Junior's trip

Last Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday we went with the school to the Fort Flagler camping park of Washington. It was an opportunity to spend some time all together (the 11th grade) away from school in a very relaxed setting to share activities and have some fun.

So we took the ferry 

There was wild deer everywhere around us

Girls were sleeping separated from the boys in a huge dormitory

I met a cute child who was wearing almost the same onesie as me! We were the pink panther!

We prepared meals for each other in the big industrial kitchen. Look at all those handmade breads!

 Beautiful sunset over here

So we had a lot of fun, we felt free during three days, you know, without technology it feels good sometimes :)

More about America: Thanksgiving, Black friday, and insanity.

● There we go, first Thanksgiving, meet a thousand new people, have to talk about your life (repeat at least ten times the same story xD), have to learn about everybody, should better memorize their all names and where they come from, better know what each meal is . . .

All right, Thanksgiving, it's also to share, to be grateful, to cheer, to congratulate and to support. It's time to remember best moments, to confess mistakes, to listen to other's suffering, to tell what is new, good in your life!

It's a moment of intimacy and kindness.

So is a family moment. 

We all made speeches.

They all said that they loved me and that I was part of the family now.

I felt part of their family, and I felt great and at ease with them.

It's like in those moments when you feel part of another area than home, so you feel part of the world.

Yep, I and my host-sibling were at the head of the table. Frightening uh?

Ladies & gentlemen, let me introduce The Magic Tablecloth!  Looool, I think Thanksgiving is such a big deal for american people, they are such in a hurry and freaking out, they want to be on time, the food to be ready and perfect and good-looking and the table to be clean and good-looking too. I understand, in some way. It's an essential part of the celebration, when you feel than everything is in his right place, and in its own right state!

Gggaaaaaaa waiting for the food!!! So we had cranberries sauce, mashed sweet potates, wallnuts-veggies-cheese salad, carrots, little home-made lovely breads, pumpkin cheesecake, pumpkin pie, apple pie, apple tarte, berries clafoutis, cheese, crackers, fresh raw celeri and leek as an entrée and others appetizers, and the stuffing in a cheese-topped dish because some people, okay, well, ONLY THREE PEOPLE were vegetarian (what is not a lot compared to those we have at school), and didn't eat turkey, so they ate the stufing apart. 

● Then, save the food that remains (extra left food) and bring it home! For more food the next day! Don't have any space anymore? Doesn't matter, you will eat anyway ^ - ^'

Guess what? Thanksgiving is a dinner. A DINNER. I didn't know that I though it was a lunch! Or, kind of . . . A late lunch, an afternoon-lunch! Actually, I didn't really no what it was exactly . . . But certainly not a dinner, which starts at 4:00, when it's not earlier . . . Anyway, it's a whole-day-meal. It was AWESOME.

[See Mom? I had the "e" in "awesome" (:O] 

● Next day: Black Fridaaaaaaay!!!!

Don't get me wrong: I didn't wake up at 4:00am to go shopping and find the best deals (and my size . . .), nope. As far as I went to bed by 2am, I'd better sleep at least six hours before to start another day (;

But we went shopping though. My host-sibling and I went to University village, a lovely little stores place, it's like a village, where you can find EVERYTING: food place, QFC, banks, shops, parks, sport stores and equipment, frozen yogurt places, vegetarian food places, body care shops, and so on and so forth.

It is pretty beautiful, with lights and the ornaments/embelishments . . . It looked like a little village with cabins that you can see downtown during holidays with all the hustle and bustle and the activities proposed by the stores and the boothes. It reminded me Christmas, but it was Thanksgiving, and when I think about it, it was more in harmony with Fall colours and spirit (and Thanksgiving values too).

The thing is in the US, everything is made available for everybody. Like stuff are public, because we can trust them, because they will MOST OF THE TIME give it back. So, yep, these umbrellas are free and you can borrow them. Unfortunately, some people may be eager to use this system too in France, but other people MOSTLY do not respect that. That's so bad, because not everybody is like that!

Thanksgiving wishes on a wall in a street at University Village

Nike Store, it's such a big thing here!

American Eagle, very cosy and warm store inside!

Another thing is, in the US, you can find public foutains EVERYWHERE. They work. They are clean. They are full of drinking water. And they are GREAT.

I know, useless pic. You can find anything and whatever in this store, but some treasures too, that's why I looooove it (:

"These woods are lovely . . ." reminds me huge impressive mysterious and fascinating forests around Seattle, in WA.

Portland . . . Or How life is cheaper-crazier-safer-"freedomer" in Oregon

● So, there we go! A nice week-end in Portland with some friends and family, we drove there straight after school (3:30pm on Friday the 22nd of November). It was a nice ride, it was night outside, and I was working on my laptop, and some music was played in the background, it was peaceful. The first night, we stayed at some NYC friends house, and on the morning, we were cooked pancakes! Real delicious ones, with maple syrup and fruits. Then, we went for a walk in a park, then downtow and we all had lunch together.

Well, this is also the first time I ate a REAL BURRITO. It was delicious, so many flavors, but still, the best was the pastry consistency, which was both soft and just spongy enough . . . So, I started to eat it the same way everybody eat it, and I took little mouthfuls . . .  But the truth is, my mouth is not big nor powerful nor flexible enough, and too much beans, salad and beef evreywhere. Too much everything, undermine the everything. Therefore, I grabbed a fork and a knife and cut my burritos in little pieces, as a REAL and FORTHY French.

●Portland is also called the "City of Roses"

●You do not pay any taxe in Oregon. Good to know for shopping ((((((((:

Good deals at Levi's, at the "Clearance", as far as I'm a French tourist, I'm OBLIGED to buy a Levi's pair of jeans! Yet it's pretty hard to find your size . . . My mother just told me via Skype than french women are the thinnest on the planet, just behind corean women. It's cool  but when you want to buy some clothes overseas and you are not tall nor husky as the American can be, it sucks.

 

● Most of the TV show "The Simpsons" producers are from Portland, as a matter-of-fact you may fnd some names of the TV show on the street signs, you may find some famous lights or logos near the bridge, on the buildings . . .