Bientôt la fin

To start, I just want to apologize-especially to my Rotary club, for my silence! After being somewhat consistent for 5 months, I disappeared. But hopefully that told my followers that I was keeping busy and having a wonderful time.

As of today, I have exactly 28 days left of my exchange, which will be spent scrambling to get things done (but in reality, it's really not possible) like somewhat organizing the thousands of photos taken the past 9 months, finish putting on all the collected crap on the Rotary jacket, and visiting places in the area.
So far I only have one of those tasks accomplished: the Rotary jacket. The other day I spent a total of three hours sewing on all of my patches (total of 15, and more coming) and other weird items. I had not realized until recently how useful these blazers are. And not to mention, an easy way to show off everything you did.

Because I don't have the time to describe the events of the last few months, I will briefly explain:
February- travelled to Frankfurt (GER) and London, to visit friends of mine. Then I went on one of the Rotary bus trips, which lasted exactly one week. We visited a bit of southern France and north Spain (Barcelona, Figueres, Lloret de Mar), and had the opportunity to go to the Picasso and Salvador Dali museums.

March- our Rotary district took us, on an extended weekend, to Paris. We were joined by three other disctricts and had a talent show one night.

April-Rotary bus trip numéro deux, 12 days visiting Munich, a ski town in Austria, Italy (Venice, Florence, Pisa), Monaco, Switzerland (visited United Nations in Geneva) and a few cities in France. My favorite, no doubt, was Venice. Italy in general. Thankfully there were not many tourists at the time and therefore we did not have trouble finding a gondola (which is something everyone should do if ever in Venice).
After 12 days on a bus, I headed to Vienna, Austria to pay a visit to my cousin, whom I had not seen for 3 years. Unfortunately (or fortunately) I was there during the volcano eruption in Iceland and could not get back to France for three days. To add, I had to spend 20 hours on a bus to Paris because my second flight also got cancelled the minute I was about to board. In truth, I found the situation rather funny, and realized that my situation could have been a lot worse. I wasn't in any type of hurry to get home.
If I remember correctly, we also had another "exotic meal", for which I made peach cobber. It turned out quite well.
So far in May I made two mini trips to Luxembourg and Marseille, both visiting other exchange friends in France.

I wonder how I will ever be able to stay in one place??

I will wrap up quickly: As the title says, it is already bientôt la fin, or "nearly the end" of my exchange. There have already been many tears shed, and I cannot imagine how it's going to be when I actually leave. I realize that I will never be ready when the time comes, but perhaps it's for the best.
This year has given me so much. And even though I will not be classified as an exchange student after stepping off the plane, I figure that I will be an exchange student forever, at heart.
Thank you, from the bottom of my heart, to all three of my wonderul host families, my counselor, Rotary district 1520, to those at Lycée Montebello,and above all, my beloved family of exchange students. I will be visiting you ALL in good time. JE VOUS AIME.

Thank you to Bismarck Rotary Club, District 5580 and my family, for making everything possible.
See you on the other side...

Cholpon