Je ne sais quoi

Jan.7th-Feb.10th

Coucou!
J'espère que tout va bien pour tout le monde :)

So I think I'm at least a month behind in my blog...So I'm going to spend the next 2 hours writing and HOPEFULLY I will finish this post. I will be using to hours because that's the amount of time I have to wait until my next class starts. That is the one good thing about having spare time at school because it moderately forces me to work on and write my blog. And as I'm sitting here in the library I overheard the librarian talking to another lady and she said that there was another Canadian exchange student in my school! Whhhaaatt!?!? I am now determined to find her! I believe they said she was in Second (grade 10) so I know they weren't talking about me. I wonder where in Canada she's from...?
Alright so I have know been with my second host family for just over a month. It has gone by so fast and I can't believe it! In this post though I will only be writing about my first 3 weeks ish with them.
Mission accomplished!!! The Canadian is a girl from Ontario and she's 15 and is here for 3 months and apparently there is another girl coming from Alberta! Invasion of the Canadians or what!?

So I finished the first week of school after the vacances and of course I was already ready for another vacation. :p That weekend was the starting of Marseilles Provence capital de la culture 2013. So that Saturday I went to Aix with Fabienne, Clem and a family friend to see some of the festivities they had going on. We got there around 11. They had all the road closed off and there were a ton of people. All up the Cours Mirabeau they had decorated the trees in bright red cloth with poka dots.

 Then down the street facing it they had these two girls that were doing tricks on swinging ropes up in the air. They were really doing some amazing tricks. Then following down the road there were these poles placed along the road with people climbing them and doing tricks. In between the poles the had tones of red balloons continuing down the road. There were sooo many people and it was hard to keep up with my host sister as she dodged and weaved through the crowns and I feel behind with my good ol' Canadian nature of "no after you" and "sorry pardon me". Eventually my host sister just grabbed my hand and pulled me through the crowds. :p

The end of the street finished with a bigger open space with the theatre building at the end. On top of the theatre they had a band that was all dressed up in these really awesome costumes and above them there was a tight rope walker.

All in the space they had these large read balloons along with some smaller ones. We finally made it to a space where we could see pretty well and we enjoyed the show. The tight rope walkers wire must have been about the length of a football field and he had this huuge pole. He made it all the way across the wire and when he made it to the other side all of a sudden alll the large red balloons popped with a bang and from inside a whole bunch of smaller red balloons fell onto the crowd and THEN five jet plans flew overhead with red, white and blue smoke trailing behind them! It was really amazing and the show did end with a bang!

After headed back up towards the Routond to eat our picnic lunch. We found a bench in the sun which was just perfect. After we walked around the town for a bit and stopped by a museum that had some really strange art in it along with some older pieces. After that we caught a bus and headed back home pretty munch only to leave again for a hike to the top of a mountain where you can over look Marseille, the sea and a few of the surrounding villages. We were going to the top to see a laser light display that was happening in Marseille. At the top there was actually quite a few people. They had fires and hot chocolate, coffee and hot wine. The laser show was pretty much these huge green laser that shot in the sky and there was one that past right over us!

After there was some fireworks in Marseille but I didn't get to see them too well because Marseille was actually still pretty far away from where we were so they were pretty small and there was quite a few people standing in the way. After we left to walk back down the mountain and we all ended up meeting at some friends of the famillies house so some food and drinks ect. We left to go home pretty late that night and I was tired!

On Sunday the festivities continued and it was raining. Today my h.mom and I went to Gardanne to take part in the Chase au 13-ors. Which technically means thirteen golds and is also pretty much a clever play on words for treasure hunt.We went to the meeting place to get our first clue and then we were off. The hunt pretty much took us on a whole tour of the town. We went to a couple of shops, fountain squares, museums and a church. And it rained the whole time haha. Oh well we hada we had a  nice time anyway  When we left we stopped by one of Fabiennes friends houses because they had a guitar that they said I could use. I was sooo happy! Even though the Calsats have a guitar its a pretty little one and it is also pretty old and the one we were going to borrow was slightly bigger and a little older. It would also be especially nice to have because I've been teaching Clem how to play guitar so this way we can play at the same time and it makes it a little easier to show her things. :)We went to go and pick it up only to find it was broken! :O One of the tuning knobs at the end was broken but they said that if we took it in to get it fixed they would pay for it and then I could still use it! Score! So the next day Fabienne dropped it off and we had it back by Thursday. We got it backed all fixed with new strings and everything.

I also found out that on Thursdays when Clementine goes to swim at the pool for syncro I was allowed to go and swim along the side! Only thing I had to do was get a one piece swim suit, goggles and a swimming cap. I secretly dreaded getting a one piece because I have a really long torso and It is horrible to find one that doesn't constantly give me a wedgie. i told this to my h.mom and she said no worries I might have an old one you can I use. I just said oookk. So she found one, I tried it on. The length was actually fine. But of course it was only fine because it was really old a stretched out. And see through... -___-  Since we didn't have time to go and buy a new swimsuit before Thursday I just ended up wearing my two piece swimsuit under this old stretched one. It work alright but my host sister and the rest of her synchro team had a good laugh. :p So I made a real nice first impression as the girl who wore 2 swimsuits. Awesome. Haha But for the next Thursday don't worry I was all decked out with a new swimsuit and all the rest of the equipment. :D

The following weekend was clean the house Saturday! Wooppie I helped to vaccuum, cleaned my room and my h.mom's car because she said she really hates doing it so I offered to do it. Saturday came with a soccer game in Nice I think...? I dunno it was so long ago.

The next weekend wasn't too busy. I went for a run Saturday and then went my my h.mom and sister to go and find a snowboard set up and some boots for Clem. I found a whole set up for 90 euros along with a 40 euro helmet and some goggles. So now I'm pretty much all set up to go snowboarding! And then Sunday was soccer where I re-injured my ankle which is already pretty fickle. For the following week I ended up not doing too much because I wanted it to get better before I went and hurt it again.

A week later I had started running again and my ankle was feeling much better. And just in time for my week off! Because at school it was what they call, "Bac Blanc". Which is their week of practice exams. Of which I didn't have to do! Wooo! So I spent my week going for runs and catching up on some stuff I had kind of let slide. Like my *ahem blog cough*. So for my full week off a made a to-do list and I tackled quite a lot of it. I had to do a few applications for school next year along with some scholarships and stuff. I also caught up on one of my blogs. I did a few things with my bank and I made banana bread. Which didn't last very long. :


I even made some vin d'orange with my h.dad Michel and Clem. It involved pouring large quantities of vin, alcohol, sugar, orange peels and some spices into containers that will then seep for a various amount of days depending on the recipe.

So all in all I really benefited from having a week off. But mostly I'm just glad I didn't have to do the exams! For that week also Fabienne was in Spain with some students from her school that were doing a mini one week exchange. She had a nice time other than the fact that its was rainy and stormy the whole time she was there. One the Friday of my week off I met up with Lucca and Imelsy in Aix and we sat in a café and hung around for a while.

Then on Saturday I went to Marseille with some friends from school. We took a train and a bus and then went to the Ice rink and went skating. Which I like to think I do you Canadians proud by showing all the frenchies how good at skating we are. I got pretty nostalgic when there because it reminded me of all the time I spent in the arena at home. And then of course they were playing hockey on a tv there and it made me think of watching hockey with my dad and brother. Then soccer game on Sunday which I play really well in and we tied. It was a nice way to end my free week.

And now I just have one more week of school and then two more weeks off! One spent skiing in the alps and part of the next with Cathy who will be coming to stay with us for a few days! I am very much looking forward to the break and it is really going to make Februrary pass by quickly!

So until after the vacances!
Gros bisous,
Rebecca