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Day 1: Just Another Crazy Rotary Orientation

Been there, done that." Yeah okay so I am a Yo-Yo, one of those crazy people that actually goes on not only one year-long stay in a faraway nation, but actually a Yo-Yo does two. That is two opportunities to do just about everything, from endulging in two cultures, living with families from two places, and immersing in two languages. And of course, partaking in the Rotary obligations for it's exchange students. Sure, it gets monotonous at times, the same "NO" drinking, driving, drugs, and dating business over and over. Yet being with people, better yet, other exchange students from around the world, never ever gets old. And being in a place as beautiful and historical at the Chateau at Versailles is another plus. A big plus. Ans so here I am back in Fixin, Bourgogne, sitting on my lap top clicking through new pictures and videos of my excursion to Versailles and laughing. It was an awesome weekend, in which the 11 exchange students hosted by District 1750 Champagne-Ardenne and Bourgogne, got together for an "orientation." I put it in quotes because orientation was about 10 minutes long and lacked a few things, but more about that latter. Bright and early on a Saturday morning, I finished up my tasty coffee at the Robert's kitchen table and waited for Jean-Francois to give me a ride into Dijon. I said goodbye to my host family, who I secretly suspected they were happy to get me out of the house for the weekend since Charlotte had just returned home from India. We picked up Andrew and began the drive into Dijon, passing along the Route des Grand Crus, which was decked out in fancy decorations and flowing with people in the hearts of the villages. At that moment I admitted to Jean-Francois that I would prefer to stay in Fixin to run the marathon, or at the very least the 10 km that was occuring on that very day. At the train station, Alex Einstmann of New York and current resident of Dijon, spotted us and ran over to greet us. She met Andrew for the first time, and greeted me with a kiss. Alex and I had driven here to Dijon together on that very first day, whereby I was turned off by a nasty Frenchmen, whom she informed me was actually dating her host sister and his Rotary counselor. Isn't that wonderful? After some catching up and getting to know, we spotted some other clueless looking foreigners standing with an elderly man in the station. We made our way over to meet Amanda from Brazil, Lacey from California; and Danielle from Iowa with our chaperone, Patrick Lautier and his wife. The next thing I know, we were all seated on the Eurostair train heading for Paris's Lyon Gare station. I sat with Andrew, Alex, and Madame Lautier, while the others sat on the other side of the aisle; Not long into the ride did I notice how cliquey it seemed. So I opened my backpack, yanked out my homemade pins and Rotary business cards, and performed the Rotary pin swap. It definitely eased the situation and everyone was swapping pins and getting to know each other instantly. My pins were the only homemade pins, while everyone alse had Rotary issued lapels. We even gave the pins to our chaperones, who smiled and seemed to really like their tiny presents. When I told Monsieur Lautier I was a Yo-Yo, he seemed angry at first, and said that he did not think it was allowed. Not exactly a promising comment from the Rotarians paying for the weekend. But then as he thought about it, he remarked that it was wonderful I was a Yo-Yo and was honored that I selected France for my second exchange. Um... about that... I decided not to say France was not even on my list. Paris Lyon Gare station is smaller than most of the other Parisian stations, probably because it only has trains going South-East of the capital. Regardless, we made our way through the station and then walked through the sprawling streets of the outskirts of Paris. We kept our eyes open for any familiar sites, and were pleased when we crossed the Seine and saw Notre Dame in the far distance. It was too far for pictures, but it was still nice for the few of us, zho have never been here to Paris. When we arrived at a Subway station, another large crowd of obvious foreigners had gathered. I recognized my good friend Meghan from Telluride, CO, from the flight over here in the crowd. It was the Champagne-Ardenne crowd. Within minutes, we were introduced to Alex Hughes from Sugarbush, VT, Rafael from Yucatan, Mexico, Stella from Taiwan, and Anna from Virginia. We swapped pins and business cards and then found ourselves on yet another train actually bound for the city of Versailles. Close to starving, I pulled out my lunch bag. There is nothing that spells out happiness like a Peanut Butter and Strawberry Jam sandwich on Rye bread. Not exactly the Nutella sandwich that the French kids would have been munching on, which would have been fine as well. But the envious glares of my fellow Americans definitely helped me believe that I had the world's best lunch. During this long train ride, I caught up with Meghan, who's host sister Lauren is actually in Morristown, New Jersey, and discussed all of our experiences with French culture. Everyone had something to say about Bisous, which is that annoying kissing greet, except of course Andrew who is Mr.Perfect by all standards. Then we whined about school, which was either too easy for us or too hard. Alex was placed in a BST, after high-school program that studies tourism, and is also probably the best situation to be in. But poor Lacey has school everyday from 8 in the morning to 6. Funnily enough, for how much I detest school, my schedule is really quite easy. When we arrived in Versailles, the Rotarians offered to let stop and use the bathroom. Both Alex and Andrew gestured for me to go. I could not help but laugh at the fact that the pair have known me for barely a month, and they already know my bladder is the size of an acorn. But I did not have to go to the bathroom, which I was later to be thankful for. You see after we trekked halfway through the city of Versailles for our hotel, Monsieur Lautier received a panicked phone call from our Mexican exchange student. We had forgotten about him and left him in the train station. After a few minutes of hectic anxiousness, Rafael was relocated and brought back to the group, and we continued through the city. Alex and Andrew continued to annoy me as they pointed out their favorite ice cream shops in Versailles and talked about all the other times they had come to France and more specificaly Versailles. Meanwhile, I tried to make my way around the group and talk to everyone. I learned Stella could speak Japanese, and together we were chatting in our second language, though we both found a lot of Frech words tended to come out in place of Japanese. At the Paris hotel, we were asked to get into pairs for the rooms. Alex called me even before I could comprehend what was going on. Then we were giving room keys and a few minutes to get settled. Except our room was not exactly fabulous, and Alex and I were going to have to share a tiny bed. Except Alex complained and we ended up in a nicer room on the first floor in a bigger bed. Then we were off to the grqnd Chateau de Versailles. It was quite chilly out, but the sun shone down on the group as we made the approach to Versailles. The Palace of Versailles is a royal château in Versailles, in France's Île-de-France region. In French, it is known as the Château de Versailles. When the château was built, Versailles was a country village; today, however, it is a suburb of Paris, some twenty kilometers southwest of the French capital. From 1682, when Louis XIV moved from Paris, until the royal family was forced to return to the capital in 1789, the court of Versailles was the centre of political power in France. Versailles is therefore famous not only as a building, but as a symbol of the system of absolute monarchy of Ancien Régime France.Our guide, donning orange lip stick and an ugly daisy flower for identificqtion in the palace, gave us all earpieces to listen to for the tour in English. Except we all found that we could not understand her anyway. Inside the grqnd building; they were holding an exhibition for the contemporary American sculptor, Jeff Koons. I emphasize contemporary. Even though the longer I am here, the more I am mearning to appreciate the finer side of art. For instance, you look at a piece of art work and judge it by how it makes you feel. The thing is that Versailles is an ancient beautiful Chateau with old antiquity. Seeing a giant balloon dog sculpture, or a lifesize funky Michael Jackson is not a great exhibit for the chateau. We tried to make light of the situation by saying the big balloon lobster in Kings study symbolized his love for lobster, and the turtle inner tube exhibit symbolized King Louis's failure to learn how to swim. But what could we say about Michael Jackson? Perhaps though, a clash of old meets new is exactly what the museum was going for. I do not want to go into a huge historical description about the chateau, which is pretty much the only reason I loved the building so much. There were just too many people, rude pushy Spaniards, unappreciative French children, and annoying Japanese tourists to truly love the art and royalty of the chateau. But for me standing in the Hall of Glass made everything worth it. Standing in the hall where the Treaty of Versailles (1783) was signed and the United States were officially recognized as a country. Or perhaps the Treaty of Versailles (1919) which essentially did nothing but give the world a prolonged ceasefire from World War II and paved the way for Fascism and Nazism. For me, the experience was truly a history buff's dream come true. Everything was so perfect as I tried to imagine the great men of our history books forming peace treaties and changing their perspective countries and spheres of influence. As we exited the chateau, none of us knew just what we were in for. Back in the ti,e of monarchy, people enjoyed attending horse spectacles, whereby equestrains would ride around on trained horses in an artistic show. For me, it was an agonozingly boring experience. But some parts were fun, especially when the prancing little ponies let out loud obnoxious farts for the crowd. Alex and I nearly wet ourselves at that point. The horse spectacle was boring, but I did appreciate the fact that it had taken a lot of work to train the horses and prepare such a LONG show for the crowds. It was definitely a good experience for once in a lifetime. Our stomachs grumbling, the group headed to dinner. We indulged in some tasty French cuisine, enjoyed each other's company, and got to know each other better. But we could not stop ourselves from roaring in laughter at farting ponies. When back at the hotel, the Rotarians failed to give us any rules, we realized what goody-two-shoes our district was when no one decided to sneak out. Instead, Alex and I had a mini-party in our room, until the hotel concierage told us to be quiet. Tha lame exchange students of district 1750 were in bed by 12 that night.

Day II: Just Another Crazy Rotary Orientation

I think it is important to start the story of Day 2, at the approximate time that October 5th began. Alex and I were tucked nicely in our Queen sized bed in a nice little hotel room in Paris. Now I do not mind sharing beds at all, but Alex is a creeper, which means that during the course of the night she has a tendency to creep over to the warm side of the bed (Moi.) At various occasions in the night, I would wake up to have her heavy breathing in my ear. Sometimes I annoyingly pushed her back to her side. My favorite account was when we both opened our eyes at the same time, saw each other, probably were horrified, and then rolled back over and fell back to sleep. When at 8:30, we officially woke up and packed up our belongings. Then we headed for breakfast, a huge cup of extremely caffinated coffee and sugar with a chocolate croissant. After my instant humanization, I was ready to party with my fellow exchange students. When all of our district 1750 mates joined us for the food, we finished up and waited until 10:00 when orientation was supposed to begin. Vermont Alex, Andrew, Rafael, and Meghan hung out in our room for a little while, and we shot a silly little clip with my camera. At 10, it was time for our Rotary orientation. Lucky for us, Patrick Lautier decided to give us the rules in our host country's tongue. Much to our surprise, the rule session lasted only about 10 minutes long. He mentioned nothing about traveling by oneself or where, briefly touched on drugs and driving, and over emphasized alcohol. There would be no alcohol whatsoever, even if we were the appropriate age in France. Except in the words of my hot parents, "if they really expect you not to drink alcohol, then they would not have put you in Burgundy and the others in Champagne. I mean please, what do they expect the Amish?" After the orientation, we all received a pin from our Rotary district in the shape of France. Then we were told to be ready for the fabulous gardens of Versailles. The gardens of Versailles occupy part of what was once the Domaine royale de Versailles. Situated to the west of the palace, the gardens cover some 800 hectares of land, much of which is landscaped in the classic French Garden style. Like the chateau, they are considered a UNESCO world heritage site. Dating from the time of Louis XIV and still using much of the same network of hydraulics as was used during the Ancien Régime, the fountains contribute to making the gardens of Versailles unique. On weekends from late spring to early autumn, the administration of the museum sponsors the Grandes Eaux – spectacles during which the fountains in the gardens are in full-play and which are open to the public. Of course, we managed to pick one of the most icky days of the years. The sky was classical European grey and it drizzled throughout the whole time we strolled through the gardens. In addition, there was a fierce wind blowing through Versailles and ruining a good portion of our umbrellas. Yet, when you are surrounded a bunch of exchange students in a foreign land, the weather is truly the last thing on your mind. We were all too busy laughing at our moronic tour guide, soaking in the beauty of France, talking about the oddities we found regarding the culture, and becoming closer and closer friends. I do not know how many times I have said this over the course of my tenure as a Rotary Youth exchange student, but other exchange students are truly one of the best parts of exchange. It is true, that back home many times you would not have become friends with the given person, and are really only friendly because you are in a foreign place. Yet, you both are going through the same culture clashes and occurrences and you find similarities in your differences. When your year abroad ends, you always know deep in your heart that you will be back in your host country. But how are you going to get around the world to see all of your new exchange friends from all around the world? Dancing in the rain, destroying our umbrellas, and making the best of a cold and wet situation, we all had a great time. But we were all content to leave the gardens for a warm restaurant for lunch. At the restaurant we all dined on vegetables and apple tart, well at least I did. There were so many foreigners in the restaurant and I even got to speak a little Japanese with a tour group from Nagoya, Japan. When we were done eating, we headed back to the hotel for our bags, and then back to main train station heading for Paris. Since we had a lot of time left, the chaperone's decided to take us to the Eiffel Tower in Paris. The train ride was long and pretty ridiculous. In Paris on Sunday, all the museums are free and so a whole bunch of people flock to the city. I thought I had been squished beyond words in a Japanese subway. Trust me, Japan was a wide open field compared to the Paris Metro. Plus I bruised my fingers when one of the old chairs snapped up and slammed my hand into the wall. It was so painful. But the Eiffel Tower was pretty much everything I thought it would be. And more. I like to think I have seen a lot of wonderful things in this world at only 17 years-old, and so I never expected to be as enthralled as I was by the site of the Eiffel Tower in the distance. I screamed and grasped Meghan tightly, freaking out over the realization that I was standing there in France in front of the Eiffel Tower. I looked like the ultimate tourist, hauling around a massive camera bag with a camera plastered to my nose, but I could not help it. The tower truly is romantic and magical in this strange unexplainable sort of way. Surrounded by the old classical city, it stands out as a contemporary and modern. But it fits into it's surroundings well, and it is so incredible. The Dijon crowd, of course, had to make a movie of us singing the Bourgogne drinking song in front of the tour, while everyone else took thousands of snapshots of the landmark. When the time to part came, the Bourgogne crowd and Champagne crowd had a hard time saying goodbye. I especially had a hard time saying goodbye to Meghan, but we are planning a reunion in Dijon in November to see the new Twilight movie when it comes to theaters. As for everyone else, we will see each other in Toulouse in March, and Marseille in April, and for the Europe Bus Tour shortly after that. On the train home to Dijon, Andrew, Alex, Lacey, and I officially became the Dijon 4. That is we are officially the 4 cool kids that live in or around Dijon and can always meet up whenever and hang out. Or go to Noir Chat nightclub. Or you know whatever. At least, I know for a fact, I am going to see these crazy kids within a few days time. Another nice thing about the 4 of us, is that Bourgogne and more specifically Dijon is truly home for us. We kept referring to Dijon as home, and we never missed an opportunity to sing the Bourgogne drinking song. Oh and of course we all knew the names of all the Bourgogne Alcoholic drinks. SO that when we arrived in Dijon, it was sad to depart our new friends, but we truly were home.