La Nouvelle Famille

So I would just like to start off by saying that I have never felt closer to French people. My new host family really made an effort to make me feel welcome. Apparently, another American student also had to stay with my new family after having been a part of the same family that I had prior to my arrival here. Hmmm.

This is French Wal-mart. I went grocery shopping with my host mom. In France (or at least Lyon) everyone does their grocery shopping Saturday afternoon. Here's what happens. You go inside one of three entrances. There's a strip mall in front of the supermarket. If you don't want to shop at the strip mall, you go inside the supermarket. Everything is there! Electronics, games, clothes, food. A whole lot of food! There were two aisles specifically dedicated to cheese. If it wasn't apparent that I was in France, it certainly is now. There were also a lot more people shoved into one supermarket than I am used to. Probably because, unlike Wal-mart, Carrefour is only open from 9AM until 8PM.

Before dinner I had the chance to sit in the living room and read for a while. My host sister, Laura, came in after an hour or so and started talking to me about the time she went to the US to visit her older sister. Apparently, all three of my host family's children attended a bilingual primary school so they've all been to the US and they all speak English at a reasonable level. My host dad speaks a little, but he said he's much better with German.

After dinner, my host sister went out with her friends and I chatted with my host dad about where my parents worked, and my family. I even got to tell him a little bit about my political views. I also tried a very strong, locally made white wine (which I found out that I'm partial to). It's going to be really unfortunate coming back to the US and being unable to drink wine.

Oh my god, I sound like my mother.