Champion Champignon

I am now back in my host family's house I'm glad to say. I miss some parts of that house and family, of course; but when I was there I missed parts of my host family and their house so it's sort of a lose-lose situation. But luckily now I'll be hitting my head less on the roof. My count reached about a dozen then I started to lose track. I have to say, crouching to get into a bathroom is something I'm not going to miss.

So over the next few days I've done A LOT. Hopefully I'll be able to remember it all.

The first night I was crazy jet lagged so I slept from 8 at night until noon. I kept waking up in the middle of the night (which I do naturally anyway) but each time I looked at my watch to see what time it was I figured I could sleep longer. By the time I went downstairs it was already time for lunch. I had lunch with Rene and Carine (Lauchenaud--the family that took me in for the weekend). After that, Carine took a nap and then took me out into the city to show me around. While she was napping I was able to type up my last post. In the city, Carine (who was really friendly and nice--as was Rene) took me to all the stores and we browsed around the shops. I looked at all the clothes but didn't buy anything. Partly because I just wanted to see all there was to buy and partly because I wanted to compare prices. I now know the cheapest shops at which to buy clothes. And they're all right next to my school.

(So the French language is sinking in. Which is evident by the fact that I just wrote "there'll" while trying to say "they're all"... But at least I'll be a pro at French once I get back.)

I learned from the day in the city that Hello Kitty is in style, Claire's is popular, and small stripes are in this winter.

Unfortunately that day it was raining like crazy that whole day. About as bad as the worst rains of Washington. At first it was funny though since it was raining softly but no one was willing to walk in the rain. I kind of loved it though. It made me think of Washington. Except then it started raining so hard the shop in which we were closed its doors and those who came in to dry were drenched head to toe.

After the shops, Carine took me to the cathedral. Holy crap that thing is gorgeous. And my words don't even come close to describing it. I hope to post some pictures (if I can figure out how). I didn't get the chance to take pictures of the outside of the cathedral but I have plenty of the inside and I'll take some of the outside eventually. I want to be able to go and visit it again soon.

After the cathedral we drove home. I rested for a while in my room writing in my journal.

Carine took me to her friend's house to meet her friend's daughter, who goes to my school. Her name is Elsa. She was really nice. After sitting around and eating food, she and I went out for a bike ride to an artificial lake in her neighborhood. We sat by the lake and talked for a while. As I said she's super nice so I had a great time. She spoke in English, which I sort of wish she hadn't but she insisted. I still had a good time though. Once we returned to the house we had a bite to eat then went upstairs to watch a French movie. Afterwards Carine and I went home and went straight to bed.

The next day I met Carine's mom, step-dad, her daughter Noemie, and Noemie's boyfriend at lunch. We went out to lunch in the city and it was delicious. I had an Alsatian dish called Bibeleskas. It was basically potatoes with sour cream and stinky cheese. I liked it. A lot. And it was fun to try something new and classically Alsation apparently.

After the afternoon's rest (there's a lot of resting done here), Matilda, the daughter of the family I was staying with, and I went to the zoo next door to take their dog for a walk. It's a public zoo and the sad thing is it looked about as bad as the zoo I live next to. It wasn't too bad I just felt bad for all the animals since the exhibits weren't very nice.

That night we had dinner at home and afterwards we all sat around and watched a TV show kind of like America's Funniest Home Video except it was all clips of people on live TV unable to stop laughing. Most of them were because of language mistakes that I didn't understand. It was funny anyways.

The next day Rene took me out to go hunting for mushrooms. For almost an hour we drove way out into the countryside and the mountains. We ventured into the forest and wandered around for two and a half hours searching for mushrooms. Personally I dislike eating mushrooms but it was fun regardless. I learned that the red ones with white spots are poisonous and the yellow-orange ones are the best kind (girond? I think they're called?). I found the biggest one of all the people, despite the fact I barely got anything else. I spent most of my time wondering if the mushrooms I passed were poisonous or not. I decided to venture on the safe side and leave the ones I was unsure about. But since I found the biggest one, I was effectively the champion. In French the "champion champignon".

I left their house that night. I'm back in the Schmitt house now. We spent today in the city. They showed me how to use the Tram and how to get to my school and all. I talked to the principal of the school about my classes and how everything works. I'm far less nervous about school now. And now we're going to go to the house of my host parents' friends so I'm afraid I have to leave. I'm sure I'll have even more to write about next week once I start school. (It starts Thursday). But for now, au revoir.