Jul 15, 2009

Lots to say!!

Countdown to departure: 48 days

There are a million things to say, because I've kind of slacked off writing (Sorry!). I'm going to attempt to go about this in a straight forward manner, so this ought to be interesting...=)  . Here goes nothing!

Part 1: Host City
Millery, France! Millery is 12 km (7.5 miles) out side of Lyon. Lyon is 431 km ( 261 miles ) southeast of Paris and 311 km ( 193 miles ) north of Marseille. Since I couldn't really find any facts for Millery, here are some facts for Lyon.
 
Population: 445,452 (third biggest city of France)
Elevation: 659 feet
Average Annual Precipitation: 30.5 inches
Average January Temperature: 38 degrees F
Average July Temperature: 71 degrees F
Major Industries: tourism, silk, textiles, chemicals, machinery, printing
Electricity: 220 volts, 50Hz, round two-pin plugs
Time Zone: UTC/GMT+1
Country Dialing Code: 33
Area Code: 4
Known as:  "Silk Capital of the World" 
Main Airport: St Exupery Airport
Ethnic groups: North African, Celtic and Latin with Teutonic, Slavic, Basque minorities and Indochinese
Region: Rhône-Alpes(Capital city)
Times shops are open: 10 am to mid-day and again from 2 pm to 7:30 pm from Monday to Saturday
Best way to travel: Public transportation 
Number of Museums: 37
Number of theatres: 20

Anything else you want to know? 

Part 2: Host Family
Mom: Sylvie
Dad: Didier
Son: Cristophe (17)
Son: Antione (16) 
Cat: Sweepy
House: Large, new
Pool?: No
School:20 minutes away by school bus
Starting school: Immediately after I arrive
TV: Yes (wow, this'll be different...)
Computer with e-mail: Yes (hint hint)

I've e-mailed my host mom a couple times, and my host brother once. They seem really nice, and I'm really excited to meet them. I think they all speak some English, so that should be useful. 

Part 3: Departure
Orientation: September 2nd
Departure: 9:30 PM September 3rd

Part 4: What happens now
So, now I spend the rest of July in summer school. No, I didn't fail! This is the English credit I need to graduate when I get back home senior year. The two exchange students my parents are hosting arrive mid August, so that should be fun! Then I leave...

Part 5: Freaking Out
Wow...I leave in less than 50 days... for a year... I'm really really excited... Like, REALLY excited....
OMGOMGOMG!! Ahhhh!

Alright, I'm OK now, haha

Eek, more to come as the day nears!
-Sophia

3 comments:

  1. France Question: Is it usual in France for stores and stuff to be closed for lunch? I know it's like that in Spain, but I didn't think France was the same way.

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  2. Hmm... I'm not sure... I'll have to look that up

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  3. Hello Sophia,
    I want to tell you that we are a host family in france for a young italian girl who arrives like you in septembre 2009.
    She is scary about school because she doens't speak french at all...
    Her name is Corinne Buosi
    we live in Blois (about 200 kms from Paris)... and we know some people near Lyon... So if a day you want to visit Loire Valley and Loire Castle (Chambord or Blois...) you can contact us... And if we go to Lyon with our AFS'r Corinne we can contact you too...
    Bonne année en France et bon courage
    (famille.clementamiel@free.fr)

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