Aleana King's 2nd Report from France
Posted by Bob Hlina
Aleana is our outbound exchange student in France. She has promised to provide us with monthly updates so we can follow along in her life changing adventure. I believe youth exchange is a remarkable program for building peace among countries through sharing culture and understanding. Please read on for her exciting 2nd month.
Sponsor Club: St Nom la Breteche
Counsellor: Gerhard Rotter
Host Club: Downtown Club of Prince George
Host Family Name: Hurbault
Host Family Address: 24 Chemin du Bois des Arpents
78860 St Nom la Breteche
France
Host Family Phone: 0130802063
Health Report: My health has been very good. And if you're wondering how much weight I've gained... I'll be honest, I haven't stepped on a scale since I've been here. However, all of my Canadian clothes still fit very well, so thus far I'm safe. In addition to that, my host family has already had two other exchange students here before me; Maman assures me that they didn't gain weight and neither will I. If I do, she says that she will put me on a diet...
School Report:
School, where do I start? Phew, I have come to the conclusion that the teachers here love to stay very busy correcting homework. Here's a breakdown of my workload by subject:
English: for any tests or written activities, the teacher makes me do it in French.
Spanish: the Spanish teacher is in cahoots with my English teacher - she makes me do the same thing.
Advanced English: I often help other students with their pronunciation or the English translation when they need it.
Science: there isn't too much homework in Science, we're studying genetics right now, most of it I've learned it already, it's just learning the French vocabulary it that is tricky.
Math: I can usually do my homework for Math in the class, I believe I learned these concepts in Grade 10, however, some of the symbols and methods are totally different, so that complicates things!
French: this is the class that I have the most difficulty with; the teacher also gives me the most homework. Since I can understand, speak, read, and write French decently, I have to do the exact same homework as everyone else. The equivalent of this class would be English 12, so there's always lots of homework and not the easiest texts. For example, I had to read all of La Fontaine's Fables ( they're like Aesop's Fables) from Book 1 to 6, that's 123 fables. I was able to find a very good old English translation, however it still took me forever.
Socials/Economics: Understand economics in French, enough said.
History/Geography: Learning about the French version of the Industrial Revolution is very interesting, but can be difficult to follow sometimes. For example, for the French the Great Depression is not in the 1930's, it's in the late 1800's; and it was John Bell who
invented the telephone...
Sport: I am terrible at Volleyball, so I am looking forward to when we switch over to swimming.
I'm starting to fit in better, and have made several new friends. I really like going to school and seeing my friends, it's very different from what I did before. The change is nice.
My parents received a letter in the mail from my school; it was like an midterm report card. They said: Active presence and very agreeable in a class sometimes rambunctious. Shows very fine reasoning abilities. (My marks are average in class - except for Math and
English; in those, they are much higher.)
Rotary Attendance Report: I go to the Rotary Meetings every week. The Rotarians are starting to know me better; they even remember my name and what country I am from!
They are all very nice, just rather new at the whole Exchange Student thing. Jose (the exchange student from Texas who is Mexican) and I go to all of the events. One evening, the town had a "Thank you" for the Rotary Club, Lions Club, and President of the Brocante, for buying three AEDs for the town. The Rotarians were proud that we were there,
showing off our unique blazers. There was also an evening for all of the new habitants of St Nom, they were from France of other parts of world, once again Jose and I were there with our Rotary blazers.
October 7-10 was an Exchange Student weekend. It started on Thursday night, District 1660 met for supper, and then we spent the night with various Rotary families. I was with the other Canadian, and a girl from Argentina. We gave our hosts a thank you card. Friday, we got on a bus with District 1770. ( District 1660 and 1770 almost always do everything together, 1660 has 12 exchange students, while 1770 has 16) We stopped in Honfleur, a lovely little town, and then had lunch in the countryside. We also went to Landing beaches and seen a video in a circular theatre, I was crying by the end of it. They also took us to the American and German Cemeteries, very moving. That night we had supper with two other districts, we were about 100 students. Saturday morning we drove to a camp near Mont St Michel, where we met with four other districts, by this point, we were 207 exchange
students. We had lunch, and then went to the Mont St Michel, we walked out to the little island and back, it took us four hours - no joke! That night we all had supper together, there were some folk dancers, we all had to sing our national anthems together, and at the very end there was a dance for the exchange students. Sunday morning we visited Mont St Michel (it's a town), and in the afternoon we all went home. We had a great time in the back of the bus; a lack of sleep makes things very amusing. We signed thank you cards for the bus driver, district 1660, and district 1770; they were very touched by our gesture.
Other Activities Report: I'm on vacation right now, it started on October 23rd. Thanks to no
school, the other exchange students and I have managed to meet up in Paris and St Germain. It's always great to be with others who are experiencing some of the same things you are.
A list of what I've been to this month:
Notre Dame
National Museum of Archaeology
Museum of Natural Science
Arc de Triumph
Château de Monte Cristo
Champs-Elysees
I have introduced my French family to Canadian cuisine; they're always very excited to try new things. They have not had any food poisoning yet, so I think that I'm doing okay. I've also started horseback riding lessons. The teacher says that I'm doing very well, I've
successfully mastered walking and trotting in two 30 minute sessions.
As for any other activities, most of my time is consumed with school and homework. However, I am continually improving my French, and learning about France and its people. I am also learning more about my family, I feel so blessed to be with them. I've been researching what each one is into, it's everything from hotel studies and Bosch, to
Victoria City in Mexico, to NuSkin and AGPB. I really treasure my relationships with them, so looking into whatever field they are in is a pleasure, besides; it always helps to have some basic knowledge of what it is that they talk about.
*Things are a little complicated right now thanks to the giant strike. The French are protesting the government's plan to raise the age of retirement. The French aren't too happy about it, so it has affected the trains; they even shut down the oil refineries and blocked gas stations! This has prompted me to talk to Papa about French humour and politics, it always makes for interesting table conversations. Here's an example of French Humour: Your cake was good because the oven was clean... Or during the strike, there was a group of students who were chanting: "On manifeste, mais on sait pas pourquoi! (we are protesting, but we don't know why) I won't even try to explain the politics to you...
Comments-Requests: Sometimes when I'm walking down a cobblestone street with buildings older than the Confederation of Canada, I realize how much I love France. It's beginning to become a part of me, and I think leaving will be one of the hardest things I'll ever have to do. I can always come back, but once I'm on that plane, it's the end of a chapter of my life. It puts everything into perspective, I only get one change like this, and it's vital to make everyday count and to not waste my time here. Thank you for sponsoring me, this is truly a once in a lifetime experience!
P.S. I apologize for my lack of variation of expression in this report! I've started to forget some of my English vocabulary!
Counsellor: Gerhard Rotter
Host Club: Downtown Club of Prince George
Host Family Name: Hurbault
Host Family Address: 24 Chemin du Bois des Arpents
78860 St Nom la Breteche
France
Host Family Phone: 0130802063
Health Report: My health has been very good. And if you're wondering how much weight I've gained... I'll be honest, I haven't stepped on a scale since I've been here. However, all of my Canadian clothes still fit very well, so thus far I'm safe. In addition to that, my host family has already had two other exchange students here before me; Maman assures me that they didn't gain weight and neither will I. If I do, she says that she will put me on a diet...
School Report:
School, where do I start? Phew, I have come to the conclusion that the teachers here love to stay very busy correcting homework. Here's a breakdown of my workload by subject:
English: for any tests or written activities, the teacher makes me do it in French.
Spanish: the Spanish teacher is in cahoots with my English teacher - she makes me do the same thing.
Advanced English: I often help other students with their pronunciation or the English translation when they need it.
Science: there isn't too much homework in Science, we're studying genetics right now, most of it I've learned it already, it's just learning the French vocabulary it that is tricky.
Math: I can usually do my homework for Math in the class, I believe I learned these concepts in Grade 10, however, some of the symbols and methods are totally different, so that complicates things!
French: this is the class that I have the most difficulty with; the teacher also gives me the most homework. Since I can understand, speak, read, and write French decently, I have to do the exact same homework as everyone else. The equivalent of this class would be English 12, so there's always lots of homework and not the easiest texts. For example, I had to read all of La Fontaine's Fables ( they're like Aesop's Fables) from Book 1 to 6, that's 123 fables. I was able to find a very good old English translation, however it still took me forever.
Socials/Economics: Understand economics in French, enough said.
History/Geography: Learning about the French version of the Industrial Revolution is very interesting, but can be difficult to follow sometimes. For example, for the French the Great Depression is not in the 1930's, it's in the late 1800's; and it was John Bell who
invented the telephone...
Sport: I am terrible at Volleyball, so I am looking forward to when we switch over to swimming.
I'm starting to fit in better, and have made several new friends. I really like going to school and seeing my friends, it's very different from what I did before. The change is nice.
My parents received a letter in the mail from my school; it was like an midterm report card. They said: Active presence and very agreeable in a class sometimes rambunctious. Shows very fine reasoning abilities. (My marks are average in class - except for Math and
English; in those, they are much higher.)
Rotary Attendance Report: I go to the Rotary Meetings every week. The Rotarians are starting to know me better; they even remember my name and what country I am from!
They are all very nice, just rather new at the whole Exchange Student thing. Jose (the exchange student from Texas who is Mexican) and I go to all of the events. One evening, the town had a "Thank you" for the Rotary Club, Lions Club, and President of the Brocante, for buying three AEDs for the town. The Rotarians were proud that we were there,
showing off our unique blazers. There was also an evening for all of the new habitants of St Nom, they were from France of other parts of world, once again Jose and I were there with our Rotary blazers.
October 7-10 was an Exchange Student weekend. It started on Thursday night, District 1660 met for supper, and then we spent the night with various Rotary families. I was with the other Canadian, and a girl from Argentina. We gave our hosts a thank you card. Friday, we got on a bus with District 1770. ( District 1660 and 1770 almost always do everything together, 1660 has 12 exchange students, while 1770 has 16) We stopped in Honfleur, a lovely little town, and then had lunch in the countryside. We also went to Landing beaches and seen a video in a circular theatre, I was crying by the end of it. They also took us to the American and German Cemeteries, very moving. That night we had supper with two other districts, we were about 100 students. Saturday morning we drove to a camp near Mont St Michel, where we met with four other districts, by this point, we were 207 exchange
students. We had lunch, and then went to the Mont St Michel, we walked out to the little island and back, it took us four hours - no joke! That night we all had supper together, there were some folk dancers, we all had to sing our national anthems together, and at the very end there was a dance for the exchange students. Sunday morning we visited Mont St Michel (it's a town), and in the afternoon we all went home. We had a great time in the back of the bus; a lack of sleep makes things very amusing. We signed thank you cards for the bus driver, district 1660, and district 1770; they were very touched by our gesture.
Other Activities Report: I'm on vacation right now, it started on October 23rd. Thanks to no
school, the other exchange students and I have managed to meet up in Paris and St Germain. It's always great to be with others who are experiencing some of the same things you are.
A list of what I've been to this month:
Notre Dame
National Museum of Archaeology
Museum of Natural Science
Arc de Triumph
Château de Monte Cristo
Champs-Elysees
I have introduced my French family to Canadian cuisine; they're always very excited to try new things. They have not had any food poisoning yet, so I think that I'm doing okay. I've also started horseback riding lessons. The teacher says that I'm doing very well, I've
successfully mastered walking and trotting in two 30 minute sessions.
As for any other activities, most of my time is consumed with school and homework. However, I am continually improving my French, and learning about France and its people. I am also learning more about my family, I feel so blessed to be with them. I've been researching what each one is into, it's everything from hotel studies and Bosch, to
Victoria City in Mexico, to NuSkin and AGPB. I really treasure my relationships with them, so looking into whatever field they are in is a pleasure, besides; it always helps to have some basic knowledge of what it is that they talk about.
*Things are a little complicated right now thanks to the giant strike. The French are protesting the government's plan to raise the age of retirement. The French aren't too happy about it, so it has affected the trains; they even shut down the oil refineries and blocked gas stations! This has prompted me to talk to Papa about French humour and politics, it always makes for interesting table conversations. Here's an example of French Humour: Your cake was good because the oven was clean... Or during the strike, there was a group of students who were chanting: "On manifeste, mais on sait pas pourquoi! (we are protesting, but we don't know why) I won't even try to explain the politics to you...
Comments-Requests: Sometimes when I'm walking down a cobblestone street with buildings older than the Confederation of Canada, I realize how much I love France. It's beginning to become a part of me, and I think leaving will be one of the hardest things I'll ever have to do. I can always come back, but once I'm on that plane, it's the end of a chapter of my life. It puts everything into perspective, I only get one change like this, and it's vital to make everyday count and to not waste my time here. Thank you for sponsoring me, this is truly a once in a lifetime experience!
P.S. I apologize for my lack of variation of expression in this report! I've started to forget some of my English vocabulary!