Bonjour!

This past Saturday I got to have a traditional French meal and I guess it was kind of like a fondue party... but it was really cool. I ate too much, (here comes the exchange student weight gain!!!) but it was just too good. Essentially, you heat a piece of cheese and pour it over potatoes and charcuterie (basically just fancy ham). I liked it, maybe even loved it, more than I ever could have expected.

Most things are like that here, though, different than I expected. I think that it's just because I don't really know what to expect from day to day; but I'm finding that it's also half the fun! I'm still finding surprises at every turn - my biggest being that gym class here is actually mildly fun at times! JK.

I'm still drinking coffee at the local cafés too much and enjoying my time here so thoroughly. That doesn't mean, of course, that there aren't days where it's a little rough. But I think that's to be expected when you move half way across the world for a year. I keep telling my parents that I am just curious about how the leaves are changing back home, and the things that are so normal to life. It was a treat to get a letter from my dad with some Indiana leaves, and I immediately smelled them to, just for a few seconds, take me back to Indiana.

Joni Mitchell's song, "The Circle Game" just came on my iPod shuffle (and it's too perfectly timed), but it's just so true to what I am feeling some days.

The seasons they go 'round and 'round,

and the painted ponies go up and down

we're captive on a carousel of time

we can't return, we can only look behind from where we came

and go 'round and 'round in the circle game.

I'm moving on and growing up, but I still have such a need to hold on to what grounds me... like the smell of Indiana, the smell of home. Well gosh, that just got depressing. Sorry. Moving on...

Tomorrow is my short day at school and I get to go vintage shopping with a couple friends! How fun, right? Only in Paris! J'aime la vie!