Leaving Lyon
I have really grom close to my host parents. I am really sad to leave them. Sabine is my good pal. I told them I would return...someday....when I have the money... I also promised I would write to them.
I am planning on attending the french conversation group every week and reading things in french every week to keep myself sharp(ish). Let's hope that works a little. I got one Harry Potter book in French, and I asipre to get the whole series, because it is easy to read and I already have the english memorized in my head.
The dinner in the castle the last night of the program was more like dinner in a fancy house, but there was no need to complain. It was a really nice ending to this little adventure. The other students said they want to have a barcrawl at some point, and I am sure that if I go, I will enter bars I never dreamed of setting foot in. Isn't that the point of a barcrawl???
Saturday the whole entire extended family came to the house. All of the kids, the grandkids, the greatgrandma, the sisters, brothers, friends... it was a madhouse. It was all for the baptism of my parent's granddaughter, Jeanne. She is soo cute. I will have pictures up later. It was a little awkward being around the family like that, but being at the baptism was interesting. It was catholic, so no suprises there. In the evening, they grilled out in the backyard and it was really great. Granted, it was duck and sardines instead of hamburgers and brats, but I prefer the former anyway. Into the night, with all of the wine and relaxing, I started to feel pretty ok about my french. It was a really nice night.
This morning, I went out with my host mom into Lyon and I wandered around a little market that is along the poopy river (there are two rivers in Lyon, a bigger, fancier one that we drink by and a smaller one that smells like poop but leads to a cute part of town and has cute bridges over it). It was really interesting and I got hassled a lot because I am foreign.
Today I am taking a train down to Toulon, which is along the Mediterranean. I am going to stay there for a week with two different peolpe I found on couchsurfing.com. I am nervous. The first one doesn't speak any english at all, and my french... could be a lot better. I talked to him on the phone a few days ago and was a little embrassed. But, I will be there bearing a bottle of nice wine and bissous (kisses. they give kisses on the cheeks). I looked up stuff about Toulon and it looks like it has nice beaches and even a mountain to hike up and a little car thing in the air that goes up the mountain. BUT I am still really nervous about getting along with these couchsurfing people! After that week in the south is done, I am taking a train at 5am up to Paris, where I have a day to sit around at a cafe and soak in the last of france before my plane leaves.
Then I be coming home!
I miss people a lot!
I am planning on attending the french conversation group every week and reading things in french every week to keep myself sharp(ish). Let's hope that works a little. I got one Harry Potter book in French, and I asipre to get the whole series, because it is easy to read and I already have the english memorized in my head.
The dinner in the castle the last night of the program was more like dinner in a fancy house, but there was no need to complain. It was a really nice ending to this little adventure. The other students said they want to have a barcrawl at some point, and I am sure that if I go, I will enter bars I never dreamed of setting foot in. Isn't that the point of a barcrawl???
Saturday the whole entire extended family came to the house. All of the kids, the grandkids, the greatgrandma, the sisters, brothers, friends... it was a madhouse. It was all for the baptism of my parent's granddaughter, Jeanne. She is soo cute. I will have pictures up later. It was a little awkward being around the family like that, but being at the baptism was interesting. It was catholic, so no suprises there. In the evening, they grilled out in the backyard and it was really great. Granted, it was duck and sardines instead of hamburgers and brats, but I prefer the former anyway. Into the night, with all of the wine and relaxing, I started to feel pretty ok about my french. It was a really nice night.
This morning, I went out with my host mom into Lyon and I wandered around a little market that is along the poopy river (there are two rivers in Lyon, a bigger, fancier one that we drink by and a smaller one that smells like poop but leads to a cute part of town and has cute bridges over it). It was really interesting and I got hassled a lot because I am foreign.
Today I am taking a train down to Toulon, which is along the Mediterranean. I am going to stay there for a week with two different peolpe I found on couchsurfing.com. I am nervous. The first one doesn't speak any english at all, and my french... could be a lot better. I talked to him on the phone a few days ago and was a little embrassed. But, I will be there bearing a bottle of nice wine and bissous (kisses. they give kisses on the cheeks). I looked up stuff about Toulon and it looks like it has nice beaches and even a mountain to hike up and a little car thing in the air that goes up the mountain. BUT I am still really nervous about getting along with these couchsurfing people! After that week in the south is done, I am taking a train at 5am up to Paris, where I have a day to sit around at a cafe and soak in the last of france before my plane leaves.
Then I be coming home!
I miss people a lot!