Summary of the last month

Been in France for 7 weeks now!! :)
Haven't been homesick yet-only time i got upset was when i died my hair and it tuned a gross red color-but that is sorta fixed now!! Been to Paris and Mont St. Michelle (Normandy) for Rotary weekends!! Also been to Orleans and Tour! There is also a picture of a fashion show i went to the other night with friends!! (my first one) Just switched from my first host Family the other day! One more week of school till Holidays! Cant wait!! I think i'm going to Paris Disney World :D Sooo all that has been going on these last few weeks is a bunch of strikes! There very entertaining! A lot of people in my class are skipping school to strike at other school! Some days when my teachers go on strike i will only have like an hour of school that day!! The organized ones in the street are completely harmless but the ones at school.. sometimes they wont let us out of the school..some people tell me that the police have had to use tazers and tear gas-but i haven't seen any of this yet! I don't know it looks sorta bad when i watch the news in France! There trying to just get the presidents attention -well thats what someone told me anyways!I have been meaning to get pictures of the strikes-ill do that this week!! Life is going so great-my French is progressing!! Loving school everyone is so nice-my day consists of kissing everyone on the cheeks, having a little conversation, and then kissing them all good bye! Its a huge school-so this take all day!! :)

Been in France for more than a week now! Its really great! Started school-its a big school like 1000 people. School is a lot longer from like 8:15ish to 5:30. On wednesdays and Saturdays we have half days. I know right SATURDAY SCHOOL!! People are nice there I have made friends! Went to the carnival de Loire the last two days! its really great a huge festival! The first picture is of Montargis! My cute town! The next ones are from the Carnival! Things are very different here. Yesterday i only had 1 hr of school because all my other teachers were on strike! Crazy huh?? They just dont show up and they dont have substitute teachers! Having a grand time!

Bonjour!

I just arrived in France yesterday! I live in a very cute town! When I got here we started eating and i have not stopped since! :) I went to a Rotary meeting last night. It was fun and I met a lot of people. French people love to kiss me on the cheek! hah its going to take some getting use to! hah I have eaten different foods almost all i have never seen before! I think i ate liver last nigh! haha i just didn't ask witch one was the liver! I went shopping today w Pauleen in Montargis city! I am tying to learn French and it is god for me to hangout w her because her English isn't fluent so we can both learn from each other! I start school i a week i think and I need to choose a sport so i don't get fat from all this food! :) I feel mean and disrespectful if i don't eat everything, but we eat meal after meal after meal and i never have time to even get hungary! hah Oh well..I got a bus pass today! It is fun here but different! like in my room i have to bend over in some places b/c the ceiling is low. . The first day when the car ran out of gas and we were waiting on Linda to get us more. There were bathrooms where the car stopped, and I went in and all there was was just a hole in the ground-i could not use it! hah everything is funny and different!

Rotary Meeting

Today I went to my first Rotary meeting! It was fun to see all the Rotarians that interviewed me & the others that I met through Rotary events! I also met two girls from Rwanda today there! The scary thing was that I made a speech and speeches make me so so nervous!! I just told about myself & where i am going & thanked Rotary for this opportunity!! Im not sure how many people that i spoke to but i think at least 300! Thats a lot compared to my 5 people class Toastmasters. So busy-only have a week left in the United States! People today were saying how I must be already packed-i just smiled because i just received my visa and passport in the mail the other day and haven't even thought about packing yet!! I have a large to do list going! Cant wait to be with my first host family Im so excited about meeting them in person! I also need to practice my French! I have been listening to French music if that counts-and watched a movie in French! :)

22 days!

Student Visa..etc

Hey there,

Went to Houston yesterday to get my student visa. It was exciting my first time to fly by myself! I figured it all out and had a fun time. I was super nervous that I wasn't going to have all the correct paperwork & they weren't going to let me have it. Well i did forget one thing, but I can fax it to them! This has been an ordeal. The first time i made my visa appointment i accidentally made it in Toronto, Canada--my bad! Yeah we were stressing out trying to get all the paperwork together about to drive 7 hr to Houston then i learned i didn't have an appointment there…bummer! Stressed about where to go to collage and career stuff…

Now i'm sitting waiting on the locksmith guys to get my keys out of my car..today hasn't be exactly wonderful! Rode bikes this morning-it rained, but it was fun! Excited & Nervous to France! Eating Indian food for the fist time today with friends--hope its good! 46 days till i leave!

Ok goodbye now!

Darn! the locksmith guys still arnt here!

First Post

Hey There,

Im Rachel and I am going to be writing about my year as an exchange student in France. I leave in two months and am pretty nervous and excited. Nervous because I have never taken french in school and excited because I love traveling! I am a student in Arkansas in The United States, so a year in France is going to be an eye opener to the world! Ill try to remember to keep posting!

Rachel