Goodbyes, strikes, and the circus?

Lorna left this past week! It's really amazing what an AFS experience can do. One month brought two people from opposite sides of the world together. By the end I felt like I had known her for years! I knew it would be hard to say goodbye, but I didn't know it would be that hard. It's different now from saying goodbyes in the states. I don't know when I'll ever see Lorna again. It's not that the goodbyes mean any less, or that they're necessarily harder, but it's different than the goodbyes I said six weeks ago.

Lorna and me in Saint Tropez

Since I've arrived in France, there have been four stikes, and this past week there was a blockade at the school gates so I couldn't go to class! The students formed a barrier so no one could get in out out of the school. Apparently this is not unusual, but it was my first time ever seeing something like it! I was shocked and a little bit scared! The whole time I just gazed in amazement, and all of my friends laughed at the stunned look on my face.

"La Révolution"
The blockade

The strikes and blockades are going on because because President Nicolas Sarkozy had raised the minimum age of retirement from 60 to 62 and the age to get a full pension from 65 to 67. This means that the government won't have to spend as much pensions because there will be more people who are forced to retire before the cutoff because of health or layoff. Not only are the teachers in uproar over these pension cuts though, the waste management services are also on strike. This creates the problem of an excess of trash all over the city. Everyone's trash bins are full to the brim!

When there are organized strikes, not just blockades, the public transportation goes on strike as well. On days of strike, you can expect to not get anywhere you want to go on time, by bus or by car! Everyone who has a car takes it instead of using the public transportation, and the busses and metros don't come as ofter, or even don't come at all!

Last week I attended a dinner party at the Consulate General of the United States of America for the South of France. It was very posh, but I got to eat a lot of good (familiar, American) food, and talk to some really interesting people. Most of the people there were teachers who came from the US to teach in France for some extended period of time with a program called the Franco-American Educational Exchange Network. They were all very interested to find that I was only sixteen and that I would be here for "a whole year?!"

The house of the Consulate General is the most amazing house in Marseille. It's on top of the cliffs overlooking the sea. I think I'm going to be the next Consulate General, even if it's just to live there.

Lorna and me at the dinner party with the view from the balcony in the background.

On Thursday I had the chance to go to the circus! It was like no other circus I've been to! It was more like a circus for adults. There was more sophisticated humor than other circuses I've been to. It's truly amazing what some people can do with their bodies. I planned on taking a whole bunch of pictures, but it was forbidden!

Today a friend and I went to my first movie at a theater in France! We saw "Moi, Moche et Méchant" which in English is Despicable Me! It just came to theaters this week in France, where as in the US it was released in July! It's the same with a lot of things here, especially music. Songs that were released at the beginning of the summer in the US are just starting to become popular here.

The movie theater was amazing! The seats were gigantic and so comfy! It was an enjoyable experience, and a bonus: I understood a lot!

Week by week life in France is becoming easier and easier. The language is coming, and I'm making friends, and I'm finally settling into a steady routine. School is still difficult, but I'm understanding more and more so it's more enjoyable now. It's really amazing how much my French has improved in just six weeks, but it's also quite scary how much more I have to learn. But day by day, week by week, it gets better. :)

I've also added a new link so you can view all of the photo's that I can't fit into my blog! Check out my flickr :).

Un Mois Aujourd'hui!

This weekend Nicole, Gregory and I went to Nicole's brother-in-law's daughter's wedding in Lyon. It wasn't just an ordinary wedding though, it was an Armenian wedding. It was really interesting for me to see the different Armenian traditions because of my Armenian roots. When I was invited to go to the wedding, I though "Oh wonderful! a fun evening with some good food and interestion traditions, however French weddings are extremely different from their American counterparts. In France, you're not allowed to have your wedding in the church until you've had the ceremony in the city hall, so the ceremony started at the city hall at 3pm. The crowd gathered in a room at the city hall to watch the mariage be legalized. From there, the whole crowd went to the Armenian Church for the religious ceremony. The whole thing was in Armenian, so I didn't understand a single bit (not that I would have understood much if it was in French either) but it was still incredibly interesting. There wasn't any "I do's" (that was done at the city hall), but the preist had the bride and groom put their foreheads together while he blessed them, and he had the best man, maid of honor, bride and groom all drink some wine. After some Gregorian songs from the church choir, some more blessings from the preist (in Armenian) they were married! They didn't even kiss!

And the festivities began! The reception is where the differences between French and American mariages come out. It started around 7pm and everyone gathered for some pictures. After pictures it was about an hour and a half to two hours of mingling, socializing, eating hors d'oeuvres, and drinking champagne. Once people started moving inside, the band started up, and started up and people began to dance. It wasn't until just short of midnight when dinner was served. There were four courses, and in between each course was more dancing and socializing. There were some familiar songs, but a lot of them were Armenian songs. The dancing was so different! There were some songs that I knew very well, but the DJ put an Armenian twist to them, so it was really interesting to hear these songs I had heard so many times with a Middle Eastern rhythm, and dancing to go along with it.

Cake was served at about 1:30am, and instead of one big white wedding cake with the bride and groom at the top, there were many different cakes and pastries for the guests to choose from. We ended up leaving around 2:45am. It was definitely an interesting experience, but I can definitely say that I was ready for a nice long sleep.

It's been a month today since I arrived in Marseille. I cant believe it's been a whole month already, it's gone by so fast! But at the same time, it seems like it's been so much longer than just one month. That may not make any sense, but maybe it's an exchange student thing. 

When I think back to where I was a month ago, I was sitting in this exact spot thinking on my bed "What am I doing here?" I had gotten home from the train station, been given the tour of the house, eaten dinner, and was thoroughly overwhelmed by all of the French. Now, I'm sitting on my bed thinking that maybe I'll actually make it through this year. There have definitely been some times in the past four weeks where I thought I wouldn't survive. My French is getting better, classes are not necessarily going easier but I've accepted the fact that they're not going to be easy and until the language comes, classes aren't going to come. I've also (re)discovered that there's a solution to every problem. It's not necessarily that I forgot this small bit of very valuable information that someone very smart once told me, but I've definitely been saying that a lot. When things get too overwhelming, I just have to step back and see what the solution is, because theres always a solution. 

Bonjour mes amis and ma famille!

Hi everyone! I have so much to update on and so much to comment on, so I'll start with the updates. 


Lorna, the AFS teacher from New Zealand is so nice! It's nice to have someone to escape to and speak English with when things get overwhelming. It's going to be really hard when she leaves! We've been to le Vieux Port (the Old Port) a couple times. There we shopped 'til we dropped! Then we got some (very good) French food, and shopped some more. It's great to have a companion in the house to go out with. 


On my first weekend in Marseille, Lorna, Nicole and I went to Saint Tropez! It's about 120 km from Marseille and it's absolutely gorgeous. Nicole grew up in there, and her family has a very long history there. One of her relatives was the mayor, and her family helped build most of the houses and resorts for the rich. Saint Tropez it the place to be and to be seen for the celebrities! It was so amazing to get to go there, and to see all of the sights. There was so much to do! The first day, we went to Nicole's aunt's house. The view from the house was breathtaking. It looked out over their vineyard and out to the coast of southern France. We spent a while picking (and eating) grapes from the vineyard. They were the best grapes I'd ever had. After that we spent the rest of the day lounging by the pool. It was divine. That evening, Lorna and I wandered around town and got some chocolate chaud. 


The next morning, Nicole took us to one of her favorite beaches. It was really amazing. The weather is ideal, and it was so relaxing. The main difference from the beaches in the US, though, was that most women sunbathe topless...I, however, did not conform. I had to be careful what I took pictures of though! After going to the beach, we went back to Nicole's Aunt's house and lounged by the pool for a while. Once we had had our fill of lounging, Nicole, Lorna and I picked figs from the many trees in the garden. Not only did we have "beaucoup de rasin, mais beaucoup de figues aussi!"


Following fig picking, Lorna and I did some shopping in town. It was mostly window shopping because most of the stores were way out of our price range (i.e. Dolce and Gabbana, Christian Dior, Gucci, etc.) but we did manage to find some reasonably priced clothes. :)


This past Wednesday, I started tennis lessons! It's great to be active again. They all called me "the American" and I think that they were entertained every time I tried to talk. On Monday, I started yoga. It's great for me to de-stress, especially since Monday is the hardest day of the week for me. 


For my second weekend, Nicole brought us to a party for a PACS. In France, a PACS is an alternative to mariage. It is open to both homosexual and heterosexual couples, is much less binding than a marriage, but it's legal and recognized by the government. It was interesting, but most of the time I couldn't understand anything that anyone said, so I just enjoyed the amazing cheese and desserts. 


The food here is amazing! I have never eaten so much bread, cheese and meat, and drank so much wine as I have here! Maybe it's just that I don't eat a lot of meat at home, but we have some type of meat every lunch and dinner! It's crazy! So far, I've had duck, lamb, chicken, tons of different types of fish, and steak! The bread in France is the best. No matter where it's from, no matter when you have it (which is every meal), it's amazing. I see people walking around with baguettes under their arms all of the time. It's classic French. 


Meals in France are not just for eating. They're a social event as well. We eat at 8 in the evening for dinner, and often we're not done until after 9! Meals are served in courses, so first, we'll have appetizers or some type of cold meat. Next we'll have either salad or the main course. After that you have cheese and then you have fruit/yogurt/desert. I have trouble remembering that theres more after the main couse, so I always fill myself up on that and I don't have room for the amazing cheese. 


Every night with dinner we have wine. It's not just any wine though, it's wine made with the grapes picked at Nicole's Aunt's vineyard in Saint Tropez! Drinking alcohol here is not a big deal. I think that because the drinking age is 16, teenagers don't feel the need to abuse alcohol like some do in the US. 


Classes are extremely hard here. Yes, I am taking most of them in a different language, but they're hard for the students who speak french fluently as well! There is always so much homework. Every night, for at least three hours, I work on school work. The point of school is not to provide opportunities for learning as well as extracurriculars such as sports, music, key club, student senate, etc. like in the US, but to teach the students enough for them to pass le Bac. Short for le Baccalauréat, le Bac is a little like the SAT's in the US. It's like a diploma that you need in order to go to university. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baccalauréat) So, at school there are no extracurricular activities, just learning. 


I am taking Premiere S 3. Premiere is the equivalent of being a junior in the US. S means I am in the science track, and I am in the third group of the science track. This track is the most difficult of the three tracks generally offered in french lycées. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secondary_education_in_France for a further (and better) explanation of the secondary education in France.) 


Because I am in the most difficult class, I have a very full and heavy schedule. On Mondays, I am in school until 5. Tuesdays, until 6. Wednesdays I get out at noon, Thursdays I get out at four. On Fridays (for now) I get out at 2, but that's going to change in October, and I'll get out at four. Saturdays, for now, I get out at 10, but in October I'll start getting out at noon. I start school at 8 every morning except for Thursdays. In general, I have two hours off for lunch, but even with the break in the middle the days are incredibly long! I find myself getting excited over ending at 2, when that's when I would end school in the US every day! I think that I would prefer not having as long of a lunch break, and getting out earlier, but it's all part of the French experience!


The uniformity in school is ridiculous. Everyone takes notes, underlines, highlights, and writes, in the exact same way. It's crazy! Every time I go to write something, I'm afraid that I'm going to do it wrong.


There are good things about the school system here though! They give you so much freedom here. If you don't have a class, you don't have to be in school. Durring breaks, you're allowed to go outside of the school grounds. Many of the kids will go out for a smoke durring break. If your teacher isn't there for class, there is no substitute teacher, you just don't have class. I've had a couple times where the teacher wasn't there and I got to go home early. 


I've made so many friends! School is not only bearable, but fun with them. A lot of people speak English pretty well, so when I don't understand something or I can't make myself clear, there's always someone who can help me out. 


Beaucoup de Bisous! There are so many kisses! When I see someone I know, instead of waving to them and saying "Hi!", or giving them a hug, I have  to kiss them on each cheek! Before class in the morning it's just a long line of kisses! Everyone does it. girls with girls, girls with boy, and boys with boys. It's not awkward or weird, it's just the way things are here. 


It's really hard to remember that when I'm talking to elders, teachers or people that I don't know very well I have to address them formally and use the "Vous" form of the verb and not the "Tu" form. In English we don't have anything like it, so it's really hard to get used to.


I promise that more is on it's way! :)