My host mum has also been taking me to things that I normally wouldn't think of going to but have been really fun. For example, there has been this festival, Les Bouffees D'arts and we’ve been to two different events. One was a dance performance which was amazing and we got to see two dancers perform. The other was a circus type performance which was also really cool. We also went to see an improv performance. I didn't really understand a lot of it but it was still amusing. The cinemas here are also opening up and we went to see De Gaulle which was a movie about a french general in World War 2. The movie was quite difficult for me to understand but it’s still fun to be able to go out and do things like that.
This month I’ve also been to a few dinners and lunches with my host family’s family and my host mum's friends. They can be a bit long sometimes, it’s quite different having long sit down meals, here in France whenever we invite people over for a meal we have the aperitif, the main meal, the cheese, the desert, and then the coffee, so it lasts quite a while but it’s always really good food and it's nice meeting people. I’ve been able to meet a few people my age because of this as well. I’ve been able to meet a few people my age because of this as well. One girl that I met, Juliette, came to the Chateau de Serrant with us and also the improv performance. Me and another exchange student also had a picnic with her and she introduced us to another one of her friends. My host mum also invited her friend and her friend’s step-daughter to the dance performance who I’m going to meet later this week.
It’s been really good being able to meet french people since the last exchange student in my city that I know left this month. I got to say goodbye to her though which was nice since almost everyone else left during quarantine.
I got to see my first host family again this month. My first host family and my host councilor came over for lunch and it was a really nice afternoon. It was really nice to be able to see them all again. I also found out who my host family in September will be and it is going to be the current president of the Rotary club’s family. I had dinner with them recently and they’re a really nice family. They have three children but two of them are in university in Paris. The other child is a girl who isone year younger than me. We also had the first Rotary meeting since the quarantine and we had a dinner party to celebrate the new president of the Rotary club. It was really fun and the new president’s daughters were there, one was 22 and the other was 16. It was nice to have someone my age at a Rotary event because normally it’s just me. It's quite exciting since the next president is going to be a woman and there are only about two women in the Rotary club.
My school did not continue classes after the quarantine ending which was the same for many other private schools here. I went back for one morning and we came in to give back our textbooks. We did that and also filled out a small worksheet that was for us to reflect back on the year and also think about our goals for next year. We were barely there for an hour and then we won’t come back to school in September.
I’m really looking forward to the holidays as well. Firstly I’m going to La Baule with one of the Rotary members for five days. I’m then going to Dinard with my first host family for two weeks, it's a family home so I’ll see their family as well, and also their son is coming back from Australia this month so I’ll meet him as well. After that I’m going to a place which is in the middle of France with my current host family for two weeks and I believe that after that I’m going to spend two weeks with my host councilors family but I’m not too sure where. It’s very exciting because I’ll be able to discover a lot of new places in France, and since the eurotour was cancelled, I haven't had a lot of opportunities to travel around to different cities.
It’s been really great with things returning to normal, even just a little bit. With every new thing that I discover here, I love France more and I want to thank you all again for this experience. It really has become a second home for me and I’ve been able to experience so many wonderful things and meet so many wonderful people.