Went to Toulouse and met up with Bertille...

I so suck at keeping this up. Sorry!
Yeah, not a whole lot has happened though... I mean, besides the half-day District Conference and the weekend in Toulouse (I met up with Bertille for a bit - we spent about 5 or 10 minutes catching up... pretty much totally in French too so that shows I'm not as French-retarded as I was when I first came) with all the inbounds to France. 400 people. 3 hostels.
We only stuck around the same people though, our district and the Normandy district who we were with at Mt. St. Michel a lot in October. That was a bit of a let-down. And like, I haven't done Eurotour yet and this was perfect for catching up with your Spain trip friends or Eurotour buddies and all...
Ok, you know something is really wrong when Rotarians are admitting the organization was bad. No offense any Rotarians who may be reading - the France Rotary is pretty everywhere though, a lot more so than I thought could be possible...

Well, considering we got lost for 1 hour going to a gala on that weekend with a GPS and nearly hitting 2 people and a dog along the way, and then leaving at 2:30am... instead of 1am like planned, it's kind of hard not to admit the organization wasn't at its best.
As my friend in the Normandy district said, "Rotary doesn't know their asses from their esophaguses" (word for word. I thought it was rather bluntly hilarious).
We went to AIRBUS too... we went to a lecture at a university (even the adults were falling asleep, it was amazing. Our district and the Normandy one was so loud though, it was really rude but no matter how many times we shushed one another it wasn't quiet. One of the French Rotarians called us a pain in the ass at one point. Nous sommes un mal au kuh... or however you really spell that. It was amazingly sad). Tour of the city... me and 3 other girls asked if we could go on a hunt for easter chocolate and we were allowed so after getting it we went shopping and all and that's when I had to buy credit for my mobile and tell Bertille it may not work out because we had 15 minutes left by the time she texted me but then it turned out she was just passing by the store I was at when she got my message. Yea, it was really cool. I ran into her Korean exchange student when I went to the museum of natural history with my group of Rotary exchange students. Out of the 3 groups to enter (at separate times), and running into her before going to far, it was that student.

I switched to my last host family and may I say I think it will be the best one. The first one did not go well at all (I mean, they sent a letter to my YEO listing a bunch of lies and half-truths about me - that pretty much was the cherry on top), the second one wasn't that bad but they treated me like I was an ignorant 4 year old and when something went wrong it was always my fault (once I asked where I had to get off in the afternoon on the bus because my host brother was sick and the other kids who carpool with us and I always followed him off since he knew what was going on, he told me Argenton Les Vallees... I kind of realized it was the 2nd time that week I got off at the wrong stop about 1 and a half hours later when I was sitting in the parking lot. Then my host mom picks me up and yells at me about getting off at the wrong stop and how it's ONLY Monday we get off there. I didn't even know that - that's why I got off at Argenton this time because I was wrong on Monday. She was going on about how they didn't know where I was... why they didn't ask the girl who carpools with us who got off at La Forgereuse I have no idea, she was all confused when I got off at Argenton so... yea, then when I said my host dad told me it was not his fault at ALL because "he didn't understand"). Never anyone else's, always mine. Even if I was part of the problem yet someone else was involved, it was 100% me and they never listened to my side after they told me theirs. They cut me off when I spoke during those "explanations", it was rather irritating. I mean, it's hard enough that you're arguing in a second language but to have them cut you off in the middle of a sentence to throw something else at you? Ugh...

This family seems the most like home in Canada. That and they generally are really nice. Their kids are 18 (he left for his Rotary year to California when 17), and their daughter who is here is almost 19. They're used to older kids here.
Either way my first host family was as well (son turned 19 in Australia and the daughter still there was 18. She's now 19 too) but... yea, that didn't really matter to them I guess. Hard to explain but yea.
Anyways, these people are really nice; always reminding me I can go out of the house for a walk if I want, that they can drive me places, etc. I feel like I can talk to them more so than the other families and that is REALLY important, that's for sure.

Oh yea, District Conference.
All we did was sit in a room where people were giving speeches for 4 hours. Or 3. We lost track of time. We kept getting shushed because all we could do was talk, you know? Yet I saw a couple of Rotarians fall asleep. Boy that brought back memories...
In the end after going out in turn for a break from it and to get some food, we all were outside for the last 10 or 20 minutes. Then there was a break, then we got separated from them and we just hung out in the dining hall as they put out various plates of food on the tables for when Rotarians came in. We took tons of pictures with flags and all, then we did our flag ceremony, got separated into groups again by joining all the people who lived in our department (5-7 people per department) then one person from each group talked a bit. Then we ate. Then we left.
Really, nothing all that special. Nowhere near as awesome as our weekend last May (that feels so ancient, yet it feels like yesterday...). Then again France doesn't have Dennys...

Yea, not a whole ton has happened really.
I'm so lazy with pictures - I haven't put up any since January onto facebook. But I am pretty regular with putting them onto the computer. Of course I haven't uploaded the Toulouse ones yet and I didn't bring a camera to district conference, but I did steal a few. I'll edit this post when I get them up on my computer, I promise! And I have to go to a Rotary meeting in like, a minute, so...
Edit this post later! Figured the text was kind of more important at the moment...

Holy cow not a lot has happened in 2 months... with pictures!

Yea, I REALLY suck at blogging clearly. I had a whole post from New Years saved as a draft to get to after the party but... well its March.
HAPPY MARCH!

Funnily enough, though, I really don't have much to update. I'm on a farm now... out in the middle of nowhere. Really, 2km one direction are the neighbours, 3km the other way is Genneton, the village. I wake up at 5:45am every school morning so I can get a car ride in the clown car (I'm either squished to one side with my host brother and one of the other carpool guys, or I'm squished between two guys), about 15km (... I dunno, almost 10 miles?) to the bus stop. the bus picks us up at 6:45am, I arrive at school at 7:40am. I like the long bus ride though, clears the mind.
Well, until my last host sister comes on, then if I'm not already asleep I fake it. My last host family... oh my goodness, that reminds me... they're such backstabbers. Let me explain.
The 2nd or 3rd weekend of January, there was a Rotary weekend in La Flechè (all the other inbounds... one came on the Saturday, 2 left on the Saturday). I also found out there that... SHANNON SWITCHED INTO MY DISTRICT. I arrived with the Mexican girl in the town about 20km from me and another car shows up behind us. I step out... I look into the window of the other car and i was like "do I know that person?" and then the door opened and I was literally "=oooo" because Shannon stepped out. I mean, she was supposed to be outside of Paris right? Well, it turns out she had 1 host family the whole year and it was going badly and when she requested a switch her club DENIED it. She requested a district switch then, so now she's in the Pays de la Loire part of the district with another American.
Anyways, at La Flechè... I was up in this space with the beds (its like a mini call and inside each were 2 beds) with two other girls and a guy (all Americans - one girl is from somewhere in Arkansas I keep forgetting the name of, the town with the mother of 18 kids apparently, the other girl is from Portland, and the guy is from Hawaii), when my YEO came upstairs she said "Sarah I need to talk to you". She brings me into her room...
Ok, I gotta say, not meaning to brag or anything, but after all the crap I managed to get out with my first host family (it got bad... like we had a huge blow-out fight about 3 weeks before I left that ended with my locking myself in the bathroom for half an hour - I don't remember if I mentioned this but... yea, do NOT take exchange student's things basically), and then having it dished right back totally hammed up to the point of its bull only 3 weeks later... I deserve kudos for staying calm and normal throughout that entire 20 minute talk.
"I don't know who I got this from, but..." was the first thing. I saw the paper and I KNEW, I just KNEW it was my last host mom. What clarified it actually was the humour I found in the situation (and that's a must, finding humour in the most serious of situations - makes it easier to deal with I've learned).
"She never changes her underwear."
Like... say WHAAA? I was biting my lip on the inside to stop from laughing at that. Basically because I don't change my underwear 3 times a day (believe me, this family was bizarre. This is the family that talked about me "not having enough bras" and "if I dont use more bras I'll get an infection" during lunch, no stretch of truth, they said that, especially the infection thing... I'll never forget that)... I don't change it at ALL apparently. Then "I never change my socks" but the thing is... before coming here I always went barefoot in the house - I hate socks, still do. But the French believe old wive's tales, about "if you are barefoot on a cold surface you'll get a sore throat". My host parents kept telling me that whenever I forgot to put on socks for their sake.
But yeah, the entire letter said; she never speaks (it was awkward at home and I REALLY sucked at French when I came - I speak more at school), she has no friends (bull), always on the computer (LONG story about how that happened I won't get into but it required the family switch to overcome. It's not a lie basically...), never changes underwear or socks...
What does it end at?
"But she's very nice"
Really. "Mais elle est très gentile". Exact translation. Like seriously, 3 paragraps of mostly bull and she just cuts the suspense with that.
It took me 20 minutes to explain that those were major problems with my FIRST host family and since I've switched and now that I have younger host siblings it's MUCH better (it is honestly). When my YEO was convinced, she let me go. As soon as she went back down the stairs and I was back with the three Americans, I just broke down. My YEO never knew but I did - Kiefer, the Hawaiian, let me cry on his shoulder for 10 minutes and everything. Then the next hour we all talked about our host families (past or present) and problems we have or had and things about them that we find bizarre (you know, based on cultural differences. I can't think of a better word for it).
Anyways, the 2nd night we were there (Saturday), we all went to the town's Laser Bowl (it's a really big thing in this town that "everyone cool goes to every Friday night". it's a bowling place that has billiards/pool and a laser tag in the back). I played Laser Tag with 1 other Canadian girl, 1 French guy, and 4 Americans. This is how we tallied the score after we got the score sheets (I got 1st place for once in my life):
Canada won and lost (I was first, Meghan was last place) so we sandwich everyone. France came in second ("they're always 2nd"), and America is in last place between the Canadian sandwich.

So yea, that was the big thing of January.
BUT in early January after New Years, we had a baby sheep in the house for about 2 weeks in the garage/basement beneath a heating light and it was being fed (I accidently said "milked" in my last update and I also said "I dunno if it's a boy or girl"... whenever I say "milked" I mean "feeding it milk" but... yea. I only heard "... uh, Sarah, you would know if you were milking a boy or girl. Either you're milking it or you're 'milking' it ;)" xD).
He came back in February for about 2 weeks. Then I got to feed it the bottle and everything! It was so cool.
I also heard slaughter day but i didnt' realize it for awhile. In Chilliwack we have an old, non-used navy base (its open to the public, the police and army use certain areas for training) and within it is an artillery range and you hear the gunshots a lot (I live about a 5 minute's drive from it, 10-15 minutes walk). Because I've heard those shots for 3 years, my first thought was "... there's a nearby artillery range? Where?"
(if you've been to Oak Harbor, Kevin and maddy... it's like the jets that fly over the town constantly. I miss that town, it was nice... But yea, it was really loud, this noise...)
Yea, it wasn't.
Ironically we were barbecuing as these cows were being slaughtered for meat...
But then near the end of February... omg I'll never forget this. I heard a car outside and I got up and looked out the window and nearly puked - a tractor was parked in the front and hanging off the prongs was a totally skinned, severed (like no head, limbs...) PIG. Just a bunch of meat hanging there.
Two nights later it was on the table in a bowl for the entrée. Haven't touched it; every time I see it I see that mutilated pig hanging off the prongs of the tractor.

I've gone to one major place within the past 2 months. Seriously. I went to Thouars for a day - another town in my district (with Rotary but they don't host students). Took the world's dinkiest path (and the "bridges" across some streams were nothing but sticks and loose rock, no joke. Out of the 4 crossings only 1 had a real bridge over it), but saw a cute little waterfall and got a good long workout. Yet I didn't fall asleep in the hour long car ride back... interesting.

I'm going to Paris with my host family tomorrow - my host mom has family who has a house outside of Paris or an apartment inside (I don't remember what it was exactly). I know I'm seeing the stuff I haven't already seen (I went in March with my school last year), such as the Sacrée Coeur (literally sacred heart), and I probably will see the Eiffel Tower again while there.

I switch to my last host family, so far set, on March 29th. I'll FINALLY be IN TOWN and not in a tiny village outside. I could get a good exercise walking home - I've done it before to go to the supermarket at the bottom of this hill (it's about 20 minutes and add another 10 going up another hill to another store and turning off to get to the house) and my host sister is 19 and she has her A so she drives herself to school... so she'll just drop me off along the way. Normal wake-up call times next - yay! Lol.

Once again, sorry about not updating in FOREVER. I forgot... =)
PICTURES! I'm too lazy to upload them onto Facebook... I'll get to it one day. everyone else in my district tags me in anything so I don't really see much need I guess... and I never really have the time... well I do but I'm always doing something else. Lol xD


A pretty rock on the hike in Thouars.

On the way to the trail to the waterfall in Thouars, we passed by a motocross track with the club practicing.

Me with my obnoxiously long hair... in front of the cute little waterfall.

THIS was the good "bridge" we had across a stream (minus the one real bridge). All the others were stick and loose rock with gaps in between. Fun times, fun times... =)

All of us who played Laser Tag. Edouard, Anders, me, Eliot, Alyssa... at the bottom is Meghan (green) and Rowan. Seriously, halfway through our game some random Frenchies ran in and they joined us... that is never supposed to happen but whatever, even if they didn't count for points in our competition it was fun to have twice the targets.

Everybody in our district! 4 Canadians, 10 Americans, 8 Mexicans, 1 German, and 1 Austrian (I also head counted the Americans and Mexicans based on this picture so I wouldn't be surprised if I messed up =P). We did have 1 other Mexican (no idea what happened to him) and 1 Swedish girl (she lost a LOT of weight and was really depressed - went home before Christmas)

Almost everyone at this cute little bridge during our hike. Or it is everyone... mneh, I'm too lazy to head count again.

Me, Alyssa (Arkansas), and Meghan (Niagara Falls, Ontario) attempting to be Charlie's Angels.

I think it was me who said "I wonder if we could fit in that closet"... we all took turns squeezing in =)

Downstairs in the building we were sleeping in.