Hi, all!
Wow, these last six weeks have really flown by, and I'm just starting another 2-week long vacation. Yay! We don't have much planned - we're just hanging around the house and maybe going down to visit grandparents for a little while.
Since my last entry, I've been really busy with school, especially with the "Bac Blanc," which is a mock form of the Baccalauréat that I'll be taking in June. For the French written portion (which I actually took before Christmas), I got a 7/20 and on the oral portion I got a 10, which means that I would have passed the oral but not the written. I think my writing skills have improved since then, and they probably will even more before June, so I am a bit hopefull. :) For the math and science parts, I got passing grades, too (math:19, biology:11, physical science: 17.5).
We also had our mid-year AFS weekend. I can't believe that I've already finished more than half of my 10 months here! The weekend was fun, between seeing all of the other AFSers in my region and the talent show on Sunday afternoon, where I performed Cinderella (the short, funny version) with 8 other AFS students.
Some other international students also arrived at my school - another girl from the US arrived with AFS, and a boy from Australia came with Rotary. I knew that AFS was a strong program in my region, as almost everybody knows about it. It was great to have someone here through a different program, though, as everyone got to see that AFS isn't the only program out there. He also seemed to be really happy with his Rotary experience, so he was a great marketer. :)
I'm going to sign out for now so that I can get a good night's sleep to start off the vacation correctly. haha.
Hope everyone's doing well!
-Catherine
Friday, February 15, 2008
Wednesday, January 9, 2008
Happy New Year!
Hi, all.
I hope everyone had a great holiday season and I wish everyone good health, happiness, etc. in 2008 (only a year and a half until I graduate!! Oh, goodness.)
It's been quite a while since I last wrote. I've been really busy with school work and vacation and everything. :) At the end of November, I felt a little weird about things, since there's no Thanksgiving here. I ended up making a small Thanksgiving dinner to share with my host family anyway, thanks to a care package from my aunt. Then I realized that, since there isn't Thanksgiving here, there isn't a holiday to mark the beginning of the Christmas season (decoration- and commercial-wise). I barely heard anything about Christmas throughout all of the month of December, which was a little odd, as in the US, I hear about it non-stop starting on Thanksgiving (and sometimes even before). In the middle of December, I recieved my report card for the first trimester. I'm in the 2nd quartile of the class! I won't lie: I'm really proud of myself for pulling that off, especially since I didn't understand what was going on in some of my classes at the beginning of the year. My two whole uninterrupted weeks of Christmas vacation (that was really nice!) were split into two parts: the first week, we were in the south of France with the grand-parents, eating way too much, and the second week, we relaxed at the house and had guests a few of the afternoons. Overall, it was a very enjoyable vacation. :)
For my last DS before vacation, we had a "Bac Blanc" in French, which is a practice test for the Bac. When my teacher handed them back to us earlier this week, she said that she had graded them like they would be graded for the Bac, including the tests of the AFS students. Guess my grade. 7/20. Yup, that's right. I almost have 10, which is what you have to have to pass. Plus, I took that before vacation and the real Bac isn't until the end of June!
Coming up next for school is the oral portion of the Bac Blanc, which I'm not expecting to do as well on. We're given a page of a book that we've read in class and have 30 minutes to put together a presentation on it that will explain all of the little details and will last up to 20 minutes. The deal with the oral is that you're in a room with the examinor for 20 minutes, and if you finish your presentation in 10 minutes, they get to ask you questions for 10 minutes, which can be a bit difficult. I'm really glad that I have no problem reading slowly in French! So we'll see how that goes.
Other than that, nothing new is really going on. I'm still working really hard in school, trying to improve my average (which was a 12.9/20, where the class average was 12) and all of that. I also just realized that I'm almost to the half-way point of my trip. Wow. The first couple of months went rather slowly, but the rest of the time has flown by.
My next entry will be dedicated to talking about Annonay and Roiffieux.
à plus tard!
-Catherine
I hope everyone had a great holiday season and I wish everyone good health, happiness, etc. in 2008 (only a year and a half until I graduate!! Oh, goodness.)
It's been quite a while since I last wrote. I've been really busy with school work and vacation and everything. :) At the end of November, I felt a little weird about things, since there's no Thanksgiving here. I ended up making a small Thanksgiving dinner to share with my host family anyway, thanks to a care package from my aunt. Then I realized that, since there isn't Thanksgiving here, there isn't a holiday to mark the beginning of the Christmas season (decoration- and commercial-wise). I barely heard anything about Christmas throughout all of the month of December, which was a little odd, as in the US, I hear about it non-stop starting on Thanksgiving (and sometimes even before). In the middle of December, I recieved my report card for the first trimester. I'm in the 2nd quartile of the class! I won't lie: I'm really proud of myself for pulling that off, especially since I didn't understand what was going on in some of my classes at the beginning of the year. My two whole uninterrupted weeks of Christmas vacation (that was really nice!) were split into two parts: the first week, we were in the south of France with the grand-parents, eating way too much, and the second week, we relaxed at the house and had guests a few of the afternoons. Overall, it was a very enjoyable vacation. :)
For my last DS before vacation, we had a "Bac Blanc" in French, which is a practice test for the Bac. When my teacher handed them back to us earlier this week, she said that she had graded them like they would be graded for the Bac, including the tests of the AFS students. Guess my grade. 7/20. Yup, that's right. I almost have 10, which is what you have to have to pass. Plus, I took that before vacation and the real Bac isn't until the end of June!
Coming up next for school is the oral portion of the Bac Blanc, which I'm not expecting to do as well on. We're given a page of a book that we've read in class and have 30 minutes to put together a presentation on it that will explain all of the little details and will last up to 20 minutes. The deal with the oral is that you're in a room with the examinor for 20 minutes, and if you finish your presentation in 10 minutes, they get to ask you questions for 10 minutes, which can be a bit difficult. I'm really glad that I have no problem reading slowly in French! So we'll see how that goes.
Other than that, nothing new is really going on. I'm still working really hard in school, trying to improve my average (which was a 12.9/20, where the class average was 12) and all of that. I also just realized that I'm almost to the half-way point of my trip. Wow. The first couple of months went rather slowly, but the rest of the time has flown by.
My next entry will be dedicated to talking about Annonay and Roiffieux.
à plus tard!
-Catherine
Wednesday, November 21, 2007
The French Schools, plus a little catch-up :)
So... It's been a while since I last wrote. I spent vacation in Normandy, visiting the debarkment beach, the American cemitary Deauville, Honfleur, and a few other really cool places. The debarkment beach and the cemitary were... amazing to see. There's so much history there, and it's so beautiful. On the way back, we stopped at Versailles, which is also really pretty. Here's a link to my pictures from the trip: http://hs.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2006771&l=48f0d&id=1241970410.
I also spent a Saturday in Paris (we left at 3:30 in the morning and stayed in Paris until 3:30 the next morning) with a bunch of other AFS people. We walked all around the city and saw the Eiffel tower at night, all lit up, and l'Arc de Triomphe, along with a bunch of other smaller sites.
Now, about the schools here. They start with the years of CP, which is like our elementary school. They take all of the same classes as we do in the US plus (believe it or not) English. My 6-year-old host sister has learned a bunch of songs in English and their French equivilants, and I'm often a bit taken aback to hear the English version of "Frère Jaques" being sung in the next room! They have the same teacher all day.
Kids start "College", which consitst of 6ème through 3ème, - our middle school - when they're about the age of our 6th graders. They continue with all of their old subjects and add one more language. In the private school here in Annonay, the choices for the second foreign language are Spanish and German. At this point, they start to have different teachers. They stay with the same group of studentsin the same room, and the teachers move around.
The equivilant of our high school - Lycée - starts in 2nde. It is only 3 years long. In 2nde, students start to think about what they want to do with their lives, and add more classes onto their schedules - they can choose from a few different classes, including Art Plastiques, Italian, and Latin. In 1ère, they choose which "track" they want to be in - L (literature), S (science), or ES (economic and social sciences). They will stay on this track during 1ère and Terminale years, and will take different standardised tests, depending on which track they're on. On the literature track, for example, a student has 6 hours of French class each week, at least 3 1/2 hours of English, and 5 hours of History, but only 2 hours of math and 1 1/2 of sciences. On the other hand, a student on the science track has fewer hours of history and French, but many more hours of math and science. In addition, every student chooses a "speciality" - English, math, and Art are 3 of the most common choices. They then take at least 2 hours every week focusing on this subject. At the end of 1ère, every student takes the French portion of the BAC, the standardised test that every Lycée student in France takes. Of course, this test is harder for the students in L than the students in S and ES, as they have spent more time working on the subject. Students in L also take the math and science portions of the BAC. During Terminale year, students in L don't have any math or science in their schedules, but concentrate more on literature, history, and languages. At the end of the year, every student takes the portions of the BAC that they have not already taken. The scores on these tests determine what they will be able to do after Lycée. Some people even repeat either 1ère or Terminale year in order to try to get a better grade on the BAC.
One major difference that I've noticed is the grades. All grades are out of 20. The thing that was the most surprising to me, though, is that most students are moderately happy with a 10. In the US, if I have a grade out of 20, I'm moderately happy with a 16. Here, getting a 16 is really good, and almost all of the students would be extremely happy with a 16 or above.
That's all for now. I hope you enjoy the pictures and have a great Thanksgiving!!
-Catherine
I also spent a Saturday in Paris (we left at 3:30 in the morning and stayed in Paris until 3:30 the next morning) with a bunch of other AFS people. We walked all around the city and saw the Eiffel tower at night, all lit up, and l'Arc de Triomphe, along with a bunch of other smaller sites.
Now, about the schools here. They start with the years of CP, which is like our elementary school. They take all of the same classes as we do in the US plus (believe it or not) English. My 6-year-old host sister has learned a bunch of songs in English and their French equivilants, and I'm often a bit taken aback to hear the English version of "Frère Jaques" being sung in the next room! They have the same teacher all day.
Kids start "College", which consitst of 6ème through 3ème, - our middle school - when they're about the age of our 6th graders. They continue with all of their old subjects and add one more language. In the private school here in Annonay, the choices for the second foreign language are Spanish and German. At this point, they start to have different teachers. They stay with the same group of studentsin the same room, and the teachers move around.
The equivilant of our high school - Lycée - starts in 2nde. It is only 3 years long. In 2nde, students start to think about what they want to do with their lives, and add more classes onto their schedules - they can choose from a few different classes, including Art Plastiques, Italian, and Latin. In 1ère, they choose which "track" they want to be in - L (literature), S (science), or ES (economic and social sciences). They will stay on this track during 1ère and Terminale years, and will take different standardised tests, depending on which track they're on. On the literature track, for example, a student has 6 hours of French class each week, at least 3 1/2 hours of English, and 5 hours of History, but only 2 hours of math and 1 1/2 of sciences. On the other hand, a student on the science track has fewer hours of history and French, but many more hours of math and science. In addition, every student chooses a "speciality" - English, math, and Art are 3 of the most common choices. They then take at least 2 hours every week focusing on this subject. At the end of 1ère, every student takes the French portion of the BAC, the standardised test that every Lycée student in France takes. Of course, this test is harder for the students in L than the students in S and ES, as they have spent more time working on the subject. Students in L also take the math and science portions of the BAC. During Terminale year, students in L don't have any math or science in their schedules, but concentrate more on literature, history, and languages. At the end of the year, every student takes the portions of the BAC that they have not already taken. The scores on these tests determine what they will be able to do after Lycée. Some people even repeat either 1ère or Terminale year in order to try to get a better grade on the BAC.
One major difference that I've noticed is the grades. All grades are out of 20. The thing that was the most surprising to me, though, is that most students are moderately happy with a 10. In the US, if I have a grade out of 20, I'm moderately happy with a 16. Here, getting a 16 is really good, and almost all of the students would be extremely happy with a 16 or above.
That's all for now. I hope you enjoy the pictures and have a great Thanksgiving!!
-Catherine
Monday, October 8, 2007
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Guess who got a 19 out of 20 on the math portion of the DS when the class average was 15.8!!!! Yeah, that would be me. :) I'm much better at math in France than in the US, apparently.
I haven't gotten the results from the French portion yet, but I think I did pretty well. I think I'll find out this afternoon, when I have 2 hours of French class. Yay.
Really, though, I like my classes a lot. English is really easy (but what's new, right?), I'm enjoying Bel-Ami by Maupassant in French class, History seems like it would be interesting if I understood what was going on :), math is really easy (for the first time in several years), and I don't have to go to Spanish because everyone here has been taking it for 5 years already.
My host family is great. I really like talking to them and going out to do family stuff... It's quite fun. :)
So... Next time, I'll put in a little more about the school system, which is SO different.
~Catherine~
I haven't gotten the results from the French portion yet, but I think I did pretty well. I think I'll find out this afternoon, when I have 2 hours of French class. Yay.
Really, though, I like my classes a lot. English is really easy (but what's new, right?), I'm enjoying Bel-Ami by Maupassant in French class, History seems like it would be interesting if I understood what was going on :), math is really easy (for the first time in several years), and I don't have to go to Spanish because everyone here has been taking it for 5 years already.
My host family is great. I really like talking to them and going out to do family stuff... It's quite fun. :)
So... Next time, I'll put in a little more about the school system, which is SO different.
~Catherine~
Friday, October 5, 2007
Week 6
Well.
I've been here for 5 weeks now, and in school for most of it. It's been fun, exciting, difficult, funny, sad, great... everything, really.
I don't have much time right now (I have DS in 10 minutes - basically, every Friday I have to take a 4-hour long written test. Each week, it's a different subject or two different subjects. Today's the first one I'm taking, and they're for French and Math. Wish me luck!), but I just wanted to get that out there and let everyone know that I'm doing well.
My host family's great, as are the people in my class (I stay with the same group of people all day - the classes don't switch around like they do in my high school in the US).
I'll get a longer, more detailed note up either Monday or Thursday of next week.
-Catherine
I've been here for 5 weeks now, and in school for most of it. It's been fun, exciting, difficult, funny, sad, great... everything, really.
I don't have much time right now (I have DS in 10 minutes - basically, every Friday I have to take a 4-hour long written test. Each week, it's a different subject or two different subjects. Today's the first one I'm taking, and they're for French and Math. Wish me luck!), but I just wanted to get that out there and let everyone know that I'm doing well.
My host family's great, as are the people in my class (I stay with the same group of people all day - the classes don't switch around like they do in my high school in the US).
I'll get a longer, more detailed note up either Monday or Thursday of next week.
-Catherine
Tuesday, August 28, 2007
Leaving On A Jet Plane
Hi!
I had to put that title in, just for Mom. :-)
And the time has come at last: tomorrow I'm going to NYC for the Gateway orientation. From there, I will travel nonstop NYC to Paris on Thursday night, then spend a few days in Paris before a bus takes me and some other AFSers to southern France to meet our families.
Right now, there are 500 billion emotions all kind of whirling around my head. I'm scared and ecstatic and nervous and... I don't know. Everything. In a way, it's kind of surreal, too. I mean, it's a little odd to think that I just saw my best friends for the last time in 10 months and this is the last time I'll sleep in my room until I get home. As time goes on in France, I know that I'll make friends and I'll become comfortable in my new house. I really do know that, in theory. The actually believing it thing is what's a little hard to deal with right now.
It's getting really late now, and I have to get some sleep before tomorrow!
~Catherine~
I had to put that title in, just for Mom. :-)
And the time has come at last: tomorrow I'm going to NYC for the Gateway orientation. From there, I will travel nonstop NYC to Paris on Thursday night, then spend a few days in Paris before a bus takes me and some other AFSers to southern France to meet our families.
Right now, there are 500 billion emotions all kind of whirling around my head. I'm scared and ecstatic and nervous and... I don't know. Everything. In a way, it's kind of surreal, too. I mean, it's a little odd to think that I just saw my best friends for the last time in 10 months and this is the last time I'll sleep in my room until I get home. As time goes on in France, I know that I'll make friends and I'll become comfortable in my new house. I really do know that, in theory. The actually believing it thing is what's a little hard to deal with right now.
It's getting really late now, and I have to get some sleep before tomorrow!
~Catherine~
Monday, August 6, 2007
Ah, Vacation
I finally have more to write about/time to write!
For five weeks earlier this summer, I was in a leadership training program at a camp on Lake Ossipee. In the first week, I met and got to know the staff and the 23 other Leadership & Service people, all aged 16 and 17. For each of the four remaining weeks, I worked with a different cabin group and a different activity department. Throughout my time there in cabins and in departments, I worked with campers aged 8-15 and with staff, mostly aged 16-21. I had so much fun, and I think that it definitely helped in my ability to interact with different people and gave me A LOT more patience!
Since I returned home, I've been going through all of my stuff, sorting through papers and clothes, deciding what I'm going to bring and what I still need. I went to the French Consulate in Boston a week ago to get my visa. After getting all of the paperwork together for it (which was kind of difficult - there were many papers that we needed to wait for from AFS France and then we had to make two copies of everything and have it all together...) and waiting in the waiting room for 45 minutes, the meeting lasted about 15 minutes. Fast and simple. My visa was sent overnight and I got it the next day. Now that all of my paperwork is set, I just have to get together everything else! It's hard to start packing now, though, as I have to wear something for the next two and a half weeks... :-)
Oh, and I was just reading through my other entries and realized that I never said that Nicolas Sarkozy won the French presidential election. Just thought you should know. :-)
More later.
~Catherine~
For five weeks earlier this summer, I was in a leadership training program at a camp on Lake Ossipee. In the first week, I met and got to know the staff and the 23 other Leadership & Service people, all aged 16 and 17. For each of the four remaining weeks, I worked with a different cabin group and a different activity department. Throughout my time there in cabins and in departments, I worked with campers aged 8-15 and with staff, mostly aged 16-21. I had so much fun, and I think that it definitely helped in my ability to interact with different people and gave me A LOT more patience!
Since I returned home, I've been going through all of my stuff, sorting through papers and clothes, deciding what I'm going to bring and what I still need. I went to the French Consulate in Boston a week ago to get my visa. After getting all of the paperwork together for it (which was kind of difficult - there were many papers that we needed to wait for from AFS France and then we had to make two copies of everything and have it all together...) and waiting in the waiting room for 45 minutes, the meeting lasted about 15 minutes. Fast and simple. My visa was sent overnight and I got it the next day. Now that all of my paperwork is set, I just have to get together everything else! It's hard to start packing now, though, as I have to wear something for the next two and a half weeks... :-)
Oh, and I was just reading through my other entries and realized that I never said that Nicolas Sarkozy won the French presidential election. Just thought you should know. :-)
More later.
~Catherine~
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