Sunday, August 29, 2010

premiere post from France

Je suis en France.. I am in France. Today was my fourth day in beautiful Antibes. I left Milwaukee on August 25th at 12:00 after saying goodbye to my family and friends. At that point I was such had soo many emotions-nerves and excitement took over my body for the majority of my first flight. It did not seem real to me that I was actually leaving my family and life behhind in WI. Once I landed in Philidelphia and immediatley reconized some kids in the lovely Rotary Blazer so we took a bus to our terminal together were we met up with over 50 other exchange students to France. The flight was good I watched 3 movies and unsucessfuly attempted to sleep. Once we landed in Paris excitement once again took over my body as I took my first stepe in Paris. It was pretty hectic getting to my gate but me and the ither 2 kids flying to Nice eventual setttled in and took off. When I landed in Nice I startign freaking out, I was soo nervous but really excited to meet my host family. Once I walked pass baggage claim I saw eager faces waving towards me and snapping pictures. I was soo brain dead I could not form any fluent sentances. But, I met my lovely host family who too me off to my new home. And so my adventure in France officially begain...

My host families house is SOO gorgeous, there is a pool wit
h a hamock and is surround by Palm trees, lemon trees, and a forest. It honeslty felt like a dream. Antibes is the most beautiful city I have ever been to in my entire life- with the aqua blue medditerian sea surround my huge mountains. The family is very nice and welcoming in their home. But, i do find the language barrier very difficult. I took French in the US so I thought i had a basic knowledge, but after comign here I realize I really have nothing. Everybody speaks so fast and their accent is very hard to understand- even basic sentences like "are you hungry?" leave me confused. Today I went to "aqualand" which is a waterpark in Antibes, I went with my host brother ( who is in university) and his girlfriend and then we met up with her friend and her boyfriend. It was fun and the veiw from the top of the slides was amazing. But, I could barley undertsand a word they were saying and none of them spoke any english. It's very frusturating no being able to communicate my thoguhts. I hope I am able to catch on fast.

On Friday i attended my first french Dinner Party. It was at one of the Rotarians house- which was incrediably stunning with a veiw of the whole city of Antibes and the sea. The food here is very good but i dont always know what im eating. Yesterday at dinner I was eating meat and my host dad says that it was sheep. That was interesting, personally I prefer steak. i was eating an appetizer and my host mom informs me Im eating Fois Grois. Also, in France the DO NOT belive in leftovers. my host parents kepp on filling my plate untill the food is gone.

Tomorrow I am giving a presentation at the Rotary club (ahhhh in FRENCHH) and then i might visit the lycee I am staring on friday. So, hope everythig is goin well in the States, I miss you all very much!

p.s the spell checker is in French so excuse the spelling errors!

a bientot
hannah

Wednesday, August 18, 2010

Last Week in the States

So everyone, its official. In 7 short days I leave for France. if you look at some of my earlier posts I'm counting down from 180 days. Before I knew it 100 day transformed into 40 days which melted into 10 and and now here I am, with 7 days. There are really no words to describe this feeling. This feeling of insane excitement mixed with sharp nerves and doubt. I've attended the orientations, read the books, studied the language, said goodbye the inbounds, welcomed home the rebounds, and watched in awe as my fellow outbound departed for their countries. It blows my mind that a year ago I was reading these blogs and now it's me who's leaving. To any Exchange Student hopefuls, my biggest advice is to enjoy the whole process. I know waiting sucks, and at some points you'll find yourself just wishing you could hop on a plane and leave. But, in the months before your exchange you'll meet some really amazing people and have some great times. Remember to embrace your home, wherever it is, and the short time you have there because although you may not believe me now, the time flies by. Before you know it, you'll be in enjoying YOUR last week in the states and telling the incoming class of outbounds the same thing. Now, getting back to the title of my post I am currently in Door County, with my mother and sister. We're staying on a house right on the coast of Lake Michigan and have been enjoying our last days together before she heads off to college and I leave. It's been nice having a break and recharging before I go. We head back home on Thursday, my going away party is on Monday and I leave on Wednesday. I know these days will fly by. All I can do is enjoy every moment and all I can say is the it's been an amazing adventure and it hasn't even begun yet.