Goodbye France!

It is the last week of my stay in France! At times during these past few months, I have felt that my stay was dragging on, and at other times it has seemed that everything was happening too fast. I have had both good times and hard times, and I am thankful that I was able to have this opportunity to learn and grow. I am also thankful for the two families that opened their homes to me this year, and for all the sacrifices they have made to help make my stay in France amazing. I will miss them, as well as the friends I have made. I'm so glad I got to meet them all!

I will be returning to Seattle on Saturday, and will begin my online classes. I'm excited to see my family in the U.S, but I know that I will never forget my French/Italian family that has hosted me in Troyes for the past months.

Vive la France!

Switzerland

For the past week I have been on vacation in the Swiss Alps! My host family and I, as well as some of their friends, stayed in a little apartment in the mountains. Most of the time my host family went skiing. I have never skied before, so I could not go with them, but I got some rest, looked at the view, and walked around. I did get on some skis once, just to try it. It was fun, but it was also a lot of work!

 

 

Troyes

Things here have been going well. I am getting along with my host family and I really like the town. The school hasn't been perfect, but you can't have everything. I haven't done anything specifically interesting, but in general I have been having a good time.

I have bought tickets to leave France a bit before originally planned, in early April instead of early June. This is because I need to take some online classes to catch up on schoolwork, as well as take an AP French test. I have had some hard times this year in France, but I have learned a lot and am glad I came.

Bonne Année!

On the 30th of December I made my transfer to my new host family in Troyes. The journey was about ten hours long. At 7:00 am I went by train from St. Omer to Lille. Once there, I walked to another train station where I caught a train to Paris North. I was supposed to meet a man from STS there, but we never found each other. After waiting in the station for two and a half hours, I decided to just keep going. I walked to the Paris East train station. By then I had missed my train, so I rebooked my ticket. My new train was late, but it came eventually. I made it to Troyes around 6:00 pm, about one and a half hours later than I was originally supposed to, but I made it!

My new host family is Italian. There are two boys, who are 10 and 15 years old. The city of Troyes is very nice, with some interesting architecture. The school I will be going to is right across the road from the house. I am happy to finally be here, and am just beginning to get to know my new host family and my new city.

On the 31st of December I went to a New Year's party with my new host family. It was at the house of one of their good friends. I had fun and ate some good food. I also got a drum lesson from one of the boys that lived there and got to play Mario Kart on the Wii. We didn't get home until 3:00 am. I am starting the New Year with new people in a new place, and I have high hopes for the next year. I wish you all a happy 2014, or as the French say, Bonne Année!