It is kind of funny that I am writing of my last vacation while I am on vacation now, but here it goes. Well I had about a week and a half at the end of October to the beginning of November. Here they celebrate All Saints Day because France is very Catholic therefor they create a fall vacation. It was a good break from the craziness of school, plus it brought more chances to have some pretty cool adventures. Many thanks for Rotarians and my own host family and many friends. The break started off with a weekend with a Rotarians and her family which was the best. I got to go to a rugby match with her son and his friends, and afterward met up with her and her husband. Rugby is like a religion here in Toulouse. It is like how many Americans follow football. Toulouse has the best team in all of Europe! They have a huge stadium and Toulouse is just overall known all over the world for its rugby obsession. It is a very rough sport!! I always knew it was rough, but it is just plain violent. Football is nothing compared to this. Players are bleeding and messed up yet they are still going after each other. It is however a fast game, and doesn't take as long as football does. It has a similar atmosphere in the stadium though. The crowd was very lively and was a cool experience. I had a nice dinner with their family, and even got to go out in the city at night. Then the next day we volunteered with my host Rotary club at this huge marathon. It is one of the most well known marathons in France, a 50 kilometer race through Toulouse. Rotary is one of the sponsors of the race therefore we had to lend a hand. It was freezing cold and raining which didn't help, but it was still fun. We passed drinks to the runners. this sounds easy, but try handing it to them while they are still running and it turns difficult. It felt good though to give back, and was actually very fun! It took the rest of the day to feel dry and warm again though, brrr! Well after this weekend, was the best day ever...my birthday!!
Well on the day of my birthday I didn't really do anything at all, just a normal day. The next day though we had a special dinner at the house with all three of my host families to help celebrate my 17th birthday. I spent the day baking cookies, apple pie, quiche, and other food to prepare. The dinner was great, and it was so cool to meet the families and get to know them a bit. I did get some wonderful presents as well. I received a Toulouse T-shirt and a special pendant of the Occitaine cross which is the symbol of the region and Toulouse. Now I feel like a Toulousiane. I also received a cute shirt from Zara, really cool store here in Europe. And of course you have to receive perfume when your in France! I got the nicest smelling perfume, and in the coolest bottle too. I felt very French for sure. It was a great night! The next two days I spent hanging out with friends, usually in the city adventuring or going to cafes. On Friday I left for a weekend in the Pyrenees Mountains with another Rotarian. She has a second house in the mountains which is almost as old as the United States!!! It was built in 1796! It was so interesting, and something I'm not used to seeing. It was nice to go to the country, out of the city for the weekend. I didn't like getting woken up by a herd of cows with their noisy bells and mooing, but it's better than an alarm I guess. The weekend was full of fun excursions.
I went to this awesome cave, where we took a tour. It was filled with gigantic stalactites and stalagmites! I had never been in an actual cave like that before! I was mesmerized with what I saw, and it was a little sad that I couldn't take pictures but I will always have the memories in my head forever! Then later that day she took me to a spa where I got the best massage and got to take a dip in the pool that overlooked the mountains. After we had a few stops like a a sheep farm for fresh cheese. On Sunday she had many of her relatives come for a large dinner which lasted like 3 or 4 hours or maybe even more. There was so much food and wine, which always makes it better haha! It was crazy, and always hard for me to follow all the conversations but I still had a good time. We were all exhausted by the time everyone left and cleaning up, so we spent the night just reading and roasting chestnuts over the fire. I had only heard of roasting chestnuts in movies and the Christmas song. It is very popular here, and very delicious! Sunday was also Halloween, but here they do not celebrate the holiday. People are starting to get more into it every year, and there were some parties in the city, but otherwise it was a normal day. I did miss the holiday, since it is one of my favorites. Being in an old scary house with a little imagination made Halloween just a little cool here. The next day in the morning we went to an abbey where there was an Andy Warhol exhibit. I of course knew some of his work, but I had never been to a pop art exhibit. It was so cool and I love it! I was so glad and appreciative to have such a nice club that wants to invite me places! Since it was raining, we packed up after that and headed back to the city. The last two days of break included just hanging out, since it was raining and chilly. I did however decide the beginning of a new month and a return after holiday called for a little bit of a change. I dyed my hair, maybe a bit out of boredom haha but more because I have become a new me since I have been here.
This exchange has changed me so much in just this short time. Every month, even every day that goes by I am changing. I am so fortunate to have this opportunity! I would tell any person to go on exchange or just travel! You see everything differently, and it really changes a person. This vacation itself changed me and created memories that will last a lifetime! It was a great way to finish the month and start a new one!
Well I am back to blogging again after all the silence (I apologize to all my fans, haha), but I am here to recap. Let’s take it all the way back to November. Well it was slowly becoming winter here in Toulouse, though not anything like a November in Wisconsin, no snow. At the beginning of the month we had a special dinner for us exchange students, and people within our district. We spent the Saturday decorating the restaurant and setting tables. It wasn’t much work, and that many teenage exchange students in one room are bound to bring a lot of laughs. It was a perfect time to see everyone again and really get to know people better since we had seen many since the first weekend together right after arriving. The day though was really a day to showcase all of us. We all submitted photos that were either funny or just ridiculous that we had taken since in France. It was actually a hard task for me since, all my funny things happened when I didn’t have a camera, but some of the ones others brought were hilarious. We, exchangers and Rotarians, voted on the photos and laughed together looking at them. Then when it came to dinner we were the servers, though it was kind of cool and I felt like I was back working at the café again! I have to admit that I was one of the most skilled (4-5 plates of food at once!). Like always it was a very filling and long French meal, but the best was still to come. The desserts! We all had to make a dessert that represented our country. I had some troubles at first thinking of one, since there are so many other Americans and limited ingredients here. I wanted to make some pumpkin pie or even something with cranberries, but finally was unable because of the lack of ingredients. I however found the perfect dish, though I had to modify with what I had and measure with my eyes. I made Peanut Butter Chocolate Oreo Cheesecake. It was perfect for representing the cheese state, plus adding the yummy and so American peanut butter and Oreos made it so amazing. It was a bit difficult to make and I was worried about serving so I instead made little mini cheesecakes and then a large one to keep at my host family’s home, of course for my own pleasure and sharing. There were so many desserts though, from all the countries. The Asian dishes and Mexican were the most different, but the many American dishes just made it feel more like home. The French loved trying all the desserts, and so did I. I was so full though by the end, it was scary! They then went on to quiz us on our French knowledge with a little quiz bowl, and my team came in 2nd, I was so proud! We even won a cute little candle, which I left with my first host family since my bags otherwise will be so heavy. After the quiz we went on to talking and dancing a bit for the rest of the night until after midnight, when we all had to say goodbye and go home. It was a great Saturday though; food can really bring people together. For the rest of the month I was just busy with school and friends. It was very odd to not have Thanksgiving, and I almost even forgot the date. I did missing having those extra days off though it was nice to escape the food coma for once. I’ll save all that pie for next year! My third host mother however had me make a video for her about Thanksgiving. She is an English teacher at the local university, and she thought it would be a great way for her students to learn more about American culture, and hear a real English-speaking person for once. Also I am so much better than any of those cheesy movies! I will actually try and post the video either on this page or my Youtube page. It is actually quite funny, and yes I guess I am a bit cheesy. November in the States is the beginning of the holiday season, but here it doesn’t really start until December, but I was already getting excited. December is always a magical month, and I will give you a hint that yes it definitely is here!!
