Aleana King's 3rd 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 3rd month.
Realname: Aleana King
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 St Nom la Breteche 78860 France
Host Family Phone: 0130802063
Health Report: My physical health has been good. However, I did muster the courage to step on a scale... I've only gained 2 kgs, ah yes, that French food. Actually, I think it's my lack of exercise more than anything as running to catch the train or metro doesn't really count... it is fun though.
While physical health has been great, my emotional health has varied throughout this month. This month I've been a bit more homesick than usual.
It started before Halloween, right after my last report actually. My host mom had a conference in Copenhagen, Denmark, so my French parents thought that it would be the perfect time for me to switch families, since there was no school. I was with the Dupuy family for five days. They were very nice. However, it was around that time when all the fall colours were out, reds, yellows, oranges, and greens. For some reason the colours reminded me of Canada. In addition, that time was right around when my Grandpa died last year, so I think that might have had something to do with it. It's not too bad when I can pinpoint my sad feelings, the worst is when I'm happy one moment, and then depressed the next - with no reason. My homesickness is never terrible. Often when I do get it, it comes in short but intense sessions. When I talk with the other exchange students, we find that we experience the same emotions and have the exact same frustrations with the French. It is a relief to know that I'm not the only one.
School Report: As I mentioned in my last report, I was on holidays until November 4th. I was happy to go back and see my friends again. I enjoy going to school. I noticed that after the vacation time, the people in my class started being more friendly with me, and now, at the end of November, they're all very nice and outgoing. So I suppose I can say that it took a while for me to fit in, but now school is quite pleasant to go to.
I honestly don't have any problems with my teachers, there are some who are more, shall we say, unique than others, but I like all of them. My first French teacher was the substitute for the main French teacher, Mme Zimmerman - she is extremely nice. She is the only teacher, outside of my sport teacher, who does not yell at us, or put us down. It is normal, in a French classroom, for the teacher, at some point during the lesson, become "animated" and express their frustration with the class. No worries, I'm usually silent and paying attention...
I'm finding my Socials and Economics' class really interesting. It's not something that I would ever choose to study in Canada, but it's fascinating to see how banks work and how the economy is run. In French class, we've started to study a novel: La Peste, by Albert Camus. (It's English 12 equivalent would be something like: "Of Mice and of Men" by John Steinbeck, or "Lord of the Flies" by William Golding.)The whole book talks about the plague that devastates a city, but it is also a huge metaphor for the Nazi occupation of France during WWII.
Speaking of sport, I was so happy when volleyball was finished. When I was in Canada, I was part of the PG Pisces, as a competitor, for 7 years. (I started coaching after.) Therefore, because I concentrated on swimming, I am not very good at most other sports. In other words, my lack skill in volleyball and French did not make practises very fun for me. I think that some of my classmates were a little worried the first day of swimming after having seen my aptitude in volleyball. I now have a new nickname, "La Petite Sirene" aka "The Little Mermaid".
I think that I will join my high school's swim club after Christmas...
My English class has started to study Canada. Everyone had to get into small groups of 2 or 3 and pick a certain aspect of Canada and do a mini presentation on it. My teacher asked me to do a short slide show on what I miss, what I like, and what I don't like ( I'm not an idiot, so I talked about the cultural differences instead). I had several people come up to me after and tell me how interesting it was - so because of that, more of them have started talking to me as well.
However, back to their presentations... for me it was nice to see the effort that they put into their presentations. One of the best moments was the group who did an expo on famous Canadians. One of which was Justin Bieber - they played one of his songs, and the whole class started singing along - very cool.
Rotary Attendance Report: It has been a busy month with the Rotary. One Thursday nights, Jose and I were asked to do a presentation of our first experiences in France. We prepared our PowerPoint's beforehand, they went really well. I'll be doing my huge presentation on me and Canada, sometime either in February or March.
As a representative of the Rotary, I was present at the November 11th Ceremony in St Nom. My mom sent me some poppies, so I proudly displayed my red flower on my lapel. One thing that I found moving was when the mayor read all of the names of the fallen, and after each name was said, the crowd would follow with: "Mort pour la France", which being translated means: " Died/Dead for France". Afterwards there were cocktails at city hall, so I wore my blazer there. Jose and I had tons of people ask us questions - the Rotarians are pretty proud to have us come to all of their events.
The next Rotary event of November was the weekend at Noyon, November 20-21. I had to go to school in the morning, so I arrived late. That night was a fundraiser for the youth exchange program, hence we the exchange students did the coat check, served drinks, sold raffle tickets, and did a variety of other things. The evening lasted until 3:00 am. On Sunday, we visited the castle of Pierrefonds.
On November 23rd, the Rotary in France hosted an early showing of Disney's Tangled. They showed it one night before it was released to the general public. The tickets were twice the price and the difference went towards mental health research.
The Rotary also volunteered for the "Banque Alimentaire" (Food Bank) on November 27th. How it works is that you have someone standing at the entrance of a grocery store and they hand out plastic bags, which have "Banque Alimentaire" written on them. If a person wants to give something, they take the bag, fill it with food, pay for it, and then bring it back. The food is then sorted and put into boxes; which at the end of the day, are taken to one of the main gathering stations. I did this for 4 hours.
Other Activities Report: Whoa! Where do I start? At the beginning, I guess... During the school vacation, I switched families for 5 days - I went to the Dupuy family. We went bowling one night, went to a movie another day, and one afternoon they took me to Le Cimetiere Père Lachaise.
This month I have started learning how to play the guitar. I'm quite happy to be learning an instrument. In addition to this, I have also become part of the Scout group here in St Nom. What happened was that I went to one of their "days" at the beginning of November. They were all super nice and outgoing, helping me learn their names, making sure that I was included, explaining things to me... I decided to become a scout within the first hour. I found them to be one of the nicest groups of friend teenagers that I've met. Since having joined the group, I have already volunteered with them. One Sunday morning, I was at a store with another scout, and we were there wrapping gifts for the customers who wanted it.
Since Paris is so easy to get to, I met with other exchange students several times this month. We went to:
Les Galleries Lafayette
L'Arche de la Defence
Le Centre Pompidou
One of the exchange students from my district in Canada, Jace Briand (from Burns Lake in Belgium), came to Paris with his host family. It was really nice to see another Canadian who knows where PG is. We talked a lot before our exchanges started, so it was good to catch up again. With his host family, we toured Notre Dame, le Jarin Luxembourg, and la Centre Valdon.
Events with my host family: Clemence came home for a week - it was her university break. Also, I spent a weekend at my grandparents house to get to know them better. I had a lovely time, they are incredibly nice and I was very happy to have the chance to spend more time with them. One night, Maman and I were invited to go to a private piano concert, given at someone's house, by a very talented young man, Eric Artz. Absolutely stupendous! http://www.ericartz.com/
Comments-Requests: So... big news.... I can finally understand what people say! I first noticed it when I was with the Dupuy family, the mom was explaining something to me, and I realized that I was not exerting huge amounts of mental energy to understand her. The next time was when I was in French class and the teacher was speaking rather fast. I stopped myself and was surprised to realize that I understood everything that she had said. Now it's not true that I understand everything all the time. It depends on what level the subject is, same for the vocabulary - slang and very complex still trip me up; but for my classes at school, I have no problem knowing what my teachers are saying. It's so nice to be in a line or on a bus and be able to understand a random conversation. My speaking, reading, and writing skills are getting better too. I can communicate with much more ease now, it's truly amazing how nice it is to be able to do something like that again without major problems.
I am aware of the fact that I started this report with some talk of my homesickness. I do not want to give you a negative impression. Not in the least! The hard days make the good ones that much better. After all, how can you have mountains without valleys? Thorough this exchange, I've been blessed with so many amazing opportunities. The monthly reports are good for me too, they make me reflect on what I've done and how far I've come. However, it does make me wonder... as an exchange student I've had to be more outgoing and more daring than I was in Canada. If I lived in Canada in the same manner that I am in France, how much more would I experience?
Thank you for making this all possible! You won't hear from me again until next year, so...
Merry Christmas and Happy New Years!
Gros Bisous!
Aleana
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 St Nom la Breteche 78860 France
Host Family Phone: 0130802063
Health Report: My physical health has been good. However, I did muster the courage to step on a scale... I've only gained 2 kgs, ah yes, that French food. Actually, I think it's my lack of exercise more than anything as running to catch the train or metro doesn't really count... it is fun though.
While physical health has been great, my emotional health has varied throughout this month. This month I've been a bit more homesick than usual.
It started before Halloween, right after my last report actually. My host mom had a conference in Copenhagen, Denmark, so my French parents thought that it would be the perfect time for me to switch families, since there was no school. I was with the Dupuy family for five days. They were very nice. However, it was around that time when all the fall colours were out, reds, yellows, oranges, and greens. For some reason the colours reminded me of Canada. In addition, that time was right around when my Grandpa died last year, so I think that might have had something to do with it. It's not too bad when I can pinpoint my sad feelings, the worst is when I'm happy one moment, and then depressed the next - with no reason. My homesickness is never terrible. Often when I do get it, it comes in short but intense sessions. When I talk with the other exchange students, we find that we experience the same emotions and have the exact same frustrations with the French. It is a relief to know that I'm not the only one.
School Report: As I mentioned in my last report, I was on holidays until November 4th. I was happy to go back and see my friends again. I enjoy going to school. I noticed that after the vacation time, the people in my class started being more friendly with me, and now, at the end of November, they're all very nice and outgoing. So I suppose I can say that it took a while for me to fit in, but now school is quite pleasant to go to.
I honestly don't have any problems with my teachers, there are some who are more, shall we say, unique than others, but I like all of them. My first French teacher was the substitute for the main French teacher, Mme Zimmerman - she is extremely nice. She is the only teacher, outside of my sport teacher, who does not yell at us, or put us down. It is normal, in a French classroom, for the teacher, at some point during the lesson, become "animated" and express their frustration with the class. No worries, I'm usually silent and paying attention...
I'm finding my Socials and Economics' class really interesting. It's not something that I would ever choose to study in Canada, but it's fascinating to see how banks work and how the economy is run. In French class, we've started to study a novel: La Peste, by Albert Camus. (It's English 12 equivalent would be something like: "Of Mice and of Men" by John Steinbeck, or "Lord of the Flies" by William Golding.)The whole book talks about the plague that devastates a city, but it is also a huge metaphor for the Nazi occupation of France during WWII.
Speaking of sport, I was so happy when volleyball was finished. When I was in Canada, I was part of the PG Pisces, as a competitor, for 7 years. (I started coaching after.) Therefore, because I concentrated on swimming, I am not very good at most other sports. In other words, my lack skill in volleyball and French did not make practises very fun for me. I think that some of my classmates were a little worried the first day of swimming after having seen my aptitude in volleyball. I now have a new nickname, "La Petite Sirene" aka "The Little Mermaid".
I think that I will join my high school's swim club after Christmas...
My English class has started to study Canada. Everyone had to get into small groups of 2 or 3 and pick a certain aspect of Canada and do a mini presentation on it. My teacher asked me to do a short slide show on what I miss, what I like, and what I don't like ( I'm not an idiot, so I talked about the cultural differences instead). I had several people come up to me after and tell me how interesting it was - so because of that, more of them have started talking to me as well.
However, back to their presentations... for me it was nice to see the effort that they put into their presentations. One of the best moments was the group who did an expo on famous Canadians. One of which was Justin Bieber - they played one of his songs, and the whole class started singing along - very cool.
Rotary Attendance Report: It has been a busy month with the Rotary. One Thursday nights, Jose and I were asked to do a presentation of our first experiences in France. We prepared our PowerPoint's beforehand, they went really well. I'll be doing my huge presentation on me and Canada, sometime either in February or March.
As a representative of the Rotary, I was present at the November 11th Ceremony in St Nom. My mom sent me some poppies, so I proudly displayed my red flower on my lapel. One thing that I found moving was when the mayor read all of the names of the fallen, and after each name was said, the crowd would follow with: "Mort pour la France", which being translated means: " Died/Dead for France". Afterwards there were cocktails at city hall, so I wore my blazer there. Jose and I had tons of people ask us questions - the Rotarians are pretty proud to have us come to all of their events.
The next Rotary event of November was the weekend at Noyon, November 20-21. I had to go to school in the morning, so I arrived late. That night was a fundraiser for the youth exchange program, hence we the exchange students did the coat check, served drinks, sold raffle tickets, and did a variety of other things. The evening lasted until 3:00 am. On Sunday, we visited the castle of Pierrefonds.
On November 23rd, the Rotary in France hosted an early showing of Disney's Tangled. They showed it one night before it was released to the general public. The tickets were twice the price and the difference went towards mental health research.
The Rotary also volunteered for the "Banque Alimentaire" (Food Bank) on November 27th. How it works is that you have someone standing at the entrance of a grocery store and they hand out plastic bags, which have "Banque Alimentaire" written on them. If a person wants to give something, they take the bag, fill it with food, pay for it, and then bring it back. The food is then sorted and put into boxes; which at the end of the day, are taken to one of the main gathering stations. I did this for 4 hours.
Other Activities Report: Whoa! Where do I start? At the beginning, I guess... During the school vacation, I switched families for 5 days - I went to the Dupuy family. We went bowling one night, went to a movie another day, and one afternoon they took me to Le Cimetiere Père Lachaise.
This month I have started learning how to play the guitar. I'm quite happy to be learning an instrument. In addition to this, I have also become part of the Scout group here in St Nom. What happened was that I went to one of their "days" at the beginning of November. They were all super nice and outgoing, helping me learn their names, making sure that I was included, explaining things to me... I decided to become a scout within the first hour. I found them to be one of the nicest groups of friend teenagers that I've met. Since having joined the group, I have already volunteered with them. One Sunday morning, I was at a store with another scout, and we were there wrapping gifts for the customers who wanted it.
Since Paris is so easy to get to, I met with other exchange students several times this month. We went to:
Les Galleries Lafayette
L'Arche de la Defence
Le Centre Pompidou
One of the exchange students from my district in Canada, Jace Briand (from Burns Lake in Belgium), came to Paris with his host family. It was really nice to see another Canadian who knows where PG is. We talked a lot before our exchanges started, so it was good to catch up again. With his host family, we toured Notre Dame, le Jarin Luxembourg, and la Centre Valdon.
Events with my host family: Clemence came home for a week - it was her university break. Also, I spent a weekend at my grandparents house to get to know them better. I had a lovely time, they are incredibly nice and I was very happy to have the chance to spend more time with them. One night, Maman and I were invited to go to a private piano concert, given at someone's house, by a very talented young man, Eric Artz. Absolutely stupendous! http://www.ericartz.com/
Comments-Requests: So... big news.... I can finally understand what people say! I first noticed it when I was with the Dupuy family, the mom was explaining something to me, and I realized that I was not exerting huge amounts of mental energy to understand her. The next time was when I was in French class and the teacher was speaking rather fast. I stopped myself and was surprised to realize that I understood everything that she had said. Now it's not true that I understand everything all the time. It depends on what level the subject is, same for the vocabulary - slang and very complex still trip me up; but for my classes at school, I have no problem knowing what my teachers are saying. It's so nice to be in a line or on a bus and be able to understand a random conversation. My speaking, reading, and writing skills are getting better too. I can communicate with much more ease now, it's truly amazing how nice it is to be able to do something like that again without major problems.
I am aware of the fact that I started this report with some talk of my homesickness. I do not want to give you a negative impression. Not in the least! The hard days make the good ones that much better. After all, how can you have mountains without valleys? Thorough this exchange, I've been blessed with so many amazing opportunities. The monthly reports are good for me too, they make me reflect on what I've done and how far I've come. However, it does make me wonder... as an exchange student I've had to be more outgoing and more daring than I was in Canada. If I lived in Canada in the same manner that I am in France, how much more would I experience?
Thank you for making this all possible! You won't hear from me again until next year, so...
Merry Christmas and Happy New Years!
Gros Bisous!
Aleana