La fin!

So the end is approaching... I am down to days now, and I don't know how to feel. I am sad to leave behind all my friends, family and my life here in France. But at the same time, I can't wait to see everyone in Australia. I have started to realise how amazing my life in France really is, and how lucky I have been throughout this year. I have had the most amazing experience of my life, even though it was the hardest thing I have ever done, there were times I didn't think I could do it, I have completed my year in France. I have left behind my family, friends, school, language and life for a completely new one. It was 100% worth it, and I do not regret anything for this year. Thank you everyone who made it possible for me to undergo my exchange, I can say that it is the best decision I have ever made in my life. If there is anyone who is hesitating on doing an exchange, go for it. It is the best thing you can do, you will change and mature as a person.

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.'