Monday, January 28, 2013

HALFWAY DONE.

I didn't really think that taking a 4-hour long French exam and then two consecutive hours of analyzing a Baudelaire sonnet would be how I would celebrate the five-month anniversary of the day I arrived.
As you can tell, I didn't understand the La Fontaine fable at all. But I wasn't the only one; neither did my friends.
During those four hours, I had to identify and give examples of the literary procedures these four authors used to explain their conception of happiness and then write them all down in a supposedly coherent form. And then I had to write an essay giving my opinion on the question, "To you, are the diverse forms of argumentation found in literary texts an effective way to offer to the reader a reflection on man?" while making references to the four texts above, works studied in class, and works I have read myself. Whereas most other exchange students got to stay home while their classmates took the bac blanc (this exam), I went to school like a trooper and braved this horrific form of intellectual torture like the rest of the French students did. Thus, I can say that I am une VRAIE française, people.
As if that wasn't enough literary analysis, we had two hours of French class afterwards, spent analyzing the incredibly depressing Baudelaire sonnet "The Blind," in which he expresses how he is even more unhappy than blind people. (See, I didn't even fall asleep in class, I followed along and learned something from it.) (If you have ever read a certain series by Lemony Snicket... I'm certain this man is the namesake of the series' protagonists, and after having read his poems, frankly I'm not surprised.) Bon, je ferme ma parenthèse. Yeah, so here's the guy who wrote a book of poetry called The Flowers of Evil.

"Vous osez critiquer mes oeuvres? Et vous vous sentez découragée? ...oui, ma vie fut une catastrophe. Vous avez raison."
I used to think happiness was a simple emotion, but thanks to those texts I read this morning, my definition of it is now complex and muddled. Oh, thank you, great French thinkers of human history.
"Je vous en prie, Amanda, on existait pour te faire réflechir" says Jean-Jacques Rousseau with an amicable glance my way
However, what I choose to make matter to me is that here, I am happy. I am happy to be in France. I am happy with what I have done and especially what I have left to do. I don't care what you think, Voltaire. I don't care if that Brahman you met told you it was impossible to be wise and happy at the same time; although I've made many mistakes during my time here, and I've doubted myself more than I ever have, and I've agonizingly questioned the meaning of this all, I regret nothing. I have made it this far, and for that I am completely satisfied. In short, I am happy.

In other news, Claire the Australian arrived last week! She is staying with Matthieu the outbound's family.

Claire and Matthieu
From the time I have spent with her, I love her already! I am so happy I'm no longer the only inbound in Parthenay. I'm also quite content with the fact that she is Australian, because I have always had a fondness for Australians.
Furthermore, a lot of the outbounds found out where they are going to be placed next year. I saw all their excited statuses on Facebook, and I felt the excitement with them, remembering exactly how I felt a year ago when I found out I was going to France. Oh, and Matthieu?
HE'S GOING TO DISTRICT 5100.
YIPEE!!!
I will most certainly see him in Oregon next school year. I am so happy (I know, that phrase is getting awfully redundant at this point) that a friend from my school is going to my state as an exchange student! I would like for him to end up in Tualatin, but we'll have to see. At least now I can say that I am bringing a French boy back with me... ;)

Recently, it came to my attention that the Sergeant of Arms of the Tualatin Rotary Club has been reading my blog entries, and in the last lunch meeting he printed out pictures from this site and asked members of the club to identify them to see if they were keeping up with me and reading the Tualatin Rotary weekly newsletter (my blog link is at the top). I must say, that delighted me (thanks for telling me Barbara!). What a splendid idea. So if you are a member of the Tualatin club reading my blog right now due to that activity, I would like to thank you personally for helping make this experience possible for me. I mean this in the most sincere and grateful way possible. Thank you.

It's a bit hard to believe that my exchange is halfway over. I still have these moments where I tell myself, "Oh hey, everyone speaks French," "You're living in France," and "You have a life in a French high school." And now I have to tell myself, "You're more than halfway done."
Am I really?

And lastly, here is a fact so true that no French philosopher would doubt it... the best is yet to come.

Saturday, January 19, 2013

Obligatory Post on the 19th: January...my 19th blog post!

I love French boys outbounds
Not just one, not just two, but FOUR good-looking French boys all in the same beauteous compilation of pixels! Oh, I'm there too, aren't I lucky. ;)
You're probably wondering where I found such a high concentration of sharp individuals. Is it even legal for there to be that many in one space? Just think of all the cardiac arrests on the poor ladies! Well, the answer to that question is one can find all these marvelous men in no other gathering than at a Rotary event.

This wasn't an inbound weekend; rather, it was a Sunday for all the outbounds in the district to gather together for an orientation. All their parents came as well. There were also a few of my inbound friends, who I was very happy to see!

Aarohi and me with the lovely outbounds Marie, Nina, and Manon
I love the outbounds so much. It might just be because I so clearly remember being in their place last year, excited to be going on exchange despite being uncertain of where I was going. Meeting all the inbounds from around the world was a great pleasure, and then there I was, one of those inbounds that outbounds would come up to and ask questions. I must admit, I felt pretty sage. I was more than happy to talk to the outbounds and feel their excitement with them, though at times it felt hard to believe that no, I wasn't an outbound anymore, I was really an inbound talking about my experience so far. That's probably another reason I'm very fond of these kids; sometimes I feel like I'm still an outbound. Time goes by that fast.

At some point during the day, all the inbounds each got up and introduced themselves and spoke a bit about their experience in France so far (in French of course). When I got up, I added that the best part of exchange are the people I've met and the friends I've made. I directly addressed my fellow inbounds and new outbound friends sitting in the audience, very similar to what I did when I addressed the inbounds and outbounds during my District Conference speech, and told them, "Je vous aime!" They were all touched and expressed their mutual sentiments towards me as well. Because really, no matter what country you end up in on exchange, you meet some truly great individuals who end up becoming your best friends in, quite literally, the entire world.

Here are some more pictures!

Aurélie, who hopes to go to South Korea
Gio from Indonesia and Benjamin, the inbounds' favorite outbound (he was the first one we met, at the beach orientation camp)
Me and Joey: Asians representing the USA and Canada
Leonie from Germany and me, the tallest and shortest of the district! (To be fair, she was tiptoeing, but then again I was wearing two-inch heels...)
Guillaume and Nathan, who both picked the USA as their first choice.
I want them.
...to come to Oregon.
I failed to bring this up in earlier blog posts because I hadn't received my gift yet, but before break, my friends at school and I arranged a gift exchange between ourselves. We wrote all our names on little pieces of paper and drew out a name for who we would give a gift to. Due to the busy lycée schedule, we were set to give the presents after break. So this past week, I finally got my present from my friend Cassandre. It was wrapped so creatively...

I don't know how well you can tell, but it's made to look like a piece of candy
I opened it and found a small square box, so I assumed it was some sort of jewelry. But I opened it and found this inside:

I don't know if I should put it on my blazer or on my going-out purse!!
It took me by surprise! Cassandre had made me a keychain by hand, and I was just delighted at the thought she put into it. I found it really darling. Handmade gifts are really the best, and she did a swell job figuring out something that I would like!

Finally, the snow.
I'm not sure how I feel about it at the moment. If I had to place a word, it'd be ambivalent. It's pretty and all, but when I have to bike through it to get to school, it's rather torturous. (Luckily I only had to do that four times...) Furthermore, the Australian girl was supposed to arrive today, but due to the snow, she's stranded in London and I don't know when I'll meet her. However, when I'm relaxing inside the house as it falls down outside, it's nice to gaze outside at how it blankets the rooftops and roads. Here are some pictures I took of the snow yesterday.

The view from my window
The front yard
Out the window
The view from the third floor
Hopefully it won't snow on any more weekdays! Either way, I'm not sure how to end this entry. So I'll just say, I hope that wherever you are, 2013 is treating you well so far. I feel like it's gonna be a splendid year.
.
.
.
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Oh yeah. In exactly a month, I'm going to be back in Paris. Words don't suffice to express my excitement, so I'll just leave it to your imagination.

Saturday, January 12, 2013

Ce qui m'est arrivé

If you don't speak French and think that this blog entry's title connotes something cryptic and mysterious that I am going to write about, you are wrong.
Sorry to disappoint you.
It only means "What has happened to me."
So what has happened since I ended my last blog entry in the end of the world?

Well, I could start with Christmas.
My Christmas was absolutely amazing! As I mentioned, I sang in the choir with my host parents and brother, in the magnificent old church at the center of the city. It's almost a thousand years old. Here's an old picture of it just to make it seem more "ancient":


It had been a while since I attended a Catholic mass, but I was familiar with all the rituals that went on during the one and a half hours nonetheless. The only difference was that everything was in French. Following the mass, we all went home and had this ENORMOUS dinner that lasted until about 1:30 in the morning. We had lobster bisque, smoked salmon, foie gras, lamb, potatoes, fruit salad, and ice cream cake. It was delightful, and the family atmosphere was fantastic.
These are the presents my family gave me: Chocolate, more chocolate, a Paris book, a little French novelette, an Edith Piaf CD with 100 of her songs (YES!) and last but not the least, my dear grandma gave me a STATIONERY SET!! I was so incredibly happy and surprised, because I had been searching for stationery but never found any, yet there it was, all glorious and Paris themed. Now I can write more fancy letters! I felt right at home, and it was a very successful Christmas in France. :)


Oh yeah, speaking of letters, I sent out ten for Christmas and got three back in reply! Adela went to South Korea last summer so she sent me a post card from there, Clay was in Aix-en-Provence recently so he sent me one from there, and Juliana gave me a handmade card (with a pop-up Christmas tree inside) too. Merci beaucoup, je les adore!


I also visited my first host family to wish them a Merry Christmas. They were happy to see me, and they handed my my school report card. I laughed upon seeing it. French class this year was exactly the opposite of last year: I had the lowest grade in class, and it was my worst class. (Beginner's German is my best class, which made me laugh too.) The thing that made me laugh the most, however, was that the class average was 12,33/20, and I got a 12,4. Um, don't ask me how. I don't even know. At least I can say my teachers like me.

Soon after Christmas I began writing my journal entries in French. I have quite a few entries that are completely in French now, and I don't write as much in English anymore. Granted, it's probably because I'm already completely adjusted into this not-so-new life, and I only have to write about what I did on a certain day instead of how I feel or what I learned or other such philosophical ponderings...hahaha.

You know how I mentioned that I used to detest ice skating and avoid it, but now I feel like I'm capable? Well, apparently, I can sew now too.
Yeah.
I came to France only knowing how to sew on a button because my mom made it imperative that I learn (to my reluctance), but eventually I evolved into sewing patches onto my blazer, and now guess what I made!


I wanted to make something representing 5100 that I could display, so I went to the cloth store. Unfortunately, they didn't have sew on patch numbers that would have made the job way easier. They told me I'd have to use ribbon and form the numbers myself. I groaned a bit, but I decided to take on the challenge. What can I say...I felt super proud of myself. It was meticulous work, and forming the numbers was a pain in the ..., but I like meticulous work involving my hands (hence my future career choice, a surgeon), and it paid off anyway. The flag is now hung up on my wall right next to my blazer.

New Year's this year was so memorable.
On the morning of December 31st, I found myself in a bar in Bressuire called La Promenade. I ordered a sirop de fraise à l'eau, and I drank it as I analyzed a sonnet by Baudelaire for French class, reflecting on the year, all that happened, and how it happened so fast. I also thought about how I could never have imagined that that was how I would be spending the last day of 2012.


At one random point, one of those stereotypical little old French men approached me and told me something like, "Let's finish the year with a bang! Best wishes to you for 2013!" We spoke a bit, and he noticed I was reading poetry, then began to tell me about how he took part in the War with Algeria and wrote a book of poems about it. He gave me the name of the book, Le Piton des Corbeaux, and because I can say I met the author in a little café on the last day of 2012, I will buy it when I find it.

For the rest of the day, Maya (one of my best friends here, by the way she keeps a blog too you should read it! http://mayafrance.blogspot.com) invited Aarohi and me to her house in La Roche sur Yon, since her parents were throwing a huge party. It was one of those really classy parties where all the men wear suits, and even though we were the only teenagers, we still had a blast together. Here are some pictures of us!


Yes, we did toast to the New Year with authentic French champagne ;)

Of course, the countdown was in French. Maya, Aarohi, and I were probably the most enthusiastic as we counted down and after the clock stroke midnight, because after all, we were together, in France, having the time of our lives!

Now wherever in the world you are, here is a New Year's greeting for you, from my Rotary District, 1510.


Another thing that is celebrated here in France is "L'Epiphanie." One of the traditions is to eat a cake called the galette des rois. The galette des rois can be any sort of cake (as far as I know); the catch is that hidden inside is a little figurine, that can be any sort of figurine (as far as I know). The youngest member of the family goes under the table, and as one of the heads of family cuts slices, they yell, "Whose slice is this?" and the person under the table calls out a random name. After everyone has their slice, people start eating the cake until somebody finds the figurine.
Whoever finds it is named king or queen, depending on their gender, and they get a crown, and they get to pick their king or queen.
You can probably guess why I brought this up.

The king and queen of Deux-Sèvres! (It's in sepia because the original had bad lighting)
I GOT IT!!
And my family didn't do it on purpose either!
Plus, I was able to pick a king because Joe the Australian was hanging out at my house that day.
C'était une épiphanie réussite!
(Even though I was really sad that day because it was the last time I would see him, seeing as he leaves for Australia today on the 12th.)
Despite the fact that the good bye was extremely difficult, I was happy I got to say a proper good bye, and happy I was able to have a friend like him living near me so I wouldn't have ripped my hair out being the only Rotary kid in the middle of nowhere (thanks Parthenay!).
It's hard to believe that now that the southern hemisphere kids are gone, the kids who arrived in August and I are going to be the "oldies" now to the new southern hemisphere kids arriving very soon (OH YEAH PARTHENAY IS GETTING AN AUSTRALIAN GIRL NEXT WEEK AND I CANNOT WAIT MORE ON THAT WHEN SHE ARRIVES). It got me to thinking that one day, my day of departure will come, and I will barely be able to believe it, if at all. I'm even almost at the halfway mark of my exchange.

Guess that means I'll just have to keep making the best of it like I have been!