It’s been a good day. This morning Sophie (host mom) and I went to the Château and then to the street market. I’d already been to the Château a week ago, but the view was beautiful and walking up a million steps….well let’s face it- after all the cheese and bread I’ve eaten here, I could use the exercise.
The market was awesome too. It was an entire block of nothing but stands of produce, meats, cheese, bread, olives, arts and crafts…you name it. It smelled delicious and we got some tasty stuff. After the market we stopped at a café and had coffee while we watched a group of musicians playing old American country songs. It was great because I had the opportunity to spend some time getting to know Sophie a little bit better. I’ve been here for a week now, but everyone is so busy. I haven’t had a lot of time to talk to her one on one.
Living with a host family is a strange experience. Add to that a slight language barrier and the situation becomes exponentially weirder. The family is fantastic and I’m 100% sure that living with a host family rather than in an apartment was the right choice, but it definitely comes with some built-in challenges. All families are so different and it’s hard to know what’s expected of you as an exchange student. Being here for 5 months, you’re not really a guest, but also not part of the family. It’s a weird in between. They treat me like a guest, but I’m here for several months and feel like I should be doing chores or helping out around the house. But Sophie does all of the laundry and all of the cooking and seems shocked when I try to do the dishes. Sometimes she lets me, but most of the time she shoos me away and I feel like a bump on a log sitting there with a goober grin while Sophie and her daughter clear plates and do dishes. Also the apartments here are so small that congregating in the kitchen or living room doesn’t happen too often. Lori, Sam, and I used to call the kitchen in our old Maryland apartment a “one butt kitchen.” Well if that was a one butt kitchen, this one here has got to be a “half butt kitchen” or “French butt kitchen” or something (They are all so tiny here!). Chloé hangs out in her room most of the time, and I’ve taken her lead. Most of the time I leave my door open so it doesn’t seem like I’m being antisocial, but I often wonder if they think I spend too much time (or maybe not enough time) in my room. It’s tricky trying to strike a balance. I don’t want to inconvenience them by being in the way, but I also don’t want to seem like a hermit holed up in my room 24/7. Thursday morning I woke up at 6:45 to shower (i.e. stand in tub shivering and miserable under either no water or lukewarm water). As soon as I finished, Chloé ran in the bathroom to shower. I wondered if I had unknowingly swooped in and stolen her usual shower time. I asked her and she said no (How do you say “swoop” in French, you ask?... “Descente en piqué!), but she ended up running really behind and was late to school. Situations like that are what make living with a family a little bit awkward, but I suppose the best thing to do is to make a note of their daily habits and try to work around them as best I can.
Word of the day:
descente en piqué (noun)-swoop of bird, plane, or Kendall stealing shower causing everyone to run late
It would seem that you picked up that swooping habit from Lori. Isn't that her usual m.o? lol
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