It's Been a While!

I thought I'd start with a picture of my room! Salut, tout le monde! Well there's quite a bit to update really, since I've just got dear sweet Jemima (my laptop) up and running with the internet!
Last update was just before starting school, and I was pretty nervous! But, as it turns out, school is great!
The first day Laure (host Mumsy) took me there and helped me buy my lunch card. My first impression of the school was the size! It's like a group of high-rise buildings. (Well, relatively high-rise). The school Principal talked to everyone in the foyer, and then the classes got called out in groups. I'm in Premier ES 1. Which is the equivalent of 6th form and studying in the Economy/Social Sciences stream. Which I guess doesn't sound too crash hot, but it's actually pretty good. The subjects are interesting and best of all there is only 1.5 h of science every two weeks! I also take Anglais (English, BEST class), Maths, Francais (incomprehensible), SPORT (yes, me!) and a few Eco/Social Science classes. At first I understood almost nothing, but I've just finished the second week of school, and my comprehension is definitely improving! Now the only class I take very little from is French (the Prof simply talks too fast for me!) In fact in Maths I worked out some of the stuff better than my class mates, and obviously English is a breeze.

As it turned out, the first person I tapped in the shoulder to ask for help was new like me, but unlike me she was French! Her name is Mallaury and she is super nice and lets me copy all her notes (because listening, comprehending and writing simultaneously just isn't gonna work for a wee while). So I pretty much made an instant friend, although conversation was pretty sparse at the start (due to my atrocious lack of French). The next morning I took the bus and as I got out I saw another one of my class mates. I have the tactic of going and greeting/clinging to any familiar face at the moment, because the school is rather vast! He introduced me to loads of people, and the majority of them gave me their numbers ("just call me if you have any problems!").
So what can I say? I love school, the people are amazingly nice! They are even more friendly than Kiwis.

Another brilliant aspect of school like is the number of gaps there are in our  timetable! There is a free bus from school to the middle of town, so sometimes we take that and have a drink together in a cafe. The weather at the moment is similar to that of NZ in mid-summer, so drinking a lemonade in the shade is always a relief. There is no rule against leaving school grounds when you don't have class, so its all pretty grand!

 Here are my friends (some of them) and I at school.

Aaaand again at the Cafe :)

There are a few differences between French and Kiwi culture which are pretty noteworthy, so I thought I'd explain a few of them:
1. Greetings: In Kiwiland our greeting consist of a "hello", a hug or wave, whereas here, everyone does something called "faire la bise". you may have heard of it, it's the "cheek kiss thing". Its actually pretty technical, each region in France has a specific way of doing it! For example, here, its always one kiss on each cheek, and ALWAYS starting on the right. Other areas do 3 and even 4 so I've heard. We "faire la bise" to say hello and goodbye, and when I get to school, there are always plenty of people to greet. Its not only for your close friends, but also for your classmates, friends of friends, and pretty much anybody in the vicinity of the person who you intended to faire la bise with! I think I'm going to have cheeks of steel by July! But it's not bad, I think that it's actually pretty sweet for people to acknowledge each other in this way.

2. In NZ, we think we're laid back. But have you seen France? Mufti is always worn to school, there are goths, hippies and all that jazz, and noone flickers an eye at facial piercings, even on the office staff! Teachers are free to wear what they want (including Guinness t-shirts) and everybody smokes! Which brings me to my next point:

3. Smoking: It's inherent in the culture here. You'd be hard pressed to find somebody over the age of 15 who doesn't smoke, at least occasionally. I know of 4, and I'm one of them! The school yard is littered with cigarette butts and you can't walk through a crowd without getting smoke blown in your face. People have the cigarette in their mouth as they walk out of class! But you get used to it pretty quickly. You have to adapt because if you're on an anti-smoking rage no one is going to talk to you! I guess it's just a cultural thing and you can't be too judgmental.

4. Meals: Are huge! And just as you think you're full, out come cheese and yogurt for dessert. And not just at dinner time, school lunches are a splendiferous affair! I have no idea how these french girls stay so skinny! (But it's okay, I'm going to take up "Musculation" (gym) with Mallaury!) In fact, on the note about french girls, not only are they skinny, but they are extremely tanned, have perfect skin and the average hair length is that of Jordan Godfrey (haha, are you stoked to get a mention?). Its not at all fair, but maybe as a very white, average weight, average skin toned Kiwi I can count as exotic? One can but hope!

5. Fashion: They do it classy here. It's simple but effective, and seems like it takes very little effort! Most people just wear jeans and a top, or very simple dresses. They seem to have figured out less is more, there are no boobs or bumcheeks on display and nobody tries too hard, the look is better for it!

6. The little things: The toilet paper is pink (sometimes). Their Fanta has actual orange juice in it! They love petanque and American music. The school paper is very strange! They drink mainly bottled water. They pay for tap water. The keyboards are different. There is no school on Wednesday afternoons. Any questions?

I think I've about talked myself out. Oh and I'm getting better at french little by little!
Much Love.
Ju
xx