This past month has been quite an experience. I’ve visited several places in France already including Vichy (a more modern city that I absolutely loved!) and Le Puy. I’ve gotten to know my first host family, and I must say I’ve become very attached to them. I hate the thought of having to leave them after Christmas. They are beautiful people; one of those rare, perfect families. I had my 17th birthday here and the entire Rotary Club in Brioude sang me “bon anniversaire” (Happy Birthday) and surprised me with a cake. I’ve made many friends and have settled in quite nicely in little Brioude - as cold as it may be at times.

It’s only been one month since I left Jacksonville, and I already feel that if I came back now I wouldn’t be the same person. In many ways I’ve obtained more independence here, but in others I’m more in need of assistance than ever. It hasn’t all been fun, and it certainly hasn’t been easy, but I wouldn’t give up the past month of my life for anything.

I hope all is well in Jacksonville, and in the US. Kisses on BOTH cheeks! Until next month - Au revoir.

I had a life in Jacksonville. I had friends that I’d known for years. We went to school together, spent the weekends together. I had my family and a house I’d helped decorate. I knew what I liked and didn’t like. Everything was familiar. I suppose that familiarity is part of what makes a place “home”. Somewhere along the way I must’ve gotten tired of the familiar because when I look around now everyone’s speaking French. I’m going to a new school. I’ve had to meet new people, make new friends, and adapt to a new environment. But for some reason this fits too.

Not including people, I’ve become especially attached to two things: Star Academy and French Cafés. Star Academy is the equivalent of the television show “American Idol” (a show I never watched.) It gives me something to look forward to on Saturday nights. I’ve even seen artists such as Elton John, Seal, and Beyonce Knowles on the show. Elton John was trying out his French, which wasn’t too good, but I give him credit for at least trying. It takes guts to stand up in front of millions on live TV and try to speak their language.

Several times a week I find myself in one of the many cafés in Brioude. The French cafés fit nicely into my schedule because they’re almost always open. The nice thing about the cafés is that you can pay 2 € for a drink and then spend hours in there talking to your friends or playing video games. Thus, I’ve become addicted to hot chocolates.

I recently went to Venice, Italy with my art class on a five day fieldtrip. We went with students from another school in the nearby town of Issoire, which was great because I met a lot of people and made a lot of friends. It’s strange being a foreigner, but in Italy we were all foreigners. Suddenly none of us spoke the language and it sort of made us all equal. Turns out that in Venice it was a good thing that I spoke English. We visited the Biennale of Venezia and everything was written in either Italian or English. Not French.

One evening while I was in the hotel room with my roommates getting ready to go dancing, a few of the guys who were rooming next door started knocking frantically on the door urging me to come into the hallway. I soon found out why.

A group of about 20 English-speaking girls were also staying in the hotel and the guys wanted me to translate for them. I hadn’t realized just how much my French had improved until I was standing there, at the foot of the stairs in the hotel- the 20 giggling English girls, who all seemed to be named Emma, in front of me, and my French speaking friends behind me; the guys asking me to ask the girls their names, ages, etc. And there I was, in the middle of it all- the only one able to understand both languages and it was bliss!

“It was as though, in trying to express myself in another language, I’d suddenly plunged 50 IQ points.”

Not being able to express myself verbally can be extremely frustrating at times. My French has greatly improved, but I’ve still got so much more to learn. I look at the French language as a huge puzzle. A puzzle I’m decoding piece by piece- word by word. French and English are said to be the two most difficult languages to learn. English, I imagine, because of all the slang. And French, because of all the words. It’s really just memorizing verbs and using them. If you don’t use a word you’ll forget it- it’s as simple as that.

There is a wonderful vacation from school in France that begins in mid-October and doesn’t end until the first days of November. During this vacation I went to the French Riviera (Nice and Monaco-Monte Carlo) with Joanna and her host family. (Her host father is the president of Brioude’s Rotary Club). Monaco was absolutely beautiful! We saw the world famous “Casino Monte-Carlo” and the Palace of Monaco.

After returning from Monaco, I spent the next few days at Jo’s house. We would wake up in the morning, hop on a train, and spend the day in another city. We did this twice. The first day we went to Vichy, and the second day was spent in Clermont-Ferrand. At around 5 or 6pm we’d get back on a train and go home.

Halloween has only been celebrated in Brioude for the past three years. Only the really little kids went trick-or-treating, although they say something other than “trick or treat”. I tried to explain that in America we carve up pumpkins, put candles in them, and put them on our doorstep, but I found myself looking at several confused faces, so I went no further with my explanation.

Halloween night I went to a dance with my friend Claire in the nearby village of Vergongheon (where my boyfriend Nicolas also lives). It was so much fun! Over half the songs played were American and we were all dancing to “I Love Rock and Roll” and “YMCA” (they do the hand motions too for that song). I love dancing here. It requires no talking, and that’s a beautiful thing. After the dance ended, at an insanely late (or early) hour, I stayed the night at Claire’s. We’ve become really good friends, despite the language barrier.

The amazing thing, to me, is how someone can leave everything they know behind and show up in another country, unable to speak, knowing no one, and still manage to fit into their new environment. I’ve made friends, I’m memorizing the streets of Brioude one by one, I’m taking dance classes, everything is falling into place, and I couldn’t be happier. Au revoir and kisses on both cheeks!

So much has happened this past month that it seems like ages since I last wrote to you, instead of only four weeks. I celebrated my first Christmas in France, which was also my first white Christmas, with the entire Estic family (there were 17 of us total). We had a wonderful Christmas eve, and went to bed only after putting our shoes underneath the tree. The next morning, as in the US, all the children were gathered around the tree once more. Turns out I’m going to see Star Academy in concert with the family (except Xavier of course who claims it’s just for girls).

Two days after Christmas, the Estics and I piled into their Mercedes and drove the 5 or so hours to the Alps. I spent the next week learning how to snowboard (another first), going sledding, and having some serious snowball fights with the other kids. I have never been so cold in my entire life! (Today it’s the equivalent of –10 degrees Fahrenheit). After one of the most exhausting weeks of my life (the Estics are very sportive), including celebrating New Years and the existence of the Val Thorens ski resort for 30 years, we went back to Brioude where school started just two days later.

As if it isn’t difficult enough being the first week back at school, I also saw Jo, the foreign exchange student from Australia, for the last time before she went back home on a Thursday morning. I cried for the first time in a long time. Three days after Jo’s departure I switched host families after 4 and a half months with the Estics. I got the chance to cry again.

I’m now with my 2nd host family and have been for a week and a half. It didn’t take me long to discover that Gilbert and Catherine are two very kind people. They have three children: Maxime (13), Lauriane (12), and little Antoine who’s 6 years old. They also have two cats (which makes me very happy), and live in the actual town of Brioude, so my school is within walking distance.

This past month has brought about a lot of changes for me, as well as my constantly changing knowledge of the French language, which improves everyday. One thing that’s stayed the same through all this is my school, St. Julien, and my friends, whom I’ve become very close to. My time in France is almost half over already and there’s still so much I want to do here. I do miss my family, but I’m learning so much. Before coming to France I thought one year was an awfully long time to be away from home, but now I’m wondering if it’s long enough. Well that's all for this month.

Gros Bisous!!! (Big Kisses)

One of the great things about France is that there are four vacations during the school year, each one lasting a full two weeks. I spent last week in the indescribably beautiful Swiss Alps. I survived my 2nd week of life with a snowboard attached to my feet. And it was a lot of fun. I spent one week in Switzerland and now that I know how long it takes to really understand a culture, I left feeling a little uneducated. I did learn, however, that Switzerland has very pretty money which I’ve now added to my collection of Euros.

I’ve continued taking my dance and art classes and have made quite a career out of translating American and English songs for my friends at school. I’ve begun going with my host mom to the movies on Tuesday nights for her “Cinema Club” meetings. I’ve seen some fascinating French films (and even a Chinese one). My French continues to improve, but now I almost effortlessly understand the language (most of the time).

My 2nd Rotary weekend took place a few weeks ago. It was great seeing all my airplane buddies again. We had a good time swapping stories about our adventures in France and admiring how much our French had improved. It was a fun weekend, and makes me look forward to the bus trip even more!

My life at Brioude is nothing overly exciting to hear about. I’ve been living. Living very happily, and I suppose that’s the most important thing. There’s still so much I’ve yet to learn, and the time is going by so fast. I’ve been in France for six months already!! I have to keep telling myself that. It still hasn’t sunk in. Until next month when my stay in France will be 7 months (oh la la!)- Gros Bisous!

Love Always,