School Starts Tomorrow!

Posted by Aaron in Journal

So, tomorrow is the big day!  My first day of high school, again.  This time, French high school.  For those who don’t know, lycée is high school in French.  I will be in the class of première.  French high schools only have 3 years, so I am in the 2nd year.  Since tomorrow is the first day and no learning will be done, students do not have to arrive to school until 2:00pm.  That’s a good thing, because as the French say, “I’m allergic to the morning.”  Waking up is one of the things that I hate to do.  Going to sleep is another.  haha.

I just returned from a vacation with my host family.  They own a beach house in a small city called Arcachon.  We were there from Thursday until this afternoon.  I took lots of pictures, which will be on my Facebook profile soon.  I’ll try to upload them to this site for people who do not have Facebook or are not friends with me on Facebook.

As for me speaking French, I’m getting better and better everyday!  I do not translate in my head.  I just say what I need to say and it comes out in French.  I’ve made the mistake of mixing up the two languages already.  I spoke English to someone who only speaks French.

In Aracachon, I went to a HUGE sand dune.  I went up the side on a staircase, but then my host sister, my host brother and I all ran down the side and then went back up without the staircase.  That was SO exhausting!  But it was definitely fun and something that I’ll never forget.  After that, we went to the beach.  I tried to get in the water, but it was way to cold for me.  I only went in waist deep.  I didn’t want to go in any deeper.

I’ve discovered what I love to do in France: go shopping with friends, go to a cafe with friends, and just go out at night with friends!  I’ve made friends with all of the other Rotary students who live in the area.  I live in the center of Bordeaux, so it literally takes me 5 minutes to go anywhere!  And if the distance is “far,” there’s a tram stop right by my house.

I went to a Rotary meeting last week!  Along the way there, I coincidentally ran into Mathilde, a French exchange student who went to Houston last year.  I invited her to hang out with my and the other students after my Rotary meeting.  At the Rotary meeting, I met my sponsor Rotary club and had lunch with them.  The food was DELICIOUS.  They have invited me to go to the meetings every Tuesday, since the hotel where the meetings are is very close to my school.

I look forward to going to school tomorrow.  I’ll try to update more and eventually have the new layout up.