Christmas in Lille

Christmas is quickly approaching! Which means the end of my exchange is not too far away either. I have been rather busy lately, I did my last presentation at my Rotary host club. It was about a half hour power point presentation on my life in Australia and a bit on my life here in France. Last night I went to the club for the last time to say goodbye as they have a break over the holidays and I won't see them again before I leave. Last weekend I went to Paris, it was my last rotary weekend ever! I received my diploma which states I have completed my year in France, we did Kris Kringle and we visited a lot of Paris. It was sad saying goodbye to a lot of the people, as I won't see many of them again before I go home. I have sent one box of 7 kilos home, with books and shoes in it, as I can only bring a 23 kilo suite case home! For Christmas I am staying in my last host families house and we will be celebrating it from the house. On the 27th we will be going to Paris for the day and then travelling to the East of France to a city called Nancy, where my host dad has family.
There are so many decorations here in Lille for Christmas, there is a giant ferris wheel in the centre of Lille, a big christmas market, a huge christmas tree and heaps of other stuff.

Receiving my diploma off the governor 

View from the top of the ferris wheel (christmas market)

Australia presentation

Repas Exotique

Last weekend was my second last Rotary Weekend in France. We went to Lens, a smaller town between Lille and Paris. The weekend was based around "Le repas exotique" (exotic meal). The goal of the weekend is to raise money for our Rotary weekends throughout the year, this was the second repas exotique that I had done this year. Everyone has to bring a traditional plate (main course and desert) from their country. There were over 20 countries with 49 exchange students, we are grouped by country to country and we usually cook the food during the day or the night. 

Euro Tour

I have returned home from my bus trip around Europe that I have been looking forward to all year, it was impressionnant! (amazing). We were about 40 exchange students from the Southern Hemisphere (South Africans, Australians, New Zealanders and Argentinians!) We started in Paris and travelled through the following destinations: Reims, Strasbourg, Nuremberg, Prague, Vienna, Lido di Jesolo, Venice, Milan, Chamonix-Mont-Blanc, Rhone-Alpes, Geneva and Dijon! My favourite city was most likely Prague, in Czech Republic, as it was just so different to any other European city I had ever seen. The architecture was so cool, everything seemed like it was in a horror film or something. We visited the Prague castle which was really cool, my Favourite thing was most likely the bridge. There were statues all along the bridge, and people playing music and singing everywhere. I also really liked Venice, even though it was my second time there it still shocked me that there is a city in the middle of the ocean. It was a bit different to the first time I went though, because they had had a lot of rain and everything was flooded, which made it look really cool in photos. In Nuremberg we got to visit one the stands where Hitler used to make speeches and hold the nazi parades. The history in Germany was really sad but also very interesting. I also got to visit Mer de Glace (ice sea) which is in the French alps. There was a bit of snow on the mountains but it actually wasn't that cold. The Mer de Glace, Mont St Michel and The Eiffel Tower are three of the biggest landmarks in France and I have visited all three! It was really strange leaving France, as I still always thought I was in France and whenever I spoke to someone in a shop or restaurant I would speak to them in French, it was so weird, but I couldn't help it. It was like I thought everyone who didn't speak English spoke French. Anyway, it was really sad saying goodbye to all of the friends I had made on the trip, and it felt so strange afterwards, but not I am back in Lille and everything is back to normal. I am hoping to catch up with some of my bus trip friends for New Years.

Mont St Michel

Last weekend was my third Rotary weekend for the year, and one of the best ones I have had yet. We went to go West of France, to Normandy. It was the first time I had ever been to the West, it was a lot different to the rest of France, it is really green there, as it rains a lot and they are close to the coastline. The weekend lasted three days, from Friday morning until Sunday afternoon. The first day we stopped off in an American war memorial, it was so great to see, it was really sad seeing everything they went through tough. That night my district met up with 4 others at Mont St Michel, which is one of the wonders of the world! It is a island that is covered by a huge castle, there a little shops and cafes on the way up to the top. In my district, there is a girl in a wheelchair, this was the first time my district had ever hosted a handicapped person. They wanted to take on the challenge but wanted her to be able to do just as much as we could, so we didn't went to let the hundreds of streps leading up to Mont St Michel to stop her. So each flight of stairs, a group of four boys would carry her up the stairs, until we got to the top.. It took about 40 minutes I would say, it was tiring but definitely worth it, she is one of the only handicapped people to visit the top of Mont St Michel! We also did a four hour walk around the island, it was raining, and we had to walk think water past our knees, but it was definitely worth it. The last night in Mont St Michel, every country got to sing their national anthem, the aussies were first! It was really good seeing more aussies from other parts of France. The bus trip was a bit long on Sunday, but it was good to catch up on sleep, as we didn't get much the whole weekend, I didn't get home until late Sunday night, but all in all it was an amazing weekend and I wanna thank Rotary 1520 for making it possible! 

Lille 3000

Every two years in Lille, there is a spectacular that comes through the city. There are activities, music, art and heaps of other cool things, it goes for around 2 months. The first night opens with a huge parade that passes through the centre of the city. I was lucky enough to be in France on one of these two years and got to experience the biggest, most amazing parade I have ever seen! It started around 8PM, it was really cold in Lille, as soon as the parade commenced it started bucking down with rain. Lucky I had my umbrella! The parade went for about 2 hours as it went very slowly, but there was music and bands everywhere. Each time there is a different theme, this years theme was a bit mysterious and had something to do with aliens and planets. I had a great night out.

Integration Weekend au Touquet

On the 8th and 9th of September my Rotary district (1520) had a integration weekend at the beach! It was with all the new exchange students from the Northern Hemisphere, now there are 38 of us! Everyone is really nice, but it made me realise that my time in France is coming to an end, seeing all the newbies arrive means it's almost time for me to go home. Anyway, it was a great weekend. When we arrived we got changed straight away and walked towards the beach. It was actually a really warm day, about 27 and the sun was shining bright. We played heaps of little games on the beach to get to know each other, there were so many languages everywhere, everyone trying to communicate with each other. At the end of the games we all went swimming in the water! I was scared to go in because I heard that the water was really cold there (the north of France), but it was actually really nice and refreshing. After that we came back and ate dinner together (the basic french meal with lots of bread and cheese) for dessert everyone had to bring a dish from their own country, it was so good! After dinner we went inside and did a little presentation of each country and had to pin ourselves of a huge map, followed by each country having to sing their national anthem (us Aussies did the Aussie Aussie Aussie chant also). We didn't get much sleep that night, which was a bad idea as we had a huge day a head of us. We got up early and had breakfast and headed towards the beach again. We got put into teams and put in a bike that fitted up to 6 people. We had a sheet of places we had to find, once we got there, there was a challenge at each place. We had to do things like smell food and guess what it was, taste food and guess what it was, and memorise items that had a sheet put over them (answers were in french of course). My group came second and I won a tee shirt and a bag. Overall it was a great weekend and a great way to bond with all of the 'newbies.' 

Parents in France

Rotary advises that your parents don't come visit you during your year stay, as it can be difficult to leave them again. But my parents were very eager to visit Europe and see how I was living my life here in France, it was the first time they had ever left Australia! It was great to see my parents after 8 months, they said I hadn't changed at all. They got to meet my host families, we went out for dinner together in a very typical french restaurant. They all got a long really well and my parents think I am very lucky to have such great families, they are now invited to visit us in Australia! I am so glad my parents got to come and see my life in France. I am staying to travel with my parents for a few more days then they are going to stay a week and a half longer and discover a bit more of Europe by themselves! I have attached of me with my real parents and my host families their first night in France.

Week-end de la braderie

Each year in many different cities over Europe they have a big sort of garage sale/market all over the cities to get rid of stuff at the end of summer. They call this La Braderie in french, meaning "the flea". In my city, Lille, there is the biggest Braderie in Europe. That means that people from all over Europe come to Lille to sell, buy, swap and look at everything! There was music everywhere, stands everywhere, street performers everywhere, and just people absolutely everywhere, over 2 million come for the event. A few friends and I had a few things we wanted to sell, so we set up our own little stall. I sold a few books I had finished with a few clothes that no longer fitted me, I made a profit of 30 euros, which I was pretty happy with! During la Braderie, it is tradition to eat mussels and fries together. So on Sunday my host mum took me out to get some! After everyone has finished eating the mussels, they put the shells into heaps of different piles over the cities, by the end of the weekend there was mussel castles everywhere. On Sunday night, I changed families for the very last time. It was sad to leave my old family behind, but my new family are really nice too! I feel really at home here, everything is going really well. I have a host sister my age, who was in Australia with Rotary last year, and two older host brother, a host mum, a host dad and 3 cats! Now I am back at school, my class is really good and everything is going really well. Less than a week and I will see my real parents from Australia after 7 months, I can't wait to see them.

My first real soccer match

Last night I was lucky enough to go see my very first professional soccer match. I went with my host brother and a few of his friends, it was at the new stadium in Lille. The game was Lille vs Copenhagen (Denmark). We had awesome tickets, we were right behind the goals. My host brother gave me a jersey of his and a scarf to wear, so I looked like a real Lille fan. The stadium was so big, and there were so many people. The cheer squads were massive, it was pretty funny, because I didn't know any of the cheers they were singing. (I had never heard of them considering they were all in French), so when everyone would go a bit cheer together, I would just mumble something out loud and throw my arms in the air. It was an awesome game, Lille won 2 - 0, I just loved the atmosphere of the whole game. The French take soccer so serious, and they get really into the game. Apart from the soccer, there is a lot going on at the moment. All of the new exchange students from the Northern Hemisphere arrived in France on Tuesday, I still haven't had the chance to meet up with them but I will meet them all next weekend at our first rotary get-together. This Sunday I will be changing to my 3rd and final host family, I have already met them and they are really nice too. It is going to be sad leaving my old family behind but I know I will keep in touch with them. I start back at school next week after an amazing summer break!

Italy with my host family

Two days ago marked my 7 months in France, which means I only have about 5 months left, I cannot believe how fast it is going. It seems like so long ago I got on the plane to saying goodbye to Australia, but at the same time, doesn't feel like I have already been in France for 7 months. It is almost the end of summer here in Europe, and so far, I have had an awesome summer. After I spent about 2 weeks in the south of France my host mum, and some other family friends (there were 2 kids my age) picked me up and we headed towards Italy. It was a long, hot drive from France to Toscane Italy, which seemed even longer when the air conditioner was broken in 35 degree heat. But the freeway we took was the most amazing road I have ever seen. We went past the coast of France and Italy, passing through Nice, Monte Carlo ect. There were so many mountains and houses right on the coast of the water. After a nine hour car trip we had arrived in Toscane. We stayed in a huge, old house in the country, in Toscane. I was in Italy for two weeks, half of the time we were in Italy we spent travelling around (Rome, Toscane, Perugia, Florence, Siena and other little towns). My favourite town was most likely Florence, the streets were so cool, lively, the houses were all orange and there was a lot to do. The other half of the time we spent relaxing by the pool (which we had at the house), reading, studying a bit of french, watching a bit of the olympics (understanding nothing because it was all in Italian), eating amazing Italian food and lying in the sun. I had a great time away in Italy, I got a lot closer with my host family, improved my french after not speaking any english at all for 2 weeks, and learnt a bit of italian too! We took a different route home, heading through Switzerland and Germany then into France. We were excited to finally get away from the heat we were experiencing in the car (still with no air-con) as we were passing through the Swiss Alps. Little did we know, there was a heat wave in most of Europe at the time, we took the heat with us. It was still 33 degree Switzerland! We stopped over near Strasbourg on the France/German border for the night and then returned to Lille the next day, where it was 38 degrees (the hottest it ever gets in Lille). The heat wave only lasted about 3 days, but it was kind of funny seeing everyone freak out and make such a big deal out it, because it isn't very common in the north of france to have such high temperatures. 

Summer Holidays - South of France

I was lucky enough to go to the South of France with a friend at the end of July, I stayed at their grandparents house in Nîmes. Their parents also had an apartment right on the beach of Grau du Roi, we went to the beach every day because it was so hot. It was usually around 35 during the day and 22 at night time. I loved the beach, it felt so good to see the beach again. There were heaps of markets on around the place, and a lot of people on the beach. The main difference I noticed between the beach in Australia and France, was the amount of clothing that they were, none. French people don't really like to wear clothes on the beach, it was funny at the start but after a while I got used to it.  The family I stayed with were so nice, they took me to see a lot of the South, and taught me a lot of differences between the south and the north (where I am from) of France. For examples the language is actually a lot different, they pronounce pretty much all of there letters, which for me sounded really funny, because in the south they speak with the Paris accent, and we don't pronounce the last few letters in words. They fed me a lot of amazing food, they had a fresh garden in the backyard, so each day we would eat fresh fruit and vegetables from the garden, and me and my friend would walk down to the Boulangerie to get fresh bread. My favourite place in the south was most likely the pont du gard (the gard bridge), which is a huge bridge which runs over a river, water runs through the top of the bridge and carries it from one side of the hill to the other. We could jump off the bridge into the deep waters below, swim around and there were even people kayaking. After ten days it was time to move onto another voyage (life is hard). I took the train to another town in the south, where I met my host mum and we started driving, direction Italy!! I will post about Italy in another blog. 

6 Months in France

Today officially marks the 6 month line for me in France, and I cannot believe how fast it is going! I am already half way! I am having an amazing time here, everything is going great! (apart from the fact that my camera I got for France got stolen a few weeks ago, so that is why the photos aren't very good, they are just taken with my phone).

It is currently summer holidays so I am not at school, the weather has been pretty average lately, cold and raining a lot but this weekend it has got a lot better and the next week it will be 28 almost every day! 

Today I got back from Paris with my host family (they are an amazing family!), Paris is a two hour drive south, from my house in Lille. We went to the Tim Burton exhibition, which was really cool, my favourite part was the Edward scissor hands section. We then spent the rest of the day walking around Paris, and finished the night off with dinner near our hotel. It was funny because at the end of the day I was the out one out of the family who was sun burnt, and everyone was laughing at me because I was the Australian, the one who is meant to have sun every day. The next morning we got up early to go on a boat tour on the river, we went in the car toward the Eiffel Tower, (bad idea, very bad idea! What we didn't know was that the tour de france was in Paris that day... We were stuck in traffic for over 2 hours, and we only moved a few hundred meters!) Anyway, we ended up seeing a bit of the tour, which was great! We then went on the boat tour and now I am back home in Lille! 

I have three more days in Lille and then I am off to the South of France, where it is really hot and there is the beach! I can't wait to get back to the beach. I will spend 10 days there and then I will go to Italy for about 2 weeks with my host family. Then I will change families at the end of August! I have already had dinner with my next host family and they seem awesome too! I am sad to leave this family but excited to move to the next one too. On the 28th of August all of the new exchange students will be arriving, so my counsellor is taking me to meet the at Paris airport. 

Also, I have my return date! I leave France the 12th of January and get back to Melbourne on the 14th. Which gives me two weeks to catch up with friends and family, enjoy summer holidays and prepare for year 12! 

Parc Asterix

Last Wednesday/Thursday was officially our last rotary event together! On Wednesday night we went to Lens (between Lille and Paris) to spend the night at our Rotary Presidents house. We had a BBQ outside and had an award ceremony for all of the students who were leaving this summer. After a few tears, we went upstairs and had the entire top level to ourselves (34 of us). One of the kids made a powerpoint presentation for us all to watch, it was really good. A few other people sang which made everyone cry, then we finished it off with speeches. I'm going to miss my oldies so much, they helped me out so much in my exchange, helped me with my French and got my through the fist half of my year! Now I have to be the big exchange student and help out all the newbies who will be arriving in August. Anyway, we got up in the morning and took a bus towards Paris to go to Parc Asterix! It was an awesome sunny day, and there were heaps of people there. A friend and I ran straight to the biggest roller coaster because apparently the line gets really big. The rest of the day we just ran around going on all the rides and laughing. (I chose a really bad salad over fries for lunch and everyone was bagging me). I made a little video of the day below: I hope you enjoy it!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hhu4EMd0w5A

Dunkirk Rotary Weekend

Last weekend I was out last Rotary weekend together with everyone! All of the "oldies" (everyone who arrived in France last August) are leaving soon. We had to get up really early Saturday morning to catch the tram to Roubaix to be there at 8AM. I was on time, and we sat in a room for 4 hours waiting for nothing, it wasn't too bad though because there were about 50 exchange students in one room just talking for hours. We then did a Rotary Conference, someone from my district did a speech which was amazing, she made half the audience cry. I just had to hold up the Australian flag and smile. After that we got on a bus to Belgium! After a short bus trip we arrived in the Flemish (Dutch) region of Belgium. We went to a little indoor water park, it was so fun. There were heaps of water slides and pools and spas. After we had dried off and had a bit to eat we headed off back to the north of France to a ville on the beach called Dunkirk. We slept on the floor in a school, (whenever we have a rotary weekend they hire out schools and we sleep on the gym floors). That night a few people did a few songs and stuff which was cool, we then went to the beach for a bit. The next day we went back to the beach to do some "Pêche de crevettes" (shrimp fishing). It was the first time I had ever been shrimp fishing. We put old clothes and gumboots on and took our buckets and nets down to the beach. I was the first one to catch some shrimp, but after that I didn't go so well. I caught heaps of little fish but they were useless to eat. We then put all of the big shrimps in a bowl and went back up to the beach house thing and boiled them for lunch (there was other food there too). It was then time to say goodbye to everyone! It wasn't too bad because we were going to see everyone again on Wednesday which was the last rotary meet up. (I will blog about it). Anyway, I have now finished with school and am officially on summer holidays! I cannot believe how fast time is going by, it's crazy.