The rantings of a Nanyéen

I have been a little sick this past week. I am sorry for the lack of blogs this week but, given the option to sleep or try to write a creative, witty, and informative summary/analysis of my life on the other side of the world, I have chosen the option to recooperate. Thinking, eating, breathing, and just functioning in french is absolutely exhausting. Having a runny nose and a fever also do not help the exhaustion at all either. I am feeling better now though. My nose has stopped excercising (i think that it is the only body part that likes to run lol) and I have started to become me again.

This past weekend was absolutely amazing! I have to go to school on Saturday mornings (ick!) so my weekend doesn't officially start until 12:05. I have two classes in the morning, math and history/geography. Math is sooooo stupid. We are learning percentages. I think that percentage is one word butI could be wrong? It is really easy. We have been working on the same worksheet (that only has 6 questions) for 2 weeks now. It is absolutely pathetic.

So after my completly wasted morning of school, I took the bus home and ate some lunch with Prune and Marie (who is now sick thanks to me!). Then, I packed my carpet bag and we left the city. We headed to St.-Marie-du-Lac and picked up Amélia, Claire, and Johan and we went to an obstacle course park in the middle of the woods. We harnessed up and started our adventure. It was really really fun! "Acrobranche" consists of rope ladders and swings, tight ropes, ziplines, and tarzan ropes that are between 25 and 35 feet off the ground. It was a little intimidating at first but, after almost falling like, 3 times, it was so amazing! I guess that acrobranche is all the rage here in France. Keeping in mind the size of the country of France, There are over 500 acrobranche courses here! I wish that we had more things like that in the US.

I feel a little bad and I need to get something off my chest. I have started to kinda make fun of Americans with some of my friends and my host family. I know, I know, it's horrible. It all started with the acrobranche and how there really isn't very many things like that in Ohio. Then, I made the horrible, horrible joke with Prune that the only way that we would have something like this in the US was if everyone could ride in recliners and have a tv remote to say stop. While I am ashamed to make fun of the American culture, it was a little exhilerating to be able to make fun of it at the same time. Every day I become a little more french.

After the acrobranche(at 7 pm), We raced home to change into some party clothes and we headed to Amélia's house to party it up! It was a lot of fun. This party wasn't really a "party party" due to the fact that I was there with my host parents and a bunch of adults. It was fun though. We arrived around 8 and we left about 2:30 AM. I was exhausted but it was great.

After sleeping in on Sunday, I was woken by the voices of little children. My host half-sister and her kids came over. Eléa is absolutely adorable. She's 8 years old and a doll. Antoine is 4 and cute as a button too. I played the wii with Antoine. He's actually pretty good. I am the master at wii tennis though. So what if a 4 year old beat me at baseball and bowling. I still won at tennis. Then, I went outside to see what Eléa was doing and ended up picking raspberries with her in the gorgeous automn sunshine.



Then, we ate lunch (a yummy homemade lasgana) and Eléa insisted to sit beside me. After lunch, the two of us went for a walk along the lake. We ended up becoming explorers and models at the same time. It was a really great afternoon. I love spending time with her. She's absolutely adorable. Prune and Nathalie (my half host sister) kept apologizing about her following me but I told them that I love kids and that it's not a chore for me at all to be around them. Actually, I love being around kids and that's one of the things I miss most here. I talk to my family a lot and am not very homesick for them yet (believe me, I know it's coming though) but, I don't get to talk to my girls or see them on the webcam. It's sad for me. I miss Syd.



***Don't worry Syd, I'll be back before you know it and we'll have a date to go and feed the ducks =)

Included in this blog is a few pictures of my adventures. Again, sorry for the limited number of blogs. I will try not to let it happen again.

15 heures

I have officially been in La France for a month now. Actually, it's been four weeks and two days now but, who's counting. This has been the fastest month of my life! I can't believe that it is already almost October! Sometimes, in some classes, it seems as if time is moving soooo slowly but, I guess that altogether, it moves so fast. Soon, it will be the end of my exchange and the start of my real life.

Yesterday, I finished school at noon and I went home and piddled around on the computer. I did some of my french homework and talked to my mom for a while. Then, around four o'clock, I became exhausted and I decided to take a nap. Well, the nap turned into a humongous nap because, I woke up around 10 PM lol. I decided to go back to sleep and, I woke up at 7:30 this morning. For all of you who are counting on your fingers, that makes 15 and a half hours of sleep! It was pretty exciting.

I have to go to lunch now before the line gets too long. This weekend I will post another blog with all of the cool exciting things that I will do. Until then,

Gros Bisous

My unbiological sister

I have decided to dedicate this post to one of my best friends. She is vachement cool and I miss her a lot. She is hilarious and makes me laugh all of the time. I know that I can count on her to always be here for me even if the Eiffel Tower is off. We are crazy together and always have a good time.

Of course I am talking about the one, the only, Adèle. She is the cutest, parisienne that I know. I can't wait to see her. The weekend of the 4th, she is going to come to Saint-Marie-du-Lac to see me with her parents. I can't wait to see them all. If that wasn't exciting enough, I got permission today from the Rotary to go and stay with Adèle and her family for the 10 day holiday in October. I'm really excited!!! Her family is really really cool.

When Adèle was visiting us in the States, we had so much fun. I loved the night where the mixer decided to have an accident. It really wasn't me I swear. haha. These things happen.

I love her and can't wait to see her. She is just like another sister to me, only french.






one of the craziest and stressful and best nights of
my life

haha. I don't ask questions.

11 paragraphs of evil

I really love Nancy. It's such a great city. There are so many things to do here. Everything is so different from Alliance. I love the life in the city. Everything is so new and fresh. Our appartement is located in the Centre-Ville which is so amazing. I have a 5 minute walk to the tram where i can get a ride up the road to the bus depot. There, I can take a bus to literally anywhere in the city. I love being able to go and do anything that I want.

Today, with my new friend Juliette, I went to the movie theater and watched Mamma Mia. It was really really cute. I love Christine Baranski. She is such a good actress. While watching it, Juliette pointed out to me that our french teacher (not madame) looks like Meryl Streep. Haha. It was so funny that I could'nt stop laughing.

Both today and yesterday, I decided to skip the tram and take the long way home. I walked through the Place Stanislas (absolutely gorgeous) and then through the Parc Pepinière. Today, in the parc, I noticed that there is a zoo with actual animals lol. There were random peacocks roaming around the parc. In one cage, there are monkeys! I love the parc. It's so peaceful.

On a little different note, today at lunch, the cantine was serving french fries. With the middle schoolers, there was literally a stampede. Haha. It was really really really funny. They were all pushing each other and literally squishing people up against the glass of the doors. While noone was hurt (i believe) it was the funniest thing that I have seen in a while.

I have to go and "study" now. I don't have any books yet so I have no idea how this is going to work out. Tomorrow I have a controle in both French and English but the French one is going to be hard. Actually, it will probably be the hardest thing that I have ever done in my life. I have to read and analyze a french poem (I believe by Baudelaire but don't quote me) and respond to a "problematique." Don't ask me what a problematique is because I don't have a clue lol. Then, I have to introduce the poet and peom and give a little backround on the time period and stuff like that. Then, I have to find three subtopics to discuss and throughly develop them with three paragraphs for each. Then, I have to bring them all together and conclude them. All of this has to be done in 2 hours in class. Also, if you've been zoning out for the past three weeks, I have to do all of this in a language other than my own. The english one will be a little easier but teh teacher is making me do all of the work in french. The only problem is that she never gave me the voacb to learn. Oh well, tomorrow will just be a really long day.

Here are some pictures of the parc and the stampede. Love and kisses.


haha. funniest thing ever!



my lovely parc


random french peacock


i love roses!

Compote = Perfection

I have had a good start to a low-stress, easy week. Hah. I don't think that I have ever in my life had a low-stress week. I think that I purposefully make my life harder just to be challenged.

Today, It was a little cool. I think the best word in english for it is fresh. After theater class (which is absolutely amazing and makes Marlington look like a joke even though they have a really awesome drama/math teacher), I ate lunch with some girl friends and then walked home to drop my things off. After, I took the tram into town and looked around the stores, I walked to the hospital where I spent all afternoon coloring with young children under the age of 5. It was a lot of fun and I feel so great afterwards. It almost feels like I am doing something to change the world. Almost. Then, I walked back into town and decided that it was a nice, cool day and that I wanted to take a walk around town. So, I walked down the main road and walked through the Place Stanislas and the Parc. It was really cool. I love it.

On a side note, I love the applesauce here. It is soooooooo amazing. I have no idea why it is sooo good. It is really really smooth.

goodnight.

p.S. sorry for the sooooo its not really my fault.

The 7th not the 8th

Yesterday, I had a very exciting day. After waking up and eating lunch, Prune and I set out on an adventure. We drove for what hours ( i think that it was only an hour at the most lol) we arrived at the destination. We saw the castle where Voltaire satyed with Emilie du Chatelet. It was pretty cool to be at the same place that Voltaire walked.

The Castle where Voltaire stayed in Lorraine


Then, we traveled down the road to see the town where Charles de Gaulle stayed on the weekends. We saw his tomb and his house and his memorial. Also, we went to a museum. This is where our story begins...

While touring the museum, i actually read the posters. They were pretty interesting. Please, don't forget to note that all of the information is in French. I am kind of living in France right now and therefore, everything I do here is in French. So, for all of you who don't have a clue who Charles de Gaulle is, he was a hero in the Second World War for France. He was a part of the resistance and helped France overcome the Germans.

In these posters, there were important dates from the war. Well, while glancing over this one poster, I did a double take. It said " 8 decembre 1941" Well, I was like, "Prune, I think that this is wrong" She looked at me and laughed. I told her that I was serious. Well, after looking it up on the computer, the day of the attacks on Pearl Harbor is the 7th of Decembre. lol. I was right! I am going to mail a letter to the museum and tell them that their date is wrong. I am very proud of myself lol.

Got to go.

Mon ombre et moi

So. I am sitting in the library computer lab after two hours of french class. It was really cool today. We went to the library and we looked at anthologies of poems. Then, we did a little research on each book of boems and chose the poem that we liked best. The book that I chose was a book of chinese poems that we translated in french. I will give you the poem in french then try to translate it into english for you. here goes...


Près de la fenetre
nous sommes deux
mon ombre et moi.
La lampe s'éteint
je suis dans le noir.
Mon ombre m'oublie.

Je ne suis plus qu'une.
Triste. Abondonnée.

In english.

Near the window
We are two
my shadow and I.
The lamp is shut off
I am in the dark.
My shadow forgot me.

I am no longer more than one.
Sad. Abandonned.



I really like this poem because I kind of relate to it. I am in this place (France) without any people who really care about me. Or, if they care about me, they didn't before I came. It's a little frightening but also a little exhilerating. I am doing this all by myself. I am on an adventure. And, while I do have people here, I am taking responsibility for myself and that is really cool. I have done a lot of growing up these past two weeks and it is just the start.

After I read my poem though, I had to explain why I chose it. While struggling through a deep, and complex answer with only basic french, I started to cry. I guess that I cry in everyone's french class lol.

Vachement chouette

Here are some pictures of my life in France.

Also, for a side note, while I know that the word Sooooooooo does not really exsist, I am forced to use it because the word that I really would like to use does not have an english equivalent. The word in french is vachement and I love it. So, in future bloggings, I will refrain from using the word "Soooooo" and will instead replace it with "vachement."


The flat tire. hahahahahaha. le pauvre pneu.



la place stanislas. according to Mattieu, its the beautifulest place in the world. haha. i completely agree.



our 12 kilometer walk. haha.





my second host family. they're really cute.



that just so happens to be the butt of one, fine tony parker.



the cheerleaders, or as we call them in France, pom pom girls.




Marie and I cheesing it up for the camera.

J'aime bien le biftec

So. Today, in my theater class, we did an excercise where everyone stood in a line and there was one phrase that everyone repeated. In line, the phrase was supplied by moi and said " J'aime bien le biftec" Yes, I am bringing the biftec song to France. Props to Madame Hempstead, the greatest french teacher in the world (yes, i can say that now because, i have seen the teachers that the other side of the workd offer and, its no comparison) for first inspiring me with the playing of the wonderful, holy song of the biftec. Long Live the Biftec.

Something has changed within me

I am soooooo tired! It feels like I can't catch up on my sleep. Im really busy here and speaking only french is really exhausting! Not really so much mentally exhausting but real, actually physically exhausting.

I can't believe that I have already been here for two weeks! At the same time, I can't believe that I've only been here for two weeks. It feels like an entire lifetime has passed. If today was my last day in France, I know that I would surprise a lot of people back home. I am a completely changed person than I was. I still am the same old Jen but just different. I am a little more mature and just different. I can't really put it into words. You can't journey to the other side of the world without changing. Really, you can't.

12 KILOMETRES!!!!!

So. Today I walked. Actually, I walked a lot. To be precise, I walked 12 kilometers. For all of you people in America, that is almost 7.5 miles!!! Yes, I walked 7 miles today. And it wasn't really that bad.

Then, after the marché, we went to Fahn's house and had an authentic, french sit down, family meal. This meal lasted for over 7 hours lol. First we had some champagne, then we had some appetizers and chips, then quiche, then soupe, then some more drinks, then some side dish type foods, then some meat and some more side dish type things, then some bread and cheese and wine, then some dessert, and finally some coffee. Between all of these things was a little bit of a wait. Needless to say, it was a long afternoon.

Also today, I swam in a swimming pool when the temperature outside was below 60 and windy and the pool was 85 lol. It was a lot of fun.

Well, I had better be off to bed now. Love to everyone who needs it.

Bonne nuit

The Enlightenment

So, while I have a few moments to myself, I have decided to enlighten you about a few things.

1. Last night, I went to see Tony Parker play basketball. It was really cool. It was such a different experience. There were t-shirts on the chairs and everyone put them on. Well everyone except for the VIPs lol. They were crazy! Everyone was yelling the whole time!

2. I love Nancy! It is such an amazing city! I don't know if I ever want to leave (this being said, I have only been here for 8 days. Well see in 8months) I live in the centre-ville and it is absolutely adorable. There are lots of cute, little shops and cafés everywhere. To get to school in the morning, It is necessary that I walk a little ways through a park which is really cute. And then through the place stanisglas. Then I have to take the tram and ride it for a few stops and then get off and proceed to take a bus. While it is a long way, I love it.

3. Les boites. In english, they are called night clubs and because I am 18 years old, I am legally allowed in them! Don't worry though, I am a good litle exchange student and I never drink anything that has even a tiny bit of alcohol in it. I haven't been to one yet but I think that I may have to drag myself there just to experience the cultural note.

I think that I am going to try and go to bed soon. Here, it is only 9:30 but I am exhausted anyway.

La classe d'anglais sans anglais

So. Right now I am sitting at a computer in the library of my school. I'm not sure what I am allowed to use on the internet. Haha. I am sitting beside my new friend Célia. She is pretty cool. We are going to go and eat lunch in the cafeteria.

I had my first class today. English. haha. what a joke! The teacher didn't speak any english to the class at all. She gave us a lot of homework that i didn't really understand. It's not that I didn't understand her french, it was that I didn't understand the actual assignment. I will have to talk to my new friends and have them help me out.

Also, I have no idea how my agenda works lol. i need to do some researches lol.

A bientot

beaucoup de rien

Today was soooooooooo exhausting lol. I started school today. In reality, it was very stupid lol. It was the same as it would be in the States except that we stayed in the same room for like, three hours and the prof talked about nothing lol. It was soooo boring. I wrote in my journal for like an hour lol. Actually, I just played with my new fountain pen the whole time lol.

I forgot to tell you that yesterday we were stopped on our way back into Nancy by the Gendarme. lol. It could have been really really bad but, it was okay. Kinda cool even. They were stopping every car on the autoroute and we just so happenned to be on the same road. They checked Prunes papiers and her license. They also checked the car papers and the papers for the insurance. Luckily, everything was fine (even if out of order and scary lol) and we kept going on our way.

I am very very tired and have had a long day. When something actually happens in school, I will alert you all. Tomorrow I have the day off from school (cool) and tomorrow night I am going to go to a basketball game against the champions of France (the team from Nancy) and Belgium. Tony Parker is going to play in the game. Hopefully Eva Longoria will be there too.

A Bientot

Clavier = Stupid

Just for the record, this blog doesn't really have a purpose except for me to vent about the keyboard and to tell you about my feelings before going to school in the morning (or middle of the night for you people in the US of A)

This keyboard is sooooo annoying! All of the keys are in the worng place. Actually, all of the keys aren't in the wrong place and that is what is throwing me off. Only four or five keys are wrong. If every letter was in a different spot it would be one thing but they're not lol. IT has gotten easier as the days have gone by but not enough lol.

Tomorrow morning, I start school. It is very exciting and crazy. Today, Prune and I went shopping and we will have to finish tomorrow because I didnt get a list. But, I got my first stylo à Plume. My first fountain pen. It is very exciting but a little weird. Also, I got an agenda and some pencils and an eraser.

I will fill you in on the details of my first day of school tomorrow!

Here is a picture of Marie, my host sister and I taken tonight at dinner.

A Bientot.