Bonne fin du monde!

Another blog entry so soon!?

I couldn't help it. December 21, 2012 was just such a good day for me, I want to write all about it.

"Have a good end-of-the-world! But Merry Christmas anyway."

I guess I could start last night. I was chatting with Natalia in Poland, and we were talking about Christmas. She linked me to Polish Christmas music on YouTube, and because I am a sucker for the joyful melodies of Christmas music, I was happy to listen to this one over and over again. Let's ignore the fact that I have no idea what the song is about (other than Christmas). It just sounds so wonderful!

Also, speaking of Christmas music, I can't stop listening to this song by MIKA, the singer I mentioned really liking in another entry. It makes me love the French language so much. (Like I didn't already love it immensely to begin with?)

As most people already know, there was that alleged prophecy about the world ending today. People in France know all about it too, but they look at it in jest. We laughed about it all day, occasionally bringing up that we would all die tonight or that the world would end. Well, I first heard about this date about five years ago, and I wondered, "What am I going to be doing on that day?"
Well, I never would have fathomed that I would be doing what I did on this day.

First of all, I gave a PowerPoint presentation on the life I have lived in the Philippines and the USA, which means I spoke French for 30 minutes straight (with an interlude of singing in Tagalog in between), and then had a 20 minute Q & A with the students in the class of Première ES2. I didn't know most of these kids, but they really asked a lot of questions and enjoyed my presentation (hopefully) as much as I enjoyed giving it. One part that made them laugh was when I said, "I LOVE big cities... and here I am in Parthenay." Nevertheless, I love my life here, and I don't have any regrets or worries.

Furthermore, I had brought with me various bracelets, keychains, and knickknacks with me to give out as gifts on my exchange. Because I need to get rid of them, I brought them to school with me and passed the Ziploc bag of them to my friends telling them to choose what they wanted. They were all delighted, calling me "trop mignonne!" I was very happy to see that they liked the petits cadeaux!

I gave this cell phone strap made in Korea to Noémie because she loves Asian culture

My friends Cléophée, Kelly, and Anaïs each took a bracelet!

I gave out more than that. Everyone was happy with what they got, and I was especially happy because now I only have few left out to give that I'll probably give out as blazer accessories to Rotary exchange students.

Speaking of my blazer, look at it now!

I would loooove to talk about certain things hanging on it (many of them have a story, in particular the keychain and bears you see hanging on the right sleeve), but for now I will talk about the pin that says, "I <3 MSF."
This week, the school was selling pastries during the morning break to benefit the organization Médecins Sans Frontières. Because it is one of my life goals to be a volunteer surgeon in an organization like that, I was happy to buy a brownie for 50 cents. Then I saw the kids manning the booth with these pins, and I just thought, "I need one of those on my blazer." I asked the particularly cute guy behind the pastry table how I could get one, and he told me that everyone who donates gets one. I scooped up the annoying coins that had accumulated in my wallet (seriously, I am getting pretty tired of the little 1 and 2 cent coins) and dumped them in the donations box, gaining a pin in return! It was such a win win situation; I got rid of those coins, they are going to an organization I care about, a fact that I can proudly display evidence of on my blazer (with ever-accumulating pins).

Before lunch, one of the various performances happening in the main entryway of the school was a guy playing the didgeridoo. Not entirely sure why. I haven't even heard a didgeridoo being played since I was in Australia 6 years ago, and I never thought that the next time I would hear it would be in a French high school on the day the world was supposed to end. I just love what random little occurrences life throws at me sometimes.

Next was something I'm not going to easily forget: the Christmas lunch. I don't know if I have already brought up how relatively fancy our school lunches are, but today it was especially fancy. I mean, look at this!

This doesn't even show the smoked salmon and foie gras that came as an appetizer option. (I didn't take any because this was already more than enough)

A nice full table of friends

By the way, what looks like an unassuming steak in the picture is actually kangaroo.

That's right, folks, kangaroo.

I have never eaten it before, and I didn't know it was kangaroo until I was about halfway done with it, but I found it tasty anyway. 

Within the space of an hour, I heard a didgeridoo and ate kangaroo meat.

I love Australia France!

Later, I spent the afternoon with other musically inclined students of the high school jamming out on guitars/ukuleles, singing different songs with the group. 

Tonight, I went with my host parents to the church in Parthenay to rehearse with the choir (all old people except for my brother Paul and me) for the Christmas mass. Although I was tired and my feet were freezing, the atmosphere was quite magnificent. The church is almost 1000 years old, and I was singing the old classic Christmas songs like Angels We Have Heard On High and O Come All Ye Faithful - their French versions. I found the lyrics to be very beautiful, and I love how the Christmas spirit can translate itself in any language, with melodies that are well-known throughout the ages and distances.

For real, now, I hope you all have a marvelous Christmas wherever in the world you may be.
I am loving France so much right now I can barely handle it.

Obligatory Post on the 19th: December

I had been anticipating writing this entry just because it gives me an excuse to think about the weekend I just had!
First of all, upon seeing me again, many of my comrades complimented my outfit by saying, "You look so French!" Needless to say, I was super satisfied with it; I wish I could dress that way everyday, but my wardrobe won't allow for it and neither will my commute to school (on bike, forcing me to wear jeans and flats every day... yikes). This was the first time I wore my red beret out in public here in France, and that vintage cape too. I have actually owned it since 8th grade but never got around to wearing it until this weekend. It really paid off.

Also, I bought that purse at Parthenay's Wednesday flea market.

District 1510's sister district is District 1650, the Bretagne region of France. Our Rotary weekend on December 15 and 16 was to the capital of the region, a city called Rennes. We met up with the District 1650 Rotary Exchange Students there.

Exchange students of 1510 and 1650

On Saturday after lunch, we went to the ice skating rink. When I learned that we would be doing that this weekend, I groaned; I avoided ice skating whenever I was invited to do it because, quite frankly, I suck at it and consequently possessed a hatred for it. However, after getting over the initial fear of slipping and falling, I was able to gain more confidence, enough to skate in tandem with my friends. The company definitely made it more fun than I expected, and I ended up really enjoying myself to the point that yes, I would do it again!

Aarohi from India, one of my best inbound friends!

Betty and I at the rink

After the ice skating rink, we got about two hours of free time to roam the city. There was a Christmas market where I bought a pretty pocket watch that went splendidly with my outfit. In the future, when people  ask where I got it, I will just nonchalantly reply, "Oh, a Christmas market in France."

This elegant little trinket also goes well with my house

Like the big cities here in France are, Rennes was absolutely gorgeous! Check out these photos that I took during my promenade with friends. 

From left to right: Andy from USA (my fellow Asian-American), Vivi from Brazil, Corrine from the Philippines,  Sanjhiv from India, Aarohi from India, me, Maya from USA, Betty, and Shivani from India

Marché de Noël

Streets of Rennes

The city at dusk getting ready to light up!

Rennes by night

Vivi, Betty, Joey from Canada, Maya, Brooke, me, and Aarohi. You only live once!

No outing with friends is complete without going to a café! Here I am with Aarohi, Andy, Vivi, and Corrine.

Later that night, the kids of District 1510 put on a show for the kids of District 1650. While it wasn't as big of a deal as the 2-hour talent show of 5100's District Conference, we put an effort into it nonetheless. I was in two acts. In one, I sang a song in Tagalog called Pag-Ibig, with Corrine and played the ukulele. In the other, I sang a duet with Joe the Australian, me on the ukulele and him on the guitar. The song was called, "What are you doing New Year's Eve?" 

We wore Philippine clothing too!

I am really a fan of our French stereotype outfits.

Then on Sunday, we had a lot of free time to hang out with each other and take pictures. We left shortly after lunch. I had been waiting for that weekend for two months, and there it was, gone in a flash. It almost felt like a dream. But I have all these wonderful pictures as well as memories to laugh about with my fellow exchange students (who I already miss a lot). Even though the next weekend (end of March in PARIS) is very far away, it'll be here so soon it will seem like I didn't have to wait.
For now, Merry Christmas to all, and may you have a glorious New Year! 

Of literature, letters, and my lack de l'argent

I am feeling rather guilty now that I haven't posted anything for the beginning of December. I've just been so busy with the official arrival of the Christmas season as well as my recent changing of families this past weekend of the 8th and 9th. 

But instead of throwing a pity party and inviting all of my readers to come to this event acknowledging the lack of a recent blog entry, I chose, instead, to write a blog entry.
Just to show everyone that I am still alive, and I am thinking of everyone, with all the other things and people I am already thinking about.
Take this gift I gave my first host family, for example. Because I have no money to buy them an expensive bottle of fancy wine or anything of the sort, I chose instead to buy a picture frame (only 8 euros thankyouverymuch) and frame this drawing I did of them and me. I do believe they like it. It was displayed in the living room on the fireplace last I saw it.

Anyway! In case you didn't already know, most kids who do Rotary exchange get multiple host families. Here in France, the normal number is three, but I only have two. I stayed with the Edwiges from September 1st to December 8th, and now here I am at the Courroux' after having packed up all my stuff on Saturday, and unpacking it again in my new house down the street.

I am sorry if the amount of bags I ended up filling bothers you, mom. 

It has been mentioned in previous entries that I am a city girl, and here I am placed in a town situated so isolated in the countryside that no trains run through it. Well another thing to know about me is that one day I dream of living in a modern house, and here I am living in a house that was built in the 1800s. I am not even joking. That is what my host mom told me.
HOW COOL IS THAT?

peering down from the top

It has three floors, and my room is located within another room on the third floor. The room that leads to my room is unoccupied, so essentially the third floor is my corner of the house. I could easily fit 5 people comfortably for a sleepover one of these days. It also has a guitar that used to belong to one of my older host sisters, so I figure I might as well teach myself a tune here and there while I have it at my disposal.

the landing between the second and third floors

All over the place are shelves and shelves of books. A lot of old books, too; for some reason my family has a collection of Montaigne's essays written in 1625. That's a big deal. I HAVE TOUCHED THIS BOOK.
Along with the books, there is the old furniture. My grandma's room has this 200-year-old armoire hand carved in the Normandy region of France, as well as this book shelf from the 1920s that her father used to mark the height growth of her and her siblings (the marks still being there, of course).
Then there is the piano room, which I absolutely adore. For one thing, there is the piano; for another, it reminds me of my piano teacher in Oregon's house, and of course it has all the shelves of old books too. And the sheet music. I am learning a polonaise using sheet music that's about a hundred years old. There is also this old writing desk, among various other antique-like decor.

with Christmas flair!

the piano room (though the piano can't be seen)

the writing desk

this bookshelf goes from floor to ceiling

I live in a bookworm's paradise

one of the smaller bookshelves

Another thing one can find all over the house are old pictures of family members. They're just so fascinating, I don't even know what to say about them other than that. Needless to say, I am going to have a splendid 7 months here. And in that time I probably won't even discover all the knowledge and secrets and mysteries and ooh-romanticism that this house has to offer.
So what did I do my first weekend here?
Okay you probably weren't asking yourself that question, and I just posed it rhetorically assuming you would be interested to know. If you are, great, if you aren't, je m'en fiche.
Christmas is my favorite time of the year, and it just makes me so happy with all the festivities and celebration and joyful atmosphere. I have not felt homesick spending Christmas here, which is unusual. Perhaps it's because I have already spent Christmas away from where I spent it as a child. Perhaps it's because I can't believe I am spending Christmas in magnificent Europe, and everything just has this glow to it. Either way, who knows when I'll get a Christmas like this again? A Christmas in France! I am not letting feelings of homesickness spoil the wonder this season brings.
One thing that has kept me occupied is the writing of Christmas letters to friends around the world. Like I mentioned earlier, I am too poor to buy those pretty Christmas cards at the store, so instead I just cut out envelope-sized pieces of drawing paper and customized each card depending on its recipient. I had heaps of fun doing it. Here are some samples...

"Merry Christmas from France to India," with a letter for Shank written in the back

Merry Christmas in French, Romanian, and Arabic, going to my Romanian friend Adela and Egyptian friend Klare! 

I got lazy with trying to figure out a drawing design so I just cut out letters on wrapping paper (this is going to my counselor in the Tualatin Rotary Club, Barbara)

There are 7 more that I intend to send, and no two are exactly alike. (Okay, except the other Christmas paper card going to Steve my country officer, but instead of "JOYEUX NOEL" it says, "Joyeux Noel!" Yeah, there is totally a difference.)
By the way, did you know that December 5th was my 100th day in France?
By the way, did you know that I have my next Rotary weekend this weekend and I can barely stand the wait?
I'll have so much to say about it on the 19th. Until then!

The end of the beginning.

I had been told prior to parting that the first three months, the beginning, are the hardest part of exchange.
Judging by everything I've felt and gone through these first three months, I can conclude that this statement is as true as the fact that French cheese is the best in the world.
Know what that means?
Since today, November 28, the beginning of this journey, for all the exchange students who arrived on August 28 in Paris, is over.
Nous y sommes arrivés. We made it.
I'm not only proud of myself, I am proud of my fellow exchange students. The nice thing about France is that we all celebrate the three month anniversary together, having had to arrive together as well. So if you're an exchange student in France like me, congratulations!!
From this point on, I only have more excitement to look forward to. I can also breathe a sigh of relief knowing that the eye of the storm has passed.
Anyway, here's a brief update. These are noteworthy things I have done that you might find interesting.
I didn't mention this on the entry on the 19th because I had other things to say, but on November 17 (I keep a daily journal), I ate frog legs for the first time. My host mom cooked them a particular way with lots of seasoning and garlic, and while I couldn't believe what I was putting in my mouth, they were actually pretty tasty.

Speaking of weird food, an option in my school lunch yesterday was something called rognons de porc. Because I thought it looked tasty, I had some. I almost regretted it afterwards considering how weird the texture of the meat I was eating was. I learned later that I had eaten pork kidneys. Ohhh... well, the cream puff that was offered for dessert washed them down properly!
As of yesterday, all the members of my family in Oregon are officially United States citizens.
I don't know if you knew, but I'm an immigrant from the Philippines who came to the USA in 2007. To become a citizen, you must live in the country as permanent residents for five years. We hit the five-year mark a month before I left for France, and the official process went by quickly. My parents took the test and the oath, and now I can finally proudly (and legally) call myself an American citizen.

Here's a picture of the flag I took last time I was in San Francisco.
Because becoming a US citizen while living in the USA, is too mainstream. ;)
On Friday the 23rd, the Banque Alimentaire (France's food pantry) was holding a collection event at the local supermarket. Members of the Rotary Club of Parthenay served as volunteers organizing the products and greeting customers, and my school's outbound Matthieu and I helped out as well.

It felt really good to be helping out listening to the Christmas music playing in the background! I just can't wait for the holiday season to arrive, it's my favorite.
I'm going to speak a bit about my progress in school now mainly because I know my grandma would like to hear it. So if you don't feel like reading tedious stuff about grades, go ahead and stop reading here, I don't blame you. Till the next time!
If you're going to continue reading like I know my grandma is, here is a photo of my notebook for my economics and social sciences class.

If taking notes like this for 6 hours a week isn't going to make me fluent in writing French, I don't know what is.
At this point, I have experienced getting higher scores than the average class score on certain tests. While it doesn't happen often, it happens nonetheless. Like on the last social sciences test we took (we had to analyze documents and rely on our knowledge to compose this synthesis paper in two hours, in FRENCH may I add), I got a 12,5 when the class average was an 11,4. I don't really know how. It must have been a fluke. So yeah this is what it looked like.

And on the last math test, I got a 14,5 when the class average was approximately 8.
That's all I feel like saying for now. A la prochaine fois!

Obligatory Post on the 19th: November

Well, for the 6th time, it's come to this point.
Sorry to have to bring war into a blog entry again, but the two world wars are kind of a big deal in France. I learned recently that every little commune in France has a memorial dedicated to its locals who died in the wars the country took part in. I must say though, learning about these wars in Europe brings an almost entirely new perspective into them, particularly with the existence of these monuments as physical proof of the wars' existence.
Anyway, in history class, the professor handed us photocopies of five letters. The story she told us was that her sister purchased a house somewhere in this department of France (Deux-Sèvres), and there was a lot of stuff that needed to be cleaned up. While organizing it, they found a box. They opened a box, and lo and behold, there lay five well-preserved yet delicate letters sent by a soldier in 1914.
I believe they also found his death certificate, because she passed around a copy of it for us to see.
When it reached my two friends and me, we saw that the last name was whited out, and what was left were his first and middle names: Firmin Julien. (Firmin, pronounced Feehr-mah, is an unusual name, none of us had heard it before.)
We couldn't help but be curious. After all, we had just read letters in his near-indecipherable handwriting, a rather cryptic activity. We wanted to know more.
We spent the first half of our research period embarking on a quest, scouring the internet to obtain more information on Monsieur Firmin. The beginning (like all real beginnings, I have learned) was frustrating; nothing in genealogy files turned up, nor were there any clear enough pictures of war memorials clear enough for us to be able to read the names. However, with enough persistence, we stumbled upon his full name (squealing at the discovery) in a list that included: date of birth, name, regiment, date of death, and place of death. One particularly chilling aspect to this incident is an excerpt of the last letter he wrote on October 13, 1914 that says: Il faut espérer que plus tard on se verra tous réunis, a sentence that translates to, "We must hope that later, we will see each other all reunited." Exactly two weeks later, he was killed in Belgium.
I dedicate this part of the entry to Firmin Julien Nambot (pronounced Nahm-bo), a brave man who died for his country.
This got me to thinking, sure, we know the names of the great war heroes; however, it's the ordinary people whose names are difficult to find on the internet, who come from obscure little villages, and who left initially mundane pieces of concrete evidence that somehow survived, that make the atrocity of war feel even more real.
On a less grave note, Thanksgiving is on Thursday! Here, I'd like to put some "thank you"s out there to certain things/people in this world I just can't thank enough.

Yes, I totally did just use the logo of "Merci" chocolate.
First and foremost, I would like to thank Rotary International.

Not only do they do humanitarian work around the world in order to alleviate some of the real problems in this world, they are also affiliated with something else equally important: the youth exchange program. Rotary clubs all over the world sponsor and host exchange students every year, opening minds and giving certain crazy teenagers the best, most eye-opening experience they could live through in their youth. This experience will affect us the rest of our lives. And as we grow up, I know that in the future, we will maintain the multi-national friendships we have made, thus helping to ensure peace among nations. After all, the only race that matters is the human race. Thank you, Rotary, for this opportunity, and for continuing to have done it for years and years. Despite my being a cynic, I believe that hope is one thing that should never cease to exist, and what Rotary gives me is immense hope for the future.
Next, I would like to thank RDS and SNCF.

Let me explain what these initials stand for. "RDS" stands for "Réseau des Deux-Sèvres (Network of the Deux-Sèvres)" and "SNCF" stands for "Société Nationale des Chemins de fer Français (French National Railways)". In all honesty, I get rather lonely sometimes without another Rotary kid in my town, and I have this perpetual wanderlust that occupies my being, so what better excuse to gallivant around the country than to see what other cities my friends are spending their exchanges in? RDS and SNCF make this possible. Public transportation here is so efficient and easy. I really do enjoy it.
As much as I would think my life would be better without them, I would like to thank all those awkward, lonely, isolated, disappointing, difficult moments that turn up more often than I would wish.
It's moments like those that make happiness even sweeter, and it's moments like those that help me learn more about myself and come up with all these epiphanies about this insane experience that serve as lessons for the rest of my life. And besides, in the words of a certain wise man...

Onwards to people.
I've already given special mention to my Rotary friends, host family, and school friends, so I'll save this one for my real family, who I love very much.
First of all, thank you to my younger sister Cara.

Even though we wouldn't always get along, and even though you can be hard to tolerate, you were an important, excuse me, ARE an important part of my life. Thank you for constantly critiquing the clothes I used to wear (I really did wear atrocious clothes before) and for helping me develop a France-worthy sense of style. Thank you for bothering and teasing me, because it has taught me patience and tolerance. Thanks for being eccentric and completely different from me and looks and personality, to show how diversity not only brings more liveliness into a family, but into the world as well. I know I have been rather hard to put up with to you, so I hope you're enjoying this well-deserved ten month long break from my presence ;)
Next, I'd like to give a special mention to my grandma.

Yes, this is my grandma, and also one of my idols! (The other one is Alexander the Great) Let me explain why. My grandma is very kind and caring, but she also knows how to be assertive and speak her mind. Like me, it was one of her dreams to be a doctor, and she had accomplished it. She now lives an active retirement full of cruises, traveling, and spoiling her grandkids. (Hahaha...) It is one of my goals to turn out just like her-a successful doctor who gets to travel a lot. Thank you, Lola Day! Thanks for sponsoring the trips I take here, and for always having supported me since I was born.
Last, but most certainly not the least, thank you to my parents.

I can't fathom what it must have been like for you, raising an ambitious, dramatic, go-getting, deep-thinking girl like me. It must have been a challenge to say the least. But you have never ceased to care for me as your daughter, no matter what kind of foolishness I have gotten into in my life. The reason I am who I am today is because of how you brought me up; I am glad for my childhood full of music, reading, and other such Renaissance-y experiences.
Anyway, thank you very, VERY much for allowing me to go off and live one of my dreams. Not any set of parents can do that. You guys are just as brave as me, if not braver. After having looked after me and having me in your household for all of my life, suddenly just letting me whisk myself off across the Atlantic to a continent I've never lived in before? WHAT IS THIS MADNESS. However, I hope you both realize how happy I am to have you as parents and have you support me in everything I choose to do. Because without that, I wouldn't be as accomplished as I am now. I know that because you will always be there for me, my future is brighter than I can imagine.
Maraming na maraming salamat!
Before I conclude this entry, I was at my second host family's house to play the piano, and I asked my host dad if he could find me a nice warm winter hat that I could use.
He presented several hats, one of which was a red beret.
I squealed with delight! I had left my notorious red beret back in Oregon, and I hoped to eventually find one here and buy it, but this came as a surprise.
I don't think I'll wear it to school, but I'm glad to have one again...

The beret is back in business, baby.