Vacation Compilation

:] howdy y'all! So Christmas is over :[ it's not quite new years YET. but i wanna get one last blog in before the new year turns over.

So for Christmas, well the five days before Christmas i was in Paris. it was pretty good. I went to the Louvre and saw the Mona Lisa! And a bunch of other really old historical things, but i really wanted to see the Mona Lisa. And I did. :P haha, what else? oh! i climbed the Eiffel Tower..Yep, i was kinda forced by peer pressure [thanks Stuart] to take the stairs. Some little kids at the top told me they counted and it was over 800 steps. FML. Went shopping, of course. Got cute new sunglasses at the GIANT Gallery Lafayette. and by GIANT i mean HUGE. its THREE buildings. with like five stories each, well maybe four. But regardless its HUGE! Way bigger than any Macy's you'll find in USA. I also got to go to a concert in Notre Dame. the choir had adults to children. they were SO good. it was really good. Those kids were incredibly lucky to get to sing there... One night we went on a boat ride on the Seine River. that night i was really sick, my stomach was in knots and i had a killer headache that had me hunched over most of the boat ride. Anther night my host mom's daughter and her fiance came and spent the night in the apartment we were renting [they were gonna spend Christmas in Paris together]. But we went to dinner at a place called "Restaurant American" and yes the WHOLE MENU was all American food. not all-American but just American. there IS a difference. I had a plate called "Tex Mex" it came with onion rings, french fries, quesadilla, wings, chicken breast, ,steak flank, BBQ sauce, and guacamole. OH MY GOODNESS. it was heaven. my host brother Jordan got the same thing, and he was like i love BBQ sauce! and i was like GOOD come visit me in the South! we do it better! haha I was like [to Stuart] you have no idea how homey this is for me! it was funny. and DELICIOUS. and for dessert i had creme brulee, in honor of my daddy. :]

so we got back to Grenoble, Christmas eve. and Christmas eve night we opened all our presents. Then on Christmas day we went to my host mom's parents house for lunch with her brother and his kids. so it was nice. got to see those grandparents one last time before i switch families...though ill see them again before i leave but in like June. i wasn't to have all the family together. or at least go see them again. The grandma is the sweetest. Then the rest of Christmas was very relaxed, and the day after was as well. I just like to be relaxed, I'm not someone who is always busy doing something, and nor do I want to be someone who is always busy doing something. I love when i have free time and don't know what to do with it. I love just being able to mosey about the house without a care in the world. Best feeling ever.

5, 4, 3, 2, 1, Happy New Year!

nothing at all.

i look at photos and think to myself, im gone in the prime of my teenage life. i'm missing what i wish i wasn't and i'm hoping for the worst. i lay in bed at night, then wake up thinking i'm where i am not. it's the worst. homesickness doesn't describe what i feel. i talk to my family and i'm fine. of course i miss them, and i wish i were with them. but i'm not homesick.

i'm saddened by the inevitable. i've left my life and my home, and i can't let go. i can't do it. everyone is moving on, everyone has a life. i have a life. but it's out of my control. i feel lost and out of control though nothing is happening.

i feel in the dark. i feel scared.i feel nothing at all.

Long time no type. :[

i haven't written a blog in a while. but i've been kinda regularly writing in my normal journal, the more personal stuff though.

so i cut and dyed my hair today. :] its cute. the wedge layered cut. but not super short. and there's blond in it like Cassadee Pope's hair. It's cute. :]

let's see what else...Christmas break is coming up. the day after school gets out I'm off to Paris then coming back on Christmas Eve. so fun fun. Stuart leaves the 7th of January. so he has a month left just about. :[ that makes me sad.

Not too much to tell right now...OH! after Christmas break i have to do work in school. My teacher was like [because we had student teacher meetings] "after Christmas you are expected to participate. You're here for school not to just sit and write in your notebook." i was like ughhhh fine. >.< So not really looking forward to that.

Also during Christmas break, and before school starts which is Jan. 4th. I have to switch families. So I'll be living near where my friends live and my school is. AND my Mexicans. :] whom i love so so much. they were like, Michelle you're gonna stay with us more and you'll learn Spanish. I was like okay. haha, so maybe I'll learn two languages while I'm here. <3 but that's all for now, i really can't think of anything to say. Love you mucho grande style. :]

Ying Yang

DUDE-MAN, I'm totally off the wall crazy, i can tell i am. I'm happy and content one minute, and sad and depressed the next. Not about life, though i have no life. Oh indeed in France i have no life. i stay home all the time, one moment I'm content with being here in France, and the next I'm depressed and angry and wanting to go home. I don't know, people frustrate me, sometimes i just can't stand...[big sigh] people. So...yea i have no life as well as having mood swings. The host brother has a life, maybe it's just because I'm only three months in...i don't know. But the other exchange kids who have been here for just as long as i have...have a gillion friends, and go out, and speak way better french then i do. And i know I'm improving and when i realize that i am improving that's when I'm happy but then the rest of the time I'm just down and out and in a funk, i just can't describe it. I get news from home, most of which hasn't been great, grandpa's in a wheelchair now, i never get to talk to my sister because she has two jobs plus school. I talk to my parent's all the time and don't get me wrong i am not homesick. Okay i lied. well no i didn't. Well, [sigh] i miss home, i miss my friends, my true friends, the people who truly care for me. And i am fine on my own, granted I'm lonely, but I'm where i can't be with people who keep me good company, and make me feel good, and [giant sigh] it's less fun here than i thought it would be. Alright so last week i missed school for the first time in a month, all day Tuesday, Wednesday, and the morning on Thursday. At first i felt bad but then i just liked having the time to myself to think. But my host mom just came in and gave me beef for it. And she was sweetish about it, but it's not something you can necessarily be sweet about, but she said, damn it happened five minutes ago and i can't remember exactly what she said, something about rotary..and I'm on the borderline and she's the one with the power right now to send me home. But i do remember one this she said perfectly "this is not your home, you have to play by the rules." Isn't the point of the rotary exchange to be welcomed into a strangers home to intensively learn the language and culture and become part of that family, and they change you're life forever. So far some of that has happened for me..i will remember them forever, even if i do go home early, because i have never been such an emotional wreck in such a short period of time. Which freaks me out, and i feel really just ying yang about everything right now.

As the world turns around and we go different places, new things, new dreams, new faces.

Pixie Lott. It's a good band, or...singer. Just a girl, and a mic, and a song.


I wish..

• 
  
• i could sing better
• i had big ambitions
• i didn't have pipe dreams
• i was home
• i could play guitar
• i could stick to something
• i didn't get bored with things easily
• things were different
• i felt comfortable in my own skin
• i didn't cry every night.
  
• for a better tomorrow.
• 
  

I love..

• 
  
• my friends
• my parents
• my sister
• the knowledge of knowing I'm loved
• BA,JP,AB,AK,CB, KM, CN, MW, SJ, ID, BG
• music
• change
  
• singing all alone in my room
• not having a worry in the world when my music is playing
• when a song makes me cry
• 
  

I dislike..

• 
  
• the word dislike
• that we're quick to hate
• that we're slow to love
  
• that i can be judgmental
  
• judgmental people
• crying
• bees, insects, flying or buzzing objects...
• 
  

Pet Peeves..

• 
  
• inconstant beats
• people who make fun of those who are challenged
• attention seekers
• "gangsters"
• smart asses
• when people say "that's what she said!"
• people driving too slow in the left lane
• people talking over others
• when people don't admit their wrong
• 
  

I wish I were witty, I love one special person in Texas, I dislike being thousands and thousands of miles away.

One girl, one computer, one thought.

Catching Up To Do

So guess where i went? haha yea.. The Eiffel Tower. It was cool. I went to northern France for fall break. I visited Paris for a day, saw the Eiffel, climbed the Arc de Triumph, saw the Louvre [it was closed] saw Notre Dame [also closed] ate on the Champs Elysees that was cool. Went in Louis Vuitton that was cool too. So it was nice. After the day in Paris we took the train to La Ferte Bernard, stayed there for two days. The whole city is old from like the middle ages it was cool going in a church where the wood was over 600 years old..it was hella tight. :] boi. haha

After La Ferte, we drove to Tours, which is a big city, did a little shopping ahah met some cousins, then after two days there we drove to another super old town called Troo, and its famous for cave homes. We got to go in a bunch and they are SO COOL. OMG like seriously i want one. We were there for halloween and were walking around in the caves on halloween then walked back up to the house and we passed this really old church right as the bell rang and like it was misty out and just after dark it was so halloween-esk. i loved it. After two days in Troo is was back home. The next day i went to Chambery for the day to say goodbye so a friend who was leaving and to hang out with some friends, it was fun! Did a lot of shopping at a second hand store. Love it.

Okay so my best friend from back home , Amanda, JUST got a facebook. And i was like aweeeee and we've been talking non stop the past two days, well today and last night. I stayed up until two in the morning last night talking with her. I miss her a lot. And today i got to video chat with my aunt in Wisconsin. It's SEVENTY degrees in WI right now. I was like WTF?! Its not that warm here. jank.

Hmm what else? Yea I'm just chillin' not doing to much lately.

I've realized I'm a VERY laid back person. I couldn't be high maintenance if i wanted to be...

well im gonna end it here.PEACE.LOVE.OHSNAP.

Ripped Shirts and fondue?

Okay so i found this photo and freaked my freak. I love the Jabbawockeez, and of course Mister Jonas in the middle. :D

haha okay, so today is Thursday, and yesterday at school i had gym class. I don't participate in gym class, especially since their playing rugby. HARDCORE RUGBY oh my gosh, i was just chillin' sitting in the grass minding my own business when a kid from the other class who was playing against our class [our class is tiny compared to theirs] FLIPPED a kid from my class right in front of me! and they ripped his shirt straight down the front! It was a school shirt like jersey and if you look at them, its hard to find one that hasn't been fixed from being ripped, but NONE of them have been ripped clean down the middle, i was like OHMIGOD. haha fur cereal.

Okay and today. :] i got out of french lessons an hour early this morning, then at school my spanish teacher was like the students are taking a test tomorrow, so you dont have to come. and im like SWEET! So i get out at 11 o'clock tomorrow, and have no classes after that, and i start fall break :] so no school for a week. :D YAY. Then when i got home, my glee download on itunes was done, so i watched that. WOOHOO for Glee. :] haha THEN stuart and robin came home and they had my birfday present! Its a fondue maker thing, a bag of marshmallows, and five bars of chocolate. :] oh yes. that is what im doing tomorrow when im home, alone. without stuart. haha

no i'll share, alittle. :P

Well, thats really all i have to blog about, well i'll post some blogs during the break if i get Internet..i'm going up to Paris for a day then further north i think because i dont think my grandparents live in Paris, just near it. :] the second host family is taking me and stuart up there. though i'd kinda rather stay home and hang with friends who aren't traveling and be able to save money. but its okay. i get to go to the Eiffel Tower!

:]

Saint-Marcellin

DUDE. So today we had a Rotary thing, and pretty much all the kids in our district and all the rebounds were there, it was an informational meeting for people going out next year or something like that. But gahhhh I loved it. I got to see all [but one] of my friends! Jennifer from Canada was missing, and nobody knew why. But I stayed with Briana and Is the whole time. I also talked a lot with Aremi :] i can't wait to go to her house and hang out! The invitation is OPEN. haha inside joke.

Well Briana had an interesting time. Two boys from Argentina had fun kissing her like crazy, then the one who is like a walking orgasm began to kiss me too and it just never stopped. Like we made out, and kissed and we didn't care that there was Rotary people all around us, we were just being fun a crazy. And like not getting action for months being here today made up for it.
He was like i've kissed you and Briana, now you two kiss. And we were like, well you're not naked yet, so no. Because we were trying to get him to take off his clothes in the cold [we were outside for hours] and get in the big fountain we all were hanging near. And he wouldn't do it, so we didn't kiss. Even though Briana and I are both totally fine with it, and like kissing girls so yea, it was just funny. I love my naughty Rotary kids. Their the only good part about my exchange so far. I love them.

Loco Misquito!

So tonight i went to the London Pub with 3 friends, two boys and one girl. Dude it was awesome! Each of the boys had a beer, which the girl and I each tasted. Then the girl had a Tequila shot, and they were Michelle you do one too! And i was like uhh... Then one of the boys disappeared and i saw this really cute guy, and i kept smiling at him, then after awhile one of the boys came back with a Tequila shot, for me. We argued for like five minutes, then one of the boys shook it for me. [you have to cover it with your hand shake it then drink it, because they mix soda into it or something to lessen the taste but highten the burn or something like that.] But then they counted down, and I took my first Tequila shot. DUDE, it burned for like a second, it was not as bad as they make it out to be on TV and stuff. But that was my only drink for the night. Then we sat down for alittle bit...then decided to go to the Loco Misquito, which is a latin club. And as we were leaving the London Pub we ran into some of their friends leaving too, so they came with us, and the one girl was an exchange student last year in Virginia, so me and her walked together like wayyyyy behind the group because we were talking and walking with her cousin [who was extremely cute!] and when we got to the club we turned around and he was gone, so we had to go back after him, haha he had stopped to pee in the street, we bursted out laughing. It was so funny. but then we went in and danced SO MUCH. And I had never danced to Latin music before, and my rhythm just wasn't there tonight..like seriously. The tequila has done nothing to me at all but i just couldn't dance, i felt so creeped out by all the old guys sitting around watching the girls dance. But they said we'll go another time, and I'll dress better for it, because my skinny jeans were not good. Next time a dress and tights will subside. Easy movement and nobody can tell if I'm really dancing liek crazy or not! haha :] So that was my fun little adventure. :] and My first Tequila shot. Go Michelle.

Okay and i also want to add that at the Bastille there is some big club party tonight for University kids. And i can here the music in my apartment. So hopefully the steady beat will put me to sleep, im just like oh my god really?

U Got Nothin' On Me

^i wish i was that patch of grass^

Okay so things have been just, i don't know...ODD lately. I just don't know what to think anymore, or what to feel. I found out last night that for Christmas my family is taking me and Stuart [the host bro] to Paris, to live in a flat there for a week or so. Cool right? Yea, but I'm not excited. And in a week we have fall break for school for a week or so, and I'm going to northern France with my second host family and Stuart is coming along but again, I'm not excited. Especially for the long car ride.

So this is Cara, she's a cool kid. :] And that's me in the bunny costume. This is Easter this past April at our church. We are the best.







DUDEMAN! i freaking love Demi Lovato. I know this is SUPER LATE. But yea, I've just started listening to her new CD "Here We Go Again" I got it awhile ago [like before leaving the country] from my best friend :] Beth. But i've just started listening to it, don't know why honestly, but i love it! I guess i didn't feel like listening to it, during the hype of it's release, but DUDE it's amazing, i love her voice and her edge. Ahhh i want to be like her. As a singer i mean. Like seriously, she can sing a soft subtle song, but then totally rock out. She is just amazing. I still need to get Selena Gomez & The Scene "Kiss & Tell" i want it so bad! Also i think that Metro Station should do a song with Demi Lovato. And Demi should get back together with Trace Cyrus, they were an odd couple but still, they were cute. :D

Well I'm going to wrap things up, because well, I'm bored, and i would like to watch a movie now or something like that...to occupy all this free time. I could totally go into town, but i have no money to shop with, and it's cold. :D So this is a picture of my mommy and I. Obviously I'm in the Patrick outfit. Go Carowinds employees! haha, i miss my job though, I want to go back and see all my work friends, and goof off with my amazing supervisors. I just wish this summer was still here, and that it would never end. It was the best. I miss my mommy. That picture was taken after i got to do the Meet The Nicktoons show. I was hot, tired, and my foot got cut from the straps inside the costume. :] so it was interesting. I was running in and people were chasing me, but i ran up to mom and stopped so she could get a picture and people were like WHAT?! and i just laughed and talked to my mom through the costume then went inside and changed. haha good times. The picture was taken with my dad's cellphone. Go At&T Razors! haha well, okay I'm going to go now. Love ya'll.

Lycee Shmycee

Hey ya'll :] so its Thursday mornin' i'm currently in the midst of gettin' ready for Europole. [the lycee where i take french lessons] I should be getting back the test we took on Tuesday, and i think i actually did good, so if i did, then i'll take the test to normal lycee at 1:30 because i have a meeting with the CDE [student supervisor guy] and if i get in trouble for not doing french work or something, ill tell him i do my french classwork during class [which i do.] and then show him my test [only if its better than a 7 out of 20 so far thats my highest. haha] so we'll see how it goes..

So i'm listening to the new Miley Cyrus CD right now, and i love it, that and the new Ashely Tisdale CD, i'm in love with those two cds and its all i listen to right now, in about two months i'll stop. haha i was like that with the JoBro cd when it came out, and the Hannah Montana 3 cd/Movie Soundtrack so yea, :] i love me some good disney. haha i SO wish i had Kiss and Tell by Selena Gomez and The Scene, but i have NO money to get it on itunes, and yea, so i'll get a copy from beth when i get home, or buy it eventually... i magically have no money, and probably over drawed my ATM card because i had to get out 300 euros, and i only had like 280 something DOLLARS in my account, 300 EUROS is like 400 dollars, so i should probably tell my parents that i overdrawed most likely.. which is bad, because then there is a fine and its just not a good situation. but i HAD to take the 300 euros out, for my emergency fund here [ in france ] yea, so . well i have to leave in ten minutes so i'm gonna go get changed and eat REALLY FAST

LOVE YOU ALL!

Start Of Something New.

So this is my third blog...site. I saw a friend had a blogspot, and i liked it wayyyy better than what i have. So im switching. You can read previous blogs here --> CLICK HERE FOR BLOG

<-- awesome picture right?

But now i'm starting here.

So today is Oct. 12, 2009. I arrived in France on the 26th of August, so i'm two weeks shy of two months.

i was taken out for ice cream today by my counselor Christian, after about ten minutes of talking i know why he took me out for ice cream...to soften the blow of being told im not liked by my families. he was all no, no, they like you just not how you're acting. uhm..im sorry do you want me to become who im not?

thats what i dont understand about the exchange, everyone is saying, "you need to change yourself for this exchange, you'll change regardless, but you have to change yourself." and im not like i don't, if it changes me on its own then so be it. but i will not willingly change myself so you like me better. that is a big HECK NO.

i am who i am, DEAL WITH IT.

i'm moody, naive, senseless, carefree yet careful at the same time and i could careless what you have to say about me. If you don't like me, awesome, i might not like you either. :P

Getting back to the talk that had me crying in public...

he called my parents back home, he called my french lesson teacher, he talked with both of my host families. i was like WTF? he was all i hate having to say this but..blah blah blah. In my mind i was all, oh whatever just send me home now. i don't care. But the odd thing is i do care, to a degree. its not like oh crap they don't like me, i did something wrong, im gonna be sent home. To me it was like, oh i might be sent home, i wonder if school will be tough to start up, its only been two months-ish. I could get a job and be set within' a couple weeks.

Then i think to myself, BAD MICHELLE, you shouldn't be thinking that. but i like thinking about going home, and what i really miss doing, like going to wal-mart, jsut to see what has changed.

Oh another weird thing i thought about, if i get sent home in good enough time, would i be able to get miley cyrus concert tickets, even for in like florida on the weekend or something.

People, even other exchange students, just don't get it. It's different yet slightly the same for everyone. but im so depressed all the time, and i hide it well, ask my host brother, he'd never even know.

this was on the wall in my school ----->

awesome right?