Last week in Paris

This is my last week living in Paris. I've started packing up all of my stuff and I still have a lot more to go. My feelings about going home are neutral. I don't know what to think. I have become somewhat attached to Paris and I'm not sure if I'm ready to go home so soon. But at the same time I miss all of my friends and family back at home and I'm looking forward to seeing them again. This year has been a challenging but good year for me. I've grown a lot and had many experiences that will change my life for years to come. I am proud to say that I have gone a long way with my French. I can understand practically everything now and I am able to converse with people. I feel that I have reached a mile stone in my life, and not only that but I've gained so much along the way. It will be sad to say goodbye to this beautiful city. I will miss all of it's cute little shops, bakeries, parks and museums.

Trip to the French Alps

    Last week I went with my family on vacation to the gorgeous French alps.

June 6, 2012

 Life has been super busy for me these past few weeks because of all the studying for the dreaded SAT test. I just finished taking it last Saturday and it was especially difficult because I had only slept three hours the previous night. Now I am glad that it is out of the way and all I can think about now is summer vacation.
The sluggish feeling of summer is starting to kick in and things are winding down as I'm finishing the last two weeks of school. It's crazy how fast the year went by, but at the same time it feels like ages since I last saw my friends back at home. I miss them a lot and I'm really looking forward to seeing them again in August.
My parents were just in New Zealand for two weeks and now they are leaving Australia after staying there for a day. So it's just been Luke and I here with the apartment all to ourselves for two weeks.
We have been exploring more of Paris during this time, frequently visiting the Louvre museum. Even though I have been here for almost a year I still have moments like today when I feel so fortunate to be able to live in Paris. The culture here is so different and foreign and it feels like I could live here all my life and still not fit in.

Proof that animals can love :)

A new French President

 Yesterday Luke randomly decided to take a walk with me because we hadn't been outside all day. We walked on a public walkway above the city and found it strange that there were almost no people there. Then we heard the honking of cars and noticed people waving flags out their windows and shouting with joy. There was a craziness of honking, shouting and parading in the streets and we walked towards the Bastille. In the Bastille there were thousands of people gathered in a gigantic crowd and the streets leading up to the Bastille were all closed down. We assumed that the presidential candidate, Sarkozy won the election but in fact it was a man named Francois Hollande. The crowd was dense as we pushed and shoved our way towards the front and we saw a huge screen which was showing the news live as well as the newly elected president in the back seat of a shiny black car with heavy security surrounding him, driving towards the Bastille.

  The crowd went wild (even more so than before) when he showed up to give his speech. The speech went well. It was very patriotic and he spoke of a huge change in France. He is the first elected Socialist president here in Paris after 20 years, so many people are very happy about the change. It was interesting to be a part of the victory announcement and it was also the first time that I went to one. There were a lot of people climbing the place de la Bastille monument and waving flags in celebration. In the crowd a middle aged French woman came up to me and asked if I was from London. I said that I was American and she gave me a huge kiss on the cheek and said excitedly "Ah, se bon!" and I told her that I'm an exchange student living here. As we were maneuvering through the crowd almost everyone was smoking. After a short time I became light headed and dizzy because of the body heat in the crowd combined with all the smoke.
  After the president gave his speech there were live bands playing back to back. Around midnight Luke and I headed back home. It was a very eventful, memorable day for us both to be able to see the victory announcement of the newly elected president.

Photos taken by my brother, Luke Ekblad

Trip to Italy

 Last night I got back from a ten day trip to Italy with my family. We had a great time exploring cities, small towns and the countryside. It wouldn't have been possible for us to even go on the trip if it weren't for a nice Icelandic couple who knew my parents and invited us to stay in their fancy vacation house for free. The house was a mansion with several fully furnished rooms, long couches and a nice Kawai piano that had a recording system built into it.
  We arrived to Italy the first day after taking an hour bus ride, waiting in the airport for two hours and sitting on the plane for an hour and a half. Once in Italy we picked up our rental car and tried to maneuver out of a tight parking spot surrounded with cars parked too close to each other. It took us about twenty minutes of backing up and inching forward by centimeters until finally we exited the lot and hit the road. We got lost a lot that night mostly due to the fact that my dad got confused and went the opposite direction than the car rental lady told him to go.
  Surprisingly, Italy fit the exact stereotypes that Hollywood depicts. For example Italians eat a lot of pizza and pasta and that they are very dramatic when they speak, using lots of hand gestures and voice intonations. Overall every Italian person we ran into was very helpful and friendly. My dad doesn't know any Italian but could still get his point across speaking in Spanish because it's so similar.
  One thing that really shocked me was the prostitution in Italy. As we were driving to our house the first night, there were young girls dressed up all along the road and stationed at almost every gas station. I wasn't aware that prostitution was common in Italy and it really impacted me to see all those young girls selling themselves.
  The rest of the week we spend there was really fun. The weather was very strange and unpredictable because one moment it would be sunny with clear blue skies and the next it would rain hard with thunder and lightening. We drove all over the countryside which was lush and green with many wine orchards and forests and visited small villas and cities, peeking into shops and walking through cobble stone streets and alleyways. On most of the nights we ate at pizzerias or made pasta at home. The pizza there was delicious and much better than any I've tried elsewhere.

  We went to museums and walked through them for hours observing all the beautiful paintings and stone statues. We were fortunate to see the incredibly detailed Statue Of David as well as other marble statues by Michelangelo.
  I realize that this has gotten quite long and I wish that I could add all the other interesting details to the trip but that would take a long time to write. I am so grateful that I was able to visit Italy with my family this year. It was a rich experience for us all and filled with many memorable moments.

L'amour entre les pigeons :)

7 months already!

   It's been a while since I've last posted and a lot has changed since I last wrote. Last week the best thing happened to me this year. A new girl came to my class all the way from Japan! Her name is Fumi. She is in the same class section as me, which is "Premiere L" (literature). We made an instant connection and we have been hanging out every day. She is very kind, funny and interesting. She has only been here one week so she's still a bit jet-lagged and overwhelmed. Fumi has it hard here because she doesn't know any French and hardly any English. But I've been helping her out and teaching her words in both English and French and she is teaching me Japanese.

  As for school my French is much better. It really feels like I've accomplished a lot in the last seven months. I take lots of notes in all my classes and I can pick up much more of what the teachers are saying. Spanish is still challenging because it's college level, which is much harder than a typical high school class but I have improved significantly. My favorite class right now is my English foreign literature class. The professor is this really awesome Irish guy who has a great taste in literature. I've read a handful of good classics these past months that are all very well written and inspiring. Right now I am reading Macbeth by Shakespeare and so far I'm enjoying it.  So there's my quick update. Just a heads up, next week I am going to Italy with my family so I will be updating about that pretty soon! Alright, goodnight world :)

Another day at the park

Today was a beautiful day. I went with my mom to the park which is right next to my school and I took lots of pictures of the ducks in the pond.

Snow & Rain

For the past few weeks it has been really cold here in Paris. The sky is gray and dark and it has been drizzling on and off the past month. Right now it is raining, but hardly. A few days ago it was so cold here in this apartment that I had a hard time falling asleep. A few of the nights I actually slept in my day clothes because it was so cold, but even then I felt the wind coming through my single-paned window. The heaters in our apartment are continuously on but somehow they don't circulate heat properly throughout the rooms. My hands are always cold and chapped. I have to put lotion on a few times a day usually. Last week it got to like 17 degrees fahrenheit and it even snowed a bit, but quickly melted. There is salt scattered all over the streets and walkways and even in the metro to prevent people from slipping. Luckily today the weather has gotten a little bit warmer (at least more tolerable) but I heard that it might snow a few more times this week. I wish it would just snow a few feet then stick so that I could skip school.

5 month update

  Wow, I can't believe that it's already been 5 months since I first moved here!   For the first few months I was really quiet and didn't talk to the students in my class for the most part. I couldn't communicate in the beginning even if I wanted to because I knew so few words. Everyone spoke fast and seemed to slur their words together, so in the beginning it was hard to even make out what was being said.
   Soon I started making friends outside of school, and when I hung out with them they helped me a lot with my French as well as showed me around the city. I also made an American friend who goes to my school, so that's been nice because she can relate to me. My French has improved significantly since I've lived here and I can now keep up a conversation in French. I had a breakthrough the other day in my PE class when I was put on the same team as three other girls. I surprised myself when I started talking to them in French and it was flowing without me thinking about what I was saying. The girls looked a bit surprised too because I've hardly said a word to them since I've moved here and suddenly we were talking. I've been chatting with the students in my class more frequently these past three weeks and I really feel like I've gone a long way in my French.

Dinner at the Eiffel Tower

  Three days ago my family and I were invited by this really nice lady to eat dinner with her and some other people at the Eiffel Tower. The metro ride took at least a half hour and by the time we got there it was dark and rainy outside. We waited for the other people to show up that she invited then together we went up the lift to the top of the Eiffel Tower. When we got up to the top the view was incredible. You can see the whole of Paris and it is so beautiful to see all the lights of the city. It was very cold and windy and it was raining as well. Some of the people in the group pointed out the different monuments in the city and showed us different parts of Paris. Then the lady who had invited us paid for each of us to get a glass of champagne. The man pouring the champagne was eccentric and friendly and he was playing funky music. The champagne tasted great.
  When we went back inside we then went down to the second floor and walked around a bit. It was significantly lower than the top level because some of the skyscrapers in the city were higher. After looking around a bit we went into the cafe and ordered hot mulled wine. If you have never had it before, it's sweet and has a great spiced taste. When we were finished we all got back onto the elevator and went down to the first floor.
  On the first floor there is an ice skating rink and a fancy restaurant. We went into the restaurant and got a table. The food was pre-ordered because the Eiffel Tower is always crowded with people, so it came to us quickly. A nice appetizer came first with two slices of smoked salmon. The main course was the most delicious duck and potatoes I've ever had. I also had a some fancy Bordeaux wine and to top everything off beautifully, a rich chocolate dessert with coffee. It was a memorable night that I will never forget.

French people smoke a lot...

When I arrived in Paris I was shocked to see that not just grown-ups smoke, but kids as young as ten years old! Apparently smoking here is a social norm and kids as well as teenagers want to look cool by smoking like the other kids. My brother said that a while ago he saw some ten year old boys smoking a bong! About a week ago a girl in my class asked the teacher if she could step outside and smoke and he allowed her to. Teachers don't prohibit students to smoke and they themselves do it. I see them in the corner of the school smoking away all the time. The teachers also smoke with the kids outside during break. How strange. I don't think I've seen many kids in my school back at home smoking cigarettes. Anyway, thought I'd share that because I found it interesting.

Sunday at the park

The park was so gorgeous yesterday 

The rebellious French

While living here in Paris for nearly 3 months, I've been paying close attention to the French people. First of all I must say that the French culture is much different from American culture. The French have always had a long history of protests against their government, and I have noticed that it seems to have impacted all of the French people in some way or another. For example, in school the French kids are much more loud and crazy in class. While the teacher is talking the whole class is talking and laughing amongst themselves, and the teacher has to yell and swear at them to stop. But the kids just ignore the teacher most of the time, especially if the teacher is a nice one with a kind disposition.

I think that it is really cool that the French are so passionate about their opinions. There are protests all the time in the streets with many people. They are not afraid to stand up for what they believe in. Compared to the French, Americans don't protest as much. I wish that Americans protested more about injustices. If they did then the government and country would improve, and if enough people stood up for what they believed in then they could actually make a change. Because of all of the constant protests here in France things have changed and gone a long way. Many of the French people as a result have developed a rebellious spirit. They are determined for change. The only negative thing about constant rebellion is that there can be a lack of respect. In my opinion rebellion is natural and healthy, but it's a matter of balancing that and respect for others that can become a problem.

French markets

One thing, out of the many things I appreciate about Paris is that there are always lots of open markets. The French culture has really been into setting up markets in the streets, and they have been doing this for hundreds of years. It amazes me how you wake up one morning and just over night there are loads of stands set up that sell every kind of produce you could imagine. There is a market up the street from our apartment that has an entire stand of just olives alone. There is also a meat stand with practically every kind of sausage, a wine stand (where we got a nice bottle of wine), a bakery stand which sells lots of pastries and such,  and many other interesting stands. The French really know how to live. 

Fancy 6 course meal

While I was in Valence with my family we got invited by some friends of my parents to a fancy restaurant    in the countryside. We all ordered a 6 course meal and I was already almost full by the appetizer. The first course that went around were the drinks. Next for the appetizer my brother, Luke and I both ordered a dish of ravioli with this really good type of shrimp inside a creamy sauce. Then the main course was sliced duck with a dish of pumpkin, potato and mushrooms. We drank a good red wine as well as a sweet white wine called muscat. Then came a dish with several delicious French cheeses. I ordered a wild goat cheese with cream on the top, which was really good. For dessert I ordered 3 small rich chocolate macaroons with ice cream in the middle. I thought the meal was over but then the second set of drinks went around! Thankfully my drink was just a small tea cup sized coffee. It was an amazing meal but I was so full that it literally hurt to breathe.

Valence

I am on a 2 week break already and I've only been in school for 2 months! A few days ago I took a train ride with my family to Valence. The train ride was a little bit strange because there were a lot of people on it, yet I couldn't hear anyone talking with each other.

When we arrived in Valence a friendly older man with a brown scruffy beard heartily greated us. He gave me 3 whiskery kisses on my cheeks as well as the rest of my family. I heard that the kisses increase in number the further south in France that you go. He drove us in his little car to the cabin that we would be staying in for the next few days.

The next day we visited that same man and his wife and we ate lunch and dinner with them. It was really good food and I got to drink a glass of wine with each meal. I think I am starting to like wine more, but at first it was a little bit hard to get used to. The next few days my family and I explored a cool little village and drove all around the countryside.

Observations

Here are some of my observations whilst living in Paris for nearly 2 weeks. Firstly the cheese here is incredible. If you think montry jack, cheddar or mozeralla cheese is good then you have no idea just how amazing the cheese in France is (unless you have tried French cheese.) Observation #2: Throw away the baguette in America. It is rock hard compared to the soft, flaky, warm baguette fresh from a typical French bakery. It is the softest, most delicate baguette you will ever try and I seriously recommend it to anyone. Observation #3. The wine here in France is very good. I'm sure many of you have tried French wine, right? And you'd have to agree with me that it is one of a kind :)