The Ins and Outs of living with a French Family

The de Champs family is pretty much picture-perfect from the outside in. The family is atypical in that all the kids have their little spats. Clotilde, who is sixteen and the oldest, takes on responsibility incredibly well for someone so young. She knows her role in being the oldest sister, and she gets after her little brothers for everything. She is the typical teenage girl who is moody, loves texting, and gets excited when she finds out when the next dance with her friends will be. For the most part, Clotilde gets along with her brothers and sisters, but I think right now she really desires to have alone time away from the kids. Alexis, her younger brother, is still a little bit immature. Although he is fifteen and only a year younger, he is way far behind Clotilde in the whole maturity process. He is responsible and very assertive, but he is much more moody. He definitely does not notice all of the social stuff that Clotilde does. Alexis is amazing with his younger brother Paul, who is ten. They share a bedroom, which you would think would be difficult, but they really get along well. The only problem is that Paul is the one who knows best how to push Alexis’ buttons. If he wants to play with Alexis’ emotions, he can so very easily. Paul is the most adorable ten year old every, and you can tell how much he looks up to his brother. He is super smart, and I think he is pretty socially mature for his age because he has so many brothers and sisters. Paul has the best laugh ever, and you cannot help but smile when you hear him laugh. Paul and his sister Maylis, who is thirteen, get along very well. Since they are the youngest, I think they sort of have a special bond that Alexis and Clotilde do not seem to have. Maylis is adorable too, and she works so hard in school. Her friends call her on the telephone, and it makes me so happy to see her face light up when she picks up the phone to see who it is. As for me, I am trying to be the best host sister I can be. Maylis is interested in everything I do, so I have tried to share a lot with her. Clotilde has a dance to go to this weekend, and her mom has made her the most gorgeous dress to wear. I think I am going to see if she might want me to do her make-up or something like that. I cannot wait to see her leave the house all excited for the dance. I’m only twenty, but for some reason, sixteen seems like it was forever ago. As for the boys, they are super easy to please. They love playing cards, so we do that a lot. When I am with Paul, we look at maps of the United States to see where I live and where things are. He is super interested in maps, and he has a map of the world that he made into a ball with puzzle pieces. Paul also has a bunny, named Ragibuss which is a type of candy in France. The rabbit is so cute, and Paul and I play with the bunny while playing cards. With Alexis, he and I usually talk about music and look at songs on itunes. Right now, his favorite song is “I Will Survive,” and I have to say that it is absolutely hilarious to hear him walking around the house singing with his incredibly thick French accent. Alexis also likes to try out the English he learns at school with me. He speaks to me in English, and then I respond in French. It works for both of us! Living with a French family is a bit different from my family back home. I do not live with a very formal French family, but things like dining together are much more important here than they are back in the United States. The Blake family always eats together, but it is super important to be together here. My host mother has the difficult task of pleasing a large family and feeding them on a budget, and she is an amazing chef. My host family is also very religious. They have many pictures of the Pope throughout the house, and many catholic things that I do not understand. They pray together every night, and it is different for me to hear prayers that are sung. I have not yet taken part in this part of the family’s life, and it is definitely not necessary or required. I do think it is wonderful that my family has such a strong faith in God. Hopefully I will go to mass with them one Sunday. The French also have some different habits that I have been noticing such as wearing the same clothes two days in a row. Not all of the Nantais do this, but there are a lot of French people who wear the same clothes two days in a row. I am way too much of a germaphobe to wear the same thing the next day. I remember that when I swam, I hated putting on the clothes I had worn during the day if I had to go somewhere after practice. Thank you Blake family for always doing laundry! Also, the French definitely do not take many showers. Why am I sharing this? Well, because I think it is an important part of French life to notice all of the different habits. Day by day, I am learning more and more. I really love writing this blog every night, because it is the only time I have a little bit of English in my head. A demain!