So I've been here about three weeks, not including my orientation in Paris and boy has it went by fast! Honestly the first week was super terrible and I was just totally overwhelmed, and I honestly think that starting school right after I got there totally made things worse than they had to be. I'm going to have to talk to someone at AFS about that, grr. (Usually exchange students have at least a week to get settled with their host family before starting school) So my first week, my emotions ranged from "I love it here!" to "I will kill someone to get home"and that changed on about an hourly basis. The first week of school sucked too! I didn't understand a word my teachers said and I had to have my classmates repeat themselves about three billion times just so I could sort of understand what they were saying. And I even accidentally said no when about half my class asked if they could eat lunch with me! The only good things about that week was that on Wednesday and Friday I got out at 12.

The second week was definitely way better than the first, meaning that my emotions only changed with each day instead of each hour. If I concentrated enough I could sort of understand my teachers too! And I also started to make some friends, just a few girls from my class though. But through them I've met a lot of really interesting people! And apparently some of my friends have talked about me and now when I'm talking (with my terrible accent) there's at least one person who says "C'est toi, David?!" (Are you David?), which is totally cool. haha.

My third week (aka now) has been pretty great so far! On monday I actually understood the general idea of what was being taught in history class and I did the homework for the class that day, and I got a C+!! I honestly don't think I've ever been happy to see a C+ in any class besides math, but that seriously just made me start to forget how miserable I was the first week or so here. I feel like my french is slowwwwwwwwlllllllyyyy but surely improving. I noticed today that if I actually listen to the conversations happening around me, I can understand a word or a phrase, even without the person talking like an idiot so I can understand!

Even though things here are going super great for me at the moment, being here for 10 months still seems like a super long time and every time I think about it I get an uneasy feeling in my stomach. I honestly don't know if I could go that long without seeing my family and friends at least once! I knew that I would miss everyone eventually, but I didn't really realize how much I would. I had been preparing myself for the shock of changing cultures, families, and even my language for almost a year, but now that I think about it, I don't think its possible to prepare oneself for that kind of sudden change, no matter how long you have to prepare yourself. You just have to do it, like ripping a bandaid off and venture off into the unknown. And I can honestly say that this has been the hardest thing I've ever had to do, but I have a feeling that its going to be the most rewarding thing too!

So that's it for now, I think! I know there's a billion things I'm forgetting to write, but whatever. I miss you guys! (you know who you are ;) 

Writing this post feels really weird. Never in a million years would I have thought that I would feel sentimental about leaving Pennsylvania of all places. Yet I'm noticing myself trying to memorize every last corn stalk, and even though I knew that I wasn't going to be seeing my family, friends, and my pets for a year, I haven't really realized the significance of that until now. These are the people and places that I've been surrounded by for the last 17 years and it just feels bizarre abruptly leaving everything. I know that my departure is going to be one of the most bittersweet things I've experienced thus far.

At the same time though, I am more excited than I've ever been before. I'm going somewhere where I've never been, meeting people I've never met, experiencing a culture that I've really just seen a fleeting glimpse of, and being surrounded by a language that I can't quite understand that well. Whenever I think about it, its like a million billion butterflies are suddenly in my stomach. I feel like I'm preparing to go on my first great adventure, and hopefully it won't be the last. At the same time of all those emotions, I'm deathly afraid at the same time. Mostly about school, although going to a new school is always a scary thing in my opinion. And the language! Oh, the language, seriously French people talk way too fast, I don't know how anyone in that country ever has a conversation with anyone else. I also have no idea how I'm ever going to learn it. AFS says it only takes a few months, but I think they're lying.

Even though I'm having a bunch of doubts and fears about my upcoming journey, I know that at the same time it will be one of the best experiences I will ever have in my lifetime. I'm ready to embrace all of the good and bad things that may or may not come out of this experience. I know that not many people get to have an experience like this so I'm not going to take advantage of any of it. So, I guess what I'm trying to say is that I'm going to miss Pennsylvania and all the people who I know and love dearly, but I'm not going to let those things hold me back. I only have a limited amount of time on this Earth, we all do, and I intend to not waste a moment.

And I don't know how to end this, so bye, and don't ask me for my blog link. Bookmark it or something! I love you guys! <3