This blog is so late! I am so sorry! I think this will be my last blog but maybe having a another one which would just be a summary of everything that I have learnt, enjoyed and what sort of things I would tell others who would like to go on an exchange. This has been a very hard blog for me to write because now it really does seem final (plus it's so long! There hasn't been enough time!)
This whole week was quite emotional for me but I had such an amazing time with everyone.
Sunday 26 February - Today was quite different than I thought it would be but it I enjoyed it so much.
This morning was spent by sleeping, eating breakfast and writing my blog. This weeks blog took hours to write because
a) There was alot
b) I got a bit bored because it was taking so long to write and then I remembered I had to put the photos on!
Anyway, at about 2pm, Matthieu asked me if I wanted to go to a castle so of course I said yes! So off we went to Fontainebleau and it was spectacular.
The castle of Fontainebleau was built by 4 different kings (so this next part might just be a bit of info about it). Francis I was the first to build part of the castle. This castle was used for Kings to stay - mainly for hunting due to the mount of forest that surrounds the area. After the death of Francis I, King Henry II (and then King Henry IV) decided to continue expanding the castle. After his death, Louis XVI made some more additions and finally, after his death, Napoleon I was the final King to make any additions/changes to the castle. So this magnificent castle was ultimately built by 4 different Kings and it was so impressive. It was from the era where to prove you had money, you had to have the best, biggest and with the most gold you could fit into one room. Not quite but it was very flashy. For example, the King's bedroom was covered in gold. In all honesty, some of the rooms were just quite ugly but some others were amazing.
The Chapel in the Castle was stunning. It had a main balcony at the back of the room where the King and Queen would sit, there were balconies all down the sides of the room where the Princesses, Princes, Choir, band members and other royalty would sit. Everyone else sat in the pews on the ground floor.
I think every room had gorgeous glass chandeliers and the designs on the walls and ceilings were breath-taking. There were paintings on almost all of the ceilings and if there weren't, it was covered in intricate designs or carvings. In the King's bedroom, there was a golden Eagle on a gold crown which represented Napoleon and his status and wealth as the eagle was his emblem and the gold represents the wealth. In one of the main corridors, there was an emblem with "F" on it with a plaque with gold Latin writing underneath. Next to this was a salamander carved into the wood in gold. This represents Francis I as his emblem was the Salamander. This is why the black and gold lizard (that I have seen) represents royalty.
Once we had looked around inside, we walked out into the gardens which are massive! There was a huge pond with a spectacular water fountain in the middle in the middle of the gardens. Outside, you could see the track that the Kings would ride down to go hunting and also from one place (the furthest side from the castle), the entry to the palace and the canal that ran across and under the driveway. In one part of the grounds is a small lake (?). It is a big pond/small lake thing. Queens could take a boat out to be alone or to read etc. which I think would be awesome. Also in that pond/lake thing are carp which could be 100 years old! There were also a couple of swans (which aren't 100 years old) but I guess if they had them when Queens lived there, that they could represent the beauty and grace of a Queen. Now that sounds like I'm doing English outside of school! Crazy.
This history is so fascinating to me and it was a great way to finish off my last weekend in France. I also said good-bye to Joe (my older brother) and he was the first person I said a proper goodbye to. I couldn't really talk too much because I could feel the lump in my throat forming and I would've cried! This was the point where it started to feel like I was leaving and I didn't like it.
Monday - Last Monday of school in France.....NOOOOO! Today wasn't really an exceptional day but it was just a good day and really good to spend with some awesome people.
Tuesday - Today there were three tests - English, Spanish and Maths. I did the English one (which I never found out my result for actually) but I never quite managed to get the hang of Maths or Spanish. For the English one, we had to read an article and answer the questions on the back (which I am really hoping I got right). Maths and Spanish were spent writing down some of the differences in France, my favourite things I have done, what's challenged me etc. (This list will be in a separate blog post). For lunch, we went out to Y Grec with Aimy, Yanis, Coline, Auguste, Leila, Ida and Alexandre as a sort of goodbye lunch for me. It was an awesome time (it always is with them) and I still wasn't looking forward to Friday.
Wednesday - It was my last Physical-chemistry in English class today which I was very sad about because it was pretty cool and I liked the teacher. In the class, we finished off our worksheet on how many folds it takes to get to the moon and then it was over. English where we played a version of Bingo to help with linking sentences as they are doing a debate in the next few weeks. That was pretty funny but good fun too. Our final class was Maths and I believe it was my last ever maths class...not gonna lie, I won't miss that! They finished off their tests while I wrote down some more about my time in France. Afterschool we went shopping and I bought a couple of things - including the french version of "The Fault in Our Stars" ("Nos Etoiles Contraires)
Thursday - Today was the most emotional day I had. It was my last day of school so alot of goodbyes. But of course, there was class first. First, there was 2 hours of french where they had a test for the first hour and a half and then they finished off a worksheet on Ruy Blas. Our next class was English where they began to create their characters and arguments for a debate they would have the next week. After English I said my first goodbye to Leila...Leila was so lovely and a really cool person so it was really sad to say goodbye.
Oh yea, I also forgot my card today (of course it was the last day I forget it) so I had to use Aimy's card to get into school. After English was lunch which was also interesting due to my forgetfulness. Pretty much, the teacher wouldn't let me have lunch - even just once and even though it was my last day - so Aimy and Alexandre shared their lunch with me which was really nice. (Auguste and Coline also offered but I wasn't too hungry anyway so it all worked out in the end)! Baptiste was also lovely. He thought I would still be at school on Friday so he was going to bring a piece of cake for me but instead he gave me the piece he brought for his friend. It was probably the best piece of cake I have ever had, it was so nice!
After lunch was physique-chimie where they had a test (but I didn't hand that in because there would be no point). Then it was time for aerobics! It was our last lesson in aerobics and we had a test. We had to perform a dance and we did it twice in case our second try went better than our first...it didn't but it was alot of fun anyway! I enjoyed the sport class even though I only got to do aerobics. They were moving on to running as soon as I left. Then it was time for our final class - SVT. At first I was sitting next to Alexandre but he had to move to do a test so Ida came to sit next to me. She was crying because she was dreading the moment I had to leave...so was I at this point especially.
Finally it was the end. I said goodbye to many of my classmates (like Erwan, Victor, Lola, Ouidad and Baptiste) but I won't go into too much detail because it will be too long and sad! We (Aimy, Yanis, Ida, Auguste and I) went downstairs to wait for the others while they had History. We sat, talked and laughed like usual until it was time for Ida to go. This was a really sad goodbye because Ida and I had been really close. We hugged for a long time and I was the one reassuring her that we would see each other again! I wasn't crying because I'm tough...not really, I was laughing to stop myself from crying. We finally let go and said one final goodbye...until she came running back around the corner saying "One final hug!!" At that point, my eyes definitely started to leak.
We then all went downstairs and Auguste and I continued on to wait outside the History class. When they finally got let out I said goodbye to Theo and then Auguste and I left with Coline. I walked out the school gates one final time and had a final look at what had been my school for the past 3 months.I said goodbye to Julie outside and then we headed to the bus stop. Very quickly because we jad one minute until it left...on the way though I was stopped by Alexandre who I said goodbye to for the last time. I'll definitely miss him and his crazy ways.
My next goodbye was very hard and it was to Auguste. Neither of us really knew wjat to say but I think we both understood what we wanted to say. We also couldn't say anything because we were both close to tears. I will miss his fast talking, video/music/movie recommendations, his crazy laugh...everything really! The next goodbye was just as hard. It was to Coline. I love Coline so much, she was so funny and easy to get along with and just amazing. She started to cry and so then I did too but while it was a sad moment, it was one to remember all the good times too. She then hopped on her bus and that was it...until she did an Ida and jumped off the bus and came to stay with us until we left!
We then went to meet Matthieu because we had missed our bus earlier oops. So I said goodbye to Clementine and Sarvesh and just then, Matthieu drove up in the car park which meant it was time for final final goodbyes. I said goodbye to Bastien, Fabian, Yanis and Coline (again) and more tears threatened to come.
Finally we jumped in the car and I was off for good. My final time at Lycée Andre-Malraux as a student. I never thought I'd sau this but I will miss school! All the way home in the car I was trying not to cry.
When we got home, Christine was there too. She was there to say goodbye, have a safe flight and some suggestions for my luggage. After all that was sorted out, she asked me if I had enjoyed my time here and what was my favourite part. In all honesty, while going to the Eiffel Tower and all that was so cool, my favourite part of the three months was having another family and making new friends. That is definitely worth more than anything to me.
For dinner we went out to a Chinese restaurant. It was a buffet so we all helped ourselves whether it was getting the already cooked food or making a plate of meat and veges yourself and having them cook it...or both! I also got to try frogs legs at this restaurant. I couldn't bring myself to pick it up because the leg was still shaped like a calf and thigh and it was weird but the actual meat was really nice. I think I like them more than snails. At some point during the eating, they gave me a souvenir to remember France by - a little silver necklace of the Eiffel Tower. It is so lovely! I was so surprised (and thankful) because obviously I didn't expect anything because I mean, they shared their house and food and life with me for three months!
All too soon it was over. We got a photo all together because I realised that in my three months over there we hadn't gotten a family photo! So that ended my last family dinner in France. On the way home it was so great. Aimy and Lise taught me the words to a song, we sang "Happy Days" all the way home repetitively and I laughed until I was crying and my stomach hurt.
When we arrived home, I gave them a card which I had written in (one side in French and one in English). I think they liked that a lot and my french had improved so much which was also really exciting to see. Then because Lise was going to bed and we thought that it'd be the last time we saw each other we said our goodbyes. After that. I went and had my shower and came back downstairs. Just before Aimy went to bed, she read the card I gave the family and she came over to me and told me she was so happy I had come to France and we had met. She was absolutely amazing for helping me learn everything, sharing her friends, classes, language! She and Lise have become two other sisters for me and I am so so grateful for that. We talked a little bit more but neither of us could really speak much because we both would've cried so we hugged a lot and finally said goodbye...then I went up to my room and mentally prepared myself to leave which is pretty tough! I ended up crying but because I didn't want to leave which I think shows how much I loved the experience and spending time with the spectacular people.
Friday - Leaving Day.
The day that at the start of the trip seemed too far away but at the end, too close.
The day started with me getting up and listening to Ed Sheeran while I packed a bit more stuff (I had gradually been packing stuff over the past few days so it wouldn't be quite as big of a job). Once I had packed some stuff, I headed downstairs, ate breakfast, and then headed straight to the primary school to say a last goodbye. I got to have a big group photo with everyone and then too soon again, I had to leave. I will miss them all so much because they were adorable and my French improved when I was with them because I had to speak it otherwise they wouldn't understand! I wandered back upstairs and finished packing my suitcase and then went downstairs to enjoy the last 3-4 hours with my family. Some final checks were done and rearranging of bags etc and the time to go! We ended up leaving about 3:30pm or something and on the ride I made sure to take in everything about the countryside.
We arrived at the airport and ended up parking in the exact same spot that we parked 3 months earlier! We entered the airport and sorted out my boarding pass and luggage. Because my bag was 28kg, I had to pay an extra 100 euro for the extra weight. After all of that was sorted, we wandered up to the 6th floor and we did pretty much a full circle of the floor before we ended up at a cafe we we bought a couple of things to eat or drink. When we had finished that we went back downstairs to wait outside of boarding.
Eventually, it was time for them to leave so they wouldn't be caught in the absolute worst traffic going home. We said goodbye and hugged so many times. I told them I couldn't wait for them to come over and they were always welcome here (and they said the same thing to me). Lise also called Aimy but she didn't answer so I just left a message that was pretty short because I was about to start crying. Then it was time to go through the whole boarding process so I boarded the ramp and turned around and waved goodbye for the last time.
Time for check in! The line went quite quickly which was great. One different thing going through this security check was I had to take my shoes off and they had to scan them. Once that was done, I wandered around the shops and then went to sit down and wait. The waiting was pretty boring so I wrote some more in my diary and listened to a lot of music. Then it was time to board! It was lovely on the plane because the hostesses saw my name and said they loved it and that is was beautiful (and no I didn't bribe them to say this or making it up despite what you're probably thinking). On the plane from Paris to Munich I ended up sitting next to the nicest lady from Mexico you would meet. She had been in France for one week for a holiday before heading to Munich. Three years ago, she had actually done an in exchange in France too! I also found out she was a doctor and she was preparing for a big test in September so she could specialise in the area she wanted to. She was so surprised to find out I was 16 and also that I was in France for three months by myself!
During the takeoff I cried a bit because that was the time I truly realised that I was going so it was pretty emotional. I wrote in my diary a bit and talked some more but before I knew it, the flight was over.
Now - this is when the times get sort of confusing so I will just do a brief summary of the flights and go back to days in Hong Kong.
When I arrived at the airport in Munich I walked off with the lady until she got to the sign that said to collect your bags. She was so lovely, it really helped taking to her to pass the time for the hour long flight. I then had to hurry to get to my next plane but because the times were so close it meant I had to wait for like 5 or 10 min before we started to board. I think in that flight I watched Moana, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (for the second time) and also La La Land. I tried to sleep but I don't really seem to sleep on planes so I went for a lot of walks instead which helps when I start to feel a bit sick or restless.
Then Hong Kong!
Saturday 4th March - I arrived about 4pm, walked through the gates, and got completely lost. It was by far the biggest airport I've been to and so it took me a while to figure out I had to go through the Immigration part of the airport...that took a while and also after that trying to find my bag was a struggle but I ended up with everything and went through to meet Kate at the airport. It was so cool to catch up with her again and see what she'd been up to! We met outside at McDonalds and then hopped on the train. We went back to her apartment, met Heather, sorted out the bed, had a great tour house the apartment, showered, and then headed out to dinner. The streets of Hong Kong are made up mostly of buses and taxis but it was so cool to see.
We went to a little restaurant that has really great food and ate there (and even though I've eaten snails and frogs legs I wasn't quite brave enough to try the Pigeon...). After we had finished that, we went outside and wandered around the street markets. That was an experience! There are so many little stalls with all sorts of stuff and it is so full. All of the streets have bright lights flashing or big neon signs for their shops.
I took a few photos there and then took the bus to the waterfront. That was spectacular. All along the front of Hong Kong Island, you could see lights of buildings which were all reflected on the water...I loved it. There was also a didgeridoo player who wasn't too bad really. After all of that we hopped on the bus to go back home but instead, Kate and I decided to go to the shoe lane (which is just a massive street full of shoe shops which was awesome). I didn't buy any but when I go back, I don't think I would pack any shoes because I could just buy them all there! We finished walking down the street, bussed back home, and got into bed. Even though the sleeping times had changed, I got to sleep pretty quickly because I was tired from not sleeping on the plane.
Sunday - Even though we planned to get up early, we ended up waking up slightly later which I didn't really mind because it meant more sleep! At one point in the night I had woken up and panicked because I though it was around 10am...turns out it was actually 4am. Bit of a difference. It didn't really affect our plans too much as we just got up, dressed and headed over to the club KCC where a mini hockey tournament was happening for primary schools. We met up with Heather who was having a break between her games (she was coaching) and ordered breakfast which was really good.
From there, we wandered down Nathan Rd and went to Kowloon Park. There were lots Tai Chi groups and even a couple of groups that were sword fighting or something. Pretty cool seeing so many people doing things and literally no one caring about what the others do. I mean, one man was walking along a bridge talking to the water and moving every so often. Turns out that in the water was a duck so he was taking this duck for a walk around the edge of the pond. It was adorable. So after we had wandered around the park and done some Tai Chi of our own, Kate and I went to the waterfront and took the Star Ferry across to Hong Kong Island. It was so busy! People were everywhere but it still felt like a comfortable environment. As we walked off to go to the central shopping center we saw the Hong Kong Ultra Marathon which they all looked like they were still trying halfway into it. Then we went into the center mostly just to see the Apple store because it was pretty impressive. A two floor store all of Apple stuff, I mean it's pretty cool. As we walked to the tram stops, we saw a lot of Filipino women who were carers of many Korean children. Sunday is their only day off so as they don't have somewhere to go, they all congregate on a street (which is closed off on Sundays because there are so many of them) or park and sit, talk and cook their traditional food. Lots of them were queuing up at a bank so they could transfer money over to their families in the Philippines so that was also quite a different thing to see.
After that, we took a tram to Wan Chai (not completely sure about spelling) and walked around those streets. They smelt terrible and didn't really look too flash but that was because down the sides of many of them were meat stalls with big slabs of meat, hooves, fish (alive or dead) etc. It was certainly an experience and one you wouldn't get in NZ. Then it was time to take a taxi up to Victoria Peak and on the way up I saw a lot of massive houses and also Happy Valley Racecourse which was pretty cool. They were almost the only things I saw up there though...it was pretty foggy so you could see a bit, but in some parts, it was like someone had draped a white curtain over the side. Despite this, I still got to see someone with dressed up cats and a special cat stroller. Plus the walk around was pretty nice and it was good to do some exercise before jumping on another plane. The walk was about 2.5km around and once we had finished we were both pretty hungry so we each got an ice cream - not from Kate's favourite place though. It was closed but we didn't really know why...best ice cream shop I have almost been to 100%. To fit in with seeing strange things in Hong Kong, there was Doggy Gelato available so your dog wouldn't feel left out while you ate. When we went to sit down, there was a guy who looked like he was his own paparazzi with both a phone and a camera taking photos of himself...so obviously Kate and I had to fit in so we took a selfie at the top too.
There was a crazy long line to take the Tram back down so instead we took a minibus to the MTR (their train system) and caught the MTR back to the flat. Before we went to the flat, we walked back to the club to catch up with Heather and eat a bit of lunch. Heather was great because she managed to sneak us a hat each from the club (my new favourite hat thank you!). Then we all headed back to the flat where I started to get ready to fly (so showering and packing etc.). Once I had finished all that it was pretty much time to leave! I said bye to Heather and headed out to the bus stop with Kate. We waited for a bit before the bus arrived but it was pretty quick. I said bye to Kate and hopped on the bus to the airport. After struggling to get my suitcase into the racks, I sat down and looked out the window during the trip which went pretty quickly. I manage to op off at the correct stop and get through all the security things without any problems which was great! Except then I realised that I had about 2 hours to wait so I bought a muffin and water and sat down at a table like a loner. The time passed pretty slowly so when it was time to leave I was ready. I then waited for a bit longer and finally jumped on the plane!
One interesting fact about Sunday - I took 8 different types of transport in one day (Walk, Taxi, Train, Tram, Bus, Mini Bus, Plane and Ferry). I don't think many people have done that!
Flight - HK to NZ
This flight went quite slowly and I think that's because of the anticipation of getting home. I went for heaps of walks again and watched The Edge of Seventeen, Trolls and probably another one that I can't remember. Finally, the captain announced we were about 30min away from landing and that's when I started to get really excited
Monday - Once we had landed, I jumped off, waited for like 10 hours for my luggage (okay not quite but it felt like it!) and passed through customs. And then I finally got to walk out through to the exit. And after that I just remember seeing my family, Mum been a lil bit excited and jumping through the bars to hug me and Gabby doing the same. dad was behind them seeming all tough but I think he missed me a bit too ;).
After that we headed home, stopped off at Nana and Grandad's and then went home. It was strange to be home but also really cool. It took me ages to realise that people here speak English and I didn't have to translate stuff into French all the time, or to speak slow English.
So yea, it's been hard coming back, I think I'm experiencing cultureshock coming back, but everyone has been awesome and supportive which has been amazing. I am so thankful I was able to do this and it has made me a more confident, purposeful person I think. It was truly an experience of a lifetime and I could not have done it with a better family, friends or organisation NZIIU who gave me all the information I needed plus more so there were no worries at all! Also thank you to everyone who has helped and supported me to be able to go over, I am very grateful to you.
Until next time,
Au Revoir France!
