Two years ago I started developing my French speaking skills at my high school. I was taking French language classes and soon became the Vice-President of the French club. Towards Christmas time my teacher began talking about bringing foreign exchange students from our sister city of Amiens, France. I of course became excited about this, and after talking my parents into it, helped my teacher make the plans. We partnered with the **Alliance Francaise de Tulsa. We got the papers in from the students coming and were able to choose which person(s) we wanted. I looked through them all with my friend Kelsey, she really wanted a boy because she thought it would be funny, and I was looking for a compatible girl. Turns out God helped me choose the right one. Come April when they came I met my new best friend. We grew to love each other and called each other sisters. We kept in contact, and my senior year of high school it was our turn to be the foreign exchange students to their home in Amiens, but because of the swine flu epidemic our plans were canceled. This upset my Camille and me because we so badly missed one another, so she talked to her parents who decided they very much wanted to meet me, and they invited me over to their home during the summer. It took a lot of convincing with my parents, but finally I got them to agree to it, and then organize the whole thing. Luckily since I was just going to be staying with Camille’s family, all I had to pay for was the plane ticket and any souvenirs I wanted, food and housing her family graciously took care of for me.
Amiens, France is small town with a school where many students from a variety of small farm towns go to. Camille lived out in the country, about thirty minutes from Amiens. Let me just say if you have ever seen the recent making of the moving Pride and Prejudice and the scenery in that movie, then you will know how beautiful the countryside of France is. It took my breath away, the rolling hillsides, many corn fields, so many wheat fields, small roads, livestock roaming around, and absolute bliss. The French culture is beautiful, especially how much they love good food. “Food is one of the great passions of the French people; French cooking is highly refined and involves careful preparation, attention to detail, and the use of fresh ingredients; it varies by region and is heavily influenced by what is grown locally,” (*Kwintessential). The first night I arrived they prepared this huge meal of different courses of a great variety of foods, most of them from their own garden. Home grown vegetables and fruits are so very delectable. Camille’s grandparents would bring over freshly picked raspberries from their trees, now those were my favorite. I also adored how no matter if you were well acquainted with the people, or just somewhat in knowing of them, they all would kiss each other on the cheek. It takes away from the awkward pressures of if you should shake a person’s hand, or hug them, or just wave. It is a really nice greeting that I really wish us Americans would do without people believing it was awkward. And trust me, they do because I do sometimes greet and say goodbye to my close friends in such manner. It is my hope to someday find a nice husband who has a good job that can support our family in case the books I hopefully will begin producing do not sell so well. I say this because I very much desire to move to the countryside of France and be a novelist. That is the romantic side of me coming out, but it is the truth. I have much more to express about my love for France, but that will be soon to come. So au revoir et bonne nuit!
*http://www.kwintessential.co.uk/resources/global-etiquette/france-country-profile.html
**http://www.facebook.com/posted.php?id=156760202527&start=20&hash=2f8bcc45dad77c3ab1ca3ee23bb64a92
*http://www.kwintessential.co.uk/resources/global-etiquette/france-country-profile.html
**http://www.facebook.com/posted.php?id=156760202527&start=20&hash=2f8bcc45dad77c3ab1ca3ee23bb64a92
