Well, I am now in Rouen. I'm staying with a host family here, complete with two kids, one weird looking Siamese cat, a dog, and a Swiss student who arrived at the same time I did. It's strange: the first time I arrived in France, it was my first real experience out of the country, and everything was so new. Now, almost 9 (!) years later, what's weird is how familiar everything still is. Everything, from the lines in the airport to the camo-wearing soldiers with big guns in the train station, to the large ad displays along the street for the lastest Tom Cruise movie or Depeche Mode album, and the style of toilets, brings back memories of my first time here. I still have moments when for the life of me I just can't figure out what someone is saying. I spent about a minute trying to figure out why my host mom was telling me that the place I had walked to was about five minutes from the center of the round, before she said 'The center of Rouen. The town we live in.'

Awkward...

What I'm looking forward to this time is exploring a completely different part of France, and having the independence to travel where I want, rather than being tied into a school program. I've already got a long list of ideas and recommendations for my time here, and I just need to figure out what I want to do most.

The view of Rouen, from a lookout near my house: