Le Rêve ♥

attention everyone: I dreamed in French!!!!!!!!!!!!!! How exciting! it was crazy. I woke up and immediately started thinking in French and then I realized that my whole dream had been in french!!!!! I was sooooooooooooo happy :D I know everyone says this means you are fluent, but unfortunetly I don't think thats the case haha. I still have a LOOOOONG way to go, but I still have time. Speaking of- today is my 5th month in France which is the halfway point. I cannot believe it. I am so proud of myself for all that I have learned and for being strong enough live in a foreign country without my family. Its been hard, but amazing at the same time.

Today, I rock climbed really well. I'm already a little sore so I can only imagine what tomorrow is going to be like.... This week has been pretty good. Nothing too noteworthy. In my french class we are working with different levels of language- meaning formal, everyday, and slang. I really love doing this because I am learning so many new words and I'm also learning what situations call for what type of speech. My friends also get a kick out of it when I tell them all the slang words I learn :) In french, the teens and some adults use a language called "verlan" THIS IS SOOOOOO HARD!!!! verlan means the inverse! for example---- in order to say something was crazy which in french is "fou" they say it was "ouf"! or for merci you can say "ci-mer" Its the craziest thing ever... c'est un truc de ouf ;) hahaha its so confusing but i'm am starting to kind of understand...
I am suppper tired today... good thing tomorrow i can sleep in!!!!!
zibou hahahha
em

paris and then not dinner and a movie, but a movie and dinner...

Today I went to Paris with Mariana :) it was cold and rainy so we decided to go to Le Louvre. Even if I visited Le Louvre everyday while I was here I'm almost positive I still wouldn't see everything. Its amazing, but a bit hard on the feet! Walking and walking. We got lost while trying to find the sortie and ended up going in circles for a bit. It was pretty funny. After the museum we just sort of wandered around the quartier and then later stopped in a patisserie for a snack. Oh goodness, at the louvre mariana and I asked this couple to take a picture and the couple answered us in english so mariana asked where they were from and they said Arizona. I told them I was from Idaho and we talked for a bit... Let me just tell you that this was soooooo hard! I never ever ever thought I would have to concentrate whilespeaking english, but today I learned I was mistaken. It was really weird. I would accidentally switch back to french and have to correct myself. I had to apologize to them and say that I have been in french mode for awhile so its weird for me to speak english now. i really don't know why it was hard today because when I skype my family its easy haha. and sorry everyone, but right now I do NOT like our accent. Its not pretty... I think when I come home I am only going to speak french because I love it! hahahaha :D

Anyway, after our trip to Paris, I went to the movies with Isabelle, her sister, and parents. We watched the new movie with Matt Damon "Au-delà " or "Hereafter." It was good, sad in parts but pretty good.

After the movie (which got over at 9pm) we went to Isabelle's parents' house for a crepe dinner :) it was yummy! I thought I was so funny that we didn't do dinner and a movie, but a movie and then dinner. In the states if our movie started at 7 there is no way we would wait until after to eat dinner! It was fun because it was such a french thing to do.

well, i'm off to bed!

emily

sunny afternoons in Paris :)

2 posts in one day... you're welcome :)
Today in Paris it was 50 degrees with lots of sun. It was amazing. Its hard to believe its january when it feels like april.... but I'm not complaining! I spent the afternoon with Mia. We went shopping a little bit more, then ate a picnic lunch by the Seine (literally on steps that led directly to the water!) and then we went to the Promenade Plantée which is a 2.8 mile pathway with trees and benches and flowers (well not so much during winter), but the coolest part is that it is on TOP of buildings!!! It used to be a track for trains, but was tranformed into a neat park type thing. It was awesome. We will definitely have to go back in the spring when everything is in bloom also because I forgot my camera this time around... but wow it was such a perfect little afternoon. Also, I found a nice coat today for only 20 euros!!! I was so excited :) I love the soldes!!!!
well, that's all folks!
emily

SOLDES et Noel encore!!!

Gahh, (what is really funny is that i just started writing this blog entry in french without thinking haha...) Wednesday in French was the start of the winter sales!!!! Meaning that pretty much all the stores discounted their winter collections. So yesterday I went to La Defense, Forum Les Halles, et Le Champs-Eylsees to check them out. It was a LOOOOOONG day of shopping and I didn't find that much, but it was still an experience :) The sales will last until February, but by then everything is pretty much gone. After the long day of shopping the Lasserres had another Christmas party, this time with their friends the famille G-A-L-P-I-N ;) et Philippon. It was fun :) I got more presents too! I got a box of ferrero rochers and an silver necklace engraved "la vie est belle" :) it was so thoughful!
This afternoon I am going to Paris to take advantage of this beautiful day!!! it is around 50 degrees here! doesnt feel like january at all....
bisss,
emily

happiness :)

life is good! what a great day :) Today, afterschool and rock climbing, we stopped at le fromagerie de Chelles. It is owned by the parents of a girl I met who wants to be an exchange student next year. She is so nice and told me that I had to go visit the cheese shop to try all the different flavors. So, we went today and her mom explained all the different types and how they were made and we got to taste quite a few too. You could really tell that she loves what she does. It was great. Did you know there are 1,000 different types of cheese in France?!?! 1,000!!!! man oh man i still have a lot more to try ;) But the shop was really cute and I can't wait to go back to try some more different types of fromage!

After le fromagerie, I got home and had the BEST surprise ever waiting for me :D :D :D :D It was a package from my family with my nigh-night and english books and junk food that I missed oh so much. It was like christmas all over again. I was SOOOO happy :) and still am. I truly have the best family ever. I miss them. This care package was the highlight of my week for sure. :D

well, there you have it! gahh i am so happy :)

xoxoxox,

emily

#100

well this is my 100th blog post from France! i am such a faithful little blogger ;)
today i had a district rotary meeting with all the other exchange students and with all the new french students who want to go on exchange next year. We didn't actually do anything except talk to the newbies and the parents a little bit. It wasn't that exciting, but I still love hanging out with everyone. funny story--- so I was not having one of my best "speaking french" days and i was eating lunch with jack and lucia and then about 6 french students and after making about a 100 mistakes in french i said "ahh aujoud'hui c'est un mauvais DAY pour mon francais..." meaning ( today is a bad day for my french) but i actually say day instead of jour!!! oh gotta love my franglais....
well, I am really tired after long rotary day. luckily i start at 10am tomorrow because my french prof is going to be gone!
bisou
emily

la galette, Le cimetière du Père-Lachaise, and other french things :)

I just got home from a nice fondue dinner with the Gabelotauds :) I am very lucky that I already know my 2nd host family well so the transition won't be too hard. During the day I visited le cimetière du Père-Lachaise in Paris with my friends. We saw the graves of Moliere, Jim Morrison, Oscar Wilde, Frederic Chopin, et Edith Piaf. It was cool to see the graves of all these famous people and it was even more interesting to see what the graves looked like. For example, Moliere and Chopin and Edith were very classical.... Jim Morrison's on the other hand had tons of flowers, but also bottles of alcohol and cigarette butts and The Doors albums... very rock and roll...And then Oscar Wilde's was covered with red kiss marks.... so we all just had to add to it! haha thats what being a tourist is all about! kissing filthy tombstones...:)

It was another great visit to Paris :)
Another this that has been going on this week that I have failed to mention is La Galette! In January a French tradition is eating la galette which is a really really yummy almondy cake. Inside the cake there is a little trinket and whoever finds the trinket in their piece of cake is the king or queen for the day and gets to wear a crown. Its a little bit like what we sometimes do for christmas eve with the rice pudding and the almond. Its really fun and the cake is soooo good. Plus, I won! by only cheating a bit ..... :) no, but its a really fun little french tradition.
Anyway, il faut que j'y aille parce je dois me reveiller tot demain...
bisous!
em

chez le medecin.

Well, 2011 is going pretty well. School has started back up, so I'm back into my routine!

yesterday was sad because i had to say bye to Emily from New Zealand since she leaves this friday! She got here last January since she is from the southern hemisphere and their school years are the opposite of ours. It really got be thinking about how fast my exchange has gone!!!! When i met her she had the same amout of months left as i do now! and these last few months have FLOWN by. I am doing my best to stay in the moment so that i can get everything I possibly can from my exchange.
Today was a crazy day. I didnt go to school because I had a doctors appointment in this town just next to Paris in order to get my Visa validated or something like that. I was excited at first because i didnt have to go to school, but i think i would have rather gone than do what i did. First of all, it was rainy and windy and the directions that i printed off the night before were NOT AT ALL helpful... I'm sure it was hilarious for the other people to see this lost, helpless american wondering the streets trying to find the right building carrying a huge copy of her lung X-RAY. I had to ask 5 different people for directions. Finally, after walking through this really yucky neighborhood I found the office i was looking for. The first doctor that saw me was not nice at all. He was just say "stand there" "go there" "sit there" "give me your papers" "do this" and he was talking really fast, so once i had to ask him to repeat and he just sighed and acted like i was a complete waste of time. soo frustrating. After the rude doctor I had to wait a little while and then was taken to another doctor who was MUCH nicer. At first he asked what language I wanted him to talk in and i said french, but he started speaking a mixture of french and english which was super confusing. I understood his french better than his english and I think he caught onto that because by the end he was speaking only in French. thankfully haha. He asked me lots of questions about Idaho and the USA which was nice.
After him I had to wait forever inorder to get my Visa stamp saying I was healthy haha. The lady that helped me with that started out speaking French, but then saw my passport and started speaking really broken English with a few French words. example "you take your carnet avec you." I actually had to tell "Vous pouvez parler en francais si vous voulez." meaning You can speak in French if you would like!

When i was finished i walked out of the building and what did i find only ONE block away? the metro of course! oh dear. the internet had given me the wrong metro stop which led to a lot of confusion that morning... but its all good now! counting my transportation and appointment it took me 4 hours... it was tiring.
tonight i have a rotary club meeting! hope i can stay awake :)
bisous.
em

2011!

bonne année!!!
I can't believe its already 2011... and i also can't believe i only have 6 months left. but we don't talk about that! (spoagin' as my family would say... even though i don't know how to spell it...) anyway, last night was really fun. I had went to a little new years party at my friend, Valentine's house. I realized how much i had missed getting ready for dances and whatnot with my friends while i was doing my hair and makeup with Valentine. It was nice to have some girl time. Plus it had been awhile since i had seen my French friends so it was good to catch up and be in full french mode :)
Anyway, i have a good feeling about this year! Its going to be a good one... except i still need to come up with a new year's resolution! a little late, I know. any ideas?
bisous,
emily