First Days ......Rambling

Well what can i say, i've procrastinated as i always do and therefore today is not nearly one of my first days here however i will be so kind as to give you a brief overview. I arrived Wednesday August 29th at 1:30 pm (local time - which was 6:30 am my time) in Paris, France. It was quite the flight or rather flights! over here. I left Winnipeg at 4:00pm (local time) connected to Minneapolis then to Amsterdam (whose airport was an absolute nightmare - seriously i`m sure no one actually works there except the occasional cleaning staff).. then on to Paris!! at this point it was about 6:00 am for me and i had sleep maybe 3 hours during the entire ordeal yet by nothing short of a miracle I stayed up until 10pm local time with my host mother.



Veronique!

My host mother is a single mother and her only daughter is on a long term rotary exchange to Taiwan. She is very kind and enthusiastic. Also surprisingly she speaks english quite well which was a great relief to me when I first arrived and was exhausted and unable to say much more than "Hello my name is Lauren", etc. However in the past 4 days it is often hard for me to speak French with her as I can be lazy and it is much easier to try and explain things in english, therefore I have been very stubborn with myself about this subject and force myself to speak french, as terrible as that may be, it is good because I am not too afraid to make mistakes around Vero.





As I have been told by many exchange students (who've finished the exchange) you will have your ups and downs throughout the entire year abroad. No doubt this is something I Found out quite quickly, the first day... well first 2 days were quite difficult as of course you do not know anyone but your host family, who are very nice but you really don`t know them at all and your real family back home is soo far away it breaks your heart. This is something, although you may think you understand - as I did, you just can`t comprehend until you have left home alone, you are like 6000+ km away from home and you can`t speak the language, you don`t know anyone! and you have left everything you have ever known; even the things you really hated about home and Canada you now miss in some odd way and now somehow make you cry - this makes you appreciate your family soo soo much. Sorry that I am not painting a perfect picture but I feel that I should speak truthfully and not lead you all astray, in telling you life is perfect because we all know that that is a lie lol. (sorry I know I sound as if i am preaching however I spoke to few other exchange students and they agreed 200%!!!) They said it`s like you don`t realise it`s actually happened until you are up to your elbows in kleenex and your eyes look like somebody used them as a punching bag. Sorry i know thats not the fairytale story you all want to hear!! But once again, for better or for worse I can't help but be an honest person... he he..



Reality!!

Seriuosly though, i`m only 4 days in and i love it. yeah you still miss everyone back home! and yes you want to see them but there is so much here!! EVERYTHING is interesting, you`re like a child exploring a toy store for the first time. It`s insane. You don`t actually believe you are here doing this, I seriuosly do not think it has still set in that I am in Paris, oddly it feels alot like home at times and I have smack myself to realise that I am in a whole new country!! but I love that all the same..



Happenings!!!

Well what can I say... I lost my luggage until today. It arrived tonight at about 10pm which was ridiculous because the lady said it should come the night I arrived here, so naturally it took 4 days, but hey I survived! Although barely, I was without any comsmetics or anything... including a razor which made me feel uncomfortably french (not even sure whether that stereotype is true yet -lol) - however not a feeling I enjoyed all the same. ha ha but c'est la vie!

I also must mention the fact that despite my host mother forgetting to tell me that at night she locked all the doors, which is perfectly fine and normal, however it posed the problem that in doing so she also locked the bathroom outside of the main house (just the way the doors are set up - it's a little odd) anyway so at about 1 am on my first night I woke and of course murphy's law - I really had to pee haha - so I go downstairs and find that it is locked so I try pulling on it (which oviously did nothing) so i'm dancing around the kitchen swearing like a sailor and i'm like Oh my God! what am I going to do? - i'm going piss my pants and i'm 18 years old! and it's my first night in France, like what a wonderful start! holy shit!, so luckily I had been so cleverly observant and had noticed earlier that there were some keys in my room so I ran back up stairs and I knocked on Vero's door and wispered her name - no response. OMG!! right so i'm like ok where were those keys - dear god I hope they are the right ones, I get downstairs and of course.... they are the wrong ones, by this time I am soo NOT going to make it!! oh god! and so it's pitch black out and I happened to put my hand down on the counter amidst my prancing around and felt different keys - I grabbed them, fumbled them alot and low and behold they fit, oh thank the lord i'm saved!!....... wait not yet! ha ha omg there is more than one lock!! I was cursing so loud by this point, I don't know how Veronique didn't wake up... anyway I somehow managed, by nothing short of a miracle, to unlock the other lock and ran to the bathroom .... end of story!? I made it just in time.!! ha ha I am really not sure why I shared that with all of you but I guess it's done now! ha ha I can really only imagine what this year will hold for me!! lol

Haircut!!
yes it's true, I got my hair cut. If you are wondering if I look french, I am not sure? lol but I certainly look very european!! ha ha it is very layered and shorter than I wanted but it'll have to do! lol That although was quite the experience, I learned alot of new words that day, trying to explain how you would like your hair cut in a language you don't speak very well at all to a person who understands nothing but "perfect French" is quite a difficulty! lol

Stereotypes!!
yes some are quite true!! For instance, EVERYONE has baggettes and they take them EVERYWHERE!! lol Also they walk or bike alot!! It is a very common mode of transportation. As well the Chocolate shops are seen so often it's hard to believe - I thought belgium was where all the chocolate was? Now I am not sure, Here they eat ALOT bread and they like their wine and chocolate. Also French people can be very snappy, non of the people I have been aquainted with are. However you see a fair amount of people in shops and on the street who are just angry or upset. ha ha... Sometimes it's actually hard not laugh lol especially when I don't understand what they are saying they are just yelling like a crazy person!! ha ha ha it was rather amusing when I think of it. My host mother's daughter's bestfriend and her mom took me around Vaires on my 3rd day here and they pointed this out to me, they were laughing too so I figured it can't just be me who thinks this is a little amusing... well I guess as long as it is not directed towards me, he he...

wow I have written soo soo much and rambled more than any of you every wanted me to probably lol. I am very sorry, well I must go to bed now, tomorrow we have a fair?? Although from what I understand it's really a garage sale but in a square and it is huge! lol well... a bientot
love ME!