C'était un mauvais matin

Wee! Blogger.com finally works! So I haven't written in over a week as blogger.com wasn't letting me access my account. I'm not really sure what was going on...however, now I can write but it won't let me add photos. Bummer. I will try and fix this problem as soon a possible because blogs are no fun without pictures.
Since going to Paris with AFS, nothing terribly life changing or exciting happened. Everyone is getting ready for Christmas here. In France, Christmas is called Noël. Tonight is the fourth night of Hanukkah also, however no one here knows what Hanukkah is. I think it could be that Hanukkah is mostly an American thing or maybe it's that I represent the majority of the Jewish population in Châtellerault. (I'm only half Jewish so that says something.) It seem like it's December here. The weather is about the same as the weather of early November in Minnesota. Cold and wet... :( Although there are the decorations all about, it doesn't feel like Christmas without the snow. I had a fête de Noël with AFS last Saturday. In the evening we had a talent show for all the host families. The rest of the Americans and I sang "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer." Not many people have heard of Rudolph the red nosed reindeer. He is not popular in France. As I walking on my way home from school I saw people setting up an ice-skating rink in the middle of town! (Since I can't add photos right now, imagine if Hopkins main street was blocked and the city installed an ice skating rink and little kiosks selling Christmas gifts.) The little Christmas stands aren't open yet, but my friends keep telling me about how cool it is once it gets closer to Christmas. I can't wait for Christmas!
This morning I woke up at 8:00 am...school starts at 8:00 am. Zut. I was freaking out, but my host mom was really relaxed about it. She called the school and wrote a note explaining that I was a stupid exchange student that slept in. Haha. (Actually though, I read it and it explained that I had slept in! Who actually writes that on an note?) Anyway, I got ready in record time and made it to school at 8:18 am. After checking in at the front desk, which is called "La Vie Scolaire", I ran up all to the fifth floor to realize that I actually had history class. History is on the first floor. So I hurried and went down to the first floor. When I reached the first floor I realized that I used the wrong staircase (there is construction on side of the first story so you can only access some classes using a certain staircase. So got to go back to the second floor, cross over to the other stair case and back to the first floor again. It was a miracle that I was able to make it to my history class. It was already awkward enough entering in the middle of class, but then I had to make it worse by saying, "Salut!" (which is an informal way to say hello with friends) to the teacher. School is a lot more serious here so saying salut to a teacher is considered rude. She was really nice about it, but my friends didn't let me live this one down. Oh well.
The morning wasn't too successful, however this afternoon was a lot better. I had another fête de Noël with Club Européen. It a club for the exchange students at our school where we sit and do whatever we want for an hour. Olof and I made chocolate chip cookies for the little party. They were absolutely delicious. It could have been because they were made with 250 grams of butter! I made pancakes with Elise after school. They were super delicious because we added chocolate chips and ate them with Nutella. Miam, miam. :)
I hope I can solve out this photo problem soon as I have lots of pictures I want to share!
A toute à l'heure,
Becca