1 Weekend: 2 Birthday Parties!

Alright, well, another school week completed and just two more weeks until winter break(february vacation) and just 3 more weeks until we head of 2 ski in the Alps for 6 days. I can’t wait. And I even have a sleepover planned for next weekend, so the horizon is very bright. But, I also have a few scary clouds on the horizon as well. Next week, we have a 4 hour bac blanc(practice bac) in history, and considering that we have been doing a lot of geography in the last month, I’m a bit worried. I already have enough trouble remembering the names of the states and the capitals in the USA, names which I’ve been hearing since I was born. And now I’m supposed to be learning the names and number of inhabitants and decreases in number of jobs and I don’t even know what else about at least 20 french cities. Not to mention knowing where the wine production is, as compared to the grain growing and the livestock raising. So, I’m more than a bit worried. But, oh well, I guess we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.  And then the next week I have a bac blanc in french and my french oral. So, I’ll be busy, but then it’s vacation and time for relaxation.

So, now that you know all about my weeks to come, I’m sure you’re super curious about how this last week went. Well, the suspense is over and here comes the news flash...

First of all, I’ve noticed that my moral is pretty high right now. As I was walking back to school after lunch, I noticed that I was smiling slightly for no reason at all. It’s nice to shake myself out of my thoughts and realize that I’m walking along smiling like an idiot rather than shaking myself out of a trance and realizing that I’m walking along with my head down and a frown on my face.  In general, things are rolling along at a nice constant up, a nice change from some of the tougher times of the experience.

So, on to the week. The funny things about consistently writing my blog on Fridays is that when I tell you guys about my week, it always starts with stories from the weekend, which is a bit of an oxymoron. But anyways...

Let's start with some food photos:

A 4 year old's birthday cake.

The French version of starbursts, called kremas. They are quite good, but have a more creamy and less fruity flavor than starbursts.

Saturday night, I had a handball game. I almost scored my first club goal, but not quite. I had a breakaway and caught the perfect pass from the goalkeeper, took my 3 steps and shot. My shot slammed into the crossbar and another teammate picked up the ball and was fouled while shooting, resulting in a penalty which another teammate scored. So, I guess from a certain chain of events, I might be able to say that my breakaway eventually resulted in a goal, but I’m not sure. I have a game this weekend too, so maybe I’ll finally score this time. My team ended up winning 22-30, so that was cool.

Then, Sunday was the 18th birthday of Federica, and she had a party at her house, inviting foreign and French friends alike. It was loads of fun, including such great activities as eating(lots) french snack foods, dancing, and playing games. We played wink tag, and I got to be the assassin once, but Nicole quickly caught me in the act. We also played a really fun version of 20 questions. One person leaves the room and the rest of the group decides what the object of person is. Then we write it on a piece of paper. The person comes back into the room and then holds the paper on their forehead without looking at it. They then have to pose questions about who or what they are. We danced to some Italian music, some Mexican music, and some French music, as well as the ever popular American music which I just can't escape.

The whole group at Federica's party. 6 french girls and 8 foreign girls, and lots of good laughs.

Taking silly photos at Federica's birthday party. Ling, Tita, Fede, Fabiana, Nicole, Ragnhild, and me.

Opening the sparkling apple cider to do the toast for Federica's birthday. You can also see the table loaded with all of the fantastic snack food.

Federica's flaming birthday cake. In the photo you can see one of her french friends and her Finnish friend.

Playing the 20 questions game. Here, she is trying to figure out that she is a pizza.

Our representation of the European Union. We have Italy and France on the sides, trying to pull Switzerland and Norway into joining the EU.

It snowed one day and since it has been so cold here (more than a week with never higher than 0 degrees celcius) the snow has stayed on the ground. We loved the color of the sky so headed outside to take pictures. Of course, I was about to freeze my teeth off because I hadn't put on my coat. But, it was worth it to capture that gorgeous sky.

On to the school week...Monday was the usual Monday, too many hours of school(starting at 8:00 and ending at 5:30) as well as TPE for the last 2 hours. We only have 4 weeks left until the TPE presentation, and my group still has lots of work to do, but I’m sure it will work out.

Tuesday was also a normal Tuesday, with again too many hours of class. But, in sport, we started STEP. I always used to laugh when people talk about taking STEP aerobics classes, I mean, how can it be fun to step onto a board and then step off. But actually, it was really fun. We learned the steps and the corresponding hand motions, and then the teacher put on popular music(like Katy Perry) and we did the routine a few times, before putting us into groups and then letting us make our own routines using the steps we had learned.   

Wednesday, I didn’t have English so I started at 10:00 am, meaning time to sleep in. In Spanish, I voluntarily participated for the first time, saying one simple phrase in the form of “it is a...because...” but I was proud of myself for trying.

Thursday morning meant three hours of pounding my brains out doing physics and chemistry for my test. And, the words of advice from the teacher for all of us were “make sure to really write out and explain the responses” meaning I had to explain complicated chemistry concepts in French, so I ran a bit short on time. It’s a good thing I’ve already taken 2 years of chemistry back home, because if I was trying to learn these concepts for the first time in french, I would be so lost.

And today, Friday, was a nice normal Friday, 8:00 am to 3:30, a nice-length day, with 2 hours of math, so at least one subject I’m always sure to understand, and then an afternoon guitar lesson. I can now officially play “Boulevard of Broken Dreams” by Greenday, although without the playback it isn’t very interesting and quite repetitive. We had an SVT test this afternoon which I was a bit worried about, but I think it went ok. I ran out of time, normal considering that I’m trying to write pages and pages explaining the causes and consequences of mucoviscidosis, and doing it all in a foreign language. Although, at this point, I can easily switch between French and English without much trouble. Actually, it’s weirder to talk in English than in French. The French just keeps getting easier and easier.

I know the stereotypical image of the French is that they walk around with a baguette in their hand and a beret on their hand, and we always say there is more to it than that. But it’s true, even when it is -6 degrees celcius, you can still be sure you will see plenty of people strolling down the street in their coat, bonnet, and gloves, holding a freshly bought baguette. Not even the weather will stop them from having their fresh bread, and especially in downtown, where we can easily walk to at least 15 bakeries(and I’m not even exaggerating here.) And, I think one of the reasons why they need a fresh baguette every day, or at the very least every two days, is because after 2 days, that nice bakery bought bread is hard enough that you could knock a nail into the wall with it. I’m guessing the reason is it so good is because they aren’t many preservatives in it, but that means it gets very hard very fast.

So, there you have it, another very detailed look at the week of an exchange student. I’m going to finish with an observation that I guess I made a while ago but which I didn’t really realize until now. I think the French in general have a hard time with spice. Rather than being spicy, food tends to be rich and creamy. I have been told multiple times before eating something, “Oh, be careful, that’s super spicy,” and then I don’t find it very spicy at all. And I’m not a spice queen, by any means. I have a hard time with some “Mild” salsa back home, so I can just imagine my French friends trying to eat medium enchilada sauce at my favorite mexican restaurants back home. For example, pepperoni on pizza is considered very very spicy. The most “normal” pizza, the way pepperoni could be considered “normal” in the USA, is pizza with little pieces of ham on top, and the ham is about as un-spicy as you can get. So, there you go. I guess my advice would be, if you are ever going to have a French family over for dinner, that would not be the best time to pull out your recipe for Grandma’s spicy enchilada casserole.