Arrival in Nice, France

Wow.. So I have finally arrived! After one week of traveling here and there I am finally in Nice all settled down. New York was beautiful of course, and Paris even more so. I almost passed out at looking at the Eiffel Tower and I almost peed my pants seeing Le Louvre. Paris is absolutely amazing! It was a tad cold, but I was used to it because of Bend. The girls I met while traveling around were super great. I met girls who understood me, and who had traveled as much as me. It was a great feeling to be able to talk about my love of traveling with other girls who understood. I also feel like I now have people I can talk to when I am feeling sad, or missing home, because we're all in this together.

Traveling to another country all alone, and being surrounded by people you have never met, and who speak a different language is quite the adventure. But the people you meet on your way, the things you learn, the way you grow, and the bonds you create are all worth the difficulties you face.

After Paris, I said goodbye to the good friends I had met, and I hoped on a train (my first time on such a train, and let me tell you, they are SUPER fun! They go soooo fast!) to Nice. When I arrived, I was overly excited but a bit nervous as well. What was I going to say to my new family? Should I hug them or shake their hand? But as soon as I saw my two host sisters everything I had prepared to say or do vanished, and I just ran up and hugged them both. It was super exciting! And they were as I had expected, extremely friendly and smiley and welcoming. I could tell that we were all going to get along well right then.

The ride back home was fun. We listened to music and sang along, they asked me some questions but they also let me relax, for I slept half the car ride home haha. When we entered Nice, I woke up and saw some of the city as we drove by. My first impression was that it was absolutely beautiful. It looks older than most cities I have been to, but that adds a good feel to it. It has history, and that makes me eager to learn all about it. When I saw the ocean I just about fainted! It was SOOO nice!!! Whoever knows me well knows I have a great passion for the ocean and sea life, so actually LIVING by the ocean is an incredible gift. I am so thankful for this opportunity.

My new home is very very nice. Its kind of modern and a good size. The house looks very zen-y if that makes any sense. It has a good ambiance... and my room is super cool! I sleep on a loft bed. It's like a big room and then some stairs that go up to the bed. Its very nice! The window shades are electric..which got me excited:) I have a desk, a tv, a big closet, and a couch in my room. I share with my host sister, Lara, on the weekends and on Wednesday night. She sleeps on the couch (futon) when she does sleep over.

The family is incredibly sweet! There are five people (now six!) all together. Two beautiful younger sisters, Lara and Geraldine, and a cute little four year-old brother named Matteo. Sabrina is my host mother, and Eric is my host father. Oh and a cat, Tweety, who is super cute and fun. He reminds me of my orange cat back home, Thor:) I already feel very welcome here and I have just arrived. They are very loving, and they make me feel safe and at home. Geraldine (blond in pic) is the cutest girl you will ever meet! Lara (brunette in pic) is super sweet and funny, and Matteo is adorable! He is a jumpy little boy full of energy. He talks a bunch which is awesome so I can learn french! I understand him quite well since his vocabulary isn't as developed as the others in the family.

They are super nice, and fun to be around. They can be funny and loud just like my family, but they can also be very relaxed and comfortable. They are truly a perfect fit. Back home, my family is very loud and happy and we sing and dance, but we also have time to ourselves and we can be super calm some days, and I feel like this family is the same. Although I do not know them very well yet, I believe it is a good fit:)

I appreciate how patient they are with me because my French is not very good right now. The language barrior can be hard. I can't express myself as well, and I can't be as funny as I am back home. Back home, I talk all the time and I am very outgoing. Here I am as well, but it is harder since I can only say so much. My family only talks to me in French, which is awesome so I learn quickly but of course it takes time to explain some things to me. I am a bit nervous for school, since they teens will talk quickly and I probably won't understand anything the teacher says, but I think in time I'll catch on and understand it all. Then when I get home I'll be fluent in french!

Tomorrow is my first day of school. So everyone wish me luck! I did African dancing last night which was a blast! It was a good excersise, so I am going to be doing that every week (great so I have an activity to do over here). I met some of Geraldine's friends as well. They were all very nice! I hope they are as patient as my family is with my french:P My school is quite modern and big. It's pretty cool! I'll post more pictures soon.

My new way of life overall seems quite nice. I've only been here for a few days, so I'm not sure of much right now. But I think everything will go great:) This is going to be such an amazing experience!

Miss you all.
Hannah<3

NEW YORK!!! and the goodbyes...

 I left Bend, OR. That was quite hard honestly... people don't really warn you on how hard saying goodbye will be. I understand that 6 months isn't EXTREMELY long, and it'll go by fast, but saying "goodbye" is very hard. But now that its over I'm getting more and more excited to live in Nice, France :)

But...Cj and I are in New York now! This is my first time ever in the "city that never sleeps" and it is BEAUTIFUL. A lot less sketchy than I thought it would be, and quite clean for being a big city. Wonderful city lights -- which makes it look great at night! The people can be kind of snobby, but for the most part they are quite kind :) I'd even consider living here! Times Square was amazing all lit up (exactly what you see in the movies!) and Grand Central Station was breath taking. And from our apartment room, we can see the Statue of Liberty which is super cool too! I can't believe I never came here earlier. Now only two days until PARIS!!

A message from my friend who is currently on exchange.

So I am kinda stealing this from CJ's blog. But it's because I love the strong advice it gives. Right now, we have a friend who is on exchange in Denmark. She sent a message with some good advice in it and I wanted to post it because it made me think about the whole exchange thing... I am beyond excited about all this of course, but its scary at the same time. 

"Being an exchange student. 

Before I left, every student I talked to told me that they would never regret their exchange, they had an amazing incredible experience, they wouldn’t change it for anything. 

The thing they don’t tell you, is, the reason they say this is because they have gone through it, they have been on the exchange. … Let me rephrase. On exchange, you learn to look at your life and love your life and love yourself and see how all the strange paths, however painful or however amazing, have lead you to where you are. You learn to live with no regrets, appreciating your home, your family, your friends, yourself, your culture, more than you could have ever thought possible. 

Why wouldn’t everyone go on exchange then? I mean you get all these great experiences, learn a new language, attain this incredibly rare perspective that is oh so fairly impossible to attain in one year, esspecially so young. You get the best year of your life, handed to you on a platter. 

The reason is, because it is freaking hard. This is the hardest year of anyones life. No one really tells you this. Most people left it out of the itinerary. This year you’re are about to go on, will be so so terrible at times, that you just want to give up and go home, that you just want to cry and eat chocolate all day. And sometimes we do. 

But hear me when I say this; you are the bravest people I know. Stepping blindly forward into this whirl wind of crazy experiences. Cheers to you all. Because you are the kids that make those old rotarians hopeful when they think of the future. You are the kids that make me proud to be apart of this generation. We are the kids brave enough to step, blindfolded off the highdive. We are the kids running, shouting and screaming for more life and more adventure. And after eleven months of this, we look back and see how much we have grown, and realize, we are the captain of our fait, the master of our souls. 

Cheers y’all. Have an incredible year."

New York & Paris

I will officially be in Paris in 26 days!!!! Its coming up so soon, and so fast, that I am constantly thinking about stuff that I still need to do. All the excitement, stress, and questions, are all building up. I just want to leave now! I am stoked to meet my host family since they all seem very nice. I have skyped them once since I have been traveling, but I can't wait to skype them again. I think my host sister, Geraldine, and I will get along very well. We have a lot in common and we're close to the same age. So its exciting:)

My flight is on the 26th at 7:05pm from JFK airport in New York.
On the 25th, the group is supposed to be in New York, but CJ (a good friend) and I decided to make a trip out of it. So we are leaving the 22nd to New York and spending a few extra days there to look around and shop ;) before we leave. It's exciting since I have never been to New York!

YAY!