Hello Everyone,
I have realized that not a lot of people
really understand or just simply know what I am doing all the way over here.
So, I will try and enlighten you all.
I am on exchange with the Rotary
International Youth Exchange Program. It is a high school based exchange I am
doing, if you will. I am enrolled in a
lycée (French High school) for the duration of my stay. I participate in a
class of seniors as if I was a student.
You may be asking yourself: "So your grades count for college or
something?" In fact, they do not. They are more or less a tool I can use
to measure my progress.
Now, where do I live? I live with a host
family. No, not a family fluent in English who cook me American food and live like
Americans but a real French family.
Actually, I have 3 host families in total. Right now I am in my second
host family where I have 3 siblings: Manon, 19, Benjamin, 16, and Nathan,
10. I also have my host parents: Stephane,
who works as an engineer for the SNCF (a large railway organization, translates
literally to National Society of Railways.) and Nathalie, who is a teacher in a
Vocational/BOCES style school. And what
exactly do I do with the family? Well, I live with them! It is just as if I was
a member of the family. We do little activities together when they do them.
Speaking of activities together, the next school break I may be doing
Disneyland Paris with them!! And, I live with 2 cute little 5 month old kittens
now too!
Now, a little bit of an update on what I
have been up to. I am not very sure where I left off on my last report, so I am
just going to rewind all the way before Christmas break. So, right before Christmas break my class in
school took a trip to Strasbourg, a large city in the North-East of France. It
is in a region of France called Alsace. Alsace is a region of a particularly
mixed German/French culture due to the fact that it is on the French-German
border and that it changed hands numerous times. Thus, in the region there is a
special culture. Strasbourg is a city
widely renowned for its christmas decorations and christmas markets. It calls
itself the "Capitol of Christmas." In any Christmas market in France
there is a special atmosphere. Just a nice homey place with all the little
merchants and of course lots of snacks. Speaking of snacks, typical Christmas
market chow is Hot spiced wine, waffles, crepes, and, if you are in Alsace,
pretzels. I tasted all of the above, and I love Hot Spiced Wine( Vin Chaud, in
french). It is something that isn't very
popular in the states but should be. It is just delicious. Typically a red wine
spiced with your traditional "spiced drink spices" such as cinnamon,
etc, with oranges, and its served hot! Perfect for a cold day! Which is why I
was tempted when I was given the idea to open a Vin Chaud stand upon returning
to the states. Who knows? Maybe I'll take my christmas break and go to NYC and
serve up some Vin Chaud? Looking for investors!
Also during the trip to Strasbourg, we tried
some specialties of the region: Bretzel(pretzel, not a huge fan), pain d'épices
(gingerbread, yummy from the right places), Flammenkeuch aka Tarte flambée( a
pizza like dish, but not with tomato sauce. Typically a super thin crispy crust
with a mild cheese and little smoked bits of lardon, a large fan! Tried
numerous kinds because it was an all you can eat and I was freezing!), and also
spatzle( a pasta, not super but its a pasta so yeah). Also traditional to the region is Choucroute
( a large dish of sauerkraut, sausage, and ham), and the typical idea of
Strasbourg food is really hearty like with all sorts of sausage, beans, etc.
During the trip we also visited a Concentration Camp. I can't really find a word to describe how I
feel about this visit. I try interesting, depressing, fascinating, horrifying,
and touching.
The camp is located in high in the Vosges
mountains. Since it had snowed not long before we arrived and there was a thick
fog and we could down in the valley, it was beautiful. But the fact that it was
a concentration camp made it hard to appreciate the landscape. Actually, the
location was a ski station before it was a concentration camp. It was bizarre
to be in a concentration camp. I mean it is just something we studied in
history, I still don't feel like I really understand or even can. I made the
comment to a friend that to me its just a history topic but it happened in his
backyard. But we did do other light hearted activities.
We visited what I could see as a future
place of work, the Council of Europe. At first when I found out we were going
to the Council of Europe instead of the European Parliament I was a little
disappointed, but did you know that there are more countries that belong to the
Council of Europe than to the European Union? In the European Union there are
27, in the Council of Europe there are 47. I say it may be a future employer
because the 2 official languages of the Council of Europe are French and
English. Voila, qualified in that category. I am just not sure if you actually
need to be a European Citizen. In the neighborhood of the Council of Europe
there are quite a few international organizations like the European Parliament and
the International Human Rights Tribunal. Throughout the trip I repeatedly had
little moments where I was reminded that I had to speak French. You may be
like, okay what is he getting at? Its the fact that its the first time I have
ever really went out and done anything besides school with french kids my age.
I have done trips and events in France, but I did them with Rotary exchange
students. So, it was a sort of new/old experience. Now after the 10-11 hour bus
ride home (during which I barely slept at all) I went home to my house for
probably 2 hours max to eat breakfast and shower. Then I was back in the car
for 12 hours, direction the Alps.
The ride wasn't that bad. Although I cant
say that I saw most of it; I slept, and snored apparently, the majority of the
way. Regardless, I was in the Alps!! I
spent christmas in the Alps with my host family and host grandparents on my
host mom's side. We had our own cute little apartment in this chalet not far
from the ski trails. The first afternoon I tried Alpine Skiing, which I thought
was a little tricky. The second morning I tried cross country, then I decided
Alpine wasn't that bad haha. It turns out, I really enjoy skiing. Which is
good, because I can ski back in the states! By the end of the week I was skiing
around all alone! Among one of the many beautiful views from the ski trails was
Mont Blanc, the ceiling of Europe. Great view! Also while in the Alps, a family
friend made us frog legs! Which I ate, much to my host mother's disgust, and I
liked it! If you want some, I know how to make them! Christmas was a little
weird since we were in a small apartment, but we made it work. What we did was
we had some family over for little munchy snacky things and champagne, then
stayed up to midnight and exchanged gifts. I went to christmas mass for the
first time with my host grandparents and host mom. Yeah, that was christmas.
There were very few decorations, music, lights, or even christmas movies on the
television. By US standards we would say they lacked all christmas cheer. But
it was nice anyway. I can now say that I passed Christmas in the Alps! After
that we returned home for christmas with the either side of the family and I
switched families.
In other news, I had to say goodbye to
some of my best friends here. Since the seasons are opposite in the southern
hemisphere, the Australians, New Zealanders, and an Argentinian returned home.
I miss them all so much already, but we keep in contact.
Right now in France is a period simply
referred to as "Les Soldes" (The sales). It is a 5 week period of
numerous mark downs on just about everything but primarily clothes. Which is a
blessing and a curse when you need new clothes. Because you buy what you need,
then what you, what you think you want but maybe just because its a good price,
and then you go back in a few days and repeat. But now finally I have a good
number of clothes that fit me!(and are stylish but all french people seem to
dress the same)
Hmmm what else? Let's see. I am gearing
up to make my next 5 months even better. On the list of upcoming events: two
days in a French Bakery, Paris!, party where I'll have to cook with all the
host families, District Conference, and Bustrip!
I hope everyone back home
is going well!!
-Keith
