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!
Wednesday, January 1, 2014
Thursday, December 26, 2013
French Christmas
Happy holidays! This year I got to experience Christmas in France. The festivities began on Christmas Eve with a visit to Church. A lot of friends and family came. After an hour of mass, we had a long dinner party with lots of food and conversation. The meal was venison with cranberries and a celery root purée. The children went to bed around midnight, but the adults stayed up for desert, coffee, and gifts. At 2:00 am, we put the children's gifts under the Christmas tree and went to bed. In the morning, the kids opened their gifts. Then, everyone gathered their belongings and returned to their respective homes. It was tiring, and I missed my family, but I still had fun!
I have moved to a temporary host family for a week because my host parents have gone to England. I will stay here until December 30th, when I will be moving to a new host family in Troyes for the final half of my visit to France.
I have moved to a temporary host family for a week because my host parents have gone to England. I will stay here until December 30th, when I will be moving to a new host family in Troyes for the final half of my visit to France.
Wednesday, December 11, 2013
Christmas Exams
The next major event in my life will be the Christmas exams next week. We will take a two hour test for each of the six core subjects, covering everything we have learned so far this year.
While reviewing for the exams, I discovered that the history test here will be very different from what I am used to (all the others are similar). On the ship, the final exam in history usually consists of several multiple choice, matching, or fill in the blank questions, a few short answer questions, and one longer essay question. Here, the entire test is one giant essay. We will be given a text about either Athenian democracy, Roman democracy, or immigration and the role of Europeans in the spread of people around the world. There will be a consigne (ex. after presenting the document, define the Athenien democracy as given by Aristotle and then explain his criticisms against this regime), which we will have to respond to in essay form using quotes from the text and our understanding of our lessons. I'm fairly certain that this will be the most difficult history test I have ever taken!
In general, the French schooling system seems to be more rigorous than those of the U.S and Britain. For example, every student takes French, English, and at least one other language, the options being Spanish or German. Many students also take a third language, either Chinese or Latin. In the U.S, most people only take English and one other language. Also, at my school in France every Friday there is either a two hour long test on a certain subject or two one hour tests on two different subjects. On the ship, we only take two hour tests four weeks in the year for midterms and finals. School hours here are from 8:00 to 5:30, while on the ship they are from 8:00 to 3:20.
In France, you choose a track (ex. Physics and Biology, Literature and Languages, Economics and Social Sciences, etc.) at age 15 or 16. In the first year of high school you receive a general education and in the second your classes are specific to your area of interest. The goal of school is to prepare students to succeed in scoring highly on their chosen Baccalaureate, a test which determines the person's level of mastery in their chosen area. Higher education institutions and employers choose whether or not to accept a person based on their Baccalaureate scores. In the U.S, you do not need to choose a major until you have completed two years of University. There are the SAT and ACT tests, but as far as I know they are not specialized and are much less important than the Bac.
This sums up what I have learned about the French education system so far. If you are American or British, be thankful that you don't have to learn a third language! If your country's education system is more similar than that of France, be thankful that you get to learn so much! :-)
While reviewing for the exams, I discovered that the history test here will be very different from what I am used to (all the others are similar). On the ship, the final exam in history usually consists of several multiple choice, matching, or fill in the blank questions, a few short answer questions, and one longer essay question. Here, the entire test is one giant essay. We will be given a text about either Athenian democracy, Roman democracy, or immigration and the role of Europeans in the spread of people around the world. There will be a consigne (ex. after presenting the document, define the Athenien democracy as given by Aristotle and then explain his criticisms against this regime), which we will have to respond to in essay form using quotes from the text and our understanding of our lessons. I'm fairly certain that this will be the most difficult history test I have ever taken!
In general, the French schooling system seems to be more rigorous than those of the U.S and Britain. For example, every student takes French, English, and at least one other language, the options being Spanish or German. Many students also take a third language, either Chinese or Latin. In the U.S, most people only take English and one other language. Also, at my school in France every Friday there is either a two hour long test on a certain subject or two one hour tests on two different subjects. On the ship, we only take two hour tests four weeks in the year for midterms and finals. School hours here are from 8:00 to 5:30, while on the ship they are from 8:00 to 3:20.
In France, you choose a track (ex. Physics and Biology, Literature and Languages, Economics and Social Sciences, etc.) at age 15 or 16. In the first year of high school you receive a general education and in the second your classes are specific to your area of interest. The goal of school is to prepare students to succeed in scoring highly on their chosen Baccalaureate, a test which determines the person's level of mastery in their chosen area. Higher education institutions and employers choose whether or not to accept a person based on their Baccalaureate scores. In the U.S, you do not need to choose a major until you have completed two years of University. There are the SAT and ACT tests, but as far as I know they are not specialized and are much less important than the Bac.
This sums up what I have learned about the French education system so far. If you are American or British, be thankful that you don't have to learn a third language! If your country's education system is more similar than that of France, be thankful that you get to learn so much! :-)
Thursday, November 21, 2013
Seasons!!!
Because I have lived on a ship in Africa for the past seven years, I have not seen seasons recently. In Africa, there is the wet season and the dry season, but no summer, fall, winter, and spring. Here in France, I am seeing the seasons! It is fall now, and it is really cold. The leaves are colorful and it will probably snow within the next few weeks. To everyone who lives here, this is normal, but to me it is exciting.
I have noticed people look at me weird when I pick up red leaves to look at them more closely or try to step on every crunchy brown leaf I see. I think that the way the sun shines in at an angle instead of straight down is really beautiful and that the sky is a different color blue here now then it was in the summer. I feel like running around outside and jumping in the piles of leaves and singing Christmas carols. I feel like taking off my coat and feeling the bite of the chilly wind, finding a seat under a tree, and writing an ode to autumn. I feel five years younger. Of course, I can't actually act on these thoughts since I have to go to school and study and do homework, but I am still amazed at the beauty of seasons.
Seeing that most people here don't feel the same and simply take the changing of seasons for granted makes me wonder how many beautiful things I participate in on the ship that I take for granted. It encourages me to look more carefully at the everyday things in life and to thank God for them.
One thing that I will be more thankful of once I return to the ship is the sense of community. Living in a house on land with just one family has made me realize how blessed the crewmembers of the Africa Mercy are to live and work together. I miss the feeling that comes of knowing that me and my role is just one small part of something much bigger: serving God, serving the poor, and serving one another in the messy, crazy, unique, wonderful community we call the Africa Mercy.
I have noticed people look at me weird when I pick up red leaves to look at them more closely or try to step on every crunchy brown leaf I see. I think that the way the sun shines in at an angle instead of straight down is really beautiful and that the sky is a different color blue here now then it was in the summer. I feel like running around outside and jumping in the piles of leaves and singing Christmas carols. I feel like taking off my coat and feeling the bite of the chilly wind, finding a seat under a tree, and writing an ode to autumn. I feel five years younger. Of course, I can't actually act on these thoughts since I have to go to school and study and do homework, but I am still amazed at the beauty of seasons.
Seeing that most people here don't feel the same and simply take the changing of seasons for granted makes me wonder how many beautiful things I participate in on the ship that I take for granted. It encourages me to look more carefully at the everyday things in life and to thank God for them.
One thing that I will be more thankful of once I return to the ship is the sense of community. Living in a house on land with just one family has made me realize how blessed the crewmembers of the Africa Mercy are to live and work together. I miss the feeling that comes of knowing that me and my role is just one small part of something much bigger: serving God, serving the poor, and serving one another in the messy, crazy, unique, wonderful community we call the Africa Mercy.
Sunday, November 3, 2013
Fall Break
For the past two weeks I have been on fall break. I went to a lot of dinner parties, went bowling with my host family, went to museums in Paris, carved pumpkins, and made pie. Here are some pictures of my adventures.
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| River boat |
Sunday, October 20, 2013
My Birthday
Yesterday was my 16th birthday, and it was a lot of fun. I woke up at 6:00 am to get on a train to Paris, where I spent the day in Disneyland with the other exchange students from my program. I had a lot of fun, and got to ride my favorite roller coaster, Space Mountain. I also discovered that Disneyland in Paris has very similar layouts and attractions to Disneyland in California.
Here are some photos I took at Disneyland.
The picture below the one of space mountain is a pole with a quote on it. It says "Tout ce que est dans la limite du possible doit être et sera accompli," or in English "All that is in the limit of the possible must be and will be accomplished." (I don't agree with this quote, but I thought it was a interesting picture to take.)
Here are some photos I took at Disneyland.
The picture below the one of space mountain is a pole with a quote on it. It says "Tout ce que est dans la limite du possible doit être et sera accompli," or in English "All that is in the limit of the possible must be and will be accomplished." (I don't agree with this quote, but I thought it was a interesting picture to take.)
Sunday, October 6, 2013
It's a little late but...
Hello,
I completely forgot that I had these pictures from orientation week. We went to see a horse race and walked around a small town near the sea for a bit. It's a little late, but here are the pictures.
I completely forgot that I had these pictures from orientation week. We went to see a horse race and walked around a small town near the sea for a bit. It's a little late, but here are the pictures.
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| The one photo I managed to get as the horses ran past us |
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