39 weeks

Well, I could have just put "9 Months," but in case you haven't already noticed, I like being unconventional.

9 months is quite the milestone. For most exchange students, it means that there is only one short month left. Which is practically true for me; I only have 33 days left here.

I don't even know where the month of May went. It seems like a blur.

Before I go on to write philosophically, I have some updates from the past week and a half!

From May 18 - 20, Parthenay was having its annual festival for the Pentecost. It wasn't a religious festival, no. Rather, for the holiday, the city was filled with tents typical of fairs, with food stands, games, and even rides. I spent the weekend with Claire and Brittany, another American living in the Deux-Sèvres department.

The night of Sunday the 19th, we watched a parade. This parade changes themes every year, and this year's theme happened to be luck. Go figure. Mocking me about how my luck has placed me in the middle of nowhere while I would have much rather preferred to be in a big city, but at the same time evoking the sheer luck I have to just be living in France.

Here are some photos from that night!

Oh my gosh. PEOPLE.

WOW WHAT A PHENOMENON

Apparently, Friday the 13th signifies good luck in the French speaking world.

The equestrian club's float

Looks like I had bad luck while trying to capture the float of malchance (bad luck)

The next day, the girls and I took a stroll around Parthenay. I have gone on that same promenade a multitude of times throughout my exchange, but at this point of my year, I've been more nostalgic looking at the scenery. It's really quite a charming little medieval town. I couldn't help but take more pictures to the plethora I already have of Parthenay.

That being said, on Wednesday the 22nd, I went up to Nantes for the day to say good-bye to Aarohi. If you've been keeping up with my blog at all, you'll know that she's one of my best inbound friends. (Click here to see the first entry I mention her in!) Because her school in India starts at the beginning of June, she had to leave a bit early; May 25 to be precise. Of course, since I hadn't seen her since the Rotary weekend in Paris, I had to see her one last time. We spent lunch and the afternoon together and with some other Rotary friends, but at about 5:00 pm, it was time to say good-bye...

...for the last time.
(Well, the last time on this exchange.)
In honor of our friendship, I made this collage.

Those pictures don't even begin to convey how much fun we've had together.

With the departure of a girl who has been so close to me since the very beginning, I've begun reflecting a lot on my own exchange.

Now more than ever, the memories from the beginning of my exchange replay, hyper-real, in my mind. When I think of the emotions I felt, they resonate within me as if to transport me back to how I was then. But I'm not who I was back then. Back then, especially starting school, I was vulnerable. I didn't know anyone, I didn't know how to comport myself, I was inexperienced with how to act around French people. But since then, one of the most important things I have learned was how to have faith.
Faith in the people around me, believing that in every stranger is somebody I could rely on, no matter how trivial the request. Whether it be asking for a ticket to reload my cell phone, or asking for serious advice on a personal dilemma, everyone on this Earth exists to be of help to everyone else. We are, after all, all in this together. (Thank you, High School Musical!)
Faith in the passage of time. During rough patches in the beginning, I told myself that no matter how surreal or difficult life was, nothing was as real as the steady march of time. It waits for no one, slows down for no one. Cringe-worthy moments and moments I cherish alike will eventually fade and exist only in my mind. Eventually, I will question myself as to whether certain things actually happened, or if my imagination just fabricated them or twist an already existing memory. (Disclaimer: I keep a journal, just to have proof of such memories. I like being sure that certain things really did happen.) Furthermore, no matter how long and boring economy class drawls on, it eventually ends. No matter how far away a trip or a Rotary weekend seems, it will eventually get here. All I need is patience. And faith.
Faith in the fact that no good-bye is forever. Even though there are people I miss terribly, I know that every day that passes since the last time I saw them only means one day less until I see them again. I know in my heart that I can see the friends who mean the most to me again, sometime, somewhere. Remember how I saw Francesca again? Today's world is so compact, and especially with the communication technology and methods of travel, anything is possible.
And of course, most importantly, faith in myself. Compared to how I felt in the beginning, I'm completely confident in who I am now, and self-conscious isn't a word I'd use to describe my daily character anymore. I trust my determination to accomplish everything I set my heart to do. I trust that it is up to me to make my exchange, and my life, as incredible as it can possibly be. I know that I am capable of anything if I feel motivated enough. The life I have ahead of me is brimming with opportunity and adventure. With the profound faith in myself I've gained throughout this exchange, I really can make my dreams a reality and live up to this quote...

As a final note:
Thanks to my faith in myself and my planning skills, and my faith in the fact that it is possible to be reunited in the most unexpected ways, I managed to squeeze in a day trip to Paris soon to see a very special friend again, two weeks before I leave.
I'm not gonna be anxious for time to pass because I have faith that the day will come eventually, and even though my counselor hasn't replied to my email explaining the plans, I'm confident that he'll let me go.
Well, aren't all these lessons I've learned culminating well? ;)

Obligatory Post on the 19th: May

A wise and all-powerful oracle once told me:

The answer to the ultimate question, of the universe, of life, of everything...
...is 42.

Look, it's even official on Google's calculator.

I bring this up because at this moment, I have 42 days left in France.

There isn't really much to say, other than how I'm feeling about it.

To put it bluntly, I'm content with the date June 30. I have no wish to leave any sooner, nor any wish to leave later. Ten months is a long time to take a sharp detour from the path you choose to take in life, and I am quite excited to come back and prepare for senior year. However, there is nothing I regret, and I don't think I could have made a better choice for my junior year than this exchange. I've explored Europe, become fluent in the French language, tasted weird and delicious foods, and made some unforgettable friends that I know I will keep for life. Before I start to sound like I'm writing the entry concluding my exchange, which in no way is happening until the very end, I'll digress.

Anyway I began working on my exposé for the end of the year, a presentation that I will give to the Rotary Club of Parthenay on June 10 (and I will translate in English eventually to give in front of the Tualatin Rotary Club). I found myself stuck in a quandary as to how I should organize it (how the heck do I sum up my year abroad without reading all my journal entries in the order I wrote them or something), but I found a cohesive way to do it: I divided it into four sections- the Rotary Weekends with district 1510, the voyages I undertook on my own, a special surprise section (that I will spoil here is a section dedicated to the food I have eaten on my exchange, since for some reason I have over 30 photos of me eating different delicacies of the region), and my impressions of my exchange. Ah, I don't really know what to put in the latter, but I figure I'll cheat, read through my blog, and pull direct quotes from it. ;)

I'm proud of the voyages section of my slideshow. Here, take a sneak peek at four of my favorite slides:

The opening slide for the voyages section, with logos that will forever have a special place in my heart

Coming right after the New Year's at La Roche sur Yon slide, a map representing all the countries I have seen in 2013 so far

The slide for The Netherlands

The slide for Poland

As you might be able to deduce, I take my presentations very seriously. If there is some way I can make the entire thing accessible on the web, I'll do so once it's complete.

Oh! So my souvenir that represents my entire year came in in the mail on Friday.

My new watch.

I created this watch on the website http://www.wysiwatch.com. It's a fabulous French website where you can customize your own watch, and as a bonus, it's made in France! When I heard about at the beginning of the school year, I knew I had to make one for my exchange. I wasn't quite sure until recently what to put on it; I think the idea came to me around the time of Eurotour?

Anyway, here's an explanation for what it is (other than the French flag on its face, of course).

The straps are cropped images from the cover art for MIKA's single, Elle Me Dit (She Tells Me). I spoke about this song on the post on the 19th of September, but I don't think I've ever actually explained what the song talks about.

It's from the point of a view of a boy who is continually harassed by his mother, because she nags him to get out and do something with his life. The two most important lines are, in my opinion, Pourquoi tu gâches ta vie? (Why are you ruining your life?) and Elle me dit, "Danse!" (She tells me, "Dance!") This is the song that pretty much every exchange student in France knows. It's incredible fun to dance to it, and when we were doing karaoke in the bus on Eurotour, everyone sang to it enthusiastically. I like the message contained in this song- you only have one life, and you might as well make the most of it while you have it. Don't waste it, and don't be afraid to make something of it. The fact that it is in French only makes it even better; it is indeed a perfect representation of my exchange year. One of the theme songs of the year, pretty much.

I'll be keeping this song in mind throughout the last six weeks of my exchange, just like in the days when I first heard it before I even became involved with Rotary.

I'm almost there! 

“★★★★★”

These five stars don't rank a book. They don't rank a hotel. They don't rank a movie, either.

Well, I guess you could say they could, if there were hidden cameras filming me throughout the day on May 4, and if a film were released from that footage.
That day has been among the most unforgettable of my exchange, and in terms of individual days (as opposed to chains of days or weeks), it is number one.
For the first time in my life, and undoubtedly not the last, I roamed Paris with only one other friend (Lydia), discovering the city on our own. And what an adventure that was.

(For background on how I got this to happen, read this parentheses. If you want to skip this and go right to a recount of the day, then be my guest.
All right, so the SAT is a national American exam that high school juniors and seniors take in preparation for college. Apart from the main exam, which includes reading, writing, and mathematics, students can choose to take the SAT subject test. There are various topics to choose from, such as history, sciences, and foreign languages. Conveniently, all these tests are available internationally and can be taken at tests centers around the world for students interested in going to college in the United States.
I, being fluent in French now, decided to take the French subject test because a) they were easy points to obtain and would work very well in my favor, b) the testing center was in the American School of Paris, and c) the tests would only last an hour in the morning, giving me the rest of the day to, I dunno, maybe go to Paris?
Glad my mother thought it was a good idea as well, I signed up and got Lydia to sign up too. We were to be hosted by Julie, the daughter of my district governor, who lives in an apartment in a Parisian suburb.
Lydia and I took the test Saturday morning. I was shocked upon entering the American School of Paris, because it was exactly like an American High School, a type of institution I have not seen in practically a year. I don't know whether I embraced the familiarity of the atmosphere or not, but either way, I'm pretty sure I did well on the test. The written bac blanc I had to take on Friday morning certainly made it easier in comparison.)

To get around Paris that day, we purchased a youth weekend metro ticket that cost only 3,65€ and granted us unlimited access to public transportation in the city. "Worth it" is an enormous understatement, considering a ticket worth one trip in the metro costs 1,60€.
Look at all the stops we found ourselves in...

The black dots represent a place we got on/off

Our first stop, to kick off the day, was the Trocadéro. As we descended the train and made our way to the exit, an accordionist played his instrument, his music echoing in the station, as if he was providing a soundtrack for us. From the base of the stairs leading up to the street, we could see the sun that indicated a clear day out shining down on us, bathing us in its light as we gleefully ran up the stairs to arrive at the sidewalk, and as we ran some more to arrive on the grounds of the Trocadéro, laughing along the way. And there it was where it has always been, the Eiffel Tower, standing resolutely against the horizon. Lydia and I gazed at it for a few moments, the symbol of the country we love so much.
Although I have already seen that view many times, it was never more beautiful to me than it was at that moment.

We felt victorious. We had the whole day ahead of us in Paris, so we didn't stay too long at the Trocadéro. We decided to go to the Champs-Elysées next, so we went back down into the depths of the metro, leaping into the train as the garish alarm rang out and the doors slammed shut, sealing off the passengers an instant after we both reached its interior. A few stops later, we were at the Champs-Elysées, the supposed most beautiful avenue in the world. With the intention of buying eyeliner at Sephora, we headed there. I was pretty satisfied with my purchase, considering its quality and of course where I bought it.

We continued to meander, taking in the sights, finding it at times difficult to believe what we were currently experiencing. At noon, we went to the "Espace Culturel" of the Louis Vuitton store to see an exposition on letter correspondences.

"Correspondences, until May 5 2013. The Espace culturel of Louis Vuitton invites you to an original voyage across time and space with a new exposition on the theme of Mail Art."

The entrance was a large, dimly lighted room with three elevators and men in suits serving as their operators. That of the elevator we entered was a stunningly handsome young Frenchman (I sadly have no picture) who told us, as we established ourselves in the black plush-walled elevator, that during the ascent we would be plongé dans le noir/"plunged into the blackness." Thus, once the elevator doors slid shut, we found ourselves in pitch darkness in the company of a very attractive Parisian male. 7 floors up, the elevator opened, and we stepped out into the display grounds of the exposition.
Providing light onto the items being showcased were floor-to-ceiling windows that looked out over the Champs-Elysées and the rooftops of Paris. The view made us gasp in awe.

Aux Champs-Elysées ♫

We could see the Butte Montmartre in the distance

A familiar sight

Walking around and looking at various letters and pieces of art, one sentence we read that particularly struck us was:

Never be obliged to say what's on your mind...but always be obliged to do what's in your heart.

Keeping that in mind but heeding the call of our hungry stomachs for the moment, we decided to go have lunch. I already knew where I wanted to go- a restaurant named Flam's, but more specifically, the one in the deuxième arrondissement. Why? Because it was the first restaurant in Paris I ever ate in, more than three years ago. (Never mind how I was able to find it, just know that I've been keeping a daily journal since the 14th of December 2008.)

Lydia with our flammekueche, a specialty from Eastern France

So good.

While enjoying my flammekueche, I reflected on how I was that day the last time I was in that restaurant. I was with the other 8th graders, and we were all tired from the flight we just took. I had a terrible loss of appetite, very minimal knowledge of French, and a tremendous desire to discover Paris, a city that to me then was new, strange, and completely unexplored. At that point in time, would I have imagined that one day not too far in the future I would find myself having lunch once again in that restaurant, with one of my closest friends, alone in Paris, being able to navigate the metro and speak French?

Only in my wildest dreams.

Feeling fully satisfied from our meal, we wanted to do some walking. We got off at the St-Germain-des-Près quarter, an area of Paris renowned for its jazz and literary scene (Ernest Hemingway frequented a café here, Les Deux Magots). Of course, as we walked up the stairs of the metro to emerge onto the street, a jazz band had to be playing a lively tune, adding even more color to the idyllic springtime scene.

They were on the edge of the sidewalk

"Writing is a journey"

Check out the weather we were blessed with

The oldest church in Paris.

Once we tired ourselves out walking again, we decided to revert to our American origins and visit the Starbucks in the 6th arrondissement. Sharing a refresher and a Nutella crêpe, we chilled on the second floor, chatting and gazing out the window.

Don't get views like this in the States.

Our next destination was the Montparnasse Tower, situated right across the train station I always arrive in upon going to Paris. I had always assumed that that tower just served as some sort of office building, but after having remarked ads in the metro boasting its panoramic views of Paris from the top, I decided we had to go there. 

Well, let's just say we didn't regret it one bit.

Seeing Paris from all the way up there, its legendary monuments mere specks amid clumps of green and masses of its classic white buildings, quite literally took my breath away. I could even feel chills down my spine upon contemplating the vastness of the view. It made me re-realize how insignificant and how tiny (and I am not just talking about being 5 feet tall) I really am. There are billions of people in this world, this world that may be a cosmic speck but offers me an endless amount of opportunities. The least I can do for it is to try to make my own impact on it, no matter how little the change.

There was Paris in all its beauty, more than 200 meters underneath me. Lydia and I took about 30 minutes walking around the viewing platform before we went back down.

The last thing we did was have a drink of chocolat chaud à l'ancienne on the St Louis island on the Seine River, but we couldn't savor it properly because we had to go right away to Lydia's train station. Once I said good-bye to her, I met up with Julie (our host, a musician living in a Parisian suburb), and by my request we visited the Pont des Arts as the sun began to set.

Grayscale to set the mood

Walking along the bridge, I noticed a man dressed peculiarly, with a pineapple on his head to be exact.

Julie explained to me that he was doing his l'enterrement de la vie garçon (burial of a boy's life). It is a French tradition that I had never heard of until then where an engaged man goes around dressed like a wacko doing crazy stuff in public for a day, and then he and his friends go clubbing during the night. I was very amused with the idea, and I thought of how much about France I still don't know. Of course, there is already so much I know, more than the superficial things one is taught in class and movies, but that just goes to show how much there is to discover in every country around the world, with its culture, (food...) cities, and people. Whenever I go out, especially when I see someplace new, I always make sure to stay attentive. I never know what oddity might pop out at me next.

The day terminated well, with my feet feeling terribly abused after walking in three inch boots the entire day. I was extremely satisfied with everything Lydia and I had done. It was not only one of the best days of my exchange, but definitely one of the best of my life so far. 

I would say it's my last time in Paris for a while, but up until last month I did think that my visit during Eurotour would be my last time in Paris on my exchange, so I'll just say that I never know what might come.

54 days are left for me in France, this beautiful country I proudly call one of my homes. I can't anticipate what they will bring, but whatever happens, I will embrace it with all my heart. 

Exchange is 80% completed: 2 months left

It doesn't seem like that long ago I posted my one-month anniversary entry. 
It doesn't seem like that long ago I stepped off the plane, confused and deliriously excited, in Charles de Gaulle Airport.
At the same time, it seems like so much has happened in the span of eight months, it feels like more than eight months.

(Not that you noticed, but I totally did steal the intro from my two-month anniversary post.)

Rereading that entry, I realized in shock how much I have really grown over the past 6 months since I wrote it. It's almost painful to think of how I was at the beginning, so ready to experience everything, and how I am now, already at the end of my exchange, reminiscing about times in the past that used to be times I would look forward to.

Way back then, not even having a return date set, my exchange felt limitless, like I could get everything I wanted done and more. May was a distant half-formed illusion, and I constantly made plans in my head for the later half of my exchange, intending to execute all of them. While I do agree that I've done quite a lot, it's a bit harrowing having the time slip precipitately through my fingers, wishing to do so much more, but being unable to grasp all the time I need to be able to do everything.

 One of my favorite poems is a poem by Edgar Allan Poe called "A Dream Within a Dream." I have known of it since 8th grade, but reflecting while writing this entry, I thought of it again and reread it. It could not be more appropriate to express my sentiments at the moment.

Not to begin to analyze poetry or anything, but after the first stanza the narrator states, "All that we see or seem is but a dream within a dream." There is no doubt evident. At the beginning of my exchange, I knew that it would end, I didn't question it. During the tough times, I would take solace in that fact. But the poem ends with, "Is all that we see or seem but a dream within a dream?" after a particularly desperate passage. The narrator refuses to believe that life is, after all, a dream within a dream. Likewise, I am in a state of denial, hoping that there is a chance my exchange isn't really coming to an end, that the sands of time so finely concentrated won't run out before I am ready. Now that June 30 is a mere 9 weeks away, the fact becomes so much more concrete. 

My exchange is ending. My exchange will end. I will be brusquely, violently awakened from this dream within a dream.

However, there is a positive side to this too. I already know what I'm going to do the day I arrive, and I already have a bunch of friends who wish to welcome me home at the airport, friends that I long to see again. There's also so much for me to look forward to this summer, like spending time with friends, visiting San Francisco (!!), a cruise in the Bahamas, and of course, my rebound reunion. 

All in all, I'm satisfied. Despite that nagging, "You're already here in France, go!" feeling, I realize that I've already come so far and done so much, I deserve now to just stay at home and relax in Parthenay, a place that will only be my home for two months more.

Well, until Friday, because I go back up to Paris for the weekend. 
Ahahaha...this obsessive traveling everywhere is never gonna end, is it?

More on that next time! 

Europe, the living storybook.

I just got back from Eurotour, which signifies the termination of my Month of Madness.
If there's anything these past five weeks of fantasy have left in me, it is the absolute wonder and inspiration that still lingers in my soul. Gallivanting around Europe, I couldn't help but think of fairy tales and stories I have read, and how all the places I have been to now are worthy of such creations.
For instance, Krakow and Prague reminded me a lot of Kingsbury from one of my favorite movies, Howl's Moving Castle.

Krakow, Poland

Prague, Czech Republic

Kingsbury

Kingsbury

And now that I have seen this picture, it reminded me a lot of this picture that I took in Vienna...

In fact, Europe has so many places that are capable of providing the setting to fairy tales, there is a Tumblr blog dedicated to pictures of them. 

With its sprawling, breathtaking landscapes...

Austrian countryside

Somewhere on the ride from Austria to Italy

Somewhere on the ride from Austria to Italy

France

...its pristine waters...

Geneva, Switzerland

...and of course, horse-drawn carriages...

Krakow

Prague

...no other place in the world looks quite as much as a place where magic exists like Europe does. Only in Europe would one be able to cross a bridge to not only get from one side of the river to another, but from one country to another with a completely different culture and spoken tongue. 

Another thing that has made these five weeks worthy of a bestseller are the unlikely encounters I have had with people, like...

NOT my Knight in Shining Armor!?

Actually, no, that's not what I meant.

I meant to write about a girl who has recently become one of my best friends ever since Eurotour started.

The girl standing next to me is a girl named Sari, a Japanese born Canadian. Because there isn't another place to start, I will start with when we first met. 

We were walking together at the Gare de Lyon, waiting for the tour of Europe to officially begin. She asked me, "Your last name's Flores, right?" Assuming she remembered from seeing it on the list of bus trip kids on the Facebook group page, and feeling a little creeped out, I told her yes and asked how she knew. Her response took me completely by surprise: "I saw your speech on YouTube!"

I didn't really know how to react, so I just said, "Oh really?" and then she continued, "And I've read your blog too! I read all of your first entry so that's how I came across your speech, it was really good." Dumbfounded, I asked her how she came across my blog, and she told me, "Well I have a blog too, and I wanted to see if it would come up on Google, so about three months ago I typed 'France exchange 2012 2013' and yours was one of the first five that came up. I clicked on it then thought, 'Oh she's in France this year! But she lives on the other side of the country from me, and there's hundreds of us, I don't think I'll get to meet her.'" But she read my blog anyway, and when she saw my name on the list on Facebook recently, she thought, "Hmmm, Amanda Flores, that name sounds really familiar... OH! It's the girl who did that speech! I get to meet her!"

Meet me she did, and like some other girls I have met this year (hint: an Indian, a Pole, and a Dutch girl), she instantly became one of my best friends. When I wrote about Jamie, I wrote how I felt like our friendship was inevitable and that at some point in our lives our paths would cross, and it is exactly the same way with Sari. After all, I don't think it's coincidence she happened to find my blog and even get to know me a little before meeting me in person! It's really peculiar... who would have thought this would happen?

And who knows what we were laughing about in this picture from the first day...

To read more about the marvelous experiences that ought to have only been possible in works of fiction, here is a synopsis of Eurotour, the legendary trip all exchange students in Europe dream about!


France: April 15 - 16
The group met up in Paris train stations throughout the first day.

We didn't stay there too long; only enough to take pictures at the Eiffel Tower, walk through the Garden of the Tuileries, and see the city for a short bit on the bus. We spent the night at Reims then on Tuesday the 16th, we went to Strasbourg!

For lunch, Hyesoo (Korea, one of my best friends from first bus trip) had a Rotary friend who was in Korea last year direct us to a Korean restaurant. Seeing as I love Asian food, I became giddy. It had been too long since I last had it!

Sari and I shared this bulgogi...*mouth waterss*

Our group! Me, Yuto (Japan), Hannah (USA), Corinne (USA), Fifi (Indonesia), Eleanor (France), Hyesoo, Shin Hae, and Jane (Korea). Sari was the one who took the picture.

After that, Sari really wanted to climb up the steps of the cathedral, so she, Fifi, Corinne, Hannah, and I braved the flight of 330 steps up a spiral staircase to reach the viewpoint at the top. It was really demanding on the leg muscles.

What goes up must come down...

The ice cream reward made it all worth it!

That evening, we stayed at a youth hostel in Strasbourg. While lying down on my bed writing in my journal, I looked up and saw this message scrawled on the upper bunk:

:)

I would say that it's coincidence that I ended up choosing that bed, or that these boys were in our room on October 1, 2011, but my life IS a story constantly being written, so I say it was meant to be.

Germany: April 17, 2012

For my third time in Germany, we had lunch at a rest stop restaurant again. Once again, I successfully placed my order in German! A schnitzel never tasted so good.

After seeing the Nazi rally grounds and getting a guided tour of Nuremberg, my friends and I walked around and found a quaint little café on an island on the river to have some drinks in. 

Erika (Japan), me, Sari

We continued our promenade, and I found some time to goof off.

That night at the hostel, I was in a room of six with Sari, Hyesoo, Corinne, Hannah, and Fifi. We were especially excited because we had a huge room! That night, we profited by having a lot of people over for a game of Jungle Speed and a singing session, accompanied by Jerry (Taiwan) on the guitar.

The Czech Republic: April 18 - 19

For my second time in the Czech Republic, we got to see Prague, the capital! I went into Prague thinking of the manga I had just read, Monster by Naoki Urasawa. The story's main focus is a young man named Johan, an extremely attractive murderer with a mysterious past. In one of the chapters, he looks deep into the eyes of one of the other characters in the middle of a blazing library...

...and he tells him:

The next development in this suspense-filled drama is when the protagonist, Doctor Tenma, learns that Johan was born in Prague and his mother still lives there.
That made me even more excited to go to Prague.
(Unfortunately, I haven't yet started the section of the story when it takes place in Prague... I have to soon!)
As was routine, we had a guided tour of the city and then free time.

The Astronomical Clock that chimed every hour

Me on the Charles Bridge

I had goulash, a traditional Czech dish, for lunch! (Hahaha at Corinne's face next to me...)

For some afternoon drinks, Sari and I wanted to find an out-of-the-way place. What could be more out of the way than this?

A BOTEL.

The restaurant's interior

Our view on the deck

After spending a significant amount of time in Prague, I found that photos just don't capture its splendor and majesty. To really appreciate Prague, the town of fairy tales, you only have to be there. I found that the paintings people have done were more accurate depictions of the aura that the city emanates and how it makes you feel when you are in it. Like these ones, check them out!

Prague was the favorite city of many of the group. While I adored it, it wasn't my favorite. That's coming up a bit later!

Austria: April 20 - 21
Austria was a country I had been hearing very much about for as long as I can remember. When my father was a young man, he spent four years studying violin at the Music Academy in Vienna, the most prestigious music school in the world. Knowing I would see this city, I was super excited to see the place my dad called home for an important part in his life. However, we barely got an afternoon there and basically no free time...it was disappointing, but a great excuse to return one day!

We got to ride the Ferris wheel.

Sunday, the following day, was spent driving from Austria to Italy. The drive was extremely scenic, and lunch by the hills was especially gorgeous.

My friends and I dined on a terrace with this view...

Photo op taken advantage of

That night, we arrived in-

Italy: April 22 - 23
I'll tell you now that Venice was my favorite city, so I have the most to say about it. What a day I had there, too!
There's no other city in the world quite like it; a city on the sea, with little islands surrounding it, canals as streets, and boat taxis. The entire time I was there, I couldn't believe it. I thought of one of my favorite books when I was young, The Thief Lord, and I mentally made a note to read it again, for it is set in Venice.
In the morning, we had a two hour guided tour then had lunch. Being in Italy, I chose to have one of my favorites, pasta alla carbonara!

Soon after lunch, all the exchange students got to ride gondolas.
Yep.
They called for groups of six, so my lunch group (Sari, Hyesoo, Corinne, Hannah, Fifi, and I) stuck together. For 30 minutes, the gondolier navigated through the narrow canals, past submerged walls caked with algae, their steps leading down into the water, alongside other gondolas and taxi boats in front of the Rialto bridge.

Like most enjoyable experiences in life, it was too short.
However, we had two and a half hours of free time after that! I stuck with the girls for the first hour or so, intending to go to the Rialto bridge but getting sidetracked along the way with souvenir shops and gelato. At the gelato stand, I overheard some Asians speaking in French. Because that doesn't happen everyday, I initiated a conversation with them in French. I found out they were Taiwanese exchange students on a university exchange to France for the year! (Fifi told me later she saw them again in Milan... wow.) French speaking Asians for the win.
Soon after that, the rain that had been intermittently coming and going throughout the day picked up velocity, and just as we were about to enter the boardwalk that would take us to the bridge, it came down in torrents, nearly soaking us through. We only had two umbrellas between the six of us; I was sharing with Sari, and as the four other girls decided to go back to the restaurant to find Corinne's umbrella that she had left, Sari and I decided to brave the rain and walk up the bridge. We stayed under cover looking out over the grand canal, listening in disbelief to the rain falling ceaselessly from ash gray clouds.

The grand canal below our umbrella

In disbelief by the Rialto bridge

We wanted to find a place to sit down and dry ourselves off, so we got off the bridge and headed towards a covered, heated, sidewalk café. We felt really posh sipping our earl grey lemon tea, appreciating our view of the grand canal and the Rialto bridge.

When we had an hour left, we decided to head back to the Piazza San Marco. Deciding not to go back the way we came, we ended up losing our way. Venice is really rather complex, with its little pathways heading every which direction, random courtyards, and of course the canals that are themselves streets.

Where are we??

Sari was starting to feel a little disconcerted, and when we came to a fork and didn't agree which direction to take, some French speakers just happened to walk by us so I asked them if they would know where it was (in French). Luckily they had just come from there, so they pointed out the direction they believed it to be in. We kept walking, following the road, and eventually we found it, relieved. The bells from the tower were chiming loudly, echoing across the square as we entered. We had about 30 minutes left for that point, so we took the elevator up the tower. Once it opened, we gasped in awe at the panorama that was visible to us; it was absolutely stunning.

Venice was a lot bigger than I thought, seeing all of it from way up there, and we really could have gotten horribly lost. But we were so incredibly happy to see that city, all of it, and how magical it is with the main square and the little satellite islands equally covered in old buildings. The only things we couldn't see were the canals and streets, which goes to show how tightly compacted the houses are.
In short, I love Venice.

Even under the rain, it couldn't have been more beautiful.

Glad to have spent a sufficient amount of time in Venice, we left on Wednesday to go to Milan, where I had arranged to meet a special friend of mine.
Throughout this exchange, I've had several sweet reunions, such as the ones with Aurore, Clay, Natalia, and of course my family. I love the feeling of elation that wells up inside you once you see somebody dear to you that you haven't seen in a long time. However, the most mind-blowing of these reunions would probably be the one I had with my friend Francesca in Milan.

Picture dating the end of my freshman year

Francesca was an Italian exchange student at Tualatin high school two years ago, and since she was in my digital arts and drawing classes, we became good friends. I knew she lived in northern Italy (Turin this year), so a few months ago I told her when I would be in Milan in the hopes that we could see each other again.

And, as it works out...

We did!

As the bus pulled in in front of the castle in Milan, I saw her sitting at the edge of the fountain at its entrance. Anxious to get off, I made a beeline down the stairs once the door opened, and she stood up as well. Once I was off I ran toward her, and we gave each other a tight hug. She joined my friends and me for lunch! We separated a bit for our guided tour of the afternoon, which started at the fountain.

I do believe it started well for everyone...

Jerry blowing a kiss to his adoring fans

It was a short walking tour of the castle and the city, which ended at the cathedral square.

Francesca met my friends and me there, and she joined us for about two hours in the afternoon. 

This one random lady joined our picture to the right...

We got gelato, walked around, and sat in front of the cathedral, and I conversed with Francesca about then-and-now. 

It was so unbelievable to see her again; it's almost like nothing changed between the 22 or so months we had been separated, even though so much has happened. Shortly before our rendezvous at 18h, we said good bye to her. I told her that when we meet again, I will be able to speak in Italian with her. That's a promise! 

France: April 24

We went to Chamonix, a ski town nestled between the Alps, for lunch. 

Spring is truly here!

We had over two hours of free time to eat and walk around, so on our promenade, my friends and I bought some macarons, a classic French specialty!

Sitting pretty eating praliné, my favorite flavor of everything sweet

Later, we took a small train up the mountains to see the Mer de Glace (sea of ice), a glacier. 

Wow! A real glacier!

Not only that, but we took a cable car and descended 380 steps to actually go IN the glacier. There was a grotto tunnel carved into it, and it was unlike anything I had seen before.

Entering

A close up of the ice

Fifi and me

My Canadian friend Dylan and me

Exiting

We spent the evening in a French town called Aix-les-Bains. For those of us that wished, there was a fair going on and we were allowed to go. The evening was very clear, with a full moon shining over the fairgrounds and the lake right next to them. I went with Hannah, Corinne, Shin Hae, and Sari.

There was a haunted ride that Sari chose to sit out of, so we went in two by two. I was with Corinne.

Because (letters flashing what appears to be) German makes everything scarier!

Typically, in the US during these kinds of attractions, the props/actors aren't allowed to touch you. However, here, that didn't seem to be a rule. Thus, in the pitch darkness with monsters popping out at us and following us around with chainsaw noises, the fact that things crept up behind you and actually touched you made this place especially terrifying. This is how Corinne and I looked coming out of there.

After that, we did another ride, and I almost regret having done it. It was like a swing on steroids.

I FELT LIKE I WAS GOING TO FALL OFF AND DIE. It rocked back and forth 180°, and it spun around, and just when I thought it was going to end it picked up its pace more vigorously than before. There were moments where I was suspended in the air and couldn't breathe, much less scream. The world around me was literally spinning out of my control. Still though, the engineering of the contraption really impressed me. Fabricating something like that is extremely risky, so I truly applaud those who took part in it! 

Switzerland: April 25

That morning, we had the best guided tour of the trip, the tour of the United Nations' headquarters in Geneva. Seeing the grounds and the huge conference rooms reminded me of the good old speech and debate days.

Sari and I left feeling super inspired, speculating about being colleagues there one day. After the tour, we had a little free time to explore the city.

Jane, Sari, me, Dylan, Corinne, Fifi, Hannah

Which then brought us to the last night of the trip, which we spent in-

France: April 26
Back on home ground for good!
There was a small dance that last night, but my friends and I spent most of it hanging out in our room, trying to get the most of our last few hours together, gossiping and pigging out on Swiss chocolate. The next day, everyone had to say good-bye. Well, I'll say that it was brutal- physically and emotionally draining. We had just finished the most spectacular trip of our lives, a lot of us not knowing each other previously but becoming brothers and sisters at the end. Having to abruptly end the dream like that was more than we could bear. We refused to say "adieu" because that meant saying good-bye forever. However, I know that it's not truly the end. Eurotour was only the beginning of some lifelong friendships, friendships that will stay dear to me and last no matter where the winds take me. We're all still young and have the rest of the world to explore, and I know we will meet each other again someday, somewhere.

I arrived home in Parthenay at around 6 pm, and as I walked back to my house after leaving the bus, I couldn't help but smile with relief. The Month of Madness had reached its end, and I could finally get some REAL sleep with no schedule of when to get up!
Today I spent much of the day relaxing in my room and working on this blog entry, sharing memories with my friends on the trip.

Now it's time to revert back to everyday, ordinary life in France, and I'm satisfied.