Last Posting from Aix
Okay. The last writing from France. Time for some reflection of my time here. I've written this a million times in my head already... trying to figure out what to say and what I even think of everything, what I've learned and what I am going to really miss. We'll see what happens...get ready.
So, France. Aix-en-Provence. It was good to me, no doubt. I suppose I was just fabulous in return. During my last break when I went traveling all over the place and fell in love with Budapest, Prague and Berlin, I was not excited to return to Aix/France. It had become too familiar, too 
comfortable. It was a place in which I could communicate, be it badly, whereas these other cities were new and exciting, surrounding me with strange tongues that I severely butchered when merely trying to thank someone and so many new sights to experience. So without much passion for France, I returned grudgingly. Aix was still Aix, except, wait! The plain trees that had before been bald, awkward nubby things lining many of the streets had bloomed and leafy green goodness and flowers were everywhere. My host family's house has been consumed by vines and bushes growing all over the exterior. Aix looked different (better?), and I was relatively excited about this. Of course, the weather was so-so (RAIN!) for a while, but I managed because now it has become simply gorgeous and nearly too hot.
I only had about a week and a half of school left upon returning. I got my tests back that I'd taken before break (I believe it was that week right before leaving that I had six or seven tests in one week, so clearly little studying for ALL of them went down), and my results were relatively, um, not so impressive. Trying to get back into French was slightly difficult after confusing my brain with trinkets of phrases from other languages, not to mention that I'd spoken English the entire time away and hardly a word of French. So the first few tests were a little rough, but I'm a survivor. Soon enough I was having my "last class of [blank] EVER"s. I was happy to get Translation and Phonetics over with. Probably the worst classes I took for various reasons. Last class of Romanesque Prose was filled with me creating fantastic answers for our final test and last class of Fifth Republic sorta just...went. Everything was pretty nonchalant about ending, maybe because some people still have real FINALS to get a special diploma, so nothing was really over for them.
However, for my language class... things were getting sad. I absolutely adore my professor, Mme Maréchal, and our class. At first I was so skeptical and basically terrified, but it couldn't have worked out better. We had a makeup class on Friday... my very last class at the Institute EVER. We all gave exposés (oral presentations) about something weird we do or others do. [Don't worry... definitely explained my summer job of selling books for everyone]. An hour after it ended, Mme Maréchal invited us to bring some food or drink and come over for a little get together at her apartment. And that we did and had a marvelous time. She is truly a fabulous and highly intelligent woman and I have a RIDICULOUS amount of respect and admiration for her. She sang some French for us, some Japanese (she's trying to learn that now too), told us some stories, we all talked with each other... it was fantastic.
During this little fête (party), it became quite obvious that my time in France was coming to a close. I won't be waking up for language class at 8am tomorrow, it'll instead be for catching the shuttle to the airport to leave the country for the US. I won't be complaining about the classes I don't like or having great stories about those I love. I won't walk 25 minutes to and from class, past the high schoolers and middle schoolers and random landmarks I've come to know so well. I won't walk past the fish market in town that always smells SO bad, or the other markets of fresh fruit and vegetables and whatnot that always look so delicious. I won't be able to sit around having a drink at a cafe and have it be totally okay to stay there for hours. And no more three hour meals. The sandy tan color of all of the buildings in Aix... won't see those much more except maybe a little on my way to the bus station tomorrow. And no more fountains EVERYWHERE. The girl that plays the violin outside of the institute and the accordian player, the homeless guys with their dogs or the 
ones that sit and say 'Bonjour' to every single person who passes... won't be around to run into them here and there. Seriously... it's getting sad.
We had a final dinner for Abroadco. The Last Supper. Unbelievable. Gave Carol, our absolutely amazing program director, some presents. She's been great and I'm pretty sure we'll all miss her. Most everyone in our group has left to either travel or has already returned to the US. Crazy. It's just weird to think we all won't be having super long dinners together or getting a drink at the cafe, Happy Days anymore. Goodbyes are never fun. You always know this time will come at some point, but keep putting it off in your mind until you really, absolutely must do it.
And then there's my host family. Yesterday we went to the island Frioul (by Marseille, near the one Chateau d'If is on) to enjoy the beach. It was absolutely marvelous. A very good last event, and perhaps the first one where all of us went together somewhere. All in all, it's been fantastic having them. I can't even imagine what my experience would've been like without Patricia (mom), Alain (dad), David (14 yr old), and Hugo (9 yr old). It's no doubt been family life... Hugo and David always yelling and fighting, Patricia getting exasperatedly angry with them, how the Simpsons and football (soccer) causes so many problems (mostly how if it's on, no one does what they're supposed to do, like come to the table to eat), Alain just being pretty indifferent to whatever is happening until Patricia reaches a certain point and he'll step in to regulate kinda, everyone saying "I'm fed up! I've had enough!" all the time about, oh, basically everything. I pretty much just sit there while anything and everything happens and laugh because it's sort of hysterical how dramatic everything gets. Clearly I am not much help.
It's been frustrating at times because I'm pretty sure David thought I was the biggest imbecile ever, though, we've since cleared that up, I think. During our Monday lunches together, he would often throw some word that I don't know at me without any context and I'd then be unable to answer it. I'd ask him to explain what 
it meant, but to him, that was just repeating the word over and over. Quality conversations, I'd say. Alain is still hard for me to understand, but I'd like to say my comprehension of whatever it is that makes his speaking so difficult to comprehend (accent? mumbling? Not sure) slightly improved. Still don't talk to him toooo much.
Then there's Patricia. The best French mom I've ever had. I have a ridiculous amount of respect for her and all she does. She works, takes classes, is the disciplinarian, cooks, cleans what her sister doesn't, takes weekend breaks with friends in Marseille and "goes out", escapes to Rome for Easter without telling her husband (haha... my favorite... he probably still thinks she was just in Marseille like she'd told him), runs the boys around to school and other activites, makes sure everyone is healthy, alive, and kicking, etc. She constantly corrects my bad French and is an excellent resource to figure out what the French word is for the English word... basically a living dictionary. It hasn't set in for them either that I'll be gone tomorrow. Patricia said it feels like I'll be there for, well, a lot longer; it doesn't seem like it's already time to leave 'cause I've become such a part of the family. At dinner, Patricia and David were talking about how weird it's going to be if they, for example, call me for dinner and I don't come. And of course I won't, because I'll be gone. Oh man... that is sad. So, if it's not obvious enough, I'm going to miss the fam tons.
I don't know where I'm going with this. That I love France? Yeah, let's go there. I truly do. At least Aix, though the other places I've had a chance to visit are awesome in their own ways. I thought being comfortable was a bad thing before when I had no desire to come back here from vacation, but France just sorta feels like home...and that's incredible to say after only four months here. The French have a ridiculous amount of cultural rules (like how coffee is its own course at the end of the meal, so don't dare order it with your meal or dessert), but it's not so bad once you're aware about these things. And, really, France would not be the same without them. A lot of people have come away saying the French are mean or cold, and I completely disagree. Maybe I didn't deal with enough or maybe it's just through insight from my host family or Mme Maréchal, but... no, they are not cold. They just see things and do things differently. It's not bad. I've had plenty of cute old French people strike up a conversation while we're waiting at the bus stop. One man was really concerned that I was traveling by myself to Barcelona (when I went to visit my friend Derek when he was there) and kept telling me to be careful because he has a daughter my age and is always worried about her. I'd say that's not rudeness at all. Also, they're not lazy, as perhaps many think they are with the 35 hour work week. For example, the people at the market come and set up their tables nearly every day bright and early, lugging all of their stuff with them, then take everything down in the early afternoon and haul it back home. The French just take more moments to enjoy life, through activities like sitting in a cafe for good portions of the day. Nothing wrong with that.
It's been an amazing four months of, gosh, I don't even know what. It all just sort of happened. Improved my French, probably more than I realize now. Come to the conclusion I will never be completely fluent, as far as I define the word (perfection-- understanding of all aspects of the language, including slang, and being able to nearly flawlessly use it in writing and speaking and comprehension). Was always kept humble, that's for sure. Am excited to improve though and return and wow the Aixois with my skills. I think I'm going to be majorly disappointed with my classes back in Oregon after being here. I was terrified of the "all classes are taught in French" thing, but it's been great and I don't ever want another teacher to translate anything for anyone from French to English. It's just not necessary. I've seen one of the girls in the program come here hardly knowing a word of French now speak like a pro. It's so cool. You just have to jump into the language, struggle a little, and soon enough something amazing happens, whether you know it at the time or not.
I'm a little scared of returning to the US. I'll have at least 10 hours for preparation during my voyaging from airport to airport though. But, really, my mind is warped. Every time I think of buying something in a store, I think, "Oh man... how would I ask for that?" or thinking of trying to talk about, really, anything... I try to figure out if I know the vocab to do so. Then I remember that I speak the language of the United States. It's going to be weird to understand EVERYTHING once more. Not sure I'm ready, as it's sorta fun to guess the meanings of words and use an excessive amount of sign language, but I'll deal.
Anyway, I leave tomorrow. It's gonna be good. Over and out from France.