Yeah....
So this isn't a "I'm so happy, life is fabulous and I live in Fafuckingrance!!!" Dammit..usually adding fucking within a word makes it awesome.
So, I just got back from Malaga, Spain (coastal south of Spain) where I was visiting my family, and needless to say, it was fantastic. It was so great being with family = people who love you, generally no matter what. My dad flew over there from Virginia. You guys'll think I'm crazy, but all I asked for were grits and oatmeal. He forgot the oatmeal though. I spent a lot of time with my grandparents, my aunt, my father and my cousins. I didn't want to leave. Well, that isn't all together true, towards the end I started daydreaming about how nice it would be to speak french again. But in any case, since I've been back, it's been pretty crappy.
As soon as I got back to school, I remembered how much it sucked. Yes, school is definitely not one of the good things about living in France. Also, it doesn't help that I don't have many friends. I guess that's mainly my fault because people have been friendly to me, but I just haven't felt the desire to become more than just acquaintances.
The day after I returned I got sick. Some stomach virus I guess. I threw up at school. YAY! Sick for the rest of the night and so I didn't go to school the next day. And today, was fun I suppose. I spent a good part of the day laughing at various things. Such as, the article printed in the school newspaper (speaking of, you thought The High Life was unprofessional and badly done? This one is a joke....oh, sorry to the HL staff. I'm sure you're all very talented writers) about the 3 Americans in the school. We were interviewed by the student journalist and she took paraphrasing to a whole new level. Granted, she said in French what we MAY HAVE said ourselves if we knew the vocabulary, but OH MY GOD. Also, it was really funny because she misconstrued some comments that we made and so it sounded like we thought that Americans had hardly any table manners and that, before coming to France, I didn't care about my appearance. So basically, thanks to France and the French I no longer eat with my hands and I have learned how not to look like a slob.
And this afternoon, I once again got a little sad. I was looking at a girl from Wilmington, NC's blog who is Strasbourg, France through Rotary, and it seems like her life is pretty sweet. Strasbourg is a really pretty city from what I can tell, and and her host family seems to be really nice and active. She's been to Germany, Amsterdam, London, different parts in France....yea. So, I really shouldn't complain, because I too have done a lot of travelling, but the difference is that it's been mainly because I have taken the initiative. I wonder how different my life would be if our dossiers (files) had been switched and I had been sent there. Or what if I'd been sent to Brazil?
I feel really hypocritical now, because I'm actually going to Italy for four days next week. Yea, I know. This undermines the entire last paragraph. What the hell is wrong with me????!! I think I know what it is. I'm lonely. I miss my friends and family. But, on the other hand, I can't imagine living in North Carolina instead. This is one of the problems with being "worldly." It would be so much simpler to live my whole life in the same town, marry my next door neighbor who, consequently, had been my high school sweet-heart, and be content never knowing that there is more to life than that.
I'm also entering another one of my phases where I don't want to speak french. Of course, I don't have a choice, but I can get away with speaking English for half of the day if I speak in English with the other Americans and go online after school (like I've been doing lately).
To finish off, I will list my New Year's resolutions (if only for my own sake):
-Be a better communicator: return e-mails, call parents.
-Become fluent in French
-Find romance: whatever the hell that means.
-Stop taking things for granted (Stop being so damn unhappy/ungrateful)
The last one I just came up with. Oooh, reading back, I sound a little harsh and bitter. In a week I'll probably feel completely different. That's what's hard about this year, it honestly is an "emotional roller coaster," as cliche as that might sound.
Oh, I've thought of another resolution:
-learn how to use punctuations correctly. I confuse my comas, colons, semi-colons, etc all the time and I just opt for parentheses!
Yea..I feel a little better already.
So, I just got back from Malaga, Spain (coastal south of Spain) where I was visiting my family, and needless to say, it was fantastic. It was so great being with family = people who love you, generally no matter what. My dad flew over there from Virginia. You guys'll think I'm crazy, but all I asked for were grits and oatmeal. He forgot the oatmeal though. I spent a lot of time with my grandparents, my aunt, my father and my cousins. I didn't want to leave. Well, that isn't all together true, towards the end I started daydreaming about how nice it would be to speak french again. But in any case, since I've been back, it's been pretty crappy.
As soon as I got back to school, I remembered how much it sucked. Yes, school is definitely not one of the good things about living in France. Also, it doesn't help that I don't have many friends. I guess that's mainly my fault because people have been friendly to me, but I just haven't felt the desire to become more than just acquaintances.
The day after I returned I got sick. Some stomach virus I guess. I threw up at school. YAY! Sick for the rest of the night and so I didn't go to school the next day. And today, was fun I suppose. I spent a good part of the day laughing at various things. Such as, the article printed in the school newspaper (speaking of, you thought The High Life was unprofessional and badly done? This one is a joke....oh, sorry to the HL staff. I'm sure you're all very talented writers) about the 3 Americans in the school. We were interviewed by the student journalist and she took paraphrasing to a whole new level. Granted, she said in French what we MAY HAVE said ourselves if we knew the vocabulary, but OH MY GOD. Also, it was really funny because she misconstrued some comments that we made and so it sounded like we thought that Americans had hardly any table manners and that, before coming to France, I didn't care about my appearance. So basically, thanks to France and the French I no longer eat with my hands and I have learned how not to look like a slob.
And this afternoon, I once again got a little sad. I was looking at a girl from Wilmington, NC's blog who is Strasbourg, France through Rotary, and it seems like her life is pretty sweet. Strasbourg is a really pretty city from what I can tell, and and her host family seems to be really nice and active. She's been to Germany, Amsterdam, London, different parts in France....yea. So, I really shouldn't complain, because I too have done a lot of travelling, but the difference is that it's been mainly because I have taken the initiative. I wonder how different my life would be if our dossiers (files) had been switched and I had been sent there. Or what if I'd been sent to Brazil?
I feel really hypocritical now, because I'm actually going to Italy for four days next week. Yea, I know. This undermines the entire last paragraph. What the hell is wrong with me????!! I think I know what it is. I'm lonely. I miss my friends and family. But, on the other hand, I can't imagine living in North Carolina instead. This is one of the problems with being "worldly." It would be so much simpler to live my whole life in the same town, marry my next door neighbor who, consequently, had been my high school sweet-heart, and be content never knowing that there is more to life than that.
I'm also entering another one of my phases where I don't want to speak french. Of course, I don't have a choice, but I can get away with speaking English for half of the day if I speak in English with the other Americans and go online after school (like I've been doing lately).
To finish off, I will list my New Year's resolutions (if only for my own sake):
-Be a better communicator: return e-mails, call parents.
-Become fluent in French
-Find romance: whatever the hell that means.
-Stop taking things for granted (Stop being so damn unhappy/ungrateful)
The last one I just came up with. Oooh, reading back, I sound a little harsh and bitter. In a week I'll probably feel completely different. That's what's hard about this year, it honestly is an "emotional roller coaster," as cliche as that might sound.
Oh, I've thought of another resolution:
-learn how to use punctuations correctly. I confuse my comas, colons, semi-colons, etc all the time and I just opt for parentheses!
Yea..I feel a little better already.