Feeling Overwhelmed

Juliette, my twin sister, is feeling overwhelmed. She's been having a rough time since arriving in Les États-Unis, the United States. When she's not in the dance studio, she spends much of her time crying. I even caught her cutting herself! I didn't think she'd stoop to self-mutilation. When I confronted her about it, she confessed to receiving a failing grade on a Math exam. She's horrified at the thought that she's failed at something, especially a subject that doesn't even require knowledge of the English language. It's not just Math, though. Juliette's a quiet girl, and she's always been hesitant about speaking French, let alone English. Her grades are suffering because she's just not sure of herself when it comes to English comprehension. She's much less confident than I was when I first started studying here.

I finally convinced Juliette to go see the guidance counselor today. She agreed to go only if I went with her for moral support, which I readily agreed to. By the end of the session, the guidance counselor had suggested that Juliette begin tutoring. She'll start with going to after-school tutoring, but since school is almost out for the year, she will continue the tutoring sessions into the summer. She agreed to give it a go - as long as the tutoring didn't interfere with the summer ballet intensives she's signed up for.

Later, Juliette and I met up with Chiara, Anya, Maura, and Nathalie over at The Copper Horse Pub & Eatery. After much persuading on my part, Juliette revealed her recent academic struggles to our friends. Contrary to what she'd thought, none of them laughed. Some of them even agreed to help tutor her!



Hopefully Juliette will be in good form academically by the next school year. She does have a good support system behind her!

Have any of you ever felt overwhelmed when it comes to doing schoolwork? How did you feel when you got a bad grade on something? Have you ever had to be tutored?

~Sophie

An Unexpected Homework Distraction

It was a Tuesday afternoon, and I had finally gotten up the motivation to sit down at my desk, crack open a book, and start working on my Art History report. We had been asked to write a page about the artist of our choosing, and I'd picked Leonardo da Vinci, my very favorite artist. Problem was, I couldn't seem to get started! There were just too many other things that I wanted to be doing, too many distractions. The virtual cheerleading game on InnerStar University was beckoning to me, as if my computer was actually saying, "Oh, come on, Sophie, just one little game won't hurt!" I actually got as far as the Fun for Girls homepage when my conscience kicked in, pulling my attention from the delights of InnerStar U to the task at hand: this written assignment on da Vinci.

After I'd written a few sentences, I heard a knock on my door. Without turning around, I stopped writing and listened as the door squeaked open.

"Um, I'm sorry to disturb, but I'm looking for Sophie Moreau. Have you seen her?" The voice at the door was a little quiet, but unwavering and was in an accent I wasn't used to hearing. The strange thing was that I could've sworn I'd heard it before, but I couldn't place it.

I swiveled around, about to reprimand the obvious stranger from distracting me from my studies.

"Helloooo! Can't you see that I'm busy - " but one look at the girl standing in my doorway was enough to stifle the rest of my sentence. "Ce n'est pas possible," I muttered to myself, hardly daring to breathe, in case who I saw before me was only a figment of my imagination, or perhaps this was only a dream?

I wanted to get up and rush over to her, but for some reason, my body resisted. In an effort to stand up, I ended up sliding lower down the chair, and if

I hadn't caught myself just in time, I would have fallen flat on my butt!

The girl spoke, a little indignantly but not enough to raise her voice, "Eh bien, tu ne me reconnais pas? Je sais que nous n'avons pas vu l'un l'autre pour 5 années, mais sérieusement...? "

"Recognize you? Of course I RECOGNIZE you! I nearly fell off my chair because I recognized you! I mean, I just wasn't expecting you to visit. Quelle surprise!

Frankly, I wasn't sure you WOULD visit because of the way we left things between us when I left home...and, anyway, aren't you a student at the Paris Opera Ballet School? Surely they wouldn't just let you take time off, would they?" I asked, all the while still staring incredulously at the girl in front of me.

At first, I didn't think she heard me, but then I realized that she was crying softly. I could hear her shallow attempts at breathing through her sobs.

At last, she spoke,

"Sophie, ne sois pas idiot! J'adore le ballet, mais Sophie, tu es ma soeur jumelle, mon meilleure amie de la naissance. Je peux être une danseuse ici. J'adore mon école du ballet, mais j'ai besoin ma soeur. Tu m'as manqué terriblement!"

I was really touched by her choice of words, so touched that I was close to crying myself. The very fact that she'd chosen to come all this way just to drop in on me, after we hadn't seen each other in several years, was REALLY touching - let alone the fact that she'd apparently dropped out of ballet school because she missed me! Had she known I had been missing her like crazy over the past year in particular? Maybe we did have that telepathic connection we'd always thought we had?

After dropping her suitcase and purse on my bed, the girl carefully removed her sunglasses, wiping her tear-stained eyes with her sleeve. Still sniffling, she walked over towards me, where I had finally composed myself enough to stand up.

She continued, "J'ai pensé que tu as été fâché avec moi. Cela étant le cas, je n'ai pas écrit les lettres, et je n'ai pas téléphoné. J'ai pensé que tu as été dans une meilleure situation sans moi à limiter toi."

Oh, mon dieu! She HAD read my mind. But how could I tell her that things had changed? That my whole perspective on things between us was different now?

"Exactement. I was mad at you. I was so mad at you that I couldn't see straight, that I had to get away from you as soon as possible. And, even more than that, I was jealous. I was jealous of you because you got into ballet school, and I didn't. You seemed to be the apple of Maman's eye because of your accomplishment, while I was the loser who didn't get in. And, more than that. I just was tired of being a twin, being someone's clone. I didn't want someone to constantly compare me with you - someone so much better at EVERYTHING. I came to America, I took on a new identity ("Sophie Neveu"), and I tried to forget all about having a twin. But, it's different now. I've realized my rash decision was a stupid one, and I wish life gave us do-overs," I finished, wiping a tear from my cheek.

We hugged, and without pulling away, she continued (this time in English!), "But, Sophie, did you ever stop to think for a moment that I might feel the same way as you? That I might wish I didn't have a twin? But, the thing is, Sophie, we've got something that many people can only dream of having - we've got that specialness of being identical twins! Have you ever thought of using that to our advantage? And, sure, we each have our different strengths and weaknesses, but we can help each other, can't we? I can help you with your dancing, if you want, and you can tutor me - you're so smart in school!" she smiled.

Whispering into her ear, I apologize, "Je suis désolée, Juliette." At this point, it was impossible for me to try to hold back tears anymore, and I began to cry. Juliette hugged me tighter, soothing me until I calmed down (She was always good at that!). When we finally separated, we went over to sit down on one of the beds for a nice, long sisterly chat. We have a LOT to catch up on! We're going to call Maman and Papa later to tell them that all in well between us - they'll be glad to hear that!

So, everyone, that would be Juliette Adrienne Moreau, my twin sister. When I first came to America in late 2006, I wouldn't have admitted that I had a twin. In fact, I'd changed my last name to be sure no one would find out. But, since then, I've slowly come to realize how very wrong it was to deny her existence. I love her, I do. She'll always be my first best friend, the one I turn to before anyone else, even though I may have several other best friends scattered around the world. And, sure, we have a lot of issues to work out, no thanks to me denying her existence for about five years, but that's what therapy is for, right?

Is there someone in your life - a parent, a sibling, a twin, a friend - that you don't always get along with, but deep down, you know you would never be the same without her/him?

Thanks for reading this long entry!

Sophie

Afternoons in the City

Hey, everyone!

While I've been living in New York City, I've been attending Le Lycée Français de New York (LFNY), the prestigious multilingual school in Manhattan that follows the French education system. I love it, but I think that's why I'm getting homesick! I'm so reminded of my Parisian middle school, Collège Antoine Coysevox.

The dress code at LFNY bums me out a bit. We girls must wear gray pants or a skirt, a white button-down shirt, a navy blue cardigan and dark colored shoes and coats, which means no Liberty Jane clothes can be worn to school. However, having a dress code means I can get ready faster in the morning. I know I usually have trouble deciding what to wear otherwise.

Otherwise, I really love LFNY, especially with its convenient location in Manhattan. Sometimes I'll visit the nearby Metropolitan Museum of Art (or, as New Yorkers call it, the Met!) after school. The Met stays open late on Fridays, so that's usually when I go.

Here I am in front of the Met. Isn't it grand? According to the website, it's one of the largest and finest art museums in the world. It houses over 2 million works of art and has been open since 1870! I'm sure my Edwardian friends Samantha Parkington and Nellie O'Malley visited the Met with Cornelia and Gard.

It was really neat to see ancient history artifacts right before my very eyes. I much prefer to study history by going to museums rather than by reading some dry textbook.

From Egyptian sculptures...

...to this gorgeous ballerina sculpture, the Met has something for everyone!

"La Petite Danseuse de 14 Ans" by Degas

After I wander around the museum for a bit, sometimes I'll take the subway to another part of the city. My favorite train to ride is #7. Since it's above ground, I can look out the train's windows at the pretty lights of Manhattan as I'm riding.

I always love getting off at Times Square because the lighted advertisements are so picturesque. I had to get a photo of myself surrounded by the enchantment that is Times Square.

Do you see the Mamma Mia sign on the left side of this photo? Since the main character in that musical is a girl named Sophie, I always think of it as "my musical." Therefore, I had to pose by the sign, now didn't I?

~Sophie

Les misères avec les devoirs...

Pourquoi je fais mes devoirs à la dernière seconde? Cette semaine a été "Spring Break," et j'ai eu beaucoup des temps à faire mes devoirs....mais pourquoi je n'ai pas finit avec mes devoirs sur le samedi avant les cours commencent encore? Peut-être c'est parce-que je suis paresseuse, mais peut-être c'est parce-que je déteste la géographie! Bien sûr, j'adore voyager à les autres pays, mais la classe de la géographie? Ugh. Bien sûr, je déteste la prof et cet projet! Si la géographie a été comme la mathématique ou les sciences, alors cet projet serait facile.

Why do I do my homework at the last second? This week was Spring Break, and I had a lot of time to do my homework...but why am I not finished with my homework on the Saturday before my classes begin again? Maybe it is because I am lazy, but maybe it is because I dislike Geography! Of course, I love traveling to other countries, but Geography class? Ugh. Of course, I dislike the teacher and this project! If Geography was like Math and the sciences, then this project would be easy.

Mon amie, Nathalie, est venue avec la cuisine chinoise. Elle est finit avec son projet de la géographie, mais elle a promis à aider moi avec mon projet...heureusement!
My friend, Nathalie, came with some Chinese food. She finished with her Geography project, but she promised to help me with my project...luckily!

I just hate how I save everything until the last minute. I don't want to, but then I end up watching TV, hanging out with friends, or anything other than doing what I should be doing. It'll be nice when I'm out traveling and free from responsibility...although my teachers have promised that I'll have some sort of assignment to do on my travels. Darn.

Oh, did you notice my glasses? Sometimes the computer screen hurts my eyes, so glasses help remedy the situation. I don't need them otherwise.

How do you like my new header picture? I think I like it much more than the last one, especially with the wicked sweet polaroid effect.

~Sophie