Tis the season to attempt to be jolly.

So. its been awhile.
Im fine. French is fine. school is fine. family is fine.
my sister got a new car. im jeaaloouss. but were totally going to go on a road trip to iowa when i get home.
my family is visiting in june. i hope. i think? im pretty sure.
uhm.. going to sweden again on saturday til Jan 4th. i hope it will be fun.
No plans for new years.. ill be in sweden... :/
Christmas might be hard. idk. It doesnt feel like christmas. its strange.
thanksgiving was really fun. i had a blast. i went to nicolas house and made it with his mom and all that jazz. it was fun.
i went to the circus in paris on tuesday. i loovedd it. but i loooove circus' anyway. lol. and i was in the 2nd row, so it was wickeddd.
I had to say goodbye to John my guy australian friend. hes leaving the 4th and im going to be in sweden :/
And i had to say goodbye to my 5 australian friends from school. The ones that were here for 6 weeks. i cant believe its alreadybeen 6 weeks.
it kind of bugs me how the time is flying. i keep thinking i have all this time, when i dont.
its like it flies when you want it to crawl and it stands still when you want it to run. its irritating. but thats life i guess.
i got to be really good friends with the australians. so it sucks.
im excited to get my christmas package. :) my famm sent it to sweden so it will be waiting for me when i get there :) suuper excited. i love packages and letters. theyre my faaavieess!
So many people are leaving. john, the 5 australians. Sean got sent home. (dont get me started). Cassie left. and now Tom is getting sent home. ugh. i hate it! im so scared i will get sent home for something. ( i dont really think it would or will happen, but still. this is crazy) so im like walkin on eggshells when im with rotary. aah. i hate it.
this is the hardest time, so im told. and i believe them.
january is supposed to be mad awesome. so i cant wait. but idk.
Im trying to not compare my exchange to other students, but i cant help it. And when i do, im really discouraged. Im just not as advanced as the others. theres too much english at home. they speak to me in french now, so thats good, but they still speak english sometimes. im just kid of, losing faith in myself.
everyone says im brave for doing this. i think im just insane.
I refuse to leave from homesickness. Im going to do this year. but i want to see my family.
bbaahhh homesickness. ughh. i miss my friends A LOT!!! especially my GUY friends. i have like 1 maybe 2 guy friends here, and it bugs me. Guys are usually the majority of my friends. girls carry drama (no offense). So i DEFINATLY miss them. :/
okay well i have to go.
(ill do more later. ugh. i miss my real mom.)

blah blah blah..

Ehhh.
Last week was pretty okay. Wednesday our Ukranian, Oksana came. shes pretty nice i suppose.
Saturday we went (me susanne oksana and her friend) to Disneyland Paris. it was a lot of fun. The weather totally sucked though. but we managed. :)
Sunday i had tennis and just hung out at the house.
Monday i had an amazazing day. We (me susanne and Oksana) went to Paris :)
went to the Louvre (mona lisa) and other stuff, the arc thing (i always forget what its called), the famous boulevard with like Luoi Vitton or w.e. and Gucci and all that. I also saw the most classy Mcdonalds ever!! ahaha. they know how to make fastfood classy, i tell ya what. and we went to the business dist. for susannes friend coz she had to go back to school. and i found a store that had a few english books so i HAD to buy one!! and then of course, after i bought a book and had no more money, we found the FIRST english bookstore established ON THE CONTINENT! i was mad. but were sooo going back there. but it was for smart rich people, so i only found one book i would want to buy. and we went to a cafe and got hot chocolate and crepes. :) yumm.
it was an amazing day! and we found the ferris wheel and waited around there for the eifeel tower to light up. we had a nice view. it was funn.
Tuesday i went to Versailles. it was alright. not amazing but not too bad. i met the new australians. i like them. (but i like my old ones better lol)
Today.. i have tutoring with rotary. and i opted to not go to the dinner. I dont think i could stand more goose liver. ahah. seriously though!

Uhm. My appetite is.. gone. Im pretty much eating because of routine. (and plus i have to do insulin somehow) and im getting nauseous everytime after i eat. so idk. its.. strange. but it might just be im so homesick im getting sick literally?? idk. could be a stretch, but i doubt it.
this weekend i have a district conference. its going to be soo boring. (i think). Kristen is staying the night friday and saturday night :D im soo excited.
Nightmares the past three nights. im SO tired.
this whole exchange thing is handing me things i never thought id deal with. its different and unexpected. In good and bad ways.
Thanksgiving is next week :/
Christmas isnt going to be much better either. baahh. anyways.
Ill shut up.
Bisous

Easy?

This is going to be a long one.
Obama is the next president. I hate politics so im not going to go into it.
I am on break from school. I go back Monday. I went to Sweden. Long freaking drive. through france, belgium, germany, and denmark. took the ferry like twice. sleeping, dvds, and movies. thats what got me through the drive. Sweden was cold. and crisp and clean. And very beautiful. rocks and seasides. I miss it already. but im glad to be back in france.
Halloween was fun. Me and susanne carved pumpkins. On halloween night we had people over and had a whole like 4 course meal. Tacos and then french stuff. lol what a combo, huh?
Thanksgiving is next. I think im going to a rotarians house. his son is in my class also. and theyre American. so i hope it all goes well.
Im not looking forward to Christmas. Its going to be really hard. Im happy ill be in sweden and out of school and all that. But ill be homesick.
But, they say christmas is the hardest. and then the rest is just down hill, easy. I sure hope so.
You know that song, "if we can make it through december" lol? it keeps playing in my head. haha. laame i know.
Really random thoughts have been running through my head. Like for example, death. (wierd i know) but like, being away from my family is hard. And theyre alive. I dont know what i would ever do if i knew that they weren't alive. Like picturing yourself with the reaction. and facing each day without them. It scares the sh** out of me! but i guess thats enough about that. ill save it for my journal :)
Heres for all you girls--
Tonight i had a rotary meeting. And the guests were men from the UK, England. And a guy Peter sat with me at the dinner. And he and the rotarian sitting by me, Jean-Claude, were talking about their family. And their wife. and how long they had been married. So i asked Peter when and where and how he met his wife. Get this- -. He was walking down the street and saw a girl walking towards a dance studio. He asked her if she danced. She said yes. He asked her if she would like to go out dancing with him that night and she said she would have to ask her parents. She asked, and they said "have her home by 10pm". She was 14, he was 19. And theyve been together ever since. Can you believe that? just, walking down the street. complete strangers, go out dancing and then voila! some odd years and 2 kids later, theyre still married. Thats amazing.
I wish it could still be that easy. So simple. Everything is soo complicated these days.
and thats not the first love story ive heard like that.
Jean-Claude met his wife when she was 16 and he was 24. (big jump, i know) but that was a long time ago, so it may have not been strange. but theyre still happy together and everything. thats so cool.
And so easy! That would be amazazing.

Anyways.. my french is better. Im a little rusty right now. Being in sweden i didnt hear or speak french for a week and a half. School is the same. REALLY boring.
We have a Ukranian girl coming on Wednesday for 10 days. that should be fun.
My family back in the US got TWO BOXER PUPPIES.
Everything is going to be so different when i get home. And it doesnt help that i moved right before i came here. I couldnt even tell you what my livingroom looks like right now in the states. Or where the silverware drawer is. Its going to be bizarre. And with my sister not home and in college. And now those two Boxer dogs. Its going to be so wierd. Theyll have an entire life that i havent been apart of that i dont know anything about.
It kind of scares me.
I think im going to try to download church sermons or something. or try to find that Baptist church in Senlis that speaks english i think. idk. But i could use Him right now. i honestly dont remember the last time i prayed, except for today. Like, i think about God alot. But i dont pray or read my bible or go to church. Its wierd. But i brought my bible, and i think if i get some sermons online, ill get back on track. Maybe feel less lost? we'll see.
Sorry about that religion bit.
This was a random post.
When i figure out how to put up pictures, i definatly will. But i have Facebook.
Look me up :)
If you read all that, youre amazing. :)

Tralala

So i totally typed a huuuge update yesterday, and then being as completely amazingly graceful that i am, i deleted it on accident :) so here we go AGAIN :) even though its the first time for you. hah. anyways!!
Its goin good. Wednesday I had a Rotary dinner thing at the castle where the 1946 Belle et la Bete (Beauty and the Beast) was flimed. Like IN the castle. it was BA. im not gunna lie. they had pictures of the film and everything. and the ceiling boards were hand painted and it was all faded and what not. totally wicked. :D bad thing- guess what they served again?!! GOOSE LIVER!! it follows me! I cant escape it. and once again, i couldnt eat it. i just could NOT eat it.
my french is a loooottt better. My friends speak to me in french and if i dont get it theyll say it in english and then french again. its sweeeet. :D
I finally met and hung out with the 5 australians that are at my school for 6 weeks. even though they leave in like 2-3 now :/ . thats a bummer. theyre really sweet! we had lunch together.
Today i went to the Chateau de Chantilly inside of it to the art gallery and museum and the library and other rooms of the castle. It was pretty sweet. I think next weekend im going to go inside the horse museum attached to the castle. we didnt have time to today.
GUESS WHAT!!? im going to PARIS tomorroww!!!!! aaaahhh eeeee!!! soo stoked. were going early like 9 to the eiffel tower and other random stereotypical tourist stuff and then going to drop niclas off at the train station (my host brother) and then coming home and making MUFFINS!!! my mommy sent me a package of blueberry muffin mix! So tomorrow is going to be like ultimatee!!
Oh! last weekend i went to Mt St Michel with rotary and had a blassttttt!!! it rained and was freezing the ENTIRE time. but i STILL had a lot of fun. I looove exchange students. they rock my face off. and i actually bought stuff. about time.
uum.. i think thats about it? im going to go watch Chicken Little or Step Up ! :) my mommy sent me those, too!
oh speakin of mom, im not TERRIBLY homesick still. which is.. strange? but good all at the same time.
Okay, now im done :)

Three-ish weeks

So!! i havent updated in awhile because i didnt think anyone read it. Buuut aperantly some people and by some i mean two lol read it! so what the hay, ill update :)
School is long. but it makes the weeks seem shorter. i still really dont like getting home at SIX AT NIGHT. its too late to do anything. but i like my friends. i slept over at Camilles Tuesday nighgt. that was tons of fun. exploding fireplaces and Horton Hears a Who!! i mean, you cant get much better then that! lol
i despise loathe and hate spanish with a burning passion. thats all im going to say about that.
family is still great here. the weather is DEFINATLY getting colder. speaking of cold, i think im catching one.
i havent been to paris yet, but thats okay. i will eventually. probably next weekend.
the grossest thing i have had to eat has been goose liver!!! yeah GOOSE LIVER. hahaha. first they said it was duck. then i got home and found out it was duck liver. THEN nicolas my host brother came home and he told me it was GOOSE. So yeah!! its.. not good. but they say there are many ways to cook it and that way was gross. i might try it again. keyword- MIGHT.
my french is improving. its going really slow because everyone speaks to me in english. so im going to be the one with the least french speaking ability when i meet up with the other exchange students. but ill get it eventually. and by eventually i mean before christmas. thats my goal. im getting tutored and work on a book during class.
i miss homecoming and ill miss my junior prom :/
im not terribly homesick yet. but its still there. uhm, yeah? i think thats about it. i have pictures on my facebook. i havent yet figured out how to do whole albums or w.e. here!
Bisous- Victoria

update

Heyy!
School is getting better. i have some friends and they tell me what the heck is going on. lol. I had my first meeting with the rotary club. i loved it!! i had sooo much fun. they were soooo nice. some knew english. one of the guys son is in my class. and hes one that actually had helped me fill out a paper and i didnt even know that his dad was actually a rotarian. lol. this whole trip is really a rollercoaster of emotions. and i was warned. right now im pretty happy. tomorrow is friday!! im going to lille for the weekend with the host fam. . that should be fun. im starting to really miss my family. but during the day i have school and homework and other stuff so it keeps me distracted :) so, yeah. yay france!!!

First post!! Culture!

Guys!! Im here!! In beautiful France!
The flight was soo long! I still have jetlag! Im soo tired. My first day of school was today..Im still breathing. Assume what you like... lol. anyways! culture! Their food really is different. Ive had something new everyday except for my breakfast, which is Cheerios! :) They do that whole kissing cheek thing. Im getting used to it. My school day is soooo long. 8:40-5:35. Im exhausted and it was two hours shorter today because it was the first day. uuugghh. The teachers move classrooms. And when they enter you stand up and they tell you when to sit... I wonder if they wouls ever mqke you stay standing for the fun of it.. lol. jk. Wednesdays are half days. Thank god. Oh, you take your shoes off right when you enter and even stepping outside you put shoes on. ( but i think thats a swedish thing, not french). I was keeping a list in my head of culture, and i just forgot it all.. they wear a lot of flats.. lol. The architechture is really really old. I LOVE it. The cars are really tiny. and they like park on a sidewalk. they drive up the curb ( i wonder how long thier tires last..). They say hello to everyone they pass on the street. I havent seen football anywhere. Only soccer. Their keyboards are even different. They eat bread with EVERYTHING. Its good. They walk to the bakery pretty much every single day. Sometimes twice. They drink wine with meals. I took my first public transportation today!! haha. Ill do more laterr if i tihnk of some! enjoy! wish me luck!! au revior