01.30.2010 - 02.09.10
It all started in 7th grade when I picked french as the language I wanted to take in junior high. This is the moment I knew I would fall in love with the language and want to study it forever....Yeah....I'd like to say this was my story of how I got chosen out of a hundred to be one of the lucky 24 to be part of the french exchange, but it wasn't. Actually I struggled with french throughout junior high and I could tell my french teacher had little faith that I would continue the language. But against all odds, here I am today blogging about the best 2 weeks of my life so far.
24 juniors and seniors got picked to be part of this adventure after teacher recommendations, personal statements and grade requirements. It felt like years between the time we submitted our applications and when we received the white envelopes that decided our fate. Our sophomore french teacher had all the envelopes sitting on her desk the whole class period, needless to say we didn't concentrate on our work at all. She gave us the envelopes and said we had to open them in the hallway. We all ran out when the bell rang, some left in tears as though their dreams were crushed and the lucky few left with their acceptance letter clutched in their fist.
After some problems because of the travel ban put on because of the swine flu epidemic (stupid pigs), we finally received our french school and french correspondents. The school is called Notre Dame de Sion and is located in beautiful Marseille in south France. At first I got placed with a guy (which I wasn't supposed to be) then someone else couldn't be placed with a girl. But the problems were resolved and I got placed with my french student, Marianne. We ran around school that day comparing each others students then proceeded to find them on facebook that night. We talked to them on facebook all the time figuring out their likes and dislikes, favorite foods, and of course who were the cutest guys.
Enough with this before nonsense, so the day finally arrives when we get to pick them up from the airport. Their plane was an hour late which delayed us leaving our houses by what felt like years. We were texting each other all morning, everyone anxious and nervous yet excited more than anything else. We waited outside the international gate, jumping every time a new flight walked out.
They finally arrived, most of them wearing little sweaters while we were wearing winter coats and scarves. There was a little bit of confusion about if we could give them a welcome hug or not because in france they do la bise (a kiss on each cheek). I didn't care about this and ran up to Marianne and gave her a hug. After the initial excitement calmed a little, suitcases needed to be loaded into the cars and each french and american student needed to be dropped off at home because the french were extremely tired. We took Clarisse (Kathryn's correspondent), Oliver (Charlotte's correspondent) and Marianne in our van. They threw on their heaviest coats when they stepped outside and said how cold it is in Chicago. We laughed at this because to us it really wasn't that cold and there wasn't even snow on the ground yet (just wait they got their freezing temps and snow storms later in the week..welcome to Chicago!). We talked in the car about various subjects and were impressed by their english over all. They would go off in rants in very quick spoken where we could only understand every couple words. We took each pair home then brought Marianne back to our house. She said that our town was very different than hers because our streets are all straight and every block of houses look basically the same. The first night here we took Marianne to my neighbors house so she could meet the 9 crazy kids I babysit. They showered us both with gifts because both our birthdays were within days of each other and had just passed. The next day (Sunday) Kathryn and I took our girls to the Art Institute downtown for a day in the city. They loved looking at all the french paintings up close and personal. We had a chic lunch in the new modern wing. They got to taste elegant american food which they likes. That night was the welcome dinner where we finally got to meet all the other french students and they got to try some typical american food. They said it was very greasy and the portions were huge (we do love to eat!). Then began the whirlwind of a week.
Everyday Marianne and I would get up pretty early (we put bunk beds in my room just before she came) and would rush around getting ready for school. We would be going in and out of the bathroom and would often wake my brothers up. Each morning we had breakfast of apple juice and frosted flakes (Marianne's absolute favorite) then headed off to school. I would drop Marianne off at the library where all the other french students would stay and go on the computers before they would take the train downtown to do their activities for the day. They hit all the big Chicago monuments and museums while we were at school. They spent 2 1/2 days at LT (one at south and 1 1/2 at north). Marianne said that our school is very different from her school because we have the same 7 classes each day and can't leave for lunch. The first day they spent at north was one of the more fun days of the year, the All School Assembly. This is when the 2,000 kids from south campus (Freshman and Sophomores) get bussed over and everyone crams into the field house.
The loved the assembly and were shocked at how many students we have at our school. The laughed when all of our 200+ teachers ran in from all doors for a flash-mob dance. On all the week nights we had planned a fun activity for all 50 of us to do. Some amusing moments include when Clement and Nils tried to eat double cheeseburgers at Portillos and ended up smashing them down, poker and ping pong at Kathryn's when the boys threw down hundred dollar bills at the beginning of the game, baking a french cake with Clarisse and Marianne trying to convert measurements from the metric system, and taking the girls to Uncle Bub's BBQ and making them wear bibs. One of my favorite days was the Friday night after the all school assembly. It is a french exchange tradition to go to Giordanos in Chicago then go to Blue Man Group on Briar Street. It was funny watching them try to eat deep dish pizza with their hands and the girls having photo wars to see who could get a worse picture of eachother. They loved blue man group especially when the strobe lights came on and they pulled the countless rolls of streamer paper from the back of the theater.
The next few days passed so fast and before we knew it their last night in the US came. We all met up at Clint's house to celebrate with dancing, baby foot (foosball), and of course american food. We all had a great time and didn't want the night to end at all. We had all gotten so close in 10 days and became a family instantly. We headed home later than we should have, even though the french still had a lot of packing to do. They spent the next day at school with us until 12:45 came and we had to take them out to the buses to head to the airport. Everyone was hoping that the crazy snow storm the weather man talked about would come a little earlier. Sadly it didn't but it started snowing non-stop as we were loading their suitcases onto the bus. It was a very, very tearful goodbye but there was a little happiness because we would be seeing our new-found best friends in just 40 short days. We said our final goodbyes and lumbered back into school with puffy eyes and make up all over our sleeves.
This was just part one of the most fun and defining moments of my high school career. Even though there are so many differences between us, we experienced those 10 days together and no one can ever duplicate that.
