Elle N'a Pas Compris

So I've officially been in France for three days. Where am I supposed to begin? How do you summarize your first impressions of a whole country?

I won't bore you with the travel details; just know that it was really long and really tiring and by the time I got to Orange I had been awake about 48 hours. It wasn't fun. I'm still really jet-lagged, I keep trying to sleep in until 11 in the mornings, but sadly both the dog and my host brother think silence is a luxury I should not be afforded, and they start screaming at about seven. I will get used to this. I will.

France.

I've been in France for three days, like I said, and I've already kissed so many boys I lost track. No, I'm not super attractive or anything, it's just the greeting here. Three kisses, for everybody. (You can stop having a heart attack, Dad.) I mean, I was informed that I would be greeting people like that, but I had no idea it had such magnitude. When I wake up in the morning, I kiss every single one of my family members. When I see someone new during the day, I kiss them too. But the funny thing is, when there's a huge group of people together, and they all arrive at the same time, it doesn't matter how big the group is: you have to kiss every single one of them. It takes forever, but it's so funny. (The word kiss doesn't sound right, but it's all I've got in English.) But everybody does it, all the time, and it's no big deal at all. The only time I didn't get a kiss from someone was this afternoon, when a boy about my age refused to do more than wave at me. This could be either because he hates me, or because he was getting embarrassed by Alexia constantly teasing me that "He could be your boyfriend, if you want."

Anyway.

There's so much I could say right now. I could go on forever about my host family (and I will in my next post, I think) but for now I'm just going to write down every single significant thing about France I can remember. In list format, too, because even though it's only been just a few days, speaking English is already so strange to me that I can't be bothered with transitions.

--- Driving. The French way of driving is completely baffling. On one hand, they'll sit and wait at an intersection for a car that's 500 meters away to pass by. On the other, they'll cut you off immediately without warning or reason to do so, and the speed limit is entirely optional. From what I've seen so far, the general rule here is that no matter where you are, you should be going 90 km/h. Residential area? You should be going 90 km/h. Unlit street in the middle of the night? You should be going 90 km/h. (With your brights on, of course.) Parking lot? Wait until you're out on the street, and then you should be going 90 km/h in under three seconds. These people go around round-abouts like they're race-car drivers. Did you have groceries in the back? Now you have groceries all over the back.

---The radio. The station my family usually listens to is the FUN radio, and it plays the same fifteen songs over and over again, in no particular order. Also, most of them are in English. I keep getting questions: "You know this song? It's in English." (Like I didn't know it was in my language, yes, thanks.) "No, I don't know this song. No, seriously, just because I'm American doesn't mean I know every song my country has ever produced." But then I surprise them by knowing all the words to Alejandro by Lady Gaga. (Thanks to my friends.)

---People think I'm British.
   "So, what's the weather like in England? Is it like here?"
   "I don't know. But in the United States, it's pretty hot right now."
   "Oh. But they said you were Anglaise."
   "No. They said I speak Anglais."

---People here refuse to believe that I will eventually comprehend their French if they use simple words and speak slowly enough. My host parents are the worst about this. They assume that when I don't understand their rapid and complex French the first time, I must be an idiot, and they make one of their daughters translate for me. The worst part is that now they tell all of their friends that I only speak English, so nobody tries to speak to me in French. I surprised a few people that were having a conversation with Majorie about me in French by answering one of their questions myself. The didn't know I could speak any French. This is going to be something I'll have to work on.

I really could say so much more, but that's the other thing about France: no Wifi. I'm typing this out on WordPad, and I'm going to copy and paste it up stairs when I connect to the internet. Because of this, my posts might sometimes be posted a few days after they're relevant, so I'm sorry for that. I also won't be on the internet much, because in order to connect, I need to unplug the internet connector from the main computer, which five other people use. So, no internet in my room...

~Josie Harris

I love you all so much, and I miss you all terribly. Night time is hard, I keep crying, but know that I do like it here, even if it is the hardest thing I've ever done. I love you all.

A Monster Named Suitcase

I'm packed.

I can't even explain to you how scary a feeling it is. I feel like, if I don't have everything packed, if I forget something important, then I'm going to have to make room for it. But I can't make room for it, I've only just met my weight limits. So I'm doomed. And I need to charge every electronic thing I own, so that I can use it on the plane. Except my cell phone. Oh god, I'm traveling across America without a cellphone. Am I crazy?

Two big suitcases. One full of clothes (I'm such a girl...) and one full of quite literally everything else. We're talking books, makeup, notebooks, jewelry, photos, contact solution, bobby pins, teddy bears, space bagged EVERYTHING. I think I'm basically set for just about any environment. Including the middle of a desert. Yeah.

I leave for Boston the day after tomorrow. I've said goodbye to just about everybody but my parents...I'm not gonna lie, that was really hard. There have been plenty of times I just wanted to drop out of exchange altogether, and I figure there will be a few more in the next two days, but I'm just gonna suck it up and power through. Once I'm on that airplane, there's no turning back. Now...I just need to convince myself to get on the plane. (My parents have orders to drag me into the car, kicking and screaming or not, and throw me on the plane, and if they have to drug me to do it, so be it.) (Not to sound like I'm not excited, but right now my fears are seriously outweighing my joy.) (I'm such a pessimist.)

I've packed my laptop. If all goes well, I should be able to find a wireless internet connection and start blogging the week I get there!

~Josie Harris

Less Than a Week, Now

I had my going away party, yesterday. Oh man, it was so much fun seeing my friends again, we had a blast just hanging out. Almost all of my friends wrote me a letter for me to open on the plane to France, and it's taking all of my willpower to wait until then. And some even gave me gifts (though I told them not to, goodness knows how I'm going to pack everything), including a Toy Story 3 deck of cards and an absolutely gorgeous bag that one of my friends made herself. (Instructions: No textbooks or heavy items.)

Having a going-away party really puts things into perspective. (Oh no, she's gonna go on one of her exchange perspective rants.) Knowing you won't see these people for a whole year...wondering if you're still going to be the same person when you come back, whether they'll still like you. You can't ever know what's going to change. But I do know I'm going to miss every single one of them. I'm going to miss all our inside jokes, being able to understand them. I'm really going to miss the comfort you get from knowing someone for years. I don't mean that I don't want to make new friends too, but it's going to be so much harder...(end rant.)

On another note: SIX DAYS! Under a week until I board a plane to go away to France for a year! You're probably all dying to hear how excited I am, but the truth is I'm absolutely terrified. This is such a big step in my life. While I am really excited, I'm also both looking forward to and dreading trying to speak French for a year. I want the experience, but I really really like being able to say what I want to say when I want to say it. This...will be awkward. 

~Josie Harris