Home Sweet Home~

Except it's not so sweet when you're missing your other home. :( This last month in France really went by way too fast. This program was everything I expected and more. Everything was just perfect, especially my home stay family. They were the nicest and sweetest people you could find. I feel like Abbey Road did a good job picking the families. Also, I felt that the staff was truly dedicated to their job and they were really cool people. If you needed help with anything, they were there and ready to help. They’re also open to suggestions, which is a really good thing.

We had a lot of activities and day trips. They were all really really fun but I have to say that my favorite activity was probably parasailing. It was awesome! My favorite day trip…well, that’s a hard one. We went on so many and they were all amazing in their own ways. I’m really glad that we got to see a lot of the Cote D’Azur and not just stay in Saint Laurent the whole time. Nevertheless, this trip has been a blast! It’s something that I will never forget for the rest of my life even when I’m an old wrinkly grandma. Just kidding. But seriously. I’ve learned a lot from this trip and I won’t be forgetting about it in a hurry. I feel like I’ve become a lot more independent, living without my parents for a month. Also, I’ve met some amazing people on this trip that I wish I had known earlier. They would have made my life that much better. Oh and of course the pastries! I’ve eaten some of the most delicious pastries ever, especially the macaroons~ I really can’t believe that it’s already over. That was the fastest month of my life. I’ve barely been home for a day and I already miss everything about France, especially my home stay family. If I ever get a chance to go in the future, well, let’s just say that would make me one of the happiest people in the world! 

July 29th, 2012

Today's our last day. I can't believe it. The time has gone by way too fast. Since its our last day, we spent the entire day with our famille d'accueil. I'm going to miss them so much!

July 22

 I can't believe this is our last week! The time has gone by way too fast. :( We went to San Tropez today. It was beautiful but there was also a lot tourists.  We went to the beach at Ste Maxime afterwards but the water was freezing! We ate out at a restaurant later. The food was awesome and we had ice cream for dessert. :)

July 23rd

Today was amazing! We went to Nice in the afternoon for parasailing and we also went on the flying fish. Both of them were super amazing!!! The parasailing was mire of a tranquil exciting but the flying fish just exciting exciting. Everyone was screaming and pretty much every person fell off. Multiple times. There's only 5 more days left. I don't wanna leave. :(

July 20th

We had classes as usual then our electives. The art group and the conversation group from Nice went to this calligraphy class in this museum beside the parc phoenix. After electives, we went home before going to the club nautique for dinner and party. It was amazing. Everyone was dancing and one of the Nice accompagnateur was singing. He was absolutely amazing!

July 21st

We went to San Remo in Italy today!! It's actually really close to France. Only like an hour and a half drive away. I thought we would need our passports but we didn't. In fact there wasn't even like a legit border marking thing. We stayed on this really nice beach with amazing sand(finally no rocks :)) and it was awesome. I ate legit Italian gelato for the first time. So delicious! And cheap too. What you get for 2 euros in Italy is what you get or 5 euros in France. I have to say though, it's really disconcerting not knowing a language. I mean I couldn't even understand the shop people much less reply them. :/ still it was an absolutely amazing day! I guess its time to start learning Italian! ;)

July 19th

After class today we went to Villefranche for snorkeling. It was my first time snorkeling and I have to say it was pretty cool! Everyone was wearing really tight wetsuits and flippers. Very fashionable. :) after snorkeling we just sort of hung around on the beach until it was time to go home. We had to wait forever at the train station though. Everytime our train came it was jam packed with people! However we made it back in the end an that's all that matters. :)

July 17th

We had class in Nice today! We visited the flower market and we had to ask a few questions about it and about the history of it. Did you know the market started in 1852? That's crazy! After that we had a lot of free time. A lot of people took the chance to go shopping and also to go to the beach. We had dinner at a buffalo burger place or something. I thought it was gonna be French food but it turned out to be very American. After dinner we went to villefranche to watch a movie in a open air theatre. The movie was pretty good though it was kind of hard to understand what the people were saying.

July 12th,2012

Went to Nice for a pottery workshop. On th way to the train station I got a tiramisu. It was so good. Actually I think all the patisseries in France are just amazing. The workshop was pretty fun. I made a pair of penguins. We also had a lot of free time today. It was really nice but it was also really really hot. It was worth it though. :)

July 10th, 2012

We had lessons in the morning as usual. Today we had to go out and find innovations that were good for the environment. It was actually pretty fun. After classes we had lunch an then we went to St Jean cap Ferrat to cook and eat our dinner. We were split into three groups to makethe salad, entree, and desert. While one group cooked, the other two had free time. Most of us spent it at the beach. It was awesome. The water felt amazing. I can't decide whether the beach at Cannes or St Jean is better.

Yesterday we did soap carving.

July 8th, 2012

Went to St Paul de Vence today. First we visited a modern art museum and then we went to walk around in the village. We weren't allowed to take pictures in the art place. Well we were but then you had to pay five euros for every photo you took so it wasn't really worth it. The village was beautiful.I found my favorite flavor of ice cream. Agrumes et framboises. It's so good!!! After St Paul, we spent the rest of the day with our families. We ate like a BBQ and I learned how to make cat ears out of napkins from Laurie-anne, my host sister. It was a really good day.

July 5th 2012

 In the morning we had an hour of class. Then we had to go into the city and ask people directions about how to get places. Everyone was really helpful. In the afternoon we had a tour of the vielle ville. Its really pretty. After that we went to the hotel de ville and we met the mayor. We went to his like terrace of sorts. It was cool. Right now I just finished dinner with my homestay family and were going to a concert in just a bit! :)

Group photo outside the mayors office

Mayors office

July 4th, 2012

Today we had a placement test in the morning to see what level we were in French. After that we went to our electives. For my elective we played petanque. It was a good experience. :) after that we went to to beach. The water is te perfect temperature. It was awesome! We had dinner as a group today. The food was absolutely amazing!

At the beach

FOOD :)

FOOD :)

Arrival!

July 3rd, 2012

Arrived in St Laurent today. It's very hot here. I met my homestay family today. They have 2 younger kids and everyone is so nice. My homestay mom's sister was here today with her three little kids. They are so cute! All the kids and me and Maggie went swiming in their pool.

Dreaming of France! :)

        Hi, my name is Christina Lu. I'm a grade 10 student at Seaquam Secondary. This summer, I’m getting the chance to explore the beautiful St-Laurent-du-Var, in France as part of the Abbey Road program. Needless to say, I am beyond excited! :)

During the winter break, I looked at tons of different study abroad programs. By the time I saw the Abbey Road website, my brain was already swimming with information. However, the moment I saw it, I knew that this program would be perfect. Their website immediately attracted my attention and as I looked deeper into their programs, I was even more hooked. Both the activities and the electives sound absolutely amazing. For me, I picked the Riviera Sports and Games. Every week, we will get to play cultural games as well as games native to Southern France. Furthermore, the classes aren’t your typical stuck-in-a-classroom-doing-endless- grammar-review classes. In fact, we even get to go out and test our French on native speakers. Personally, I think that’s a lot better than being cooped up in a classroom all day. Also, we’re staying with a host family which means we get to experience what being in a French family is really like and since we’re being immersed in French 24/7, I’m sure everyone who’s coming on this trip will come back with much improved French. :)

It may seem kind of nerdy, but the part I’m really looking forward to improving my French. Oh and of course, I’m dying to see the country and meet all the new people as well. Oh and don’t forget the part about going to see all the different sites. I’ve seen pictures of them and I think they are just amazing but it’s just not the same seeing it on a computer screen. Can’t wait to see it in real life!

To tell the truth, I was thinking of taking Bio 12 in summer school, but instead I found this program. And it’s no surprise as to what I ended up picking. After all, no one in their right mind would pass up this fantastic chance! :P This is my first time travelling away from home for so long all by myself. Yeah, I’m just a tiny bit scared, but hey, what’s life without challenges? I can’t wait to go to France. There’s just a little more than three weeks left!

Stay tuned for more updates from fantastic, fabulous, France! :)