Observations

Here is a list of things that were noteworthy in my mind that I'd like to share! They're very random things, from everyday life to school to habits at home.

-Unisex bathrooms.
I know this sounds like a silly thing to complain about, but it is rather strange that in some places there are restrooms that are unisex. There are restrooms with individual stalls with lights inside of them. Outside the stalls there are mirrors, counters, and sinks like any other bathroom. The idea of being inside the same washroom as a man is VERY foreign to me, therefore makes me a tad uncomfortable. But it's something I'll have to get used to! Most public and school restrooms are like so.

-No bread on you dinner plate:
The stereotype of eating loads of bread here is entirely true. I have yet to eat a meal that has not had a baguette served with it. But the bread does not go on your plate with the rest of your food- it goes on the table next to your meal!

-Smoking:
The majority of the people I have met here smoke. There's no curiosity with cigarettes and it's very common to see people roll their cigarettes in public. Rather than carrying a carton with them, some people carry a bag of tobacco, skins, and filters so they can roll their own cigarettes when ever they want a smoke (which is quite often). People also smoke around their children like it's no big deal which is something you would NEVER see in the states.

-Dirty streets:
This is sad to say, but it's true; the streets are very dirty for several different reasons. For one, people do not pick up after their dogs. No matter where you walk, weather it's in grass or on the sidewalk, you need to watch your step. People also leave their trash and recycling outside quite often. No big trash cans like in my neighbourhood, just big bags of trash. They eventually get picked up, of course. But it is strange to see streets lined with boxes and recycling and rubbish.

-Lots of markets:
Just like Portland! I've been to two markets so far. One was like a massive garage sale and the other was a farmer's market. The farmer's market not only had produce and homemade goods, but animals! There was a separate part of the market that had rows of farm animals for sale. Everything from rabbits to chickens to ducks. They were incredibly packed together in tiny cages which made me very sad...but that's just how farmers do it. The other one was MASSIVE. At least half a mile long, loads of people, loads of random stuff; furniture, clothes, trinkets, antiques....stuff you would sell at a yard sale. It was really neat but extremely crowded.


9-10-13
-iPhones Don't Dominate:
Finally, a high school where not every student is walking around with their eyes glued to the newest piece of technology! I know this is an odd observation, but when you walk down the hallways of an American high school every day for 2 years and are used to a sea of white iPhone 4's and 5's, it's strange to see that most people here use Blackberries instead.

-Chit-Chat:
Again, another silly observation, but just something that caught my attention; the students chat A LOT while the professor is giving lessons, and they're not very good at whispering. The professors don't really seem to do much about it, aside from the occasional sush between words.

-School Lunch:
I will start by saying that there's already a significant difference with the fact that I can actually EAT this food. At Tigard, I can't even think about putting the school lunch into my mouth. At Lycee David d'Angers, the lunch is not only possible to consume, but enjoyable! There's a large option of vegetables and salad to choose from, a nice entree (today it was a nice piece of chicken, rice, and vegetables), and a choice of ONE dessert (most of the options are fruit). There's a card system where you place in your lunch order at a scanner with your lunch card at any time in the morning BEFORE 10:00. At lunch time, you scan your card again in line and one last time when you receive your tray. It's a very efficient system. The only problem is if you forget to scan your card before 10:00, there will be no lunch for you, so you better hope your professor is grateful enough to let you pop by before class starts!

There's many more things that I will notice as time goes by, so I will most likely add on to this post. Any additional notes will be dated.

My First Day of School

Oh la la...

I've heard horror stories about the first day of school on exchange. I've heard people say they couldn't ask for help or find their way or they simply just walked around and pretended like they had somewhere to be...But everyone's first day is different.

First of all, everyone looked ridiculously attractive. The girls looked straight out of a magazine and the boys looked like the lads from One Direction. It makes me think that American high school must look straight out a movie because this was like nothing I've ever seen before. All of the girls were very well put together and dressed very nicely and the boys had nice shoes and tops and were very clean-cut. Makes all the jockey boys at Tigard look like animals, if I'm blunt.

Today wasn't a complete disaster. School didn't start until 10:00 and it wasn't even really a school day because I didn't have class. It was more of an orientation. I was there for two hours and it was the most terrifying and confusing two hours I've ever experienced.

First, I looked for my name on a list which tells you which class you're in; science, literature, or economics. I was supposed to be placed in literature but when we looked at my name I was placed in economics. That wasn't a problem until I received my schedule...but I will discuss that later.

Everyone was waiting in the sort of atrium-like room and a professor (whom I'm almost positive is the school principal) called everyone's attention and we split up into our class groups. My host brother is in the science class so before we split, he explained to my teacher (who is somewhat like a homeroom teacher) that I'm an exchange student.

The teacher led us into her classroom and explained to us that she is our French teacher. She then went on to explain other things which I didn't understand. She went through the students one-by-one like roll call and confirmed their schedules. Of course, my name was called first, and I had no idea why she said my name so I replied with "oui" and she read off my classes. I confirmed them because I didn't exactly know what was going on and she continued this with the rest of the class. It wasn't until later I realised that something was wrong with my schedule but it was too late at that point.
Then she handed out a bunch of stuff: our class schedules, a username/password for what I assume is our online grades, a card which I think is for lunch, and a couple other pamphlets that I can't identify. Basically this entire day was me shaking with fear that she was going to call my name and ask me a question. I even took notes when everyone else was even though I had no idea what I was writing down and I'm not even sure what they were about.

After this was all over, we went into an auditorium like room and the principal spoke to all of the students. Again, I had no idea what he was saying or what was going on, but I think he was talking about how all of their classes applied to university and graduation, which don't apply to me anyway because I'm not graduating from that school.

At this point I was accompanied by another girl who I asked a question to before the presentation started. When the principal was done talking, we walked outside and were trying to figure out if the day was over or if it was lunch time because it was only 12:00. We waited around for our brothers for a little while and then asked another student what the heck was going on. He told us it was time to go home so we walked back to the exit. She asked me if I was taking the Tramway home, but I said no because I was only a short walk away. She said goodbye and I walked home alone with my music.

I got home and showed my schedule to my host sisters and they told me there must have been a mistake because I currently have four language classes; English, Spanish, French, and Italian. Even normal students are only supposed to have three. I also have more classes than my host brother. My schedule is too difficult for me right now and I'm really hoping we're able to change it because it's making me nervous that I have too many classes that are most likely too hard because they're in FRENCH.

*Sigh*. Hopefully tomorrow will be better with a better schedule and more confidence and maybe I'll try to make a couple friends. But for now, I'm just glad I got the first day out of the way.

I'll make a post tomorrow about the REAL first day. Maybe by then I'll be over the embaressment that was today.

A bientot!

~Effy

Day 6 &7: A Stroll Around Town

8-28-13

Salut!

So for the past couple days I've gotten to walk around the city of Angers. I was very much looking forward to this because I had seen loads of photos of the city on Facebook, Google, Wikipedia, etc. when I researched the city, and finally got to see it for myself!
I'm just gonna let the pictures speak for themselves:
The cathedral and castle of Angers (sorry the photos are sideways):
I apologize for the formatting of this post...the photos don't come out how I want them to. But I will post them on Facebook, as well! They will turn out better there.

Day 2/3

It's really late and I don't feel like typing a lot so I'm going to try and condense this into a short story about my day!

Basically I woke up at 2:00, then at 6:00, and then 11:30....I really can't explain that.

I made some coffee and checked my Facebook and e-mail and relaxed for a while. At 3:00 I had one more cup of coffee before we left to go to my family's house on the countryside. The house was absolutely beautiful. It is a perfect example of what French architecture looks like; with stone walls and stone tile floors. They needed to clean it up because they were renting it to some people on vacation. I didn't mind helping at all because it meant that I got to see the house and the area. The house is meant to fit around 15 people. It was 3 stories and was on a river. There was a vineyard across the river and it was absolutely beautiful.
We got home and their cousins were there for dinner. They were SO funny and I really enjoyed the time that I spent with them.
My host family had a pool and one of the cousins was swimming in it. I also have ducks at my house, so my host sisters and brother circled one of the ducks while the other cousin picked it up. Then my dad took photos and we were all laughing at the duck, Next thing I know, the duck was being taken to the pool and started swimming with the other cousin! The other cousins proceeded to swim like the duck and follow him around in the pool. It was a really fun time with me family. :)
That night for dinner, we had some cuts of meat; one was like bruchetto and the other two I couldn't identify. I only tried two because one had too much fat on it and the other one was so fatty I could feel it on the roof of my mouth. It was strange but delicious! We also had blood sausage for dinner, which is VERY French and very delicious.

Today (Sunday), we went to a party. I asked my host sister what the purpose of the party was, and she explained that it was just a gathering of friends that they do every year. There were a lot of people and they were all really friendly and funny. There were three other exchange students there who I met on the first day of arrival and rode the bus with; three girls, one from India, one from Brasil, and one from Canada. We all spoke in English because none of us know enough French to have long conversations and explain how we've been feeling.
It was a really nice party. The guys showed us how to do archery and one boy had something that I can't remember the word for...It's like tightrope walking but with a long, flat rope-like thing. All the girls and I tried it. It was really easy for me! I also met a girl who is the host sister of my Brasilian friend. Her name is Ana and she's 13. We talked A LOT. She's very nice and it was easy to speak French with her. Spending time with her made me wish that I had a younger host sister!

That's all for now. I will probably post again tomorrow.

Bonne nuit!
~Effy

My First Day in France

Bonjour!

So as I'm writing this, it is currently my SECOND day in France, but yesterday was rather busy.
In a nutshell, I didn't even leave the airport until 3:00, had a four hour drive to Angers (with two stop before we got there), arrived at my house, ate dinner, and went to bed. Not to mention that I can only use my laptop downstairs and I didn't want to retrieve it at the time.

To elaborate, I'll start with my flight. I had two and a half hours from Portland to Minnesota, where I arrived at 6:00 and had less than an hour to get to my gate before we boarded. Normally that would have been fine ,because we were so excited to get to France, but the Minneapolis airport is really nice. More like a shopping mall, really. So we relaxed, charged our phone, and boarded a MASSIVE plane. Then, we had about 8-9 hour to Paris. The plane was the biggest I've ever seen, but the legroom I had in my seat was probably some of the smallest I've ever had. Sleeping wasn't terribly comfortable but I took a pill after I ate my dinner and knocked out, so I wasn't really too concerned with sleeping.

After that, Grace, Maisyn, Jacob and I all managed to find our way through the airport all the way through passport check and baggage with no problem. We waited for a little and a handful of Rotary kids came piling through, so we joined them and exited the airport together. There, we found Rotarians and host families waiting for the students, which was a sign of relief. My host family wasn't there, but we found who we needed to.
Then, we waited. For a very long time.
After a couple hours of waiting for the rest of the exchange students to arrive, we got on a bus and were told that we would have a four hour drive, and we would be making three stops: first in Sablé, then in Angers, and last in Nantes. I said goodbye to Maisyn on the first stop and about 20 minutes later it was time for me to say goodbye to Grace and my two other Brazilian friends that I made.

I FINALLY met my host family! My sister Lou-An, brother I-Yan, and father Luc were there to help me with my bags. We had a quick drive home to their house, which is very different compared to mine at home. 

The houses on this street are set up like apartments, but when you go inside of them, the bedrooms and living rooms are set up almost like a maze. They also have a really nice backyard with tropical-like plants and a pool. For pets, they have four ducks, three chickens, and a very friendly cat.
Upon my arrival to the house, I gave them the gifts I had brought from Portland; some homemade jam from my mum, a gift box of my favourite local soaps, a postcard with Multnomah Falls on it, and an Oregon sticker. Then I showed them my photo book that I put together of my home and life.
For dinner, we had some grilled sausages (which were delicious), steamed potatoes (which apparently were a treat), salad with my favourite vinaigrette, and, of course, baguette. The bread here is very different from even the most "authentic" French bread at home. The texture is just a little better and there's a very slightly different taste that I cannot describe. The cheese was brought out last. I can't remember what kind there was, except for the Laughing Cow cheese which I recognised. If the cheese you eat is not strong, they eat it with butter. There was one mild one and one very strong one (I liked this one the best). Then I had a delicious and exceptionally sweet pear for dessert. We then sat and talked for a very long time. I explained things like organic food and why I eat my pears like I eat my apples. It was very fun to sit and talk French with my family. My mother and brother don't know very much English at all, which is good in my opinion! My host dad reminds me of my real dad. He is very fun to talk to. And if I can't explain or understand things in French, we do it in English very briefly, then right back to French. My mum corrects me on my grammar in a very helpful way. She explained a couple of my mistakes and I told her than I understood.

I checked my e-mail and sent a few text messages and then went to bed. I managed to adjust to the time zone really well because I was very tiered at around 8:00.
It is now 12:18 and I am sipping coffee and lounging in the living room. We're going to the countryside at around 3:00 today, so I will write about that later.

That's all for now.

À bientôt!

~Effy

6 Year Vegetarian in Europe

Hello, friends!

For those of you know have known me personally for a long time, you probably know about my dietary restrictions. For those of you who don't know, I was previously a strict vegetarian for 6 years.

Frequently asked questions:
"Oh, did you give up?" "Did you want meat so bad that you stopped?" "Did you give in?"


To answer all of these rather annoying questions, no. I didn't "give up". Here's my philosophy:
As a person who is obsessed with food, cooking, and travel as a personality trait, I would be a fool not to experience French and European cuisine to the fullest extend. In other words, a foodie isn't going to give up the oppertuinty to eat real French food.

From my vegetarian moral point of view, I choose not to eat meat because of animal treatment and abuse that goes on upon slaughter. That may be a major issue in America, but in Europe there isn't as much animal cruelty. In fact, France is working on a law in which restaurants must let customers know where the meat, poultry, fish, etc. is coming from by printing it on the menu. Luckily, the French are just as obsessed with food as I am so laws like this make me feel better about eating their meat.
Yes, I am still a little bothered by what I'm eating, but at the very least, it's much more humane and people care a lot more about what they're eating.

My other reason is that I thought it would be inconvenient for my host families to accommodate for me. I don't believe vegetarians are as popular in Europe as they are in America and I didn't want to ask them to go out of their way. Not to mention going to restaurants would be a major bother. Being used to Portland's many vegetarian friendly places, I can't expect the French to be the same. It's the easiest solution. 

In my opinion, it's best case scenario for someone who's making the decision to quit vegetarianism for exchange or any short period of time. I will be continuing my diet when I return to the states.

The purpose of this post is to feed the curiosity of my friends/family and to maybe help people who are going through the same thing. I hope the people reading this found it helpful or interesting.

That's all for now.
~Effy

P.S. 6 days until departure.

8 More Days.

Salut!

Just thought I'd do an update on my exchange as I count down my last few days in the states.

As far as saying my goodbyes, I went on a camping trip with Zac and the rest of the Sims family to Oregon Star Party, which was super rad. I love astronomy and it was really nice to spend some time with his family.

I've been trying to spend a lot of time with my friends lately. I think I took for granted how little time I had left and realised that I had a lot of people to say goodbye to and a lot of things I still needed to take care of!

For instance, With my exchange preparations, this week has been very productive. I took care of getting a cell phone, a debit card, and prescriptions. Luckily, I'll be able to get an iPhone 5 to use over there AND I'll be able to do mobile banking with it. Talk about hitting two birds with one stone!
I also saw my doctor and got all of my shots and immunizations sorted. You know, the boring (but importnat) stuff.

For now, all I have left to do is finish my scrapbook and get some electric outlet adapters! My ticket and visa and flight are all booked and taken care of. I'm SO close to being able to start my exchange, I can practically taste it.

I have a massive feeling of accomplishment with all of this going on. I really feel like all of my hard work is finally about to pay off. With all of the weird dreams, thoughts, and rumors about France going around in my head, I will not have peace until I arrive. Hopefully I'll stay somewhat sane before I leave.

That's all for now.
A bientot!

~Effy