Claire Prejean's Report From France

Posted by Ernest Hauser 
 

Well, it has been my first full month here in France and things have been going  great !

            After I had been here for about a week, my host dad took me to a Rotary meeting with him.  I was able to meet the president of the Rotary Club of Cognac as well as around 40 Rotarians. My host dad had me speak in front of everyone just to say a little bit about where I’m from and to thank them for hosting me.  It was a little nerve-wracking to do the first of my public speaking in French, but it went well and the whole evening was a good experience.

        

 
A few weeks ago was the first exchange student weekend which took place in Royan. There must have been around 40 or 50 students there in all. We took a boat ride to a small island where we visited a very old lighthouse called Phare de Cordouan, had a picnic on the beach, and then later rode on a Ferris Wheel. Everyone was relieved to have a little break from speaking French and it was so fun to meet other exchange students.

The next weekend my host family and I took a trip to see a cave called la Grotte du Pech Merle in the city of Cabreret and then the city of Carcassonne. The cave was full of ancient art and I only wish we were allowed to take pictures ! It was incredible ! Then Carcassonne was absolutely beautiful. We had a hotel within the walls of the city so we were able to enjoy breathtaking city during the day and in the evening. We were also able to take an audio guided tour around the castle on our last day there.

One of my host brothers turned 10 last Friday, so this weekend the house was full of kids. My host dad prepared a treasure hunt for them that went all around Segonzac so everyone brought their bikes and my other host brother and I rode along with them to help. The weather was beautiful and all of the kids were having a blast. A lot of them stopped multiple times to pick huge bunches of grapes off the vineyards. How nice, to have unlimited free grapes around you all the time !

Last week I started taking ballet classes in Cognac at a studio called Art et Danse. The class and the teacher are so different from what I am used to, so everything about the class, even just how the teacher pronounces the movements, is very interesting for me.

Every Friday I have a private French lesson at my tutor’s house. She is a wonderful teacher and my French has already become much better. Last week we started reading L’Etranger by Albert Camus so I am very excited to be reading my first full length French novel.

This past Sunday my councelor invited all of my host families and I to his house for lunch, so I have already met all four of my families. Each family is very different which is good because it will allow me to experience French culture from four different perspectives. Everyone was very nice and welcoming and I am lucky enough to have other kids in each family as well.

That’s it for this past month ! I hope everyone back in the U.S. is doing well !

Claire Prejean