I had never flown without my family before now, and I had never flown internationally. In other words, I was pretty nervous to fly to France! Once I got through customs and found Emalee at the gate, however, my anxiety disappeared. I was excited to begin my journey, and felt better with a friend who felt the same way! The seven-hour flight went smoothly, though I could not fall asleep. Note to self: Do not watch sad movies on planes (I cried, but everyone was asleep so it was fine)!
When we arrived in Paris, Emalee and I had to wait for her luggage. As we were waiting, we saw our host families waving at us through the glass wall! We couldn’t leave baggage claim, but we ran to the wall to say hello! After getting our luggage and grabbing a quick bite to eat, we began the long drive to Angoulême, where we would be living for the next two months. We sang along to the Frozen soundtrack in the car (in English and in French), and within an hour, most of us were asleep. Camille’s parents took pictures of us, but those will not be included in this blog, as they are very embarrassing!
I celebrated New Years with my host family and their wonderful relatives! We played foosball and danced until midnight. Later, we walked around outside and the kids taught me my surroundings in French!
The next week, we spent a lot of time with the whole family, and I learned more about their culture. Camille is 15 years old, and her brother, Gabriel, is 11 years old. Their parents are Marion and Nicolas. They are all so nice and funny – everything we do is a little adventure! The weekend before school started, we went to the city. It was so beautiful! There were huge paintings on the walls of some buildings, and cute shops all over the place! When we have free time at home, we play video games and watch movies together. I learned how to say “loser” in French during our intense matches of Mario Kart!
Lucy Towle