Since my last report I have had a lot of firsts. At the end of November I celebrated my first birthday without my family. That was, without a doubt, one of the hardest days of my exchange so far. Being someone who always loved traditions, I knew this year would be different, but I could not even imagine a birthday without any. When the day came and went just as any other, without so much as a candle, I was feeling pretty down in the dumps, but that weekend some of my friends surprised me with cake and we had a little party. In the end it was a birthday I’ll never forget, all thanks to the great friends I have made here.
The following weekend I participated in my first volunteer action with my club, collecting canned goods for the food bank, and then joined all of the exchange students in the district for what we called a Forum des Pays. Students from each country set up a table to display our unique cultures in hopes of helping future exchange students decide which country they would like to pass a year in. Speaking to all of the students and their parents, full of questions and concerns for the year ahead, was such a great experience. I remember so clearly being in their shoes, the difficulty of choosing which countries to apply to, and I feel that the Forum des Pays was a great way to help ease their minds.
Later that week, on the 100th day of my exchange, I moved in with my second host family. It’s a great decision on Rotary’s part to have students move between families throughout the year because we are given the opportunity to see how different families live in the culture. Where as my first family was comprised of a single mother and her 19 year old daughter, my second family is a young couple with 3 sons ages 8 years, 6 years and, at the time of my arrival, just shy of 4 months. Living with my new family, the Fenzars, has been a great experience for me. For the first time in my life I have younger siblings, which is insanely cool. I’ve had the chance to witness so many big events and life lessons over such a short period of time. On my second day with the Fenzars I got to be there when the baby, Liyam, ate his first solid food, and everyday since then has been a new adventure. The greatest thing I’ve gotten out of living with this family is tons of help improving my French speaking. Since the kids are so young that they are still learning the basics of grammar, I have been able to sit and learn alongside them.
After a couple of weeks adjusting to life with my new family in a new town, Christmas vacation began. Christmas without my family was another big, traditionless first, but the Fenzars fully immersed me in their traditions, making me feel welcome, and even indulged me in a few of my own. My two weeks vacation passed in the blink of an eye, jam packed with day trips to Paris for ice skating and sight seeing with other exchange students, and even one overnight trip with my friend Emily who’s grandparents were visiting from Australia and were kind enough to let me stay with them.
At the end of vacation I was so tired I didn’t even mind going back to school, just for the sake of getting back some sort of routine. Unfortunately after being crazy busy the past 2 months, and a sudden change to cold weather, I inevitably got sick. Of course, even then I continued to burn the candle at both ends, making plans every free minute, which led me to come down with a horrible case of bronchitis. Luckily now, after my first trip to the French doctor, and a few days bed rest, I am finally on the mend, and looking forward to another busy weekend because nothing slows me down. Exchange is short and I plan to live every minute.
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