am interested in Human Rights, but I still don't have a great interest in politics. I did find the books in the shop there interesting so I'd like to start reading more about human rights and politics when I return home. We stayed that night in Annecy.

Our last destination was Chamonix in the Alps. We were going to see the frozen sea but unfortunately it was closed because of the weather. We spent our final night in Dijon and returned to Paris the following morning.


Upon arriving in Paris, a lot of the students were emotional. A lot have them had made great friends with one another in a short time but had to say goodbye and didn't know when they would see each other again. I keep trying to imagine what it'll be like for me to leave my families and friends here and go back to my life in the USA. Je n'arrive pas. I can't imagine it. I leave my current host family on June 2nd, that'll be incredibly difficult but I hope to see them again a couple times before I leave. I fly back to Washington the 27th of June. How I'll step through security separating myself from my loved ones here for who knows how long, I have no idea. Don't get me wrong, I'm incredibly anxious to see my loved ones in the states, it's just that I'll always think of Bourges as another home. When I try to imagine the first time seeing everyone after 10 months, I imagine lots of hugs and kisses and tears, but then I'll probably just sit down and cry. I honestly don't know how I'll cope.

Too many emotions!!!

February Vacations

(Faites descendre l'écran pour lire mon blog en français)
If you find my writing to be more choppy than usual, know that I do too. I challenged myself this time around. I first wrote my blog in French, had it edited by my host sister, then directly translated my French for my English speaking friends. I didn't want to add too many details that I hadn't written in French. #Sorrynotsorry. Enjoy!

Monday was my first day back at  school after three weeks of vacation. Three weeks! Normally there are only two weeks each vacation but I traveled with my school a week before vacations started. We went to La Plagne in the Alps. I already had my second star in skiing but was placed with the beginners. Monday, the eleventh of February, we skied three hours in the morning and two hours in the afternoon. That night music was played in a big room where all the kids could hang out.
Tuesday morning I asked if I could move to the second level ski group. It was great! We skied on blue and red slopes and even a little bit on the black slope. I started to make some friends, a little. It was hard to really make friends at school because I was always with the other exchange students. That evening there was a soccer game in the snow.
Wednesday morning there weren't any lessons. Instead, everybody from my school skied together, well, in two groups. That afternoon I realized that I'm not scared anymore at all. At the beginning of a red slope, the other girls in my group would talk about how scared they were. I just saw a challenge. I was scared to find my own route down a slope in December, but now I get a thrill of finding my way down and seeing how fast I dare myself to go. That night was karaoke night.
Thursday was Valentine's day. In the States it's a big day, people buy  flowers, chocolates, and little presents  for the ones they love, but I found that it's forgotten here. It's a little sad. I didn't see little heart shaped chocolate boxes, balloons with "I love you" written on them, or even Valentine's day cards. There was a dance in the evening for the kids but it still didn't feel like Valentine's day. Oh well, not a big deal.
Friday was the last day of skiing. I earned my third star, now I hope that I can go skiing next year in the States. We came back to Bourges and I arrived home at almost 11pm. I unpacked my suitcase and repacked it right away for the next day.



Saturday morning, the beginning of my second week of vacation, I went to Versailles with my host family. My friend Amanda, who is American also, tagged along with us. After lunch at Macdonald's we went to the castle of Versailles. Our your guide was a cousin of the family. We saw the interior of the castle and Marie-Antoinette's little village. It was magnificent, I wanted to be in the 17th or 18th century wearing a large fancy dress. The castle is truly beautiful. We went back to the house of the mother of my host father. We celebrated his birthday. Amanda played the ukulele for everyone and I played one of the songs I've composed on the piano.
The next day morning, when everyone was at mass, Amanda and I explored the town of Saint Germain. (We were in a suburb of Paris.) I bought flowers for the grandmother. At lunch I met a sister of my host dad along with her husband and kids. Amanda confirmed that she thought my family is beautiful. In fact, a lot of people who see pictures of my host family think that they're beautiful. Aren't I lucky? ;) Anyway, later that day we returned to Bourges.
Monday morning Amanda went home (in France). I discovered that my family would be going to their vacation house in Mayet de Montagne. I rushed to pack my suitcase again. The vacation house was gorgeous, I had the impression that I was in a European movie. The house is giant, there is a tree house,  a swing, a pool, and three donkeys! It was the setting of a dream.
Tuesday I sled with my host brothers and sister who were there. (Charles, Etienne, and Benedicte.) Later we went to a small ski station. We ate lunch there and skied afterward.
The next day we woke up earlier to go to a larger ski station father away. Before we left my host mom received some bad news. Her aunt had died that morning. I was surprised we carried on with our day as planned. We skied between two and threes hours before lunch then again after lunch until closing. In the evening we returned the ski articles to the smaller ski station and went back to the vacation house.
Thursday we stayed at the house. I was able to help Benedicte with her math homework. I hope that I will be able to remember all the math that I learned last year. I am not taking a math class this year.
Friday, the end of my second week of vacation, we went back to Bourges and stayed there for the weekend. My host parents went to Rennes on Friday night for the burial of Anne-Catherine's aunt. They came back Saturday night with Anne-Catherine's mother.

We all left together Sunday to go to Rennes. The younger boys, Therese, Anne-Catherine, her mother, and I. My older host sister was already there. We stayed at this grandmother's house for the whole week. I saw the city of Rennes and I met lots of extended family members.
Thursday we celebrated the birthday of Anne-Cecile, my older host sister, at the house of my host mother's godmother. The next day we played a game of laser tag. That night Benedicte, Louis-Marie, and my host father joined us in Rennes.
Saturday we celebrated Anne-Cecile's birthday again. Later I asked my host mom if I could stay in her house until the beginning of June. She agreed! That makes four months with my first host family, five months with the second, and my last month I'll return to live with my first host family. I can't imagine having less time here. I love both of my families a lot and it will be hard to leave. I will cry, I know that already.
Sunday I came back to Bourges in the car with Louis-Marie and my host dad.
I realized that I only have four more months in this country. I will leave the end of June... it's much too soon. I feel like I can't leave these people. I've seen so many things and met so many people. I can't leave this place. Especially when I do not know when I will see my families again. The other exchange students neither. I hope that my families will be a part of my life for all of my life. They will have a piece of my heart.
Okay, well, the point of this post is to inform you, Miss/Misses/Mister Reader, that I was very busy during these past vacations, they were truly fantastic. I am very happy and ever so thankful for these opportunities.

Lundi etait ma premiere journee a l'ecole apres trois semaines de vacances. Trois semaines! Normalement, il n'y a que deux semaines les vacances mais j'ai voyager avec mon ecole une semaine avant les vacances. Nous sommes alles a La Plagne dans les Alpes. J'avais  deja ma deuxieme etoile mais j'etais avec les debutants. Lundi, le 11 fevrier, on a skie trois heures le matin et deux heures l'apres midi. Le soir il y avait de la musique dans une grande salle avec les jeunes.
Mardi matin j'ai demande si je pouvais aller avec des gens sur les pistes plus dur. C'etait genial! On a fait les pistes bleu et rouges et un peu d'une piste noir. Je commencais a me faire un peu d'amis. C'est dur de se faire des amis a l'ecole parce que je suis tout le temps avec les autres etudiants etranger. Le soir il y avait un jeu de football dans la neige.
Mercredi matin il n'y avait pas de lecons. Par contre tout le monde de mon ecole on skie ensemble, enfin, dans deux groupes. Cette apres midi j'ai realisee que je n'avais plus peur du tout. Au debut d'une piste rouge les autres filles dans mon groupe ont dit qu'elles avaient peur. Moi, je n'ai vu qu'un challenge. J'avais peur de descendre une pente en decembre mais maintenant j'ai un frisson quand je vois une pente et quand je vois comment je peux aller vite. Mercredi soir on a fait un karaoke.
Jeudi c'etait la fete de la Saint Valentin. Aux etats-unis c'est un grand jour. On achete des fleurs, des chocolats, et des petits cadeaux pour la personne qu'on aime, et j'ai trouve que c'etait un peu oublie ici. C'est     un peu triste. Je n'ai pas vu de petites boites en formes de coeurs, de ballons avec "je t'aime" ecrit dessus, ou de petites cartes de la Saint Valentin non plus. Le soir, on pouvait danser entre jeunes. Je n'ai pas tellement eu l'impression que c'etait la fete de le Saint Valentin. Bon, c'est pas grave.
Vendredi etait le dernier jour de ski. J'ai gagnee matroisieme etoile, maintenant j'espere que je peux skier l'annee prochaine aux etats-unis. On est rentre a Bourges et je suis arrivee chez moi presque a vingt-trois heure. J'ai defait ma valise est je la refait encore pour le lendemain.

Samedi matin, le debut de ma deuxieme semaine des vacances, je suis allee a Versaillles avec ma famille d'accueil. Mon amie Amanda, qui est americaine aussi, est venu avec nous. Apres le dejeuner a Mac do on es alle au Chateau de Versailles. Notre quide touristique etait un cousin de ma famille d'accueil. On a vu l'interieur du Chateau de Versailles et le petit village de Marie Antoinette. C'etait magnifique, je voulais etre dans le dix-septieme ou dix-huitieme siecle avec une grosse robe. Le chateau est vraiment beau. On a rentre chez la mere de mon pere d'accueil. On a fait un fete pour son anniversaire. Amanda a joue de son ukulele pour tout le monde et j'ai jouee ma chanson que j'ai composee sur le piano.
Le lendemain matin, quand tout le monde etait a la masse, Amanda et moi avons explores la ville de Saint Germain. (Nous avons ete dans un faubourg de Paris.) J'ai achetee des fleurs pour la grand-mere. Au dejeuner j'ai recontree une soeur de mon pere d'accueil avec son mari et leurs enfants. Amanda a confirmee qu'elle crois que ma famille d'accueil est tres belle. En fait, beaucoup de monde qui voient les photos de ma familles et pensent qu'elle est belle. J'ai la chance, non? ;) Bref, plus tard on est rentre a Bourges. Lundi matin Amanda est rentree chez elle (en france). J'aidecouvert que ma famille va aller dans sa maison de vacances au Mayet de Montagne. J'ai me depechee faire mon valise encore. La maison est super jolie, j'ai eu l'impression que j'etais dans un film european. La maison est grande, il y a une maison dans un arbre, une balancoire, une piscine, et trois anes! C'etait le cadre d'un reve.
Mardi j'ai fait de la luge avec mes freres et ma soeur d'accueils qui etaient la. (Charles, Etienne, et Benedicte.) Plus tard on es alle a une station de ski. On a dejeune la et apres on a fait du ski.
Le lendemain on a reveille plustot pour aller a une station plus grande. Avant de partir, ma mere d'accueila recu de mauvaises nouvelles. Sa tante est morte ce matin. J'etais surprise surprise que l'on a continue la journee comme projete. On a skie entre deux et trois heures avant de dejeuner et plusiers heures apres dejeuner. Le soir on a rendu les affaires de ski et on est rentre a la maison de vacances.
Jeudi on a reste a la maison. J'ai aidee Benedicte a faire son devoir de maths. Je m'etonner de savoir me souvenir de faire de maths que j'ai apris l'annee derniere. Je n'ai pas de cours de maths cette annee.
Vendredi, le fin de ma deuxieme semaine de vacances, on est rentre a Bourges er on y est reste pendant le week-end. Mes parents d'accueils sont alles a Rennes vendredi soir pour l'enterrement de la tante d'Anne-Catherine. Ils sont rentres samedi soir avec la mere d'Anne-Catherine.



On a reparti ensemble a Rennes dimanche. Les petits garcons, Therese, Anne-Catherine, sa mere, et moi. Ma grande soeur d'accueil etait deja la. Nous sommes restes chez la grand-mere toute la semaine. J'ai vu la ville de Rennes, j'ai recontree beaucoup de cousins et tantes et oncles de ma famille.
Jeudi on a fete l'anniversaire d'Anne-Cecile, ma grande soeur d'accueil chez la marraine de ma mere. Le lendemain on a fait un jeu du laser. Ce soir Benedicte, Louis-Marie, est mon pere d'accueil sont venir a Rennes.

Samedi nous avons fete l'anniversaire d'Anne-Cecile encore une fois. Plus tard j'ai demande a ma mere d'accueil si je pouvais rester chez eux jusqu'ua debut de juin. Elle est d'accord! Ce fait quatre mois chez ma premiere famille, cinq mois chez ma deuxieme famille, et mon dernier moi chez ma premiere famille encore. Je ne peux pas imaginer d'avoir moins de temps. J'aime beaucoup mes deux familles et ca va etre dur de repartir. Je vais pleurer, je le sais deja.
Dimanche je suis rentree a Bourges dans une voiture avec Louis-Marie et mon pere d'accueil.
J'ai realisee que j'ai que quatre mois dans ce pays. Je vais partir le fin de juin... c'est beaucoup trop tot. Je vais me sentir que je ne peux pas laisse ces gens que j'ai recontree. J'ai vu beaucoup de chose et j'ai recontree beaucoup de gens. Je ne peux pas quitter cetter place. Particulairement quand je ne sais pas quand je vais voir mes familles encore. Les autres etudiants etranger non plus. J'espere que mes familles vont etre dans ma vie pour toute la vie. Ils vont avoir un morceau de mon coeur.
Bon, bref, j'etais tres occupee pendant ces vacances, c'etait vraiment genial, je suis contente et tres reconnaissante de ces opportunites.

5 Months

Monday, January 28th marked the end of my fifth month living in France.

I do not really have a lot of words that come to mind when I think about it.

I am in the very middle of my exchange, I arrived in France only 5 months ago, and I will be leaving this wonderful country for who know how long in a short 5 months. The time both feels like it has passed really slowly and really quickly. Sometimes I feel like I have lived here for a long time (despite my lack of friends and language skills), but when I look back, I feel like I came here only a month ago.

Looking forward, I am not sure whether these next five months will take as long or as short as the previous five months. (If that makes any sense, lately I have been losing English skills.) Right now, I feel like I do not want to go home in five months. I do miss my family, friends, school and my church, but I do not feel like I want to completely move back. I would like to visit for some time then be on my way, off to another adventure. I want to continue this experience I am having, I want to move in with people I do not know in a country I do not know and learn everything about the culture and language first hand.

Part of me feels like I could form a life here. I would have to try a bit harder in school and such, but I think part of me will always be here and never want to leave. I want to stay yet I want to see everything else the world has to offer. I want to visit a lot of places, but it seems to me like I can not be somewhere without leaving  a piece of myself there. I guess I will end up leaving parts of me all over the earth, and all the places of the earth and experiences and people I meet will always have their imprint on me.

Sometimes I feel more homesick than not or just feel really down, but lately I have been pretty great! I had a great time the other weekend when I met French students who will leave for exchange next year and we all had a dance together. This week my class gained two new exchange students from Paraguay and Chile. Today I received a package from some of my greatest friends from school and I have four boxes of Mac n Cheese sitting on my shelf, so you could say my mood is pretty bright!

Seeing the amount of people I have met, the relationships I have created, the places I have seen, and the things I have learned in the first half of this exchange, I can only imagine everything that I will experience during the second half. I have created friendships with people from all over the world, and I know that we will always keep in touch and possibly find ways to visit each other. I am looking forward to my Euro Trip in April when I will be visiting other countries in Europe and, no doubt, meeting more fantastic people!

This exchange is sure to change who I am, the way I think and the perspective I present to different situations, and it probably already has. I'll always be me (the loud, obnoxious, fun-loving, off-key-singing Lydia you all know), but this year will give me insight that I would otherwise have yet to discover. I can not wait to see what is in store for me, yet I can because I do not want this year abroad to end.

Now that is one way to turn "I do not really have a lot of words..." into about six hundred.

Vacances de Noel (Part 2)

I finished off my Christmas vacation in the Alps. Saturday, the 29th of December, my first host family and I departed on a six hour car ride to Notre Dame de Bellacombe. The following morning we woke up early to rent skis, boots, poles, and helmets for the week. After we dropped those off at the house we bought our ski passes. Before our ski lessons my host family left to ski together. I stayed at the house with the family's friends that we shared the house with.

My lesson began at 12:30 that afternoon. I shared an instructor with the other children in our house: a boy and a girl, both younger than me. The moment we began it was clear that I was the worst of the three. We started out in what I like to call the "Kiddie pit". It was very difficult for me to catch on.Eventually we were able to move on to a stretch of land that gently sloped down. After a bit of practice on that we moved on to some small hills. My instructor adopted the term "Stay cool". I wasn't really scared bit I didn't want to fall, I was just anxious I guess. After that first lesson I had pain in my right calf and decided that i did not like skiing at all and that it would be impossible for me to learn how to ski. I was definitely not looking forward to skiing the next day.

December 31st was "Kiss an Exchange Student Day". Haha! Maybe for other exchange students but certainly not for this one. We all skied on the easy hills before our lessons. I thought I was doing better but a video shows me slowly sliding down the sloped stretch of land with my feet turned in and my knees bent. What progress! At least I wasn't sliding down on my booty. After my second lesson I was sure I didn't look so much like an idiot. We ate pizza and relaxed at the house for the rest of the day.

Now, that day was New Year's Eve, so I was expected to stay awake until after midnight. Thing was, I was so incredibly tired from skiing that I knew it would be difficult for me to stay up that long. I also knew that I would get emotional thanks to the fatigue and I was thinking back to last year's new year. Last year I spent the night with my best friend and her family. We all ended up crying after midnight because we had lost someone close to us in that year. I eventually did have to explain myself because I didn't want to seem like I was trying to be rude. The moment I managed to say "I miss my family" to my host sister I had to run upstairs so the others wouldn't see me crying. She followed me and I explained that I was missing my family a bit but mostly missing my dad. She asked if she could do anything and I just asked for her to explain to her mom why I was acting the way I was. My host mom understood, I wiped away the tears and after eating candy and playing Angry Birds I went to bed. So that's two New Years that I've ended up bawling my face off.
That's alright.

Anyhow, the following day during the lesson we warmed up by skiing down the small hills then moved onto "La grande piste". This slope is apparently one of the easiest, but it sure was challenging for me. First we had to take the "Tire fesse" to the top of the slope. This is a bar with a seat at the bottom. You grab the pole and sit before it pulls you up the mountain. I remember I was fervently praying that I wouldn't die or hurt myself all the way up. I'm not afraid of heights, I actually love heights! I am afraid of falling and hurting myself, I tend to fall a lot. We were just above the halfway point when we stopped to watch people practicing slalom racing. My legs were trembling as we stood there because I was so scared!  We turned to continue on our way but of course I managed to slide down a couple feet and entangle myself in a net fence that separated the people leisurely skiing from the people training. Eventually we continued on our way, the younger kids and I forming a line directly behind the instructor. I was in the back skiing as slow as humanly possible. We probably took twice or thrice as long to get down the rest of the slope as it would have taken the instructor just with the two children. I was going to fall, I was going to tumble down the mountain, I was going to zoom down and crash into people, I was going to break my body, I was going to go into a coma. Those were thoughts of mine while we made our way down. I was so relieved when we were back at the base of the slope. I was glad that I did ski down the piste, but I was terrified the whole time so I didn't really enjoy it. Part of me wanted to go again to prove that I can do it, part of me wanted to run back to Bourges. I wasn't looking forward to the following lessons. After the lesson Marie and I bought postcards, filled them out and sent them off, then played in the snow until we were too cold.

Wednesday Marie and I skied on the small hills before our lessons. She wanted to ski on the grande piste but I was too much of a sissy. I told her I would ski the piste with her the next day. I was afraid to do anything without my instructor. During my lesson we skied down from the halfway point on the grande piste then skied down the side I wasn't familiar with. We were going to different slopes. It was pretty easy, but I'm sure I had already psyched myself out too much therefore I still fell a bit. We reached the bottom, had to remove our skis to walk up stairs, then skied some slopes in this new area. We took the ski lift back and had to ski down the grande piste. Fell a few times again. I loved the opportunity I had, I loved the Alps, but I still wasn't catching on to this whole skiing idea. We ate lunch at the house, played in the snow again and relaxed until dinner. Most of the days I had to take a nap before dinner because I was so exhausted.

Thursday Marie and I practiced a little on the small hills before taking the tire fesse halfway up the grande piste. My host mom and the younger boy were with us but the boy and Marie ended up skiing ahead. Eventually my host dad caught up with us and I followed him the rest of the way down. I was uncomfortable choosing my own path, I felt like I had to follow directly behind someone else. I practiced on the hills a few more times before my lesson began. This time we took the tire fesse straight to the top of the grande piste, took the ski lift, and went to another slope. This slope was supposedly the same level as the grande piste (green) but I felt it was easier to ski down. Maybe it was the angle we approached it, but I'm not sure. After skiing down that slope a few times we took the ski lift back to the grande piste. I felt like I was doing a lot better than earlier that morning. After lunch Marie and I did the grande piste twice, each time taking about 10 minutes or less. Much, MUCH better than I could do the day before. I was definitely sore all over my body by the end of the day because I had skied about 4 hours. (Yeah, that's probably not a lot to some people, but oh well.)

Friday, I'm pretty sure Marie and I skied down the grande piste before our lessons. During the lesson we went to all kinds of other slopes, thankfully they were never harder than level blue (which I find easier than green). I had the idea of skiing by now and found it easy to follow the tracks of the instructor and the kids. If someone told me I'd be skiing that easily four days earlier I wouldn't have ever believed it.

Saturday was the last day of skiing. We went to a bunch of different slopes again with my instructor. We of course had to take ski down the grande piste near the end of the 2 hours to get back. My instructor asked us to try switching directions quicker which meant skiing down the slope quicker. I was the last to try, and due to the lucky hand I was dealt at birth, I ended up crashing into my instructor and the younger girl as I was trying to stop. I tumbled about fifteen feet below them. I had broken my instructor ski poles and my wrist hurt a bit. We continued down, he switched his ski poles, and we went to the halfway point to finish up the lesson. I noticed that my wrist was hurting more than it did when I fell. I told my instructor  he pressed on some points and asked if they hurt, the didn't so he told me it wasn't broken. That, I had already figured because I could move it. After my lesson my family and I went back up the slope and took the ski lift to get to a restaurant that you can only get to by skiing to it. We ate hot dogs and had dessert then started the journey back. I had already skied this area, but I found I was more hesitant than when I had skied the area with my instructor. I was following Marie, but at about a 50 foot distance rather than a 10-15 foot distance. I had to make my own path.

Back in the town we went to the pharmacy to buy a wrap for my wrist, gel stuff, a icy/hot pad, and Tylenol type pills. We moved from the house into a hotel for the last night, and Sunday we returned back to Bourges.
Overall, sure, I like skiing now. I'm going on a ski trip with my school in February. It's not my favorite sport, but it's alright.

Oh! This sprain I got is my first injury....ever. Also, I earned my "Deuxieme Etiole" that is now displayed on my Rotary blazer. Yep, this clumsy ballerina chick learned to ski in a week, let her be proud.