Mardi Gras!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Mardi Gras this past Tuesday, filled with lots of king cakes, dancing, and all-around fun. I still wasn't able to get to a Mardi Gras party this year, but Nathalie and I dressed up in festive clothing, draped some beads around ourselves, and showed some national spirit. :)

Maybe someday I'll get to go to a real party because I haven't since leaving home.

Une tristemente histoire [A Sad Story]

A few weekends back, my teacher brought home a beautiful parakeet to babysit. Its owner had forgotten to take him home, and she didn't want the parakeet to be by itself.

The weekend went great, considering we'd never taken care of a bird before. Even the gigantic cat was nice enough that she didn't eat him...though she most definitely wanted to...but life was great for Mr. Parakeet until he went back home at the start of the week.

Apparently, he lived with this naughty little girl who decided that she no longer wanted a bird as a pet. So what did she do? She fed the poor thing sugared cereal! So my dear, dear parakeet friend is no longer living.

So, RIP, Mr. Parakeet. Sure, you weren't eaten by a cat, but you didn't deserve to die the way you did.



See? I knew some Americans were up to no good! I just hope this stupid little kid doesn't get another bird...or do anything else stupid.

Le 14 février: Le Jour du Saint-Valentin

Le 14 février AKA Le Jour du Saint-Valentin AKA Valentine's Day:

Valentine's was okay, I guess. We had a little party to pass out cards after the dreaded Chrissa movie, and though we were all a little upset at Anya for showing it, we were able to put aside our feelings for the remainder of the day...though it might be since Megan was taking pictures for the yearbook.

Le 13 février: un jour du film

We had a special day at school on February 13th. It started out like no other...we studied fractions in Math, followed by a book discussion in English, followed by lunch, gym class, and then Science...or so we thought. Just as we were about to open our science books to Chapter 4, the intercom blasted a message, "Will all students please report to the auditorium?"

At that, everyone leapt up excitedly. "What could it mean?" several of us pondered. I glanced at Nathalie quizzically, "Did we do anything wrong?"

Nathalie shrugged her shoulders, unable to guess, but urged me forward, "Let's hurry and get the best seats in the place. The "best" seats were the ones in the back, obviously, where students could get away with talking and not be heard.

Once all of the classes filed into the auditorium and found their seats, a girl stepped up onto the stage in front of the large movie projector that was now paused on a DVD menu. This girl, Anya Romankov, was none other than the unofficial class president, the peppy girl who made sure we all stayed in line. Popular? Not really, but not a nerd either. You know that girl who always seems to be increasingly nice, never ever having a bad day? That's Anya. Figures she's a cheerleader, too.

Anya cleared her throat, trying to get our attention, but it wasn't until another student gave a loud whoop! that any of us settled down to listen.

"Ahem, as you know, I am your class president, and as class president, it's my duty to expose my fellow classmates to certain films that provoke discussion. It has also come to my attention that a certain amount of bullying may be taking place under our school roof, and...," Anya started.

"Bullying?" I scoffed, "Since when?"

Anya didn't hear me, of course, but several students that did snickered.

She continued, "...with the release of "Chrissa Stands Strong," I figured that it wouldn't hurt to watch it. So...after our vice president, Isabel, passes out cookie samples from her mother's bakery, let us get this party started!" Anya gave a fake-sounding cheer, much to our dismay.



"We're watching Chrissa?" Nathalie gasped, "Why?"

"Supposedly we have an onset of bullying," I giggled, but I wasn't looking forward to the movie showing at all. This movie was the LAST movie I wanted to be caught watching, and I most definitely wished to be back in science class--I was one of the rare few who actually LIKED Science. "Hey, Bethany," I poked the girl sitting in front of me in the back, "Definitely pay attention to this movie because YOU'RE the one to blame for us having to watch it."

Bethany turned around, her green eyes flashing with anger, "Yeah, and I suppose the little French girl never gets into trouble..."

"Me? I get into the trouble? Je ne pense pas... [I think not]."

We quieted down as the movie began to play...which I guess wasn't that bad for a direct-to-DVD flick...but I definitely won't be watching it again. The funny thing is that Anya seemed to be ENJOYING it. I swear that girl has issues...or maybe it's just American girls period. Seriously, I have't met a single American here that has been nice to me, though--is France really that bad? Or am I over-exaggerating things?

Ugh, italiano!

Italian is messing with me!  :0 I'm supposed to be fluent in French, but I'm losing my native language because I keep writing "for" as the Italian "per" and not "pour"! Arrggghhh!

Les 15 Choses

D'accord, voici les 15 choses de Sophie Moreau. J'ai écrit la majorité dans l'anglais aujourd'hui parce que c'est une langue que je besoin pratiquer.

Merci pour l'idée, Cate.

Okay, here are 15 things about me, Sophie Moreau. I have written the majority (of this post) in English today because it IS a language that I need to practice.

Thanks for the idea, Cate.

15 Things about Moi: Sophie Amélie Moreau

1. I look like Audrey Hepburn. Well...more like, some people say I look like French actress Audrey Tautou (une merveilleuse actrice), and since most people say SHE looks like Audrey Hepburn, then I can safely say I do.

2. When I grow up, I want to work as a super-hero (LOL), a writer, or maybe just a cryptologist for the le DCPJ (the French police, basically)...hmm, where have I heard that before? ;)

3. When I'm in my 30s, I want to marry a man who whisks me off to a romantic honeymoon in FIRENZE (Florence), and, of course, his name will be Robert Langdon. He'll learn French just to ask my dear father for my hand in marriage. (Okay, maybe his name won't be Robert Langdon, but one can dream!)

4. I'm not quite sure where I want to go to university, but going is a must. Maybe I'll stick to somewhere close to home, in Paris, or maybe England or, if I'm really brave, les États-Unis...but of course, I'm already here studying, what am I worried about?

5. I can bit a bit of a boss, so some of the students here probably don't like me. But I can't help it really; I just like things going my way. Don't we all?

6. I love music, from French rap to American Broadway. My favorite singer is Carla Bruni (hooray for the First Lady of France!), though, but thanks to the influence of friends, I now like Céline Dion and Idina Menzel as well.

7. I *really* do love to travel. I want to see more of this big country that I'm currently living in, see the whole of Europe, maybe Australia, almost anywhere in this wide world.

8. I don't exactly have a favorite color. I wish I did, but there are just too many out there to choose one. I do love the color blue and the color green, but choosing just one? Nah, too hard.

9. I'm a bit of a teacher's pet, tending to stick to my favorite teachers like glue. They are truly some of my greatest friends.

10. As much as I seem to protest against her, I kind of like Miley Cyrus/Hannah Montana. I don't know, she's just so popular in Europe. All of my friends from back home LOVE her, and while I love Carla Bruni much, much more, Miley does have some great songs. Plus, it's a really good way to pick up English. I'm not sure I'll reveal any of this to some of my classmates, though; most of them hate Hannah Montana (or at least pretend to).

11. I've never had a pet, though since I picked Anya's kitty up for her in Chicago, I've become rather attached.

12. My favorite outfit? My cream-colored turtleneck, blue plaid skirt, boots, pink poncho, and blue beret; my sight-seeing outfit.

13. My least favorite outfit? The one I was forced to wear coming in from Chicago: the pink/purple/blue flowered shirt, blue skort, and boots...yuck, I hate it, I hate it, I hate it!

14. I like to take pictures of my travel gnome around the world and paste them into a scrapbook. So when I didn't get to go to Italia this past summer, I had my teacher cart around my gnome to take those pictures for me. People called her "Blanche Neige" or "Snow White" all throughout the trip. ;)

15. My favorite school subject? Italian, I think. I have a friend back in Florence whom I like to converse with; I'm even trying to get her to come to school here. *crosses fingers*

Au Revoir,

Sophie aka Figchen

Je suis terrible!

Après seulement deux mois avec cet blog, j'ai oubliée écrire les nouvelles choses. D'accord, je sais que je suis terrible comme les amies Lindsey et Anya...je sais! Je ferai mieux; j'écrirai mieux.

After only two months with this blog, I have forgotten to write new things. Okay, I know that I am as terrible as my friends Lindsey and Anya...I know! I will do better; I will write better.

Le 19 janvier a été l'anniversaire de Laura, la mia professoressa alla scuola.  J'ai fait un gateau chocolat pour elle parce que le chocolat est délicieux. 

January 19th was the birthday of Laura, my professor at school (this is Italian because professor is prettier in Italian than in French, I'd say).  I made a chocolate cake for her because chocolate is delicious. 

La fille s'appelle Samantha a acheté un nouveau lit. C'est le couleur de la neige avec les noeuds roses--c'est très jolie et un lit parfait pour une princesse comme Samantha. 

The girl named Samantha bought a new bed. It's the color of snow with pink bows--it's very pretty and a perfect bed for a princess like Samantha.

Le Jour de La Saint-Valentin est bientot! Mes amies et moi ont fait plus des cartes de la Saint-Valentin. Avez-vous déjà fait vos cartes?

Valentine's Day is soon! My friends and I have made lots of valentines. Have any of you started on yours yet?

~Sophie