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Published: April 9th 2010
Père Cent
This is me. I went as hippie :)In March, school started again, and the next vacation shall be in April. In March we met again as a Rotary district and I did some advertising for being an exchange student. I participated in the INSANE festival of Père cent and was pretty much occupied every weekend, as usual.
Père Cent is a "festival" for the
terminals (seniors) and it is traditionally 100 days before the BAC. The BAC, as I may have mentioned before, is like the ACT/SAT on steroids. It is everything they have EVER learned, and it is a whole weeks worth of testing. At the end of JUNE of all times. In the states, we finish school the first week of June, everyone, no exceptions, seniors included. Most juniors and seniors here dont get out until the first week in July! But since most of June is testing, I dont know if I have any reason to be there. We shall see. Anyway, "Père Cent" is celebrated 100 days before the BAC. It was the first Friday in March. Everyone dresses up and honeslty, it resembles Halloween more than any other festival I have seen in France so far! I went as a hippie ^^.
On the streets
We stopped traffic in the city for over two hours while we walked from school to school. The police were everywhere making sure we didnt get run over The point of it, in all honesty, I tink is to miss a day of school. At 8 AM we had all gathered in a parking lot in front of a theatre near the center of the city. The goal was to get everyone disguised, and parade around the city, going to every high school and yell and scream and make a ruckus. We did just that. People thought I was a bit strange because I did nothing but walk and take pictures. I wasnt even yelling! Tourists... There were of course, people who made it less fun. They brought eggs and flour and threw them at buildings and people. I got covered in flour and almost got hit by a couple of eggs. It was intense. There were, of course, idiots who thought they'd be funny and break fences and spraypaint cars. They were escorted away by the police. I did nothing but walk. I was there with people from my class, and just about everyone was there. Yes, my class is not a senior class, its a junior class. They didnt care, and I wont be able to do it next year, so I decided to participate. All
Me and Mélo
This is one of my friends from my class Mélodie. She is really nice, and walked with me for Père Cent! we really did was walk around and make a lot of noise. Afterwards we (a group of us) went to the park and hung around for about an hour. I saw some people running and yelling that they were doing another 'tour' around the city, but I told them no, I wasnt up for it. They went off to have their fun, and I met another friend in town for lunch. Then, I walked home and got there earlier than usual. It was SUCH a fun day, and so much different from the other festivals I have seen here. French people like their holidays, and honestly they have a lot of them, but they are holidays for older people, not so much for younger ones. This was a teenager's festival. Very cool. That night, I talked to my host brother Thomas, who is in Australia on exchange. Only for a few minutes though, because his parents hadn't talked to him in 6 weeks! I dont think I have gone that long before...
The next day was
Les Portes Ouvertes at my host brother Mathieu's school. It means "open doors" and most schools (middle, high and university) have it. It
Rotary
We convinced people to become exchange students!! It was a good time! is like an open house, you can talk to the teachers and current and former students, look at the classrooms and see what your child could do if they went to this school. Normally, one does this before going to the school, but my host parents didn't do it last year, so they wanted to do it this year. My host brother was one of the guides. It was pretty intiresting, but also kind of boring, because I am not planning on going to his school next year, so the information was pretty pointless.
The next weekend, I was invited to go to two things at the same time. "Les Portes Ouvertes" for my school, and a Rotary recruitment day at a local shopping supercenter. I chose the latter. We spent the whole day trying to get people to become international exchange students in the following years. Not next year, as its too late for that. But to sign up by October of this year. There were a pair of girls that stood talking to us for a full two hours! They really wanted to go to an English speaking country. Since they have five choices, we spoke to
(Almost) everyone
we've changed a lot since the beginning! But everyone in my district is like a giant family because we do so many things together! them about what they should put for at least the first three. They both wanted to go to England, because its not very far. Unfortunately, people from the UK dont like to go on exchange, so its really hard to have a true exchange going on. We convinced them to try Australia or New Zealand if they wanted to learn British English, but also suggested India, USA and Canada. They were so excited that they even added some of us on Facebook and have been asking a lot of questions ever since!! I feel great that I've done something for the Rotary like this. We even got a free lunch! How much better can that get?!
My Rotary district got together the second week of March and we visited Metz, the capital of the region. It was a good time, because we got to spend a lot of time as a group, but also got a lot of free time. We saw the cathedral in the center, even though I have visited it several times already. We then went across the street and met with the mayor. We took some pictures for the paper and then headed out for
Porta Nigra
Latin, yes. A huge black gate that kept out the enemies in Trier our three hours of free time. I finally met the newbies of the district, an australian girl and an argentinian girl. Both arrived at the end of January, but havent gone on the trips or other meetings, so none of us knew them. After, we went to the
Palais du Gouverneur or the 'palace of the governor'. It is basically a building that represents the army in this whole corner of France. Its where the big boss sits and orders people in other regions around. There are three regions which the governor is in charge of. Lorraine, Alsace and Nord Pas-de-Calais. Anyways, it was a highly uneventful day, just a lot of pictures for local papers.
On the 28th, I changed families again. Yes I know, but we have to have three. I still visit the other two from time to time, so no worries. I forgot about the time zone change, which happens on a different day here than in the US, and was late in changing. I woke up at what I thought was 9:30 and leisurly ate breakfast and dressed. My host mom came into my room and told me that I should have been at
the other families house at 11:30 and it was already noon! I threw the remaining things that I absolutely needed in my suitcases and we made the transition in less than thirty minutes! It was hectic, and I still have a few things lingering at my second family's house, but no worries, I visit my second host mom on Wednesdays sometimes 😊 I had to go there a few times to pick up some sweatshirts and all of my school books that I left there! Somehow, they slipped my mind xP. My host mom is an accountant and my host dad just got a new job in Luxembourg. They were supposed to be my second family, but my host dad lost his job in November and they decided it wasnt a good idea if I was in a house that couldnt support me. So, I moved in with an 'emergency' family who has turned out to be the nicest family out of the three that I have ^^. I have two host siblings agian. My host sister was in Taiwan last year on exchange and she is twenty. She studies in the University in Metz. My host brother is 17
The Center
The exact center of Trier has this cross, which divides the city in an exact cross, which is what the Romans were good at. and in his senior year at one of the local 'tech' schools. In France there are two types of public schools. A 'general' school and a 'technical' school. Tech schools give a diploma at the end of the persons studies, so they can go directly into the world of work. Many French people think that this type of schooling is for the people who cant get into general schools or who dont want to take the time to go to a University, but I say nay nay. My host brother is one of the smartest kids I have ever met! He is studying to work with computers, and he knows more about technology that I ever will! He is really good in math and physics, but his English is suffering, which is how I can help 😊
The first of April is a funny day. A lot like in the US, but I didnt really see a whole lot of it at my school because apparently people there are too serious 😞. The first is not called 'April Fools Day' like it is in English, but rather
Poisson d'Avril or 'April Fish'. Yes, fish. The goal is to stick
Cathedral at Trier
This is part of the inside of the cathedral. It is baroque style. paper fish on people's backs without them noticing. In the hallways I saw one boy who had four on his back! You arent supposed to tell people that they have one on their back if they do, you are just expected to check your back regularly. Fortunately, I was not fished. 😊 It was otherwise unevetful, although that evening it was intiresting to see that even the news teams took part in the April festivities. They asked people to decide whic one of the three reports that they did was false. They reported three different stories, each one a little unbelievable, and at the end of the hour, they said which one was false. I dont think t
I like my new family, and we have already done a few well-chosen activities so far! They took me to Trèves (the French name of the city, its real name is German: Trier) and we walked all around the city and saw all of the things that were built by the romans over 2000 years ago! Its very impressive, and less than an hour's drive away! We went to what used to be the bath houses and an old amphitheatre. It
Guillaume
My new little brother. He doesnt like his picture being taken haha he is 17 was nice, because we could go inside all of this stuff. I pretended to be a gladiator with my host brother, and my host parents thought I wasnt really acting my age. More like a 17-year old than one who is 19. Oh well, I had a lot of fun. It started to rain, but we still got to see a bridge that had the original Roman foundations and went to the top of the Porta Nigra (Black Door), which is the only remaining gateway into the heart of the city. The other three have been destroyed from weather, pollution and war. There was even a museum, but my camera ran out of batteries so I have no pictures of that, just the free pamphlets they gave out at the entrance. NEVER pass up free stuff. We went home but got stuck in traffic for an hour because we went through Luxembourg. We had gone the Friday before Easter, and only in my region and Alsace is it considered a holiday, but in Luxembourg, everyone works. So we got stuck in six o'clock traffic and all I really remember was that I had to go to the bathroom really bad.
Palais du Gouvernor
The palace of the governor. Basically tells of the importance of the regions in France. It was an awesome day though.
In the months to follow I have a very busy schedule. I have to go to another Rotary function, go on the Eurotrip, travel a bit with my parents when they come, and then go to another Rotary event. I will try to update as soon as I can, but I am guessing that wont be until the end of May or the beginning of June. No one panic if I dont update until then! It is perfectly normal 😊 the life of an exchange student is a busy thing and I am not always on the computer :P Usually I am at school or hanging out with friends, because French people like to just 'hang out' without really doing anything at all! We might go to a café, order one thing and then stay there for two hours! The French are good about that. Anyway, I hope you all forgive me, I tried to update quickly, but I have a lot of pictures to sort through, some of them useless and some of them too goofy to put on my blog (therefore they go to Facebook). I wish you all a very
Contre le Racism
This was the third band that night. So good! nice April, and I hope that the weather gets better!
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Gramma Scott
non-member comment
Tres bien Amie. Sounds like fun!
This sounds like the year of your life Amy. We're delighted you keep us in the loop. Have a great visit with Mom and Dad when they com. Love, Gramma Louise