ooh la la la la :I

i don't even know where to start...

well, i'll talk about my host family first, cuz i don't have anything bad to say about them. haha.

i live with an old retired couple named Gizelle and Robert. :]

they are soooo nice and generous. they respect my privacy, but still try to connect with me and have conversations (tho it is difficile sometimes..)

aand, they always make the yummiest dinners! there's always 4 courses.

vegetables/salad/anything you can douse in vinegrette is premiere.

then, usually some sort of meat (accompanied with cooked vegetables)

next.. CHEESE! haha.

and don't forget the bread that goes with every course as well.

lastly, dessert. mmmmm :]

Gizelle is an amazing cook! and she especially loves to make jams, and other sweet things.. so dessert is always delicieux.

it's been really nice here :] but still kind of awkward since i don't know them, and we can't completely communicate.. that will solve itself with time tho.

next..

CLASS.

ugh.

the first day was just really explanatory. nothin too exciting. juste tres longue.

they told us about IFALPES and then took us on a tour of the town. it was lovely scenery but soo dang HOT. plus my knee is still killing me so it wasn't super pleasant.. :/ but like i said, super pretty.

oh, and did i mention the placement test we had to take?? ya..

the written part was ok, but the oral part was a disaster.

seriously.

i went into the room for it (extremely nervous of course) and the teacher just asked me questions in french and i answered them the best i could.

i THOUGHT i was doing pretty decent.

then the end came.

and she straight up told me that i didn't conjugate like anyy of my verbs so she was gonna put me in a beginner class.

:'[

this may not seem like a big deal, but i was at the end of my emotional rope.

i went from being with my fam in the US, to being in Paris with my friends, to being alone in Annecy with a non-english speaking family that i don't know.

i was more than a little culture shocked.

so i may or may not have cried after that oral exam.

THEN

today, when i went to my class (group 3.. grr) i found out my teacher was the same lady who tested me.

sheesh.

so i suffered through 4 hours of class..

it wasn't horrible or anything, just boring cuz i already knew most of the stuff she was teaching.

and at the end of the day, Kaitlyn and i tried to talk to her about moving up a group, because we didn't feel challenged enough.

buut either we couldn't get our point across clearly in french, or she was just plain rude, because she said that we wouldn't be able to handle the material in group 4, it would be too difficult for us. she wouldn't let us switch.

oh

my

gosh.

i wanted to scream.

if i could have talked to her in english i would have been the biggest bitch to her and prolly not even felt bad about it.

pardon my french.

pun intended.

it says Grande Arche...

dang..

i have a lot to catch up on :I

WELL

first off, my last day in Paris was amazing! i went shopping with Kaitlyn and Sam and we got a bunch of presents for our familles. it was so nice to go wherever we wanted to at whatever pace we wanted to. lol. we got some wayy cute stuff and of course ate yummy food :]

but... even tho that day was fun, that night was wayyy better. haha.

to start off the evening, we got lost on the metro.

yup.

it was really scary/stressful, but somehow hilarious at the same time. we were so confused.. we knew where we needed to go, but we weren't sure how to get there, or which ticket to get and blah blah blah..

so we were just kind of wandering around the station aimlessly, when we noticed an open gate! it looked like it wasn't really supposed to be open, but it was, soooo.. we were able to get through to the RER train stop without even buying a ticket!

HALLELUJAH.

then, when it was time to get off the RER, we realized we need a ticket to get through again. :I

so we were back to wandering around.

but, not even 2 mins when by when we heard a beep and a french lady saying "Vite, vite!"

we looked over and saw she was holding open an exit for us!

so we got out and then had to switch onto a metro... but when we tried to use our metro tickets that we had, they didn't work!!

and AGAIN we were helped. there was this nice frenchie guy that held open the gate as we jumped over the ticket machines.

thank goodness Heavenly Father was watching over us. that's all i can say.

everyone smokes and rollerblades here!

today

was filled with VERSAILLES. 

haha. it was beautiful!!! but since my camera battery wasn't fully charged, i had to rely on my flipshare video.

unfortunately i dropped it halfway through the castle tour so i only was able to get some of the splendor on film.

poopy.

BUT

i have to say that Chateau de Versailles was my second favorite to The Louvre. :] it was amazing to see the castle with all its paintings and furnishings, just like it would have been HUNDREDS of years ago.

so crazy.

today was also amazing because Samantha, Kaitlyn and I discovered an awesome deal at this creperie next to the hotel! we got a panini, a crepe, and a drink for 4 stinkin euros. it was aweeesomeee.

SO

tomorrow

will be a day full of relaxing and shopping! i'm sooo stoked.

then sunday... i'll go to annecy.

:/

i called my host family on the phone and they don't speak one word of anglais.

needless to say i'm tres scared.

also, they don't have an email.. which probably means no internet. :I

that is def gonna be hard to cope with..lol. but oh well. we'll see how things go.

i'm excited/nervous!

*puts on jean shorts* - "You slut."

Paris.

hmm..

how to describe you..

welp.

you are beautiful. thats fer dang sure.*tres belle!* 

the French air smells like coffee and cologne, with the occasional wiff of cigarettes.

your buildings are tall and ornate.. almost everyone has flowers in the windows.

your boulangeries are delicieux! j'aime les crepes!

your days are long and full of sun.

your clothes are sooo cute and fashionable. 

your inhabitants are actually not very rude :] 

your museums are amazing. 

and your patisseries are just stinkin fabulous.

also..

your escalators and ice are almost non-existent.

:I

overall, i've met some pretty rad people, experienced amazing things, and my french is slowly getting better. :]

i don't think you can have TOO much NCIS. or House.

somehow, my last post completely disappeared. soooo.. ima try this again. 

FIRST

i love being home :] 

being in Logan, i was jonesin for the St G sun!!

so i laid out yesterday with Ari and got TAN. it was amazing. lol. felt so good.

also...i had missed my dad's FOOD. i'm sooooooooo donee with the junction and marketplace.

so

done.

NOT TO MENTION

i've missed my awesome friends here :]

AND

my crazy hilarious family. haha.

i'm so happy here :]

THOUGH

that's not to say that i don't miss my Logan friends.

no.

not at all.

but coming home was like... i dunno. stepping through some sort of veil? hah. lame, i know. 

i just feel like singing "I can see clearly now, the rain is gone!" :P

because now that i'm back home, i realize that everything happens for a reason. some of the friends i made, i WILL see again. and i'm really grateful for that :) 

some other friends, i won't see again. but you know what? thats ok. because at least i got to meet them, and i got to benefit from their awesome examples.

i learned a lot from them :) 

THEN

there's the subject of Devin.

that silly boy. lol.

i thought missing him would be horrible, miserable, terrible. yuck yuck yuck.

but, surprisingly, i didn't just die like Buttercup off of Princess Bride.

i love him, and he loves me.

thats comfort enough :)

ALSO

as a side note, i got my wisdom teeth out. 

i think i've memorized every commercial from the USA channel.