A dream of mine ever since I arrived 79 days ago was to go to Toulouse, and guess what.. it came true last weekend!
After actually missing 2 trains in Tarbes, long story I wont go into detail why but some advice to you.. whenever travelling in France always take identification with you! Haha. So I eventually caught a train to Toulouse by myself, where I got to look out the window at the Pyrenees mountains all breathtakingly covered in snow, and arrived about an hour and a half later. My host sister Loany met me at the train station and from there we went back to her apartment (where I was going to be staying). Being all French, we made Gratin which is a Potato and cheese dish, however her microwave oven actually burnt everything we tried to make.. even cookies! That was so disappointing and I swear we could have died from the toxic fumes they were releasing into her small apartment! Ahah.
Later we took the metro (yes, metro!) into the centre of Toulouse to go shopping. I must say that was such an exciting moment of my life, taking the metro for the first time.. another Frenchy thing to tick of my list! ;)
Toulouse was magical- the streets were full of people, everyone wrapped up in coats and scarves as Autumn here is proving to be extremely cold.. I can't wait to see what winter will be like haha. There were also crepe stalls, a Carousel and Christmas decorations going up already but not being lit yet. Loany and I have planned that I'm going to go back just before Christmas to see all the lights and the markets they have out front of the Capitole -which I saw! (I'll put a picture below). We did lots of shopping and walked around the streets, there I confirmed my thoughts that I can never go back to shopping in the Dunedin clothing stores after France, they have got nothing on them here!
The next day I had my second AFS chapter function, where all of us exchange students and a few sending students had lunch and went to a museum together. Seeing the other exchange students again was really nice, people who understand exactly what it means to be an exchange student and often have the same thoughts and feelings as you. Surprisingly we all spoke in French practically the whole time although all of us know English! That was a little difficult to do at our camp in Lyron 1 month ago, so our improvement in the language is definitely evident! Kato, my friend from Belgium on her exchange here, is sadly finishing her exchange in one week! I'm going to miss her a lot, we were all a little emotional that it would maybe be the last time we would see her. We've all been a part of each other's lives since we first arrived in Paris for the beginning of our exchanges as we all shared a room together. I didn't know that in coming to France I'd get to make not only friends from here, but also from all over the world. And I have AFS to thank for that!
So the day before I left for Toulouse I said goodbye to my host brother who'll be living in Lyon, about 6 hours away I believe. I already miss him a lot, he's so cheerful and fun and he's always been there when I've needed someone! But with him being there, maybe that will give me a reason to see Lyon too!! Thankfully one of my host sisters has been here recently and we've been having fun baking Macarons and Eclairs, so I'm not like an only child just yet. I'm thinking it'll be strange, I've never been an only child before! But I've got a lot of support from my host parents and we have a lot of fun too so I think it won't bad, just different.
Update on how the language is going lately: About a week ago some of my friends were talking beside me as we were walking to the cantine. Usually I don't bother trying to understand because with the noise of cars and other people it was almost impossible for me to. But this time, without even putting thought into it I understood their whole conversation! That was such an amazing moment for me, one of those eureka moments when you realise how far you've come!
It's also really wonderful to see that it's not only me who's benefiting from my exchange, but also others are too..some of my friends here often speak in English to me, I correct them and respond in French. In doing this I've seen them improve a lot over 2 and a half months and one of my good friends, Sarah, told me she can even understand everything that I write on my blog! (I'm so proud of you petite fleur!)
Like my host mum and I were talking about today, when us exchange students talk with others in our host country, it's like we're giving them the opportunity to travel themselves. We open their mind to what life is like from where we come from and probably give them something to laugh about with our accent! :p I never really thought about this but it's so true. I love that I'm able to give people the opportunity to have a connection to the other side of the world, the exotic and mysterious Islands of New Zealand ;).
But basically my life here, I'm loving it. I have days where I'm not so enthusiastic or thrilled about my school timetable (3 and a half hours of maths, but also the same of economics in one day!), and this gets me a little down. But the good outweighs the bad, I have a family, friends, hobbies, things to look forward to like Belgium in January, Spain at one point, seeing Florence and Holly, skiing in winter and experiencing a French Christmas! And also a new 'French' life here which always surprises me with more exciting new things. At the same time, I have amazing support from friends and family in New Zealand who I love so much! I've really been given such an incredible opportunity, so thank you again to everyone who's made it possible for me!
Bisous <3
The next day I had my second AFS chapter function, where all of us exchange students and a few sending students had lunch and went to a museum together. Seeing the other exchange students again was really nice, people who understand exactly what it means to be an exchange student and often have the same thoughts and feelings as you. Surprisingly we all spoke in French practically the whole time although all of us know English! That was a little difficult to do at our camp in Lyron 1 month ago, so our improvement in the language is definitely evident! Kato, my friend from Belgium on her exchange here, is sadly finishing her exchange in one week! I'm going to miss her a lot, we were all a little emotional that it would maybe be the last time we would see her. We've all been a part of each other's lives since we first arrived in Paris for the beginning of our exchanges as we all shared a room together. I didn't know that in coming to France I'd get to make not only friends from here, but also from all over the world. And I have AFS to thank for that!
So the day before I left for Toulouse I said goodbye to my host brother who'll be living in Lyon, about 6 hours away I believe. I already miss him a lot, he's so cheerful and fun and he's always been there when I've needed someone! But with him being there, maybe that will give me a reason to see Lyon too!! Thankfully one of my host sisters has been here recently and we've been having fun baking Macarons and Eclairs, so I'm not like an only child just yet. I'm thinking it'll be strange, I've never been an only child before! But I've got a lot of support from my host parents and we have a lot of fun too so I think it won't bad, just different.
Update on how the language is going lately: About a week ago some of my friends were talking beside me as we were walking to the cantine. Usually I don't bother trying to understand because with the noise of cars and other people it was almost impossible for me to. But this time, without even putting thought into it I understood their whole conversation! That was such an amazing moment for me, one of those eureka moments when you realise how far you've come!
It's also really wonderful to see that it's not only me who's benefiting from my exchange, but also others are too..some of my friends here often speak in English to me, I correct them and respond in French. In doing this I've seen them improve a lot over 2 and a half months and one of my good friends, Sarah, told me she can even understand everything that I write on my blog! (I'm so proud of you petite fleur!)
Like my host mum and I were talking about today, when us exchange students talk with others in our host country, it's like we're giving them the opportunity to travel themselves. We open their mind to what life is like from where we come from and probably give them something to laugh about with our accent! :p I never really thought about this but it's so true. I love that I'm able to give people the opportunity to have a connection to the other side of the world, the exotic and mysterious Islands of New Zealand ;).
But basically my life here, I'm loving it. I have days where I'm not so enthusiastic or thrilled about my school timetable (3 and a half hours of maths, but also the same of economics in one day!), and this gets me a little down. But the good outweighs the bad, I have a family, friends, hobbies, things to look forward to like Belgium in January, Spain at one point, seeing Florence and Holly, skiing in winter and experiencing a French Christmas! And also a new 'French' life here which always surprises me with more exciting new things. At the same time, I have amazing support from friends and family in New Zealand who I love so much! I've really been given such an incredible opportunity, so thank you again to everyone who's made it possible for me!
Bisous <3
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| Making Macarons! |
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| The museum |
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| A Kiwi in France.. ;) |
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| Kato! Haha |
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| War memorial |
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| Toulouse view from Loany's apartment! |
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| Capitole!! |
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| Didn't buy one but they looked gooodd! |
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| The metro aha ;) |
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| She may kill me for putting this up, do it for the fans Loany ;) |
