The Second of several very, VERY Late Blogs: APPENDICITIS

SO....... Appendicitis is that thing that everyone forgets that they can get until they have it... Well, just my luck: I got it in France. Not in my own bed in the US or even at College where people speak English... FRANCE! And the worst part is, before I left I asked my mom, as a joke, if they could take it out as a precautionary measure because I didn't want to have it in France. I guess it might have been a good idea!

So 4 weeks ago, yeah it's been a while, I woke up on a thursday morning, and just didn't feel good. I had a really woozy stomach and was nauseous. I'll spare the details of my several trips to the bathroom to dry-heave, and just tell you that I didn't really throw up... So it was almost worse in my opinion. I HATE being nauseous, if throwing up makes you feel better than I don't mind it. So I spent the whole day in a constant nauseated state, and then spent the evening in a painful state... A stomach started around dinner time, totally curbing any ounce of appetite I had, which was actually a good thing, and I called it an early night. I hoped the next day I could just go back to school and be done with the sickness; however, that was not the case... A wise group of Rotary Students once told me that I have the Immune System of an infant... not that Appendicitis has to do with the immune system, but they were right, I've had Zero luck with being healthy here...

This is why you go to a clinique and not a hôpital (this is the foyer) 

So, I woke up Friday morning with a pretty terrible stomachache. I'm not the person to scream and cry over pain though, I just get angry and frustrated, so I wasn't like hobbling around, I was trying my best to function normally, which clearly was the opposite of what I should have been doing, you'll find out why a little later. My host mom, being the always concerned type, called her friend who is a doctor, I thought it was not necessary at the time, but I guess it was! The doctor asked if I had had appendicitis, my host mom asked me, I said 'no' then she thought I didn't understand and made me show her my stomach to make sure I didn't have a scar, then she believed me. So I got dressed uncomfortably and went to the doctors office, getting in and out of the car was the worst of the trip... Once at the doctors office, she did some pressure tests and asked me a few questions, commented on how much my French had progressed, score, and told me to go to the Clinique (Private Hospital) for a more intense diagnostic and possible surgery because she definitely thought it was Appendicitis. I talked about it with my host mom, and we decided it would be better not to say anything to anyone until I knew exactly what was going on, so we came home, I sat on the couch in pain for about 20 minutes then we left again. We arrived at the Clinique and waited in urgent care for a bout a half an hour to forty-five minutes... This is the first instance where some good acting skills and wimping out would have come in handy... they  let me wait longer because I seemed to be ok... great! Finally they got me into a room, the first doctor, who was a student doing his residency, did some pressure tests and he concluded appendicitis and was going to order a test, then his teaching doctor came in and checked me with another two pressure tests and said I didn't need a test right away because it was pretty clear that it was appendicitis... They said they were going to wait for the surgeon to see if he wanted tests or if he would just go ahead and operate... this was all done quite non-chalantly and with no urgency whatsoever; as my appendix was growing in size and I was getting more and more anxious. They put an IV in my arm and told me I wasn't allowed to leave the hospital until after my surgery, but at the same time, they wouldn't let me go upstairs to a room because there was a problem dealing with my insurance... instance number two where a big show of pain and theatrics would have come in handy; if I had been in more apparent pain, they would have done the surgery and asked insurance questions later... So finally my seemingly non-existant host counselor called the surgeon and made some deal about insurance with him. I think there was a problem contacting the company, so my host counselor said he would front the cost until it could be reimbursed, but he didn't have to because they worked it out before payment was due anyway.

Instructions on how to take my Betadine Shower...yeah

So I got to my room, settled in with nothing, and my host mom asked me what I needed for the next 3 days then went home for a while. I took my Betadine(maybe iodine) shower, with an IV in my arm, that wasn't easy, then got dressed in my next to nothing hospital gown. My host mom came back some hours later and told me that she had contacted my mom and sent her an email also, and my mom was not nervous and it was all ok.

My host mom then left and I spent the next 8 hours playing Angry Birds and listening to music on my iPod, thank god I had it! My Host mom came back with her friend, the doctor around 9 and not soon after that, the night nurses came in and took me to the operating room. The last thing I remember was them telling me the room was gonna spin, and that when it started to spin, I had to close my eyes.

Apparently they did my operation via camera... I can't think of the name right now, 'something'-scopically. They cut my belly button, and right inside each of my hip bones. they blew my stomach up with air so they would have space to work, then they put a cutting instrument in at my left hip and a pincer thing at my right and cut it and pulled it out... so now I have 3 cool scars... all are small and, after 4 weeks, already fading. I hope they don't disappear that'd be a shame, it seems to be a cool and unique souvenir. After the surgery I stayed inflated for about 2 1/2 weeks... I burped air, just air, about 6 times a day...

Portable Urinal that I refused to use.

I woke up about an hour later in the "wake-up" room to the attendant pulling a tube out of my throat, I in turn made an ugly face at her and said I didn't like what she did. I then continued to talk in French for the next 15 minutes at everyone who walked in and out... apparently I was speaking great French, I don't remember everything I said but I did ask about how much they liked their jobs and if I could see my appendix, I wasn't allowed... then I was brought back up to my room and left under observance once every 30 minutes. I was woken up and my blood pressure was taken... and the night nurses were far from nice... so that passed... the next day a few friends came it was cool! We didn't do much but talk, but it was still cool to have some company. They left and then another person came into my room to share it with me. He had some developmental problem though plus appendicitis, so that was just kind of crappy and awkward. He went into surgery that night and came out just as I was going to bed... I didn't get to fall asleep and had a shitty night's rest because the nurses were in and out, flicking the lights on and off every 25 minutes! anyway, I left the next afternoon for my house. I stayed at the house a week. There was a nurse, also a friend of my host mom, who came every day to clean and dress my incisions and to make sure everything as healing properly. He was very nice and quick and gentile and everything a good nurse is.

On the Wednesday following my surgery, Harry Potter 7 pt.1 came out in France so I went to see it with my host sister and Joelynn and Hunter. It was worth the amount of pain I went through walking around a mall and sitting down with jeans on. I was still bloated the size of a balloon and none of my jeans fit around my waist; I wore them halfway down my ass, neither stylish, nor comfortable... I had to unbutton them while we were sitting watching the movie because they were rubbing on my incisions. After the movie we decided to do a little shopping while we waited for my host mom to pick me and my host sister up. We were at H&M which is Men's on top and Women's on the bottom so the group split up, going to their respective sections, about 15 minutes later my host mom calls me and asks me to join then downstairs and that she is with my host sister just outside 'Kaboodle'. I, thinking that this is a store, exit H&M and travel to the other end of the mall downstairs, searching for my host mom. I got frustrated and I was, for some reason, exhausted, and very sore, so I returned to H&M to see my host mom standing out front. I was SO ANGRY; not at anyone, just in general, and then she asked me several times if I was alright, and I had to fake a smile and say yes, she didn't believe me, apparently I wasn't very convincing, so she asked me another 8 times... UGH! We left soon after and I took a nap as soon as we got home.

That Saturday, Jean-Pierre, the nurse, took out my stitches. The stitches in the hip incisions came out quickly and easily, but the belly button stitches were in pretty deep and had to be gently, yet still quite forcefully, YANKED out. I bled some more and he put a dressing on the belly button because it was bleeding he told me to change it if it soaked through, which it did, so I did, then it was pretty good. After the stitches were taken out, I guarded the oddly shaped and colored bruises for about 3 weeks. The night of the day I got my stitches out, I went to a nightclub with my host sister Auberie, my host sister's friend Melanie, Hunter, and Melanie's Cousin. We went to the Palace in Rouen: Rive Gauche. It was pretty fun, the music was almost exclusively American or English and there were a lot of creepy middle aged guys all alone with their shirts un-buttoned to their belly-button, but other than that it was fun. After that day/night, I knew that I was going to be okay. My body handled all that dancing and moving and I didn't fall apart so I wasn't worried after that.

The First of several very, VERY Late Blogs: PARIS

So, Paris is Paris, everyone dreams of visiting, everyone who goes falls in love, and everyone who lives there is, well... snooty, but that is besides the point. I was given permission by my host mom to be allowed to go to Paris without parents. But only me and Hunter, one of my friends were allowed to go, she didn't want a large group going, which I can completely understand, and my host sister also came with us. We started the day very early, it was still dark when we left! We almost missed out train and ended up having to sit in front of the bathroom door; this was much better than we originally had thought!

The first person to use the bathroom, was about 15 minutes into the voyage. The first person was a mid 20's female, perfectly capable of figuring out the automatic door which consisted of one button to open, one button to close and a lever to lock. You think that the whole world would be able to grasp that. Most people figured out that you needed to push the button with the BRIGHT GREEN ring around it to open the door, but this is as far as people's common sense went. once the door was opened there were two buttons to choose from, one was circular with (<>) and, because the door was already open, there was no green ring around it, and the second button was another circular button with (><) on it and there was a BRIGHT RED (meaning close) ring around it... The red automatically stopped everyone from hitting that button... everyone pressed the Non-Lit "open" button, but never even thought to touch the close button. Most of the patrons took ALL of their strength and closed the door manually, pulling it along the track, seemingly run by pressurized air. Yep, everyone damn near pulled their shoulders out of socket to close the AUTOMATIC door! Once inside, virtually no one locked the mechanism by turning a small lever that had a key emblem on it, could it be more obvious!? We ended up stopping about 8 people from intruding on others during their entirely too long bathroom visits. The only one person who did everything correct without thinking was a rather elderly lady who, in french, said "wish me luck" as the door was closing, we all preyed that she locked it, thus making her the winner, SHE DID! we wanted to clap for her upon her exit, but we decided that may be somewhat bizarre and inappropriate. About 20 minutes before we arrived in Paris, a younger woman entered the bathroom, yanked the door shut manually, idiot, and then didn't turn the lever the lock the door, on her way out, the woman could not arrive at pressing the open button. She tugged and tugged on the door, trying to open it manually, we found it entertaining, so we let her try for a pretty good while, before I relieved her and pushed the open button for entry, she looking amused with herself, thinking she found the solution and not knowing that I had pressed the button, then searched for the closing button.... she in-turn pulled the lock lever and got frustrated and left.... then I pressed the close button because it smelled. and then it locked from the inside. The last 15 minutes of the train ride, there was a huge line for the bathroom, and everyone was waiting for a phantom, none of us had the heart to tell the people in line that it was closed.....

We arrived at the Gare St-Lazare around 11:30AM. We took a little tour of the opera district of Paris. We took a small detour into the Galeries Lafayette to see the giant ChristmasTree.  Then we walked to the Bourse (stock exchange) and took the metro to Notre Dame... We walked around near Notre Dame a little then found a Starbucks... I got a great Caramel Machiato and an "American" cookie, it was SO GREAT! I noticed that there was only foreigners, russians, british, and us in the café. There was a potential Frenchman upstairs using the Wi-fi access. After eating, we made our way to the courtyard of the Louvre, then walked all the way from the Louvre to the Arc de Triomphe. It was A LOT of walking, but definitely worth the experience of just doing it. It rained a little along our route, but we didn't mind, when it got bad, we ducked into a store along the Champs Élysées. After reaching the Arc de Triomphe, we decided to search for a nice, somewhat inexpensive café to grab lunch. We spent 20-30 minutes searching for a decent café, we found a great one! We all got sandwiches, Croque Monsieur for Auberie and Me and a Club for Hunter, and fries. It was good, not too pricy, less than 15Euro a person, which is great for a large Lunch in Paris including a drink. After Lunch, we took a small detour to see the Eiffel Tower then  we made our way back down the Champs Élysées, and to a metro station. We arrived in front of the Gare St-Lazare and bought our return tickets then decided to do another small tour of the area... We made a wrong turn on the way back and ended up about 25 minutes away from the train station, with 30 until our train left! Yikes, we ran, and asked for directions several times... the answer was always "keep going straight" and then we would hit a wall or building and have to turn, then the new direction giver would say "keep going straight" so we never knew who was right. We ended up finding it on our own, and it's a good thing we did, we were tired and drenched, and just as we got on the train, it departed from the station. It was a quick ride home. I read a book called "Talk to the Snail: 10 Commandments to Understanding the French" It is an insight on the frustrations of being a non Frenchman, living in France.


All in all, it really was a great day. I was wiped out after an entire day of walking, but I didn't mind, it was just great! I can't wait to go again! After being there once and doing the overview, now I can make more specific trips to different areas, that will be cool!

A Lot Can Happen In 15 Days...

Vacation ended quickly... there wasn't a lot of action, but it was relaxing nonetheless. The day before school started again (Wednesday the 3rd), all of the Rotary kids in our district, or at least most of them, were supposed to come to Rouen for a day of fun and exploring, but no one showed up. Everyone seemed to forget, it just ended up being me, Hunter, and Joelynn, kids that are local to the Rouen area. It just shows that when you organize things a month in advance, they get switched to the back burner and forgotten, that's why its better to wait until the 2nd to last minute, leaving only some room for forgetting... We had fun anyway, the weather was ok, and we introduced Joelynn to kebab; which is really good, but really terrible for you.

School started again, Thursday was like pulling teeth, I just wanted to be traveling through France, not sitting in a "junior year" classroom again, but I know it's what is better for me. I'm learning the language quickly and I am getting more comfortable in the culture. If I lived like a tourist here, I would never arrive at levels in my life that I can reach because I'm living like all of the other French people. I guess school isn't all that bad, but, going back into school, all I could think about was how I wasn't making strong friendships, and how I was afraid I would be the kid who eats lunch alone in June because he couldn't make friends.

School went quickly on Friday and Saturday, and Saturday afternoon I went to see a movie with my host sister and two of her friends, We saw a French film called "Les Petits Mouchoirs" It was actually really good! It starred Marion Cotillard and a number of other very famous French actors and singers. The script was well written, even compared to American films, and overall I was impressed. I saw "The Social Network" dubbed in French on Sunday, it was really good! The weekend passed fast and then it was on to another week of school.

The week started like every other week, only I was more discouraged about making friends... by Tuesday midday, I had decided I was push on and maybe something would come of it!.... It worked! I was asked to each lunch "on exterior" with a group of kids from my class. I actually participated in the conversation! Friends are being made! It's really cool! I went out for coffee with them on Wednesday also! We just hung out at a café for the afternoon, it was cool, and I got to speak in French the whole time! Thursday was 'Armistice Day' so school was closed and I went into Rouen with my Rotary friends! We added a new kid to the group of being that have visited Rouen! Only about half of the stores and cafés were open, but it was ok, we managed to have fun! When I got home, my host mom told me that if I wanted to, I could bring a friend and the 2 of us could go to Paris on Saturday! I invited my host sister too, so her, myself, and Hunter, another exchange student from Rouen, decided to go to Paris on Saturday Friday was just 2 morning classes, because my afternoon class's teacher wasn't there, so I helped my host mom set up a craft booth, for her charitable organization that supports Peruvian Orphans, at a local Christmas Market. After we set up, we headed home, stopping in Rouen to pick up a few things and a 'Chausson Abricot' (translated Apricot slipper) it is a puff pastry filled with Apricot, they make them with all kinds of fruit and chocolate, it was really good! I called it an early night, I wanted to rested up for Paris!

...See Next Entry for Paris Detail...

After getting home from Paris, I Skyped with Amanda, Bekah, Kate, and my Mom! It was the first time I got to Skype VideoChat my mom! I was so happy to see her face! It made me miss her, but it made me happy to see that she is doing well! I went to bed around 1:00 AM and I had to get up at 7:20AM to go volunteer at a half marathon that was organized in my town by the friends of my host parents. 

After waking up, exhausted, I rolled out of bed, set my clothes out for the outdoor morning, crawled back in bed, and slept for another 10 minutes. Then I woke up, again, rolled out of bed, again, put my clothes on, then crawled back in be, again, I slept for 5 more minutes. Then I woke up, again, went downstairs, got in the car, and my day had commenced. No sooner had we arrived was I thrown in the back of a huge moving van full of tables and food, and driven into the woods with 8 other volunteers that spoke French, only French, which is fine at this point, I do understand it all, but a month ago, I would have died... We arrived at where my station would be, I, along the middle aged woman named Brigitte who was stationed with me, got out of the van, and took out our share of the food and drink. We set up to tables under a tarp hanging above, putting out water, coca-cola, orange juice, orange slices, banana slices, dried fruit, spice bread, sugar cubes, and trail-mix bars for the runners as they headed into their 12th KM of the 21KM race. I thought it was weird that they were eating, but they ALL ate something, and a lot of them drank Coke... Isn't that bad, I guess it might keep up your sugar levels, but still, that is weird. It was hectic, because everyone arrived in the same 25 minutes, so there was always people at the tables taking things, not throwing empty cups away, knocking things over while in a hurry, etc... so I had to fix those problems while refilling cups and replacing things that had been knocked off the tables or eaten. It was fun, but stressful. After the race, we packed up the van and headed back to the field house. Awards were given out to winners in the different categories then all the participants left. All of the volunteers stayed and ate lunch together. It was really fun, even though all of the volunteers, except for me and my host sister, were middle aged. After lunch, the organizers gave each volunteer a pack with a loaf of some kind of sweet bread and a bottle of traditional Norman Cidre, with a customized label for the event!

That brings us up to date... Yay! Life is really good in France right now!

2 Months Gone With the Wind...

The fact that 2 months have already passed, is rattling to me. I can't believe that I have already been in France for 2 Months! Learning French is on the top of my priority list right now, and I think that telling myself that I just have to speak French, no matter how dumb I sound, is really helping me grow. People are noticing my vocabulary, accent, and pacing are all improving very quickly... Still looking forward to dreaming regularly in French, but I know it will come soon enough.

Since my last post, I had a week of school, and a week of vacation. I have done so much these past two weeks. Class dinner, two amusement parks, A roadtrip to the South of France, Bordeaux, A vineyard in Vendée, and Vouvant (named one of the most beautiful cities in France), not to mention all the food I ate, and the fact that I read "The Hobbit" again! Great Book!

I'll start with school, we had another week of school filled with grèves, manifestations, and altogether inconvenience... but I don't mind, because half the time, class is cancelled! So as the week continued on, I got a letter in the mail from the National Mail Service in Paris, they said that they had detained my Package from my parents because it seemed that I had bought things from the US and had them shipped to France secretly to avoid taxes, which makes no sense because France like doesn't have taxes, haha, and they told me that I needed to E-Mail them a sworn declaration that it was like wholesome intent and not like tax evasion, plus I had to give them a list of all of it's contents and their estimated value and replacement value... It was somewhat annoying, but I was happy to do it, knowing I would soon get my package. I sent the e-mail and within minutes received a reply stating that the e-mail was received and everything was chill... moving on: At the end of the week, Friday night before vacation, even though I still had class on Saturday morning... all of my Premiere Literature class, my main class that I have most of my courses with, all went out to eat at a really good Brick Oven Pizzeria, It was SOOOO GOOOOD. It was really fun, every time that I do something outside of school with my French friends, I feel more like I'm supposed to be here. I feel more accepted, I feel like my French improves, and I just think it's altogether a great experience.

After a long 2 hours of class on Saturday morning, vacation had begun! I was so excited to head out the next morning! Everything was packed and ready the night before! Sunday morning we (my host mom, sister, and myself) woke up and left pretty much right away. We left the house before 6:45... I was tired, but caught up on sleep in the car, and when I woke up, caught up on reading "the Hobbit" which is fantastic, I know I should be trying to read in French, but I was fiending for a Tolkien fix... and in French I would not understand his roundabout way of writing. After about another hour of driving, we arrived at what seemed like an abandoned vacation town... I was told about a week in advance that there was a surprise for me on the way to the south of France... but they never told me what it was... after some driving and searching for a parking lot, we began to walk. I was very confused, but we crested a hill and in front of us stood about 25 futuristic looking structures and buildings; none of which matched one another, but still were all very cool. We had arrived at Futuroscope. Futuroscope is an Amusement park based around technology and virtual reality. It is like what Epcot at DisneyWorld would be if they re-did it like 5 years ago. It was really cool and really fun. there were a lot of virtual reality attractions and 4D Movies. I had a lot of fun, and it ended up being gorgeous out; as it was for the rest of the week too! The park was a great day and after we finished around 6, we got back in the car and continued to head south to the Vendee department of France, where my Host family's cousins live and work at a Family Vineyard.

We arrived in Vix at about 8:30 I think, and unloaded the car. I was introduced to the family and shown to my room. After we "freshened up" we ate dinner, which was really good, and the wine-drinking began. I got to taste a bunch of different wines throughout the next couple of days, I really like wine! After dinner, we all called it a night; everyone was tired and ready for bed. The next day, in the daylight, I could really see the land that we were staying on. We were surrounded by Vine fields, green houses, and beautiful French countryside, it was awesome! There is a chateau directly next to the house I was staying at; it serves as a hotel, an reception center, and a receiving hall with the vineyard holds functions. It is really awesome! The first day in Vix, my host mother and I toured the small village and just generally explored the area, my host sister was working at the vineyard and would be for the next two days as a career exploration. After we toured the small town, which was indeed VERY small, the two of us went to LaRochelle, more after this story. After LaRochelle we came back to Vix and had dinner as a group. We had lamb, it was so tender and delicious, I actually forgot all about lambchops and feeling bad about eating it! The next day, my host sister went to work again, and Marie and I explored The Chateau, The small village of Vouvant, and the village of Fontenay le Comte... it was good day, and I got to take a lot of nice pictures. The third day, Wednesday,  all three of us said our goodbyes and headed further south towards Bordeaux. My host Father's sister lives in a small sub-urb with her husband, who happens to be the second in command at the same Vineyard where I had spent the last 3 nights, the father of the spouse of my family's cousin is the son of the president and creator of the vineyard; it is quite the family affair. Anyway, we arrived at their house, ate lunch, then they headed out for their own affairs, and the three of us headed to Bordeaux, "the little Paris", I was so excited. Bordeaux was great, we got back to the house around 9, ate dinner and then pretty much went to bed. It was a long day for all and everyone was tired, so we called it a night. The next day, we woke up, ate breakfast, said our thank you's and goodbye's, and left. We stopped before we got on the highway and bought sandwiches and drinks for a picnic lunch. It was the first bad weather we had had all week, and we were spending it in the car, so it didn't really matter too much. The ride home would be between 6 and 8 hours, it ended up being closer to 8. We stopped and ate our food, and everything was good. I finished the song I was listening to, and the last page of my book at the same time, as we were pulling in the driveway; great end to a great week! I walked upstairs with my hands full of luggage and entered my room to see a B-E-A-U-tiful cardboard box on my floor, Yay my parents package had arrived!

Day 1, LaRochelle:
LaRochelle is a medium sized port city that was used as a center for trade between the British and the French. It is full of old buildings, new buildings, character, and things to do. When we go to the city, we parked and walked all the way to the Harbor. on either side of the entrance to the harbor there is a tower. they are known as the Towers of LaRochelle, and they are a symbol of the city, and also a national monument. They are really big and old and they served many purposes throughout their lifetimes. My host mom and I explored the larger of the two towers and the lighthouse that stands next to the two towers on the end of a rampart. The towers were extremely intricate in design and were really cool to explore, the narrow stone staircases and the high wooden ceilings were really awesome to look at. after exploring the towers, we walked around the actual town of LaRochelle. It is really cool, kind of touristy, but cool all the same. We saw a lot of things, but didn't do anything specifically. There was a lot of shopping, but the same stores are in Rouen, so I wasn't totally interested in shopping. After a small chocolate cake, we headed back to the house!

Day 2, Vouvant/ Fontenay le Comte:
The second day started with a grocery trip to Fontenay le Comte, the small city next to Vix. After returning the groceries to the house, we ate lunch and then headed out for Vouvant. Vouvant was named one of the prettiest cities in France, there is a huge lake and really great views from the old walls of the fortified city. We quickly found out that there wasn't much to do, as it was off season, and that after looking at everything, there is nothing to do. All the shops were closed, but I took some great pictures. On our way home from Vouvant, we stopped in Fontenay le Comte again so we could walk around downtown. We explored the church which was crazy! The stained glass windows were awesome! and there was someone tuning the organ while we were there, so he was playing music the whole time we were visiting. It was really cool. After we left the church we did a little exploring around the town, then headed home. The day turned out to be really cool! It wasn't until I got home that I realized that it was October 26, the 2 month anniversary of my arrival in France! Spooky...

Day 3: Bordeaux:
Bordeaux was so sick! we parked outside the city and took the metro in, which was a great choice. We spent most of the day just walking around and exploring the city. We stopped at a few art galleries and I saw some really unique and creative stuff. We actually took an hour and a half long tourist train that drove around the city and you wear headphones and it tells you about different parts of the city... when there wasn't information running, they played the same classical orchestral piece over, and over, and over........ that got somewhat annoying, and I was annoyed that I had difficulty taking pictures from the bumpy train, but it was a good way to see the city. We also visited the Rue St Catherine, which is the longest commercial shopping street in Europe, that was pretty cool, and we visited the Opera House and the Public Garden, both of which were really awesome! Bordeaux, just like any other large French city, is really really cool at night. All the buildings are lit up and its really quite cool! The day went fast, but we did a lot and I was happy to have been there. We took the Metro back to the car and drove back to the family's house. All in all it was a great day!

After getting home from my trip to the south of France, I went to bed, woke up in the morning and left to go to Parc Asterix, A theme park based on the French children's cartoon about vikings. It is really funny. The park was very family oriented, but fun none the less. It was a nice day out, and many of the rotary exchange students from my district go to go! It was a great day, we did a lot, and as per usual, I lost my voice because I talked so much, as did half of the other students. It's funny, when we can talk in English, we just don't stop haha... We took the bus back to l'Aigle and stayed there for the night before coming back to Rouen today in the afternoon. It was a long trip, but really fun, and I love seeing all of my friends!

The rest of Vacation, which ends on Wednesday, seems to be quiet time, which I am more than OK with, I had such a great week, and a few days of R&R is all I really need. Hopefully some of the other students will be able to come to Rouen on Wednesday! It would be really fun to show people around!

Paix et Fromage!
Jared

Soccer/Football...or lack there of

So you would think: France>Europe>Football(Soccer) but it is so much harder than you would think to just find somewhere to play...
Sports aren't important to the majority of people here. They only have gym for 2 hours one time every week, and they play like 4 sports collectively for the whole year. The have Intramural sports on wednesdays after school, but most schools only have one sport and this year its Rugby... and no one plays... so there isn't a point in going.

If I wanted to play soccer, I would need a club license from the united states, it cost a hefty sum of money, an awful lot of time, and the Fall season is already almost over... so Soccer in the Fall is out! I keep looking for different places that I can play soccer inside/outside/or both, but there is no luck to be had. My host family keeps telling me that I really just can't because, even if I could find a club, I don't have the time to devote to it... Maybe in the Spring when I am more comfortable with everything I can try to find a soccer club to join. I know that French Exchange Students in the past have not had this much trouble finding somewhere to play soccer. I think that maybe because I'm 18 I have to provide more literature on my ability to play soccer, but it's not like I wanna go traveling the world with a semi-professional team... I just wanna play some soccer!

Hopefully I will be able to go to a game sometime soon! My host dad coaches a semi-pro team, and I think we will go to one of their games soon. I also expressed an interest in going to a national game, like the premier league, and I think that its plausible and really not expensive (like 35-45 Euro). I'm hoping that before the real winter weather hits, that I will be able to see a Professional game! This is my venting about the lack of sports, I never thought of myself as somewhere very "sporty" until I got here and all I wanna do is throw a baseball around or shoot some hoops... BUT I CAN'T! It's so frustrating!
Maybe I'll find a new sport that I love to play here, that is more accessible, and blogging doesn't count... although there are blogging related injuries, such as tendonitis and carpal tunnel syndrome...

... oops. Major Recap.

where to start... The week following my last entry actually turned out to be awesome. I think that this blog is kind of a therapy; i told myself who I was and thought about what I needed to do to be who I wanted to be, and, as the French say, voila! it happened. My French has started to become more fluent, I'm making real friends here, that care about what I have to say and I care about their opinions too. My biggest fear was that I wasn't going to be able to find friends with any substance, but that fear has been overturned. I can actively participate in a conversation, and I can be funny again! woah, what a relief.

After a great week of school, weird to say right, I got to go to Mont St Michel! What a treat! I was so excited all week, not only just to see my friends from America, Columbia, Mexico, Canada, and Germany, sorry if i forgot your country... but I also got to see one of the most magnificent pieces of architecture/masonry in France! For the past weeks I had been planning on driving out with Hunter, an exchange student from Michigan, but at the last minute I found out that I could not, and that I would be put on a train the following hour and sent to Basse-Normandie to meet the Rotary chair, who I thought hated me because he stared at me the entire first conference while delivering the rules to the new exchange students, and spend the night at his house alone, so I thought.... The thing about Rotary Exchange is that there is a lot of stuff you don't find out until it is already happening... I arrived in Bernay by train, after frantically packing a bag for 2 days of mud trekking and exploring, and met Jean-Ronny, the district chair. The 35 minute ride back to his house was quiet, he drove like 125km/h, which is a lot for country roads in France, and when we arrived at his home in L'Aigle, there was a small Roatry soirée going on. Three families, two chairpersons, and 3 other exchange students, who were conveniently spending the night! Phew I wouldn't be alone. After Hors D'oeuvres, the families left and it was just the chairpersons and the exchange students. Halfway through dinner, the District Chair's wife dropped her fork and gasped, then exclaimed "je n'ai fait pas le COUSCOUS!" at this everyone at the table erupted into laughter, because we had all been thinking that the meal seemed kind of small... we continued to eat while she quickly made the couscous, then we finished the meal. for desert we had something delicious, they were like Pepperidge farm Pirouettes but actually french and fantastic! We stayed at the table for about 3 hours just talking and laughing. I got to talk with Anne, Majo, and Laura about their experiences so far with Rotary, it was really cool. After dinner, I had realized that Jean-Ronny didn't hate me, and that he was actually rather fond of me. He gave us our sleeping arrangements, The three girls in his youngest daughters bedroom, the small bedroom, and me, alone, in his only son's bedroom, the biggest; he said the man gets the best room... I really don't agree with the amount of sexism in France, but why stop them from giving me something fantastic!? the four of us stayed up way to late talking, it was so good to talk in English! We woke up in the morning, drank coffee out of cereal bowls... that was odd, then headed out for Mont St Michel. The ride out was gorgeous, and in true French fashion we stopped at two different locations to buy café/thé/chocolat chaud. Once we arrived the fun began!

It was great to see everyone! We all ate a bagged lunch, and just got to meet people from all over the world who had come to the western side of France! After lunch, we took buses down the road to the actual island, we were told to retire our shoes under the bus and prepare to get dirty... the tide had just gone out, and we all walked out into the bay surrounding Le Mont! we walked out to an island that was about 5 km from Le Mont. it took us 5 hours to walk out and back! EVERYONE had to pee, it was kind of awful... but the views were great, and I met a lot of cool people. We returned and got to freshen up, then we had dinner. The dinner was awful, it took way too long, there wasn't enough food or drinks, and we had to listen to Every country's national anthem.... it got kind of boring. after the national anthems, the principal plate was served... it was COLD SALADS, and fish with head still attached, needless to say, everyone was disappointed.
after the meal, there was a dance... it smelled way too awful, so the district 1640 kids, holla, all went and hung out together until about 2:45. It was so fun! and at this point everyone was hoarse and needed to sleep... we woke up at 6:45 for breakfast which was doubly delicious because of how awful he night before had been, and then we headed out for Mont St Michel, the interior!

I felt like I was in a mixture of Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings, it was literally fantastic! I love Europe, the content of my photos just seems so much more interesting here. We visited the Abby at the top, it was so cool! I was just so impressed! We got ice cream souvenirs, then headed back for lunch and goodbyes. Lunch was great, we had soup, fries, and chicken.... among some other great things! After a bizarre dance rehearsal, everyone said there goodbyes and headed out.

the following week, this past week, was equally as awesome, but almost too fast, I don't remember half of it. I think I was jealous because my real family was on vacation in America, in my favorite place in the world, Martha's Vineyard. Anyway, there was a blocus, or blockade of the school, on Friday. There have been a lot of strikes and protests. The now president wants to change the retirement age to 62 from 60, but the people that are 60 right now have to wait until they are 64 to retire; when the people who are now 58 are 62, then the retirement age will be 62, but they are filling the gap with elderly people' the whole thing just seems bizarre and flawed. Needless to say, everyone in France hates the idea. There are 40,000 person protests in Rouen at least once a week, and there is often no school, shortened days, or classes missing, and the best part... NO SUBS! No teacher, No Class! The closest I have been to the protests is seeing them in the newspaper here though. There all these warnings for Americans traveling in France and Germany to stay away from large groups of people, terror threats and stuff... Which is frustrating, but hey whatever, that's life.

I got to do some cool things this week in spite of the manifestations, like visit the Caen, D-Day Memorial. It was cool, I've been before, so it was a little boring, but the people that I was there with were cool. I went with my English class here, which is a different group of kids than my other classes, so it was good to get to know them a little better. Plus, there was a group of 9 Danish students who were staying in France for the week at our school as part of an exchange, which means that we get to go to Denmark in May as the second half of the exchange....score! It was good to be able to speak English and French at the same time, the transition wasn't as difficult as I thought, and a few times I had to act as a translator because the Danes had very little French skills (2 years at the most). On our "sortie" (fieldtrip) we also visited the Pegasus Bridge, which was the first structure in France to be liberated from Hitler's Control during the German occupation in WWII, it was ugly, but hey, it's history. After Lunch at the bridge we went to Pluto beach I think, Juno, Pluto... I don't remember, but it was really nice out, and actually kind of warm. A bunch of the guys in my class stripped down to their underwear and went swimming, I wasn't that daring, the water was way too cold haha. After a long ride home, I got picked up by my host mom and we headed home. The weather was actually really nice so I just hung out outside until it got dark. Good ending to a great day!

The day after Caen, was wednesday, my "one-hour of class" day. I love the short day, I can hang out with my friends after school, it's just really cool! I met up with Hunter and Sarah who live in Rouen like me, and Joelynn, from Elbeuf, a neighboring city. Rouen quickly found out what happens when you let three Americans and a Canadian loose in the city! We had a lot of fun, I can't wait to do it again. It is fun being able to have fun, and have people understand why you're having fun. Often times, the French don't understand American humor, and I end up looking like an idiot. More fun Wednesdays to come I think, if there aren't a million protests.

This past saturday was the Rotary District Conference a Honfleur, a small port city in western Normandie. The town was so effin cool! I had so much fun, it was cool that we got to skip half of the conference to explore the city! Honfleur is the home of the oldest wooden church in France, it was really cool! the windows were amazing! Around the church every Saturday is a huge open air market with vendors of all sorts. They had everything from cheese to sausage to strawberries and other fresh fruits and veggies. It was so awesome! There was also a fish market down at the docks; people sold fish right off the back of their boats as they came in from the morning voyage. I really felt like I was in an old port village in Maine or Massachusetts, or, well...France. After the exploration, we had to all return to the conference to listen to a guy talk about polio in French. There is nothing more difficult to understand in another language than medical lingo... The conference ended and we all piled into cars to go to a luncheon. After we finished eating our Duck and Mushrooms, which was fantastic, all of the Rotary Exchange Students had to perform a dance that we had choreographed the week before. The dance went with a mix of different genres of music, hailing from the countries that our students had come from.... it was really pointless, but I got to do the worm in front of 250 old men and women, so I'm not complaining. After the dance, the conference was over and everyone filed out of the building, marking the end of another successful Rotary Event, I miss my exchange student friends.

Sunday morning was chill, I got to sleep in. After getting up and cleaning my room a little, it was time for lunch. After lunch we all got ready and then went to the festival of gastronomy in Rouen. It was so cool to taste all of the local foods. All of the different homemade breads, jams, cakes, crepes, cheese, and sausage! Not to mention all of the hundreds of other sweets that were available to sample! After buying duck sausage and homemade jam, orange, blueberry, and chocolate/banana, we went home to make crèpes and pasta with Gruyere and Sausage, YUMM! If I didn't feel French before Sunday, I definitely do now!

And that brings me up to date... it's Tuesday and I don't have school. I'm very happy, Tuesday is my heavy workload day. This is why I love Manifestations! I just wish I could take the train somewhere and explore,but the trains don't run during strikes, obviously, so it's a tradeoff I guess. I get to catch up on sleep, blogging, postcards, cleaning my room, reading, and doodling though....Very important things for an exchange student. haha
















PICTURE LEGEND:
1) Le Mont St Michel.
2) The 10km hike through the quicksand on day one.
3) The island that we hiked to, while the tide is up around it.
4) The flags at the Caen Memorial.
5) Pont Pegasus, Pegasus Bridge.
6) The port at Honfleur.
7) Vegetables at the market in Honfleur
8) Stained glass window and chandelier in the old wooden church in Honfleur.

Two People

Sorry in advance for the third person, I'm trying to keep my english skills up. I don't want to sound like an 8 year old when I get home in 9 months.... it's weird that I say "9 months" now and not 10!

right now, I am two people, probably more, but in the simplest terms, just two, with two totally different opinions.


Meet Jared:
Jared is an American student who is studying in France for a year. He has studied 5 units of French in American High School and has fallen in love with the French culture. Jared is extremely excited and happy to be in France. He knows the great experience he is getting, loves everything new that he has experienced, and is hungry to explore more. He has learned more about himself in the past month, than he did in the past couple years. Jared has been to some really cool places in France, done some very exciting new things, eaten some VERY delicious food, and some that was not so delicious, rather fishy, moist, and slimy, and met some very nice people. Jared has started to make real friends, and his French language skills, which he was banking on being adequate for the adjustment period...pff, have improved enough, so that he can have a real conversation. Jared is finding enjoyment in the smallest of things, the novelty of something being "so european" has become a daily discovery for Jared. Jared misses his family, but knows that they are all on their own adventures, and that in 9 months when they re-unite, they will tons of stories to tell each other; life will be good.

Meet Jared:
Jared is an American student trying to fit himself into the French way of life. He is a student at a school in the center of a medium-sized French city, which is very cool, but very overwhelming, and totally French! Jared's 5 units of French had not prepared him for the battles that he has fought, nor for the weeks, perhaps months, of battles that he still has to face. Jared tries to occupy most of his time with new experiences, but there is only so many things to do, and so many more hours in a day. Jared stays away from his computer as much as possible, but watching T.V. he doesn't understand is only funny for so long, then it's just plain sad. Jared is trying to make friends at school, and he seems to be succeeding, but he still spends a lot of time in between classes alone. The French, Jared has noticed, like to keep to themselves. They like to smoke their cigarettes and talk with their small group of friends; nothing wrong with it, but it makes it very hard for Jared to fit in. Jared does love the french food, but is fearful that he is gaining weight... god please grant Jared the motivation to exercise more than he already has been. Jared misses soccer, a lot! Jared also misses WARM September afternoons, American movies, and Cocopuff. The lack of a car is shocking for Jared.
All in all, Jared is suffering from a mild case culture-shock. He has made leaps and bounds since sunday morning, when he had a [one person conversation] in which he decided that he had no place in a foreign country... Jared now knows that he is doing this for himself, he is growing stronger everyday, and in 10 months he will think that it all went too fast.


Which Jared am I?

That's just the trick... I'm both, neither, and each one individually.

I love it here, I really do; everything about France is interesting to me, but sometimes the idea of Honeycrisp apples, pumpkin pie, and bright red Fall Leaves... call my name, but I can't answer.

AND on top of all of this... High School in America ruined my life. The single most terrible thing in my entire life, up until this point: was High School... Why the Fuck (pardon my French ^.^) did I opt to go Do it all over in a different country !? I was nuts, I had stars in my eyes, or rather, Croissants, and I just wanted to be here. I'm still glad I made the decision to come, but man was I wrong about these first few months were going to pan-out...


Mom, Dad, don't worry (t'inquiette pas) I am still having a great time, I'm smart enough to know what I want, what I think I want, and what I need.

Love to all....


Bisoux and Bread (I've been eating a lot of it this week, need to either cut back, or start running and extra km)

Jared

1 Month!?

So a lot has happened here. I can't believe it has already been a month! It went by so fast... I know that is cliché to say, but it is true! I seriously don't know how it happened so quickly!

So about France, it really isn't that much different from America. If you look past all of the superficial surface stuff, French people act and interact just like American people. Everyone has been very receptive towards me, and as my French skills have developed, I have been more comfortable talking with people.

One thing that I can say is very different here is school. Everything from schedules, to curriculum, to classroom etiquette, to school spirit is so different! Schedules are blocking schedules that work on a weekly basis, so every monday is the same, all year long, every tuesday the same, etc... the students have random 1 hour and 2 hour breaks during the day sometimes, but have to stay at school as late as 6 o'clock some days, It doesn't really make sense to me, and all the kids hate it. Lunch here is crazy, kids wait in line for 45 minutes to get their lunch because the school where I study is a Middle/High School, which is atypical for France, and there are a lot of kids! school meals are like a real 4 course meal though... I'm not saying the food is always delicious, but they get a hefty helping of some sort of salad, a main dish which is usually a protein and vegetables, a dairy dish, i.E. Cheese or Yogurt, and a desert, which is usually fantastic! plus up to 3 slices of baguette bread if you so please... In America we are lucky if we get 5 chicken nuggets, a dixie cup of green beans, and a cardboard bowl of stale pound cake... Curriculum is so much different here! Because the grade is split up into 3 specialities, Me being in the literature and language speciality, there is a much more focused curriculum. In my group, we take Biology, Physics, Chemistry, and Earth Science all in on class, which we only have once a week for an hour and a half. I don't see how we can learn anything with such a broad range of study, with such a small amount of time. On top of that, I was helping another student with math homework, hard to believe I was doing someone else's math homework when I couldn't even do mine right? and they are learning, as juniors, what we learned in Math I (Freshmen Math) in America... and they don't use any of the same formulas or methods, and they overcomplicate everything! For example: the F-O-I-L method first, outside, inside, last.... THEY DON'T USE IT! I was shocked! I don't know how these kids learn anything! and they kept talking about how they use their "tay-ee" to do the equations, and I couldn't figure out what they meant... Tay-Ee is the french alphabet pronunciation of "T.I." (texas Instruments) which means they use their graphing calculators, which are extraordinarily expensive here like $40.00 more than in the US. In my French literature class, we don't read books, we read excerpts from ancient texts, and try to dissect the meaning, I dropped AP English because I really don't enjoy dissecting books... and now i have to do it in French!? ugh! but the teacher is really nice and knows that I don't understand, so he lets me read this really effed up graphic novel in french about some sort of religious conflict that happened, I understand most of the content, but I still can't figure out where they are, and why they're doing what they are doing... And these kids, for being seemingly defiant outside of class, are extremely obedient and well mannered when the teachers are around. There is absolutely NO gum chewing, No drinking bottled water, or eating of any kind, they even frown upon cough drops... when another teacher enters the room, everyone stands and greets the teachers, then remains standing until they are told they can sit down. No one ever doesn't do their homework, and you aren't allowed to leave during class to use the bathroom. None of these things are that majorly harsh, but it is just things to get used to.

On top of all of that, teachers strike, A LOT, so there isn't school because all of the teachers are protesting for something, and in Public school, teachers just take random days off, and there are no substitute teachers! so if a teacher is missing, you don't have class! all in all I really like school, but it is totally different. I miss being able to go to a school sporting event, wearing blue and silver, and cheer for the bulldogs. there is Zero school spirit here aside from the people at my school, thinking that there school is better than one of the other public schools in Rouen (Jean d'Arc) haha.

I went into Rouen on Wednesday to go shopping with an American friend who lives in Elbeuf, a town south of Rouen and my town of St-Etienne du Rouvray. It was nice, I needed some more clothes... I didn't realize how much stuff I took out of my bag to avoid weight problems and having to pay $200 for an overweight bag! I didn't spend a lot of money, but I bought a good amount of stuff, and I bought a Striped t-shirt (everyone here has at least one)! I officially weigh 3 pounds less than the lowest weight in my old weight fluctuation zone, I am happy about that. French sizes are so weird though! Clothes are made for strictly skinny people... In America I am a pretty steady medium, sometimes a small even, but never a large or extra large... here, I wouldn't be able to fit my head in a medium... The larger the size, the longer the garment, but as the garment gets longer, its width stays the same! I am now usually a large, sometimes an extra extra large, My body type isn't rare here though, I don't know if everyone else buys the sizes I do, or if they shop somewhere else, but I found this somewhat surprising!
On top of shopping in Rouen, I got to take more pictures! I love exploring the city, it has a lot of history and a bazillion old churches, I want to see them all before the year is done! Sometimes I am jealous of the people that live farther out in the country because they get beautiful fields and rolling landscaped, but then I remember just how beautiful Rouen is and I get over it.

Because of the strikes, I didn't have school on wednesday, or thursday, and I also didn't have school this morning, so I am pretty excited about sleeping in!

I got a haircut on Wednesday, the Hairdresser came to the house and cut my hair right in the kitchen. It was really cool, and only 11 Euro which isn't bad considering if I went to a salon, it would cost about 25 Euro. The woman was really nice, really fast, and did a really good job. I am not used to no tipping people here. I always forget that they include tip in the price of the good or service, so tipping isn't really something that people here do.

Well I think I should get up now, It is 11:30 AM and I still haven't emerged from my room.
More to come!
Until next time
Love and Cheeeeese!
Jared

Re-cap...

So since I am starting this about 3 weeks into my exchange I am going to do a little re-cap.

I arrived in France on the 26th of september after a solid 18 hours of travel... and a six hour time-zone jump... the flights weren't bad... I had trouble sleeping on the flight, so that kind of sucked, but the kid sitting next to me was an 18 year old who lives in Paris and is a Terminale (senior) in high school. He was really cool, and he made me really excited to meet more french students! After arriving at Charles-de-Gaulle Airport, we waited in a customs line for an hour and then got our passports stamped and were allowed to enter the country. Most kids were meeting their host families, but I was meeting a Rotarian and another student from Canada. I searched for a solid 20 minutes before asking my chaperone if he knew where my ride was. The chaperone told me to find My host club's exchange chairman, which I did, and then waited with him for another 20 minutes before I was told what was going on. OH! and the wheel on my 50 pound suitcase broke off en route... so that was just the topper on my awkward morning. I then dragged my suitcase through the airport, up a broken escalator, and on to the tram, which brought us 3 terminals away from where we started. Again we had to walk... down two flights of stairs across the terminal and up an escalator. Wow my arms were tired. I met my ride and the Canadian student who is also going to school in Rouen, but at a different high school. and we returned to the parking garage to get into the car and go to our new homes.

Once we got into the car, the thing I feared most happened: the Rotarian started speaking in French! very fast French, and I was very tired! So after his third try, I understood and we decided to take a detour through Paris so we could see the city before the 2 hour car ride to Rouen. It was just as amazing as I had remembered. I can't wait to go back and actually stay for a little while!

I slept for the whole 2 hour car ride to Rouen... and I woke up as we were pulling up next to my new house! it was a lot bigger than it looked in the pictures, and the yard was huge! There are 8 foot hedges around all of the houses, it is very private, and very stereotypical European...

I got a tour of the house and unpacked... the first day is always awkward, but my family was so nice! and they speak some English, which will help a lot as I am getting my footing.

My first full day in France, we went into the city! It was so cool! I really love the city, it is the perfect size. I was very excited to go to high school in the city and be there everyday. We went to l'Eglise Jean d'Arc, which was awesome and modern with a lot of meaning. and Le Cathedrale Notre Dame de Rouen, which is SO COOL! it is SO BIG!

The supermarket here is called E. Leclerc... It is so cool! it is very similar to Walmart, but there is a bookstore/Music/Entertainment store attached. I was impressed. I am both excited at how convenient and close it is, but I am also disappointed that the French don't shop exclusively at small specialty stores for everything. The Bread and Cheese here is so good! as well as almost all of the other food!

I have been shopping a few times, French clothes are hella cool, I miss color sometimes though... they pretty much stay in the green, blue, black, grey range...

French birthday parties are so awesome! I'll make a separate entry to write about my experience!

Dieppe is an awesome village on the northern coast! it was so cool! More about this in another entry...

hmmm... What else... too much to think about now... I'll add more memories later.

Peace,
Jared

So I'm in France?!

...I know you all know that I am in France, but it is kind of just hitting me. It has been an interesting 3 weeks; a lot of confusion, headaches, awkward moments, misinterpretations, frustrations, new experiences, new friends, new clothes, new points of view, new EVERYTHING! I can't even begin to explain how new this is for me... I am excited to share my experiences with everyone through my blog! plus this is a little easier for me, and it saves me the headache of writing 8 e-mails that say what I did each week; don't worry Mom and Dad, and everyone else for that matter, you will still be getting e-mails... so welcome! its dinner time here, more to come later.

Love and Bisoux,
Jared