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Rotary Youth
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District 5190 ●
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Wednesday, December 11, 2002 6:27 AM Bonjour Friends and Family!How are you all doing? I hope great! It has been quite a while since I have shared my experience in France with you all so this is going to be a long email... So anyways, where did I leave off in my last email? Oh yes, I remember... I was just leaving to Bernay to hang out with exchange students for the weekend. What an adventure that was! When I met up with the other exchange students (who came from: America, Canada, Argentina, Japan, and Australia) at a train station, we got into the cars and were taken to where we would be staying for the weekend... A 600 year-old church!!! I had a view of the grave yard and everything!!! My fellow exchange pals and I had a great weekend. We went bowling on Friday followed by pizza. We all had a blast! Yo Felicia, remember to always keep your eye on the ball!! Inside joke, but anyways... On Saturday, we went to the horse stables, and some how or another, we had forgotten three girls in the church! When they arrived to the stables, we learned how to ride a horse English-style in the pouring rain, through the Normandy in hills on Saturday (in which I'm sorry to say a few girls had fallen off of there horses, but there where no major injuries!). I had so much fun! After two hours of horse back riding, everyone was tired, sore, and wet from the rain so we returned to the church. During dinner we all shared our different nationalities by singing our national anthems to each other (which by the way was very interesting in the different languages!), and we also taught each other how to play games from our home countries. After dinner, the exchange students and I made a video... However, no details on the video!! This was by far one of the best weekends I have had in France! I am happy to say that have been in France for 3 months and three weeks (that is 114 days)! It doesn't feel like it has been this long. Time is really flying by fast! My progress in French thus far... I understand what people are saying around me (and I'm happy to say: even if they are speaking fast!) I speak French much better (gotta work on my accent a little!), but I can converse nonetheless. My dreams/thoughts are now half in French and half in English. Hopefully soon it will JUST be French. Also, I am no longer reading children's books, but I have moved on to the books written for 9, 10, and 11 year olds. So, after three months of being here in France I have a good understanding of the French language. Now that Thanksgiving has came and gone, and Christmas is just around the corner... There are some days that I feel homesick for all of you. Not too often, but sometimes. But, I have made it this far in France, tout seule (by myself), so I know that I have the courage to last through the holidays. Plus, now that I understand French well, I am making more and more friends everyday. So, I guess I can't say that I am here by myself! I have finally changed my classes!!! Yep, I've graduated from sixth grade and now I am w/ the 10th graders. Still a young group of kids, but this definably beats being w/ 10 year olds. I like my schedule and the students I am w/ a lot, so I have no complaints. Also, I have no complaints about starting school every morning at 9:00 a.m or 10:00 a.m, and finishing at either lunch or 4:30 p.m. My days at school are sweet and short. As for life w/ my host family... I like everyone in my family a lot and I am going to miss living w/ them when I switch families on the 15th of December. I still help Martine cook every night, and I am becoming a good chef. I'm thinking about opening a French pastry/ restaurant when I come home! Yummm... Peut-étre! Email me, if any one of you would like my new mailing address, and I'll respond right a way! My weekends in France are pretty much all occupied by Rotary activities. Last weekend I helped out with the Banque Ailimentaire ( collecting food for the families that don't have any). This was a great thing to do! It feels so wonderful doing things that benefit other peoples needs rather than my own. I also watched a live orchestra last weekend and a brass band. It was the competition of the trumpets. (I was thinking of you Stefan!) The weather is incredibly cold here!! It is in the 30's (Fahrenheit) everyday. What makes it sooo cold is that it is humid, wet, foggy, and it rains almost everyday. Also, it isn't that much warmer inside (as the indoor heating is terrible, if you ask me!) Well, I guess this email isn't as long as I thought that it would be, but I hope you all enjoy it! As I can't think of anything else to say, and I have very limited time on the computer. I hope every one of you is doing well. In good health and spirit! Hope you all had a great Thanksgiving! Have a wonderful week and I'll be thinking of you all... Until next time! Gros bisous, Sarah Friday, December 20, 2002 6:01 AM Bonjour everybody! I just wanted to wish you all a Merry Christmas and a very, very Happy New Year! I also wanted to tell you all what I have been up to since I last wrote to you all... A week ago! I went to Paris last weekend with my last host family and what a blast that was! Paris was lit up with Christmas lights and it is really beautiful! When I arrived to Paris last Friday evening, Philippe, Martine (my last host parents), and I met up w/ Hélène (my last host sister) on the famous avenue "Les Champs Elysée". We walked up and down the avenue, marveling at the beautiful lights, and the wonderfully decorated stores. Christmas was in the air... The streets of Paris where packed to the max with people from all over the world (every few seconds I heard a group of people speaking in a different language)! After our long walk, we found a wonderful Italian restaurant that had a nice view of the busy street! I was in absolute heaven! Afterall, I was in Paris (all decorated and beautiful for Christmas), eating at a wonderful restaurant, and with a very loving family. Nothing could make me happier, except... The Haagan Daz ice cream I ate after dinner! What a life, huh? Well after a wonderful evening of site seeing, the Meurisse family and I stayed in an apartment (located in Paris), for a short night of sleep. We woke up nice and early the next morning, and headed towards the already crowed streets of Paris, and into the Laffayate mall (don't know if I spelt this right, pardon-moi for those who know better then I do!). For the rest of the day 12 hours, the Meurisse family and I literally shopped until we dropped. Stopping only to eat a sandwich for lunch, but never sitting down. I literally wanted to cut my feet off by the end of the day, b/c they hurt so, so bad! However, I was in a very happy mood. Nothing, not even my feet, could have put me in a bad mood! I bought myself a brand-new coat and scarf (thank you for the Christmas presents Grandma and Grandpa Smith!), and now I really do look French! And when it started raining, I put up my umbrella, still had a smile on my face, and kept walking ( I say this, b/c everyone else around me was cranky and annoyed w/ the rain)! Well, that was my lovely weekend in Paris. I had a splendid time as I always do in Paris! On Sunday I switched families and now I am w/ the Scailliérez family. I have a lovely new room fit for a princess, and I am very content! I had a wonderful week and now it is vacation!! Yes... No school for two weeks!! However, my enthusiasm isn't anywhere as close as my lovely little sister's enthusiasm, who rubbed having three weeks of vacation instead of two in my face, b/c Lake Tahoe received 5 feet of new snow! Well, two weeks is better then none! I'll write you all again after Christmas. I just wanted to wish you all a Joyeux Noel and a Bonne Année!! Talk to you soon!Bisous, Sarah Tuesday, January 07, 2003 2:33 AM Bonne Année tout le monde! Happy New Year everybody! Well, now that my vacation is over, it is time to update you all on my new and wonderful experiences. First of all, I hope that you all had a wonderful Christmas and a very Happy New Year. As for me... I had a wonderful vacation, enriched in new experiences, with my host families and friends here in France. I spent Christmas Eve with my new family. It was the first time I was with the entire family, as the children of the parents I am staying with (Jean and Joceleyne Scailliérez) are all grown up. The entire family is very funny, so I spent most of the evening laughing! Joceleyne served us a wonderful dinner: 1st course- fois gras (duck liver... I don't like it, but I tasted a little of it since it is a cherished French custom), 2nd course- mussels (uncooked! The first time I have ever eaten a mussel strait from the ocean!), 3rd course- shrimp cooked in a delicious cream sauce and salad yumm!, 4th course- turkey and sticky rice, 5th course- salad and cheese... Then after dinner, it was time to open presents! Yep, it is traditional to open presents on Christmas Eve in France. We put our slippers under the tree and this marked our places as to where to put out presents. I was surprised by how many presents I received. My host family is truly wonderful, they took care of me while I was away from my family during the holidays. Then, after we opened all of our presents, we sat back down at the table to eat 2 different kinds of chocolate cake! Yumm! Christmas day was spent with my first host family, and I did the same things with them as I did with my second host family (it's going to get confusing when I switch families again!). I had a wonderful day... And I spoke with my entire family. Christmas was really different away from my family. But I am happy that I was able to experience Christmas with a different culture, in a different country, with my new friends. I went to Paris again for a weekend during the vacation. Every time I go to Paris it seems to me that my experiences get better and better. My favorite moment this time was when Benjamin (my host brother) and I were in a beautiful part of Paris (just 10 minutes away from the Moulon Rouge), drinking our café au lait, and watching the artists paint in a square famous for painters. Then afterwards, I sat in a chair for an hour while someone drew my portrait! I was so, so happy! I am living a dream that I have always had and when I do things in France, such as getting my portrait drawn, I feel as if my life couldn't get any better! This weekend in France I went to 3 different excellent restaurants and I saw the Louvre for the first time (unfortunately there where too many people there so I didn't get to go inside). And as always, I was sad to leave Paris. For New Year's Eve, I went out with Benjamin (my host brother) and celebrated the New Year with him and his friends. I danced the night away!!! It was a great evening. When it was midnight everyone exchanged kisses with everyone to wish them a "bonne année"! Well, this sums up my vacation. Hope you all have a wonderful week and write to you all again soon. As for the emails I haven't responded to yet... I'll have more time tomorrow!Bisous, Friday, February 7, 2003 Hello Everybody! I'm sorry to not write more often, but I have been pretty busy lately. The reason why this addition of "Sarah's life in France" newsletter is called "on top of the mountain!" is because, I am on top of the mountain! You are probably all asking yourselves, what mountain? Let me explain myself... This week I have been in France for exactly 5 and 1/2 months. Yep. That is, I have made it through the experience of coming to a foreign country by myself, meeting new people and adjusting to a new culture, learning to understand/ speak/ and read the French language. I have learned how to deal with loneliness and how to stay positive. I have grown up... Changed...And now after surviving these first 5 and 1/2 months, I am standing on top of a mountain, looking forward to the next 5 and 1/2 months I will be in France. Now that I understand and speak French, my next goals are to REALLY learn how to speak and write well in French. I know that I can do this! I have a strong will power! Since the last time I last informed all of you of my well-being... I have done and seen many new and glorious things! The second weekend of January, I went to Paris for the day with my first host family. I visited the museum where almost all of Claude Monet's paintings are held, Musée de Marmottan , and I saw the "water lilies" in person. The paintings' were extraordinarily beautiful. I felt a surge of emotions seeing them in person. I felt every emotion at once... Happiness, sadness, anger, fear, excited, surprised... I felt completely full-filled. The art of Monet is beautiful and I urge all of you, if you someday have the chance, to visit this museum. Well, after visiting the museum and another beautiful day spent in Paris sight-seeing, I had the privilege of seeing William Shakespeare's story of "Hamlet" in an old theater, and in French! It was wonderful! I spent another wonderful weekend with the exchange students! We met in the town of l' Aigle and then went to Centre Park, where we would be staying for the rest of the afternoon. Excitingly speaking to each other in English, we made our way into an enormous room filled with water slides, wave pools, lazy rivers, and tanning beds. I had a blast! This was definably one of the funniest days I have spent in France thus far. After this lovely afternoon, we ate dinner, celebrating with the festive galette. A galette is a religious cake that is celebrated every winter, in celebration to all of France's Kings'. It is like a big croissant and comes in many different flavors: strawberry, english cream, chocolate, pear, and etc. Très, très delicious! Inside the cake is a "fleuve", a festive porcelain doll. Whoever gets the piece of cake with the fleuve wins. Well guess what? I was the Queen for the evening! (Sorry Felicia! Who mistakenly switched pieces of cake with me!). Well, I had a wonderful weekend and I can't wait to see everyone again! Last weekend, I went to England! I went with the Rotary Club of Alençon. On the boat I had my own cabin and everything! Then when we arrived to England, after meeting the wonderful English family that I was to be staying with, David and Lynett; we headed towards the old town of Winchester. I became the official translator for the weekend. Constantly changing from English to French, very tiring! The country side of England is beautiful, rolling green and brown hills. Then when we reached the town of Winchester (the old capital of England, 400 years ago!), we went exploring... I visited an old church where most of England's dead Kings were berried (inside the church, that is!). I saw many different tombs: gothic, ceramic, happy, and sad. I have saw treasure chests' filled with bones (dated back to 600 A.D). This may sound a little boring to some of you, but to me, it was very interesting...I ate lunch in England's OLDEST pub, I went shopping (England is very fashionable), and I toured the old village. I was a little bummed because the building which held King Arthur's Round Table, was closed! Next trip, right? I ate dinner, dressed in a elegant and fancy dress, with the Rotarians' of England, who were celebrating there 75th anniversary. I met many interesting people. Life in France is great! School isn't too hard (I really only work hard in French class!), I have many nice friends, I like my host family, and I always have more then enough to do! Well, that's about it! I hope you are all doing good! I won't be too much longer until I see you all again! Have a wonderful week and until next time! Messages: (New addition to my emails!) Family: Packages are in the mail, so be on the look out! David: Sad to say, your back in Australia! Come back to France! My cousin David: Have courage in Irak! I'm thinking of you! Shauna and Terra: I'm sooo happy that I was able to speak to you both again! Mes amies qui viennent des Etats-Unis... Les Americans!: Je suis très contente que je vous aies vu! J'espère à bientôt! Jimi Tomber: Congradulations on placing 3rd in the X-Games!!!! Grandma: Happy 86th Birthday! And everyone else...I miss you all! Bisous, Sarah |
