The Untitleable Post

Three times. I have changed the date of this blog for the third, and hopefully last time. It went from a “th” to a “st” to finally February 22 “nd”. Looking back up through my Word document I had a mini heart attack when I saw it’s been nearly a month since my last update. Then I smiled because I’ve been pretty busy that I didn’t even notice how much time flies here.

Although I’d like to think there are people rioting in front of my parent’s house in Northfield due to the fact that I’ve been neglecting my fantastic blog and that’s the reason my mom and dad are urging me to update it, I think it’s in my best interest that I step down from that pedestal…

I am at that point in my exchange where my French life is way more relevant than my American life:

Although this is where Voldemort is beating Harry, it has no significance to my sentiments towards France and the USA!

There are times where I forget that there are people who actually want to know what I’m up to and the only means of communication we have is through my blog. In my defense, it’s quite difficult to blog about the majority of what my life is like here because I can’t take up your time laughing about this one time that this one friend said this one hilarious thing in French even though it might have been a highlight of my exchange. You see? But I will try my best as always.

Since Madge seems to be a favorite I will treat you guys to some fantastic stories. The first, as hinted, involves how Madge was stuck behind a motorbike on our route home. While we were going down the road between Roquebrune and Puget we ended up behind this puttering motorbike that would not move over to the left side so we could pass (he was just enough to the right that we couldn’t pass him, and yes, you had to be there to understand). I mean, honestly, you’re already risking your life by riding a motorbike here, why not follow the code as well. Meanwhile, there was a noteworthy string of cuss words spewing from Madge’s mouth as she tried to get as close to his tire as she could with the front of the bus in order to make him realize how ticked off she was. Luckily I was sitting in the second row that day, all I needed was some popcorn. After about five minutes we turned off to go to the first stop and the motorbike continued on. Just as we were pulling away from the bus stop Madge looked up to find the lever to pull the doors shut. Puttering past us on the road that intersected the road we were on was none other than the motorbike. It’s really too bad that I couldn’t have recorded the groan-swearword mixture of noises that Madge made because it would have been epic movie material.

On our way to the third bus stop there is a sharp turn. Taking into consideration how small the roads here are and the fact that we are in a huge coach bus and not some smart car, I’m amazed this didn’t happen earlier. While making the turn this particular day Madge took it wider than usual causing her to bump into the stop sign. Instead of backing up, which was impossible, she just inched along, budging the sign ever so slightly so that it is now facing the other direction.

My host mom took me skiing a week after I first went skiing in Auron and this time we had the chance to go with my wonderful neighbors! Even though it was glassy, and we ended up skiing down the Alps in a snowstorm I had a great time. I will probably remember falling more than the majority of skiing that I did because it probably looked incredibly weird when I gave up trying to get up and just moaned while doing a starfish down the mountainside. At one point I even got two feet away from falling off the side of the mountain altogether but my poles stuck in the ice behind me and I was able to properly wipeout. And, as usual, I slept almost the entire three-hour drive home.

These are the Alps, baby!

My host parents also took me to see the performance of “Swan Lake” in Marseille! I had the chance to meet a close family friend and see my two host sisters who joined my host mom and I at the performance. It was fantastic. When we exited the theater I couldn’t help but whip out my dance moves for a brief moment just like when I came out of the movie theater after watching “Mission Impossible,” pretending I was a secret agent…

Earlier this month I went hiking to the top of the Rocher de Roquebrune for the second time. The first time I went to see the three crosses was my second day here and it has always held meaning for me.

Me, Malou, Emma, Eléa, and Jim

Ladies and gentlemen, that is the Mediterranean

As for school, I didn’t necessarily have to take the Bac Blanc’s but I wanted to challenge myself and be able to look back and say, “Ha! I did that, just like my classmates.” Each day for a week I had a test in each subject. In total I tested for twelve and a half hours even though I’m in my equivalent of my junior year. My classmates and teachers were astonished that I was doing the tests but I was so proud and determined to complete every single test. I feel bad for whoever has to correct them.

For the past month or so some of my friends planned a surprise party for our friend, Caroline. She is incredibly sweet and patient with me and deserved an amazing eighteenth birthday party. We ended up having a surprise birthday party for her and dressed up as celebrities and movie characters. After dancing until three in the morning, singing, playing Just Dance 4, and presenting Caroline with all sorts of random gifts, we finally went to sleep. It was perfect and I absolutely love my group of friends.

Me as Marilyn Monroe, Clara as Daphne, Caroline as Amy Winehouse, Fiona as Tal, and Amandine as a butterfly (?)

I had the shock of warm weather last Saturday where I ended up in a tank top and a one-arm tan. It’s amazing how the mood changes immediately and the smell of spring is so evident. My host mom had me help her make marmalade before lunch by scrubbing the oranges and cutting them into morsels to be cooked down. I went to my Canadian friend, Tina’s house and came back to find that my host mom wasn’t as happy with her marmalade as usual. Don’t worry, Tina and I got to go to a woman’s house and pick more oranges to try again.

                  This past weekend my host parents, the other American in my town, Emily, and I went to Cannes to meet up with the other exchange students in my district to do a little outing. We honestly didn’t do anything in Cannes but we took a boat to the Island of Sainte-Marguerite (My full French name!) and went to a rather boring museum containing canned goods from the good ol’ 1990’s. We had a nice picnic on the beach with white rocks and the sun warming us up which was one of the highlights. I have always loved to get together with all the other exchange students especially since it’s difficult to see each other. There are so many upcoming rotary events including one where I am going to organize a song or play for us to do as a group for the governor of our district! Bring it on.

                  Before leaving Cannes with Tina’s host family we went to Ladurée, the most famous macaroon mark in France and possibly the world. Note to self, pistachio and chocolate are incredibly delicious macaroon flavors. I spent three days in Cavalaire with Tina and her host family who are wonderful, inviting people. They have three young daughters, meaning that you either had a song from Justin Bieber, the Wanted, Justin Timberlake, Taylor Swift, or One Direction in your head at all times. We painted our nails, slept in until noon (what?! Maggie sleeps in?!), did bumper cars, made my Grandma Goldie’s yummy brownies and burned the tops of them… but it turned out fantastic.

                  Tina has a gracious host club who let her invite me to their rotary dinner on Monday night. We both dressed up and sported our rotary blazers (it was the first time I had worn mine here in France after stepping off the plane six months ago) and made the rounds. I met so many kind people if only for a brief amount of time and I was invited to come back anytime. The future president of Tina’s rotary club sat next to me and said something very profound that I will never forget. He told me that when he traveled frequently he wouldn’t look for the similarities in a person but the differences. You might be thinking, “Well, that’s counter productive in terms of understanding someone else’s culture.” However, he went on to further explain that he would not have been interested in our conversation if we had the same way of life. He tries to find the differences in another person in order to understand and respect their culture and ideology. That is incredibly important to me because it backs up my belief that we do the things we do either because we don’t know any other way and because anything we do or say cannot be taken personally.

Manon, Tina's host sister who went on exchange to New York, Me, and Tina.

This is the rotarian I had an insightful conversation with.

Tina and I after the rotary dinner.

I will leave you with that to think about and I hope to blog at least once more before my class trip to Barcelona.

Bisous,

Maggie