New Host Family!!!

Hi! I’m Suzanna. I recently moved to a new town in France. It’s called Abreschviller. I have the hardest time trying to pronounce it, and most of the time I have to write it down for people to understand me. It’s an adorable village on the side of a hill. In the mornings the little valley is filled with mist, and the trees are slowly growing their leaves. In the afternoons sometimes we can hear the toot toot of the touristic train near the river.

A few days a week, there is a “country” dance that we go to. It’s southern line dancing - that is, south of the United States. My host family was surprised when I told them that I had never tried the dance before. Apparently it’s widely thought that other than New York City and Los Angeles, the entirety of the US is like Texas. We dance to “Cotton-eyed joe” and One Republic songs. It’s a funny mix of modern pop and synthetic country songs.

My little host sister is absolutely adorable. She’s five years old and is always full of energy. She doesn’t mind my accent, and between us can read children’s books - she can’t read the letters and I can’t pronounce the words, so when I read to her before bed, I sound out the words I don’t understand and she corrects my pronunciation. One day, I wore a dress and the instant she saw me, she yelled “YOU LOOK SO PRETTY!! I’M GOING TO PUT A DRESS ON TOO AND WE CAN BE MATCHING!”

I also have two host brothers - 17 year old twins. They are exactly as any pair of teenage guys are - funny, insulting and with atrocious taste in music. It’s been less than two weeks and I’ve already got some running jokes with them.

My host parents are incredible people. They treat me like one of their own children, which I really appreciate. It gives me a more rounded prespective of a French family. They ask me about my day, joke with me, teach me French expressions. I’m so grateful for them.