Shifting the Perspective

Hey everyone, I’m back. If you’ve been wondering about last week’s non-existent Friday blog post, here’s the explanation. I wasn’t really having the best two weeks, and when Friday rolled around, I was in absolutely no space to try to write a blog post. So, I just put it off and sunk deeper into my wallowing mood. I was at the point of surfing dessert blogs and counting the days until July to stop myself from crying. So anyway,  it was not the best of times for me and I was not in a good space.

Today, I went for a run in the park, trying to clear my head and just spend some time outside to think. After successfully doing 6 laps around the park in under 28 minutes, (and don’t ask, I have no idea what that corresponds to in miles or kilometers,) I went to the bakery and bought my first palmier in months. I took it back to the park and sat on a park bench, eating it one little layer at a time and enjoying the sunshine. I watched a group of boys playing three vs three soccer and another man trying to learn to juggle bowling pins. In that moment, I was really relaxed and started to look back at my week. I realized that I hadn’t really had two bad weeks at all; I just needed to change my perspective while looking at them. I thought back at all of the little things that had happened, and how each of them had been a little bright spot. So, maybe I didn’t have the best weeks of the year, but there were plenty of little things that I could have so easily let slide right by unnoticed if I hadn’t taken the time to really look for them.

So here we go. Stories to be told coming your way.

To start off, here’s a picture from the game’s day that was actually a few weeks ago. I like having fun group pictures on my blog, so here’s one just to get things going.

Playing cards at the games afternoon

 Two saturdays ago was my school’s open house equivalent, called “La Journée Portes Overtes” or “the open door day.” It was a chance for people who are thinking about sending their kids to our school the next year could come and get a tour. My class had been told by our teacher that we were required to help out, so I signed up to help with guided tours, since that was what my friends had signed up for, even though I knew there was no way I could give a guided tour of the school. So, at 9:00am sharp I was at school and had picked up my nice “Lycée Notre Dame” t-shirt and gotten my instructions. Mostly, there were too many helpers and not many people wanting tours, so it didn’t really matter that I was useless. I stood around by the doors for a few hours making the brochures(sliding the map and the questionnaire into the day’s schedule) and then at 11:00 it was time for our STEP routine. My P.E. teacher had asked us if we wanted to perform our STEP routine at open house to show off which sports are offered and earn a few points of extra credit. We ended up on the stage in the courtyard without even having the time to do a run-through, which explains why we look so silly. But, I attached the video anyway. Feel free to laugh at us, if you want.

The poster for the "open house" as well as some of the student artwork being shown off.

Ophélie, me, and Laure at the open house in our fancy Lycée t-shirts. I think that at the end of the year, I'm going to ask my friends and classmates to sign my shirt to make a souvenir.

In the rec room the history department had set up an exposé about the french army through the ages.

They moved the foosball tables from the rec room into the quand for open house and even the teachers started playing.

 The week after was my week “off” from school because all of the juniors had to present their semester projects. I used the week to take health online and try to knock out a few of my requirements for when I get back to the USA. We had great weather so in the afternoons, I took a chair outside and worked in the sun.

On Thursday, I presented my semester project about type-1 diabetes. It was a rather frustrating experience, actually, but I managed to answer the most of the jury’s questions so I think it went ok. Friday morning was a French essay test, this time written about whether Writers, with their passionate and skilled argumentative writing could contribute to the development of new freedoms. Following the French model of sitting on the fence, I wrote “Yes, they can contribute...” but “...They have limited power.” Actually, my essay sort of turned out to be a history of right and freedoms in the United states, as I mentioned the Emancipation Proclamation and Martin Luther King’s “I have a Dream.” It was definitely not an easy essay test, but I think it went ok.
  
Monday morning meant going back to school and getting back into the rhythm of “normal life.” My french teacher was absent so I ended up with an extra hour of math and an extra hour of physics. Actually, my French teacher was gone all week, so I got a whole week without any french class! Plus, now that I don’t have my semester project on Monday afternoons, I finish at 3:30 on Monday instead of 5:30. That means I only have one day per week when I finish at 5:30. Wednesday, since my French teacher was absent and I normally start class at 10:00 and then have 2 hours of french, I didn’t have to start school until 1:30 pm. Then on Thursday, the whole school had the afternoon off while the teachers had a meeting.

I took advantage of that afternoon off to go see Titanic in 3D.  I had never seen Titanic, so it was really fun. We were worried that since the movie had come out on Wednesday, there wouldn’t be enough tickets, so we tried to go straight to the theater to pick up tickets at 12:30. The movie was at 1:25, so then we would have enough time to pick up some McDonald’s before the movie. So, we hopped out of the car in front of the theater only to realize that it was closed. So, we rushed to McDonald’s and ordered quickly. Boy did we get there at the right time! As we sat down to eat, we glanced at the line and it was almost to the door. We met up with my host sister’s friends and then headed back to the theater where a few other people were gathering to buy tickets, too. They didn’t open the doors until 1:20, for the 1:25 movie. We bought our tickets from the electronic machines and rushed in to get good seats. It turned out that after all of our stress, the theater was at least half-empty and we had great seats. I don’t remember if I mentioned this before when I talked about going to see Star Wars, but here in France, you buy and keep your 3D glasses. They are nice and even somewhat comfortable, compared to the flimsy yellow ones that we just toss back into the bins as we leave. The movie was great, and I loved it. The music really is incredible. The 3D was subtle, but I think it did add to the movie. For example, when Rose comes down the stairs into the main dining room and Jack is waiting for her, with the 3d the stairs come right out toward you and you feel like you are at the foot of the stairs, too. And when the people jump from the sinking boat, the 3D effects are pretty cool, as well. It felt good to go out and be a normal teenager, going to see a movie with friends.

Easter is the Sunday(as I’m sure you are all well aware.) It’s interesting to note that we have Monday off from school, but that’s it. Zone 1 is now on vacation, and I have 2 more weeks of school before my spring break. Holidays here are designed around having equal time between each break, rather than around specific “holidays.”

So, that’s the update. Easter plans include an Easter Egg hunt for my little brothers. I celebrated Easter a little bit today by sharing a lot of Easter candy I had gotten in packages. I brought boxes of Peeps and Chocolate covered rabbits, tootsie pops and bubble gum eggs. During break, I shared them with my friends and people in my class, who were all very excited to have real, American candy. It made me smile to see them taking pictures of the pink and yellow Peeps rabbits. Some of my other friends were stuck taking the wrapped, chocolate-covered marshmallow rabbits and taking them home because today is “Vendredi Saint” and they were doing what is called “Pain Pomme.” That means that on Good Friday, they only eat bread and an apple for lunch.  Except, since they had bought their cafeteria meal already, they decided to do “Purée Pomme” and just eat mashed potatoes and an apple for lunch.

Well, I guess that’s all for now. I hope everyone has a great holiday weekend.