France Trip: May 30

May 30
Cassandre woke me up at 6:45, and I took a shower, though I did knock down the shower rod and have to put it back up...embarrassing...
I went downstairs and ate a little bit of breakfast -- some Chocapics cereal with milk.

I arrived at school with Cassandre, and we said hello to everyone -- I got used to the kiss on each cheek really quickly, simply because I had to do it so often! I talked a little bit to the other girls (and Pierre, the only boy in his class). A teacher told us to all go to a small room where there was pain au chocolat, coffee, and orange juice.

We ate, the French formally welcome us, and I listened to the kids at my table talking. Apparently I wasn't listening very attentively because I didn't hear everything that Elodie said when she then asked if I knew she was a girl. I just heard that end part, and I think I jumped a little bit, or something that showed my surprise, because Elodie looked shocked, too. She then asked me if I understood in general, and I told her sometimes. (If you aren't paying attention, it's easy to think that Elodie is a boy, which is why this all started in the first place.)

After we took photos of everyone together, the French kids went to class and the deputy head gave us a tour of the school. It is both a professional and a general high school, so we saw both parts as well as the library. The deputy head spoke to us in English, and Madame said, "Imagine our principal. First of all, he would not speak in French, and second of all, the French kids wouldn't understand his English!" Which is true.

We then went to French class with our partners, where they were studying a parody of Homer written by Marivaux. I understood the class well; it was my first taste of literary analysis in French.
Then we went to an exhibition about WWI that focused on comic books about the war. It was interesting, and I think I understood most of what I read.
Pierre, Melissa (called Micha by the French kids), Elodie, Cassandre, Alison, Jeanne, D-D (short for Audrey), and I all went to E. LeClerc, a supermarket, to buy our lunch -- a sandwich, chips, and a drink. I bought a ham and butter sandwich and potato chips. We all went to a park, where we sat on some steps, ate, and talked. Everyone said that Melissa was very fun, and all the French kids loved her. Jeanne and I were the shyer ones of the group. My advantage was my French -- I speak bettter than both Jeanne and Melissa, and I also understand better; therefore, I could serve as translator. Soon, Jeanne and Melissa were asking me for translations, and sometimes the French kids were asking me, too -- they asked either Cassandre, the best at English among them, or me.

After lunch, we all went to a bar and sat in a small back room. I didn't get anything to drink, and Jeanne only got a strawberry lemonade, but all the French kids got alcohol. It's legal in France to buy very weak alcohol at the age of 16, so that's what they were drinking. At the bar, we met Alison's boyfriend and his friend. Some of the French kids went out to smoke -- they smoke a lot! -- and Melissa went with them. She says she's used to cigarette smoke, as both her father and her step-father smoke constantly.

Elodie, Cassandre, Pierrot (that's Pierre's nickname), Melissa, and I were all going to Amiens that afternoon, so we went to the train station to buy tickets. However, the train was going to be two hours late, so we hung outside the station for two hours, talking and eating (and smoking in the case of the French kids). Finally the train arrived, so we told everyone goodbye and the five of us got on the train and left. On the train, there was this annoying little boy running back and forth; he kept pressing the buttons to open the doors, and he would just run the whole length of two cars, again and again. His mother had no control over him at all.

In Amiens, we shopped. I don't like shopping too much, but it was fun just to hang out with this group. Melissa bought a dress, Pierrot bought a t-shirt, and Cassandre bought a blouse. Then we went to eat at...McDonald's. They call it McDo's. I don't know what Madame would think, but that's where the French kids took us. After eating, we took the bus (and then walked for what seemed like ages) to the bowling building. There we met another girl from the class, Perrine, and the biology teacher.
I fail at bowling.
The first game, Elodie won easily and I only got a total score of 20. The biology teacher, who was playing for the first time, played very well and got second. He and Melissa tried to help me, though I'm not sure it completely worked. I did get better as the game went on...Melissa and I taught the teacher the difference between a strike and a spare. During the game, sometims the French would go outside to smoke, but somehow they almost always came back right before it was their turn...
They also drank the cocktails sold at the bar in the building. Melissa enjoyed taking sips of everyone else's drinks...
The second game was won easily by the teacher, and I ended with a total score of 29. Grr, my goal was 30.

After, Elodie and Perrine left, then Pierrot and Melissa left with Pierrot's mother. The teacher told me that I'm terrible at bowling and good at French, though I know that I'm not nearly as good as I thought I was before this trip. Also, I found out that Cassandre told Pierrot about me -- stuff that I'd written in some of my letters to her. He knew that Papa is a math professor and that I love math, and that sometimes I travel just for the sake of riding roller coasters.
Then Cassandre and I went home; the biology teacher drove us to Cassandre's apartment.