Breakthrough

Yesterday I followed my new friend, Alexandra and a few other girls to the gym for PE. I didn't expect us to be traveling on the metro, so I hadn't brought a ticket. We checked that the coast was clear and I slipped with them, past the ticket barrier after Alexandra had scanned her card. 

When we arrived at the gym all of us had to choose a sport to play and I chose basketball with some other girls I knew. Next we did common drills and ran for 3 minutes. It was not hard at all but it was hot outside. Basketball was easy but I didn't enjoy it. I think it's supposed to just be a guy sport..

After PE, walking to the locker rooms with some girls, I wished right then that I could communicate with them. I made an effort, forgot about sounding perfect and ended up having a conversation with the girls. It was a great feeling for me, because that entire week I hadn't been able to communicate with any of the kids in French.

3rd day of school

Today was exhausting for me. In my first class the teacher spoke very fast so I didn't catch anything she said. School here in Paris is challenging and I am a little bit worried about passing my classes this year. It's hard being the new kid. These first few days I have been feeling quite a bit confused.
I heard that the first week is hard and this has definitely proven itself to be true. I know now what the exchange students back at home have to go through. It's overwhelming.
On the bright side of today I met a girl who just moved here to Paris from Missouri. She is just as lost and confused as I am so that made me feel like I wasn't alone. She is a grade ahead of me though so we don't share any of the same classes.
I'm expecting the next few months to be hard, but I'm still up for the challenge!

First 2 weeks in Paris

First of all, you are probably thinking "You are going to a French school in Paris for a year?! thats crazy!" Yeah it is crazy, especially because I didn't even know that me and my family were going to move to Paris until just 4 months ago. It was a shock even to my parents. A sudden opportunity came up for our family to rent out an apartment belonging to some mutual French friends of my parents, and they grabbed the chance as soon as they could. Maybe we are crazy for deciding on whim to move across the Atlantic ocean to a foreign country, but hey you can't ever get anywhere in life if you don't take a leap of faith, even sometimes a plunge into unknown waters..

The first week living in Paris has been great. For the first few days I felt like I was in a dream. I kept telling myself the new phrase "you are living in Paris now" and somehow it took a lot to convince myself that this was true. Now I have been here with Luke and my parents for 12 days and this crazy, amazing truth is finally starting to sink in.

The first few days that I arrived here with my family were relaxing. For the first 3 mornings my dad surprised Luke and I with delicious freshly made pain au chocolates and croissants, and we ate them with our coffee. The apartment that we are now staying at is much smaller than I imagined. It is nice and cozy though, and it overlooks a garden. Luke and I each have a bedroom and my parents stay in the living room on a large pull out bed, which is also a couch. We have a small kitchen, a closet sized bathroom and a shower room. 

The city here in Paris as everyone knows is large and full of activity. My family and I have been walking around the city every day and exploring all sorts of streets and alley-ways.  It is sad to see that there are quite a few homeless families on the streets. There is so much poverty in Paris and it seems to go over people's heads as many of them walk past the homeless without so much as turning their heads. Everyone is doing their own thing, so quite often it seems like the only people who give a hand to the homeless are the yuppy tourists.