— 4th Week —
Hello everyone,
During the fourth week, a shooting happened in a school ten minutes away from our school. A student our age was killed. It was shocking for a European, however the students seem quite used to this kind of violence.
Consequently, we went to a march, organized downtown in front of the city hall. It was quite exciting to skip classes with our friends in order to protest against an unfair situation. It was a sunny morning but as usual in Seattle the air was freezing. When we arrived there, a little crowd of students was waiting. We grabbed a placard and waited for the march to begin. Half an hour later, people started to shout. Indeed, a student with a microphone was yelling mottos, which were repeated and chanted by the whole crowd. That’s when I realized the medium-size group we were earlier had increased sharply. I decided to let my friends behind for a moment and to take pictures from a higher viewpoint. It was impressive, all the place of the city hall was filled with people. Moreover, only young people, only students were present. It was emotional to realize that youths were mobilized against injustice.
Some placards were insulting the NRA (the gun lobby). My favorite slogan was “my dress code is more restricted than gun laws”. Unfortunately, I don’t remember all the things we were shouting. Then we walked for an hour downtown, all the traffic was closed, and we were going forward yelling “end gun violence” and “protect kids! not guns!”. I felt powerful, there were so many of us.
Finally, we left. I was only with American friends: I felt really included. Moreover, they are allowed to drive at sixteen! therefore we were able to eat in Chinatown. It’s the Asian district of the multicultural city of Seattle. We ate Chinese food while drinking Boba (a tea with black balls in it, they are so fond of this type of tea).
After school, I did a basketball game practice: the season was beginning, and it was the try-out. I had a lot of fun since I was finally able to play basketball after five weeks of frustration. I’m very sorrowful of not being able to stay longer so as to play in the high school team.
It was still one of the best days of the trip.
Arthur
It’s the last week, and as we say: last, but not least!
For me, this last week was full of emotions and unexpected events.
I had the chance to go to a Surf Curse’s concert. (It’s a well-known rock band in America.) It was amazing!! I had never listened to their music before the concert and I only knew the most famous songs (Freaks); but after the concert, I have become a real fan !
Also, I keep a beautiful memory of this night because I went with two of my friends and we all enjoyed the moment as well !
On Friday, we wanted to hang out a last time before leaving, that’s why we went to the arcade with few friends : it was hilarious ! Then we went to a bubble tea shop, and after that to the gym.
Finally I ate in a Japanese restaurant with Orlane and her host family, and I spent my last night at Cara’s house, with Orlane. The last night was the hardest because none of us wanted to leave Seattle and our friends. We were all sad but also thankful for having the opportunity to live that kind of experience. We have come back to France with a lot of memories, new friends, and new knowledge (and also very tired!).
Séraphine
To continue, the last day at school we had to say a last goodbye to everyone…
It was a very sad day, yet we still wanted to make the most of the city and of people!
So, first of all we went to school, in pre-calculus class (mathematics), Steven, the teacher gave us a gift, a letter on which every student had written a little sentence to say goodbye. After this class, like every midday, we went to play volleyball with the others just before lunch.
At the end of the day, we went to an arcade room with some friends, we played for like two hours, we were so elated!! After that, our friends drove us to Bea’s house (Arthur’s home) because they had to go back home. It was time for Arthur to say a last goodbye to them…
Then with Seraphine, Justin, and Nghia (our friends) we went to drink a boba, it’s a kind of bubble tea but better! It was the last time we saw Justin because, after this Seraphine and I needed to join my host family in the city to have dinner in a restaurant. When we were back home, I called Nghia to ask her to come to Cara’s home (my host), she came. We decided all together to make a surprise to Arthur, so we returned to his home and spent some time all together.
After this, Nghia left and Seraphine, Cara and I went home to sleep.
The day after, it was our last hours on the American territory! Arthur joined us at home in the morning, we said goodbye to Bea… and it was time to leave! My host family drove us to the airport, we perfectly managed to find the good plane, it was a little less difficult than in France. Our plane took off and it was the end of our “American Dream”, it was weird to hear most people speaking French on the plane! Back to France! After a flight of 9 hours15 minutes, it was the end of the trip! With a lot of good memories in our mind
Thanks again to Mr. Gautier, Mrs Gauguet, Mrs Legendre, Mrs Denais, Dimitry, Françoise and all the other persons we met and helped us make this dream come true!
Orlane
— 3rd Week —
Hey!
I’m Seraphine, and here is some news about my trip to Seattle.
On Monday, with Orlane and Arthur, we went to an ultimate game to support the NWS’s team. And even though we lost the game, it was fascinating and we will all keep good memories of this moment. It was also the evening of Halloween, that’s why some students went from house to house to make a candy hunt; also called “Trick or treat”.
This week was special because it was “Spirit Week”. Indeed, one week before “Homecoming”, (a dance organized by the school, only for 10th to 12th grade), students have to dress according to a precise theme. Here are the different themes:
Monday: Haunted House- Dress up in your Halloween costumes.
Tuesday: Twin Tuesday- Match with your friends and dress up as twins!
Wednesday: Western Wednesday- Wear your most western inspired outfit.
Thursday: Kevin Alexander vs Adam Sandler- Dress as Kevin Alexander or Adam Sandler
Friday: Color Wars- Wear your grades color! (for us it was blue because we are juniors)
It was really fun, because most of the students participated and came dressed up to school. During the whole week we could assist to few date proposals for homecoming with notes, flowers and all that stuff. Usually, I play volley-ball or basket-ball during lunch time or after school with Arthur, Orlane and other friends, because the access to the gym is almost always free for students. We are lucky to finish our classes at 3:00pm almost every day, so we can frequently hang out with friends after school.
On Friday, I visited the city center with Nghia, my friend. Then we joined Arthur, Orlane and her host to eat all together downtown. We tasted a real American Burger, and I admit that it was delicious! Nghia invited us to watch a horror movie at her home, and drove us back home. It’s so disturbing because in America, people get the driver license at 16, and some of our youngest friends can drive us home!
Saturday was the Day: Homecoming. It began at 8:00pm and lasted for 3 hours. When I arrived, everyone was well-dressed, there was music on, lights off, and glitter everywhere as in American movies! It was good time. And after dancing, I hung out with friends and then we slept over at Arthur’s house. It was an exhausting but memorable week-end!
Since I arrived, I have also been to the Museum of Pop Culture with my host, Axel. We have visited the current exhibitions just as the one on Nirvana, Hendrix, and on Science Fiction. We also went to the beach, waterfall and a lot of different restaurants.
I have the opportunity to stay with a multicultural family, which permits me to taste varied specialties from their native countries. My host family is half Korean (from the mother), and half Israeli (from the father). I enjoy a lot this swap of our four different cultures.
Here are some photos:
— 2nd Week —
Hi!
My name is Orlane, and I will tell you a part of my experience in Seattle:
Regarding the school, the first day was a little long, we just talked about the school, classes, the school premises and any potential problems.
The second day was more interesting, we had our first classes, beginning with humanities, a mix of literature, philosophy, and history; after that, I had some free time, then I had “mixed media”: which is an art class, and after lunch, I had my last class which was pre-calculus, a maths class.
Education is so different from France, people work less, are kinder, take their time to help each other… The most surprising are the classes, students can arrive late, eat and drink during a class, wear caps/hats, headphones and use their phones! However, they stay respectful and have a good relationship with their teachers.
Then there are some other differences, like the environment time, which is 15 minutes when you are compelled to clean a part of the school.
To continue, given that my host, Cara plays in the school volley-ball team, I go approximately twice a week to her games, sometimes with Arthur, and some other Americans students, we support the school team!
Now, after two weeks in this school, we have got our bearings and try to follow French and Americans classes.
After school, I go home, either in car with my host family, or when I don’t want to wait for Cara, I take the train and then the bus. So, I reunite with my host family: Johana (the mother), Cara (my host sister), the three cats, and yesterday I met Craig (the father) for the first time. I like being with them: they are so kind and make me discover so many things, like their food, culture… They treat me as a member of the family and give me some responsibilities.
To finish, they took me to several restaurants, approximately twice per week. In fact, at home there is no specific time to eat, when someone is hungry, he just takes a snack, and we don’t necessarily eat together and the same things
Hoping everything is fine in France!
— 1st Week —
Hey everyone,
I’m Arthur and with Orlane and Seraphine, we are on an exchange trip to Seattle for five weeks : we arrived on the 13/10 and will go back to France on the 19/10.
We left France at 1:30pm and arrived 2:30pm, consequently it was 7:00pm in Seattle, it was 3:00am in France. To keep me awake, my host family brought me to Starbucks then to a restaurant and they tried to entertain me. What I love about their streets is the trees. There are so many trees we can see and there are squirrels everywhere! The downside of Seattle is the amount of homelessness issue. On the busy streets, they are every five meters, half of them is either drugged to sleep or on a crazy high.
The day after, they brought me to a college football game. Go Huskies! I loved this : the students of the university bring so much energy; and the entire marching band was there (approximatively 200). I love the sport : it’s kinda like rugby. Bea’s father spent his morning before the game explaining all the rules to me : The team in control of the ball has four tries to play ten yards with only one pass forward. Our team won and scored six touchdowns while the other team scored five. The tension was at its highest. It was really like in the movies : the band playing, the people shouting, and the cheerleaders dancing.
The same night I went to a movie in order to fight the jetlag. Unfortunately, I just slept the whole movie. They have a machine to add butter to their already buttered popcorn.
I also went to a hockey game! Same thing about the energy of the fans. It was a bit colder because of the ice rink however I prefer the hockey over the football game : more impressing, the player were skating so fast while defending, rushing, and running into the panels surrounding the rink! The bad thing is we lost. It was still really a great experience overall!
Next time Orlane or Seraphine will explain you how the Northwest school life.