Tuesday, March 19, 2013

Obligatory Post on the 19th: March

Tuesdays are the worst...

First of all, they're Tuesdays; not quite the middle of the week, yet considerably far from the weekend that was just completed.

Second of all, I have classes from 8 - 5:30 every Tuesday, no exceptions (unless a teacher is absent). 

Third of all, this week has been going by painstakingly slow, due to my excitement as I prepare for what is going to happen this weekend...and the five weeks that follow.

There won't be much written on this entry other than a brief update of what has been going on and what will be happening. Let me introduce my schedule that has been set since November!

On March 23 - 24, I have my fourth weekend with the other inbounds in the district. While I have gotten the chance to see my closest friends since the last weekend in Rennes over three months ago, it will be swell to be reunited. Oh, and we're gonna be in Paris, no big deal.

On March 25, I leave Paris on a train to go to... Amsterdam! What in the dickens am I doing in the Netherlands? Well, I am seeing my real family again. GASP. Meaning my parents and my sister, who I haven't seen in almost 7 months. I don't really know how to feel, but I will say that I am excited to be able to talk to them face to face about everything that has happened so far, delighting my parents and exasperating my sister.
We stay in Amsterdam at a family friend's house for three nights, exploring the city, enjoying the company, etc., you get the idea.

On the 28th of March, we take the train down to Paris and stay there for three nights as well. I have A LOT planned (the Eiffel Tower being the only mainstream tourist attraction we are seeing), but I will write about that once it's done.

Once our stay in Paris is terminated, we go down to Parthenay, arriving on the evening of the 31st. My family will stay in my house and get to meet both my host families. Considering that my family speaks no French and my host families speak no English, it ought to be interesting.

My parents and sister leave Parthenay on April 3.

But no, it's not over yet!

Around 3 AM on April 5, my class and I depart for a trip to... POLAND!
We don't get there until Saturday morning (we spend the night in Germany). The main point of this trip, as my history teacher explained at the beginning of the year, is "to understand what it is like to live in another country, experience another school system, and see how other families live their daily lives by staying in a host family."
...
(TELL ME MORE, MADAME, I AM SO CURIOUS AS TO WHAT THAT IS LIKE)
In Poland, we will see the Beskid mountains, the city Katowice (where we're staying), and the Auschwitz Concentration Camp. Now that is going to be something to write about. Plus, I get to see Natalia again and I am super happy about that!

We make the return trip about a week later, returning to Parthenay late morning of Sunday, April 14.

And then on Monday, April 15, I begin my second bus trip... 

EUROTOUR.

Yep.
6 countries. 12 days. A bus full of crazy exchange students. If it's going to be anything like my Spain bus trip, it's going to be beyond glorious.

On April 26, assuming I don't die of happiness and exhaustion on the way home, I get back to Parthenay to complete my Month of Madness. 8 countries in 5 weeks? Not bad, not bad at all.

I have been waiting over four months for this odyssey to start, and now that I'm on the last week, on the TUESDAY of the last week, you can probably understand my angst.

(Also, I tend to use the CAPS LOCK OF EXCELLENCE when I feel very vehement about something, or when I feel euphoric, enthusiastic, okay, a lot of reasons, actually, but it has been quite prominent in this blog entry. You get it.)

YEEEAAAA

On a completely unrelated note, how would you like to see what French report cards look like?


All other translations aside, I did well, my teachers like me. I know you're happy, mom and grandma. This also justifies the fact that I am missing two weeks of school, so I feel less guilty about it.

Now you have the brief overview of what I have coming up for me. I can't wait to write all about it once I have lived it, but for now, I will finish this blog entry and get back to my wallowing in my pool of excitement and anxiety and please-just-let-this-week-be-done-already.

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