MY WEEKEND

On Saturday morning, I went to the market with my host family and had a little breakfast outside. After that, we went back home, we had brunch at 1:00 pm.

I did shoping with my partner Alex in the afternoon, for maybe one hour.

At night, there was a party at Alex’s house, so we prepared the party between 2:00 pm and 4:00 pm. After this, we went to the play Sense and Sensibility in which my partner acted.

The party started after 9:00 pm . All of the cast and students of the exchange were invited.

We celebrated my birthday and the last representation of the play.

On Sunday, I didn’t do a lot. It was a quiet day with cheese steak  at Reading terminal market. 

A typical American weekend with an easy chair, pretzels and football.

Guillaume CRITTOGAMO.

Maya's weekend

On Saturday, with my partner and her sister we had breakfast in Nudy’s, a really nice cafe, twenty minutes drive from Wynnewood.

In the afternoon, we went shopping in the King of Prussia’s Mall. I bought shoes and gifts for my family.  

At 7:00, we went at FCS, to see a play performed by Upper school students. It was called Sense & Sensibility, and was an adaptation of a Jane Austen play. I found that the actors were really good and that it seemed more like a real play rather than a school show.

After that, we were all invited (French as well as actors) to Alex’s place for a party, He lives in a really nice hotel, in Philly.

On Sunday, I went to a small shopping center, in Wynnewood to buy some things to bring back in my family. Before that, Hannah’s dad brought home baggels and muffins for breakfast. We didn’t have lunch at the normal time but at 4:30, we did Thanksgiving and ate several meals including mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes and of course the inevitabl turkey.

In the afternoon, we drove to a supermarket named “Giant” to buy some typical American food and supplies for Halloween.

When we went back home, we ate our Thanksgiving dessert and played to a the Beanbozzled game. It consist in eating candies which have for each color, a nice flavor and a disgusting one. I had a stinkies sokes flavored one. In the evening, we went booed some people in the neighborhood. We carried two bags fulled with candies and when a neighbor hadn’t been booed yet, we droped candies at his front door, ringed at the door and ran away very quickly.

Last weekend in Philadelphia ( Deport GONDJE )

My last weekend in Philly was a chilling one because the week was extremely busy. I slept a lot more on Saturday and Sunday morning ( Yeeees !).


Saturday was a shopping day, my partner had a tennis tournament so I went to Macy's smile emoticon( a bigger Galleries Lafayette ) with Farah her mom. That place was huge and really impressive ! There was a gigantic organ which was played at 12, the sounds were so beautiful. A big thank you to Farah who bought me a pair of Levi's jeans ! Can you imagine how glad I was ? Then we went to pick up Sonya where she had her tournament and we went to CVS ( originally a pharmacy but you can get food and more there ) so I could get my candies.

Then in the evening everyone went to a play at FCS. It was called Sense and Sensibility , I enjoyed it so much even if I couldn't get everything they said. We could get all the jokes !

After that, we had a party at Guillaume's partner's downtown. We had so much fun there and we got to meet more Americans. I admit that I was exhausted after that very long night, but I enjoyed it though !

Sunday was my resting day, I really wanted to stay with my family and I've enjoyed it so much. They brought me to an Indian restaurant "IndeBLue" to have an Indian brunch ( after the American one last Sunday ). It was extremely tasty and spicy, it was so interesting to taste all those things ( so many flavors ). I'm definetely in love with Indian food !
Then we went to Target ( American Carrefour ), Sonya and I got the same onesies, we were looking so good in them to be honest ( modesty ) it was so much fun. After that we just went back home, I packed my things ( that moment was the saddest ) and we just chilled with the family. It was so weird to tell myself that this was the last night I was going to sleep in that bed with that wonderful view I had.

On Saturday morning, we slept in. Later, after brunch, we went to the mall where I bought two soccer balls and a football. Then,  we ate Mexican food in a restaurant called Chippotle; it was delicious but spicy. In the  evening, we saw a play performed by the American students of FCS. It was difficult to understand because they spoke with a bad British accent.

Subsequently, we went to a party where the players were invited.

On Sunday, we ate bacon and some bagels. Then I met Emrys at his hause where we played video game before going karting. It was amazing and fun.

On the way back, we went to WAWA, and when we arrived home, Zack’s father was making some milkshakes for us.

After we tasted chicken nuggets and sweet potatoes cooked  by Zack’s mother  and then we watched “Prometheus”. Ffinally for dessert, we had an apple pie with cinnamon.

My second week-end

     On Saturday, I went to my host family's house which is not too far from the beach. With my partner, we walked around the village and we saw the beach, it was very pretty! At night, we went to Guillaume's party with all French people.

     On Sunday, we went back to New York City with my partner and her mother. I bought a lot of souvenirs for all of my family. (like New York stuff!) After lunch, we took a boat to see more closer the Statue of Liberty! She is impressive and so big!!

I also saw the Brooklyn Bridge and the Manhattan Bridge!

 

                                                               And finally, I went to

a big candy shop with enormous candy bear!

















Clara Grynberg

Arnisa's week-end.

Saturday: First of all, we went to Sabrina's restaurant next to the Italian Market in  south Philadelphia to have breakfast. The food was so tasty and the place was very cosy. After we ate, we went to the Philadelphia's Magic Gardens, which is a fully-mosaicked gallery space and labyrinth sculpture garden created  by Isaiah Zagar, a popular artist, here in Philly. Which was very comparable to French artist Facteur Cheval and Spanish architect  Gaudi. Then, we took the lift to the 33rd floor: I founded it very impressive because it was so incredibly fast, a matter of a few secs. The PSFS tower was definitely the place to be in order to admire the beautiful cityscape of Philadelphia: highrise appartment and office bukildings, the City Hall building and the urban spread in the horizon. What an astronomic view, you wouldn't believe!

My partner's mother decided to bring us to the Morris Arboretum Park because there was some sculpture of a famous artist known all around the world who is Patrick Dougherty. This artist makes sculptures with wood branches. It was

lovely. After this wonderful place, we came back to the Friends Central School to the watch the play Sense and Sensibilty that some students prepared. It was  interesting but maybe too long for me. Finally, we went to that cast party where we played Snoocer and we listened to music, it was really fun.

Sunday: I went to the King of Prussia Mall to buy last things that I needed. After, we went to a restaurant with Margaux that I can’t really remembered the name but it was sooooo delicious.

    New York

On Friday, we went to New York City which is 2 hours away from Philly. First of all, we saw Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty. We got out of the bus in Liberty State Park and we took photos of the skyline and the Empire State Building. We found this impressive and amazing.

Then, we drove to Lower Manhattan where we saw the “National September 11 Memorial and Museum”. It is a memorial to pay tribute to the terrorist attack’s victims (firemen, policemen, employees working in the Twin Towers). A lot of the survivors are affected by lung diseases.

We had 2 free hours in Lower Manhattan for having lunch and doing shopping.

Later on, we went to Times Square: the giant advertissement screens were breath-taking, that was sooo beautiful and sooo big. Then we walked to M&M’s World on 7th Avenue. We bought a lot of M&M’s at the M&M’s fountain; that was so good.

Adele's and Margaux's weekend !

Adele :  On Saturday, I went shopping to the Mall with Marie-Line and Tasnim, it was fun and I had a good time. Later on, I went to the play at Friends' Central School entitled Sense and Sensibility written by Jane Austen. It was very long and I couldn't understand anything, but it was quite good because the actors were really talented. After that I went to a party with my partner and some of her friends and when we were at the party I met up with my friends there. On Sunday, I went to New York with my partner Chloe and her dad, it was amazing, I went to Manhattan in the district of Soho, close to Broadway, it was a really interesting and great experience.

Margaux : On Saturday, I went to an entertainment park called 'Six Flags' with Anna, her partner and some of her friends. It was one of the funniest day I had in America because the weather was sunny, the roller coasters were huge and the food was amazing. I had so much fun and I will keep wonderful memories of this day. For dinner, we ate in a Vietnamese restaurant. Then just like Adele, I went to the same party with all the French students and their partners and also with some actors of the play. Then I had a sleep-over to Anna's partner's house. On Sunday, I went to the Mall to buy my last presents with Anna and Sara my partner. At the end of the day, I went to Arnisa's partner's house and then we went in Philadelphia with her host family and her partner to eat in a restaurant. The food was amazing and I had so much fun for my last night in America.  

Anna's weekend

This past weekend, we did a lot of things : on Saturday, I slept until 07:00 am before we went to the Korean church with my patner to meet other people. Margaux came with me and we went to Six Flags, a huge adventure park. It was the first time I go on a adventure parkWe made a lot of attractions, like roller coaster. We  arrived really early, so there was no line to go on the rides. I was really scared at the beginning, but it was so coo l, I wanted to do it again. Especially for one of the biggest roller coasters of America, at first, I didn’t want to do it, but Margaux wanted me to go on  it with her and it would certainly be the only time that I would experience this attraction in my whole life. Moreover, nobody was waiting to do this. It was incredible, I was not feeling the gravity. After riding some other cars amusements, we went back to the car to eat : we all had a sandwich and a drink (CapriSun, really good taste). Where we finished eating, we came back to the adventure park to go on the last ride. It was a really great day. On the way back to home, we stopped in a Vietnamese Restaurant, were we bought noodles. It was pretty good. We came back home to put our things at home before going to Alex’s party, Guillaume’s partner. It was a nice evening.

On Sunday, we chill at home until 12:00 before Margaux’s partner pick us up and lead us first at her house and then at Springfield Mall to go shopping for the last time. I went to American Egale, and Target. Target is a really big Supermarket with food, clothings, decorations, etc …

Then, we came back home. This was my lats week end in Philadelphia, and it was pretty good.

Anna

My week-end

On Saturday, with Maya and our partner, we went to the Philadelphia Mall, to spend a ''little'' money. It is an enormous shopping mall with our favorite brands of clothes!!! We had fun and we bought a lot of things!

Later on, we went to the play at the high school. It was a play from the 18th century with awesome actors! ''Sense and sensibility'' lasted 2 hours. It was written by Jane Austen. I didn't understand everything but I laughed a lot! And finally we went to a party to celebrate the success of all actors and Guillaume's birthday!!

 My mother will  not be happy because 

I bought too many things!!

Estelle Lauret

                                                                   

Second Weekend in Philly

On Saturday morning my hostfamily and I went to iHop to have breakfast. iHop is a little restaurant where you can have breakfast, little snacks and sandwiches.

After this, around 12:00, Karishma’s mother and I went to the Springfield mall. There I bought a hoodie for myself, some creams at Bath and Body Works and some souvenirs for my family and friends. After the mall we came back home and rested for 1 hour. At 6:30 Karishma and I went to see the school play, there we met the whole group. The play ended at 21:00 and after we all went to the cast party at Guillaume’ partner’s house. All the cast from the play was there and it was really fun! It was a really good party :)

On Sunday we didn’t do a lot of things. We went to see Karishma’s brother playing tennis in Delaware. He was very good and won almost all of his matches. After the tournament we went to eat in a little restaurant near UDel. The food there was delicious. At 17:00 we took the car to come back home. I then packed my suitcase because tomorrow is our last day :(

Karishma's brother and father

Karishma's brother serving

Ashley Adouobo

Marie Line's & Tasnim's weekend

24th\25th October

On Saturday, we did some shopping in the second biggest mall in the United States, King of Prussia, a one-hour drive from Philadelphia. Then we went to Chloe’s, Adele’s partner, with Tasnim and Scarlett. We spent time there until the beginning of the play, performed at FCS. After the play, we were invited at Alex’s party where we met all the French students and the play’s actors.

On Sunday, Tasnim and I went to Target to buy our last things from America, especially food. After that, we ate at Max Brennen’s which is a well-known restaurant specialised in chocolate. We had such a good chocolate fondue with bananas, strawberries, chocolate chip cookies, milk chocolate, dark chocolate and toffee sauce. We couldn’t eat until the next day!! 

My last week-end in Philadelphia

      On Saturday morning, I went to a basket-ball game, my partner belongs to the winning team. After this game we were starving so we went to Taco Bell. Its the best mexican fast food. It was really really really big and terrific. I took a volcano box :-french fries.
-A big tacos.
-Two 'small' sandwiches.







        The afternoon we slept but during the evenning we saw a play organised by Friends'Central School. Later we went to a party organised by the Guillaume's partner, we celebrated Guillaume's birthday and we ate a really delicious cake.

         On Sunday morning we slept, in next we went to the Mall, I ate a cheesesteak at Tony's Luke'.
In a cheesteak we found melted cheese (I took provolone), steaks and onions.
We came back to house and the cousin of my partner brought us to shake shack, a famous burger maker : 
After it was the end of my last week end in Philly, a big thank you to my host who gave me the best hospitality that I could have.

GROWING UP AS AN AMISH

Guder Daag !

Let me introduce myself, my name is Levi Miller and I was born on September 8th 1987 in Lancaster county. My parents had eight children and I came after my five siblings. I was born at home, which is pretty common in our community. The Amish have three options : we could choose the traditional birth method, so the future mother could give birth at home, she could go to a Birth Center or the woman could give birth in a hospital. The families pick the 1st option more often because the environnement is usually, more comfortable than a the hospital. Moreover the cost is more important in a hospital than in a Birth Center or at home.

I had a beautiful childhood with my family and the whole village. I went to the nearest school from 1st to 8th grade, there was an unique class with a teacher, who wasn’t  recognized by the State. I studied English, German, Mathematics, Geography and History. I’m always smilling when I think about all the good times I had with all my friends playing baseball, volleyball, riding our scooters in the countryside or walking on the way from school to home (around 15 000 feet per day for the children). Otherwise I had my chores, I could be asked to watch the animals, to milk the cows, or just to help my dad… My childhood was very pleasant and restful. But I was really looking for something else, something that every Amish child is seeking for.

You might wonder how we get medical treatment right ? You need to know that we use the same physicians as you do. The problem is that it was really expensive, because we don’t have any health insurance, God is ours; but we do participate in taxes for the State, we only use them when we have a big emergency like a heart attack or when you are badly wounded.  

Rumspringa is the time I was waiting for, it started when I turned 16. You may think it is a strange word, you are very right ! It means ‘’running around’’ in Pennsylvanian Dutch.

Granddad was always referring to that period as a vaccine, ‘’inject the desease to be safe’’ he said. My family were very tolerant and gave me a lot more freedom. They wouldn’t punish us for the things we did. You could go to the ‘’English world’’ (every non Amish thing is called English) during that period, and experiment new things. We swapped our regular clothes for English ones, some girls were even starting to wear make-up. We also didn’t have to go to school (because we stopped after 8th grade) so we could hang out with our friends. During this period we also had to choose our husband/wife, the one we are going to spend our whole life with. I remember the first party I ever had, it was taking place at an English boy’s house. My Amish friends were all smoking and I drank my first beer !

It was so fun to discover new things and to finally do those ‘forbidden’ things.

At the age of 23 my Rumspringa was finally over. I really loved this period and it was one of the happiest parts of my life but I realised this wasn’t the life I wanted. I found my soulmate: during our trip to the beach, I met Carrie Fisher a breathtaking woman, we began to be really good friends. Later she became my wife.

I joined the church, promised to be loyal to my community and I commited to adopt the Amish lifestyle for the rest of my  life ; I am a real Amish man now, here for his family and ready to participate in the church.

                    

Ashley, Leandre, Deport, Anna

The Organisation of the Amish Community

Each Amish community is independent and has its own traditions. Communities interact with each other but there isn’t an organization on a regional or national scale. Communites are supervised by a bishop, a preacher and two levels of deacons. Women stay silent during ceremonies, except for singing, Their role in the community is minor but like the men, they could participate in elections. Women only  wear dresses but they are not allowed to wear pants because they follow the Bible’s rules. Women are said to be “subordinate but not inferior”.

In the Amish community, women are housewives; they are in charge of the housekeeping. When they get married, women leave their job to to take care of the children and they become a housewife.

Men work on the farm and the fields to bring some food and money. They must be hard working to keep their lifestyle.Their life is based on their  interpretation of the Bible.

What makes the Amish so special? (customs and lifestyle)

The Amish live in a very specific way.

You are an Amish since your birth until your 16th birthday, at the age of sixteen, you enter a period of your life called ‘running around’ (‘Rumspringa’ in Pennsylvanian Dutch) which means that you can live a “normal life”, like any American teenager.  You can drive a car, dress like you want, spend time downtown in the city and you can also go on dates. This period is meant to help you choose whether you want to stay in the community, or you want to join the ‘English’ (=non-Amish) world which means to leave your family and your community. The ‘running around’ period ends when you decide to stay in the community, and so to be baptised.

The Amish wear a very special outfit. They can have a blue or a white shirt with a vest and wear black pants with suspenders. Man grow a beard without a moustache once they are married. Usually they have a wide-brimmed straw  or felt hat. Women wear long dresses and a white prayer covering, and an apron, also pins and a hairnet to put their hair up; they cut their hair themselves.

What makes the Amish so special is their lifestyle. They don’t use modern technolgy, they travel in horse-drawn buggies, they stop going to school at the age of 15 to work on the farm. They’re Protestant, more particularly Anabaptist, which means they are against baptism during infancy because they believe that it’s an act that you should do when you decide to,  something that you have to do when you’re consenting and they live all together in peace, with a lot of respect side by side with non-Amish people. In fact we were surprised to realise that the Amish community is an open community.

The Amish economy

On Tuesday we went to the Amish country which is located in Lancaster county. At the Amish Experience Theater, we saw a movie by Brad Igou who is the founder of the Theater This movie tells the story of a young Amish named Jacob who has to make a commitment: leave the community or stay with the Amish.                                                                                                                         

The rural economy in the Amish country is based on different activities:

-farming crops: maize corn.

-craft industry: quilts, leather work, dairy products.

-commerce: Amish shops such as bakery and pasteries (Amish cookies, pie, bretzels, bread  and many other specialties) delicatessen shops (sausages, ham etc.)

-cattle breeding: chicken, cows, oxen, pigs

-Pet breeding and selling: dogs, cats, even camels for milk!!!!
-tourism: visit of an Amish community

Also some Amish people sell craft products in local shops in the countryside and in Philly like the Reading Terminal Market.

There is no friction between Amish families because there is no competition. It’s not a mechanized type of farming. They use horses instead.

by David and Lucas.

The Amish & Religion

The religion that the Amish practice is Christianism. They are members of an anabaptist  Christian denomination which is composed of the Amish and the Mennonites. They want children to decide if they want to get baptised or rather leave the community.

The Amish come from Switzerland where they were persecuted in the 18th century because of their religious beliefs. At first, they fled to European countries such as Germany, France (Alsace),... but quickly the persecution spread and so they decided to move to America, the “New World” where they hoped to be able to worship freely.

‘They believe in the importance of individual Bible study and the necessity of living a life free of sin after adult baptism’. The Amish haven’t got rituals : they believe that God should appear in their daily actions. Thus, they don’t have priests, every man can act as a priest. Religious ceremonies are organised in their own houses, each Amish family normally hosts this celebration once a year, it is called “worship”.

Churches are separated into disctricts, as our Amish friend told us on the 20th of October during our visit in Lancaster County. At the time of his “rumspringa”, he used to go to two different churches depending of his girlfriend’s district.

The person who supervises an Amish community is called a bishop. The different bishops gather twice a year in spring and in fall to make important decisions for the community. They could review some old laws and decide if they should reinforce them or give more liberty to Amish people : for example by allowing some modern equipment into the Amish life. Thus, young Amish people are allowed to carry cell phones before entering the Church.

We wonder in what measure the access of technology could be tolerated in the beliefs of the Amish religion: one Amish person we met told us that he sometimes goes to his non Amish neighbor to see baseball games. Some Amish people would like to introduce electricty or television in their daily life, even if they are really devoted to God and had chosen to live in an Amish community, it seems to be the case of the Amish farmer we talked to.

Marie-Line Younes and Maya Rachail

Our first week-end in Philadelphia

Our week-end began on Friday evening when a lot of people went to the Adele's host’s home. They ate around a fire in the garden; there was a really good atmosphere between hosts and French partners, everybody kept beautiful memories about this evening.

On Saturday evening, American and French partners went to a diner called “Bridget Foy’s”; this diner cooked typical American food like burgers or macaroni with a lot of cheese, everybody enjoyed their food. After, we went on a ghost tour which took place in the city center of Philly. It was very funny but very cold too. This tour was a guided tour and it wasn’t really frightening.

On Sunday morning, everybody went to a brunch at Emrys's partner’s house. We could enjoy a lot of food such as waffles, bagels or fruits, after this brunch every body stayed for a moment to play together. At the beginning of the afternoon, some people went to the city center to do shopping. The others stayed at Emrys’ house but after everybody met at the movie theater to see “The Visit”, a horror movie. Everybody enjoyed the movie but some were very scared.

After it was time to come back home, French and American people  had beautiful memories of this week end.

This is us at the Bridget Foy's restaurant before going to the Ghost Tour.

MY WEEKEND

   
   This weekend, we did a lot of things : personally, on Saturday, I slept until 11:30am and stayed with my partner at home. We then went to the city to see some stores and we ate at Wendy's (an American fast-food restaurant, like McDonalds, but better) before meeting the other exchange students at a restaurant. After the restaurant, which was delicious, we went on the Ghost Tour in Philadelphia. The Ghost tour is actually a tour of the center of Philadelphia in which people are dressed up as witches or scary people, and they tell scary, but real stories about different houses on the tour.  It's a little bit scary at night :) 

     The next day, it was Sunday already, we went to a brunch at 11 am at Emrys' partner's house. The food was really good; there were bagels, pancakes, waffles, orange juice, and a lot of other stuff. After this brunch, we went with Margot and our partners to the King of Prussia mall, which is the second biggest mall in America. We went shopping, we found some stuff and we also discovered some new stores. It was a really nice afternoon. Finally, we ate at Ruby's, which is a diner.

Anna

Meanwhile at Friends' Central School...

American students and French students work together in the French class of Mrs Ostroff-Weinberg:

Deport helping some students.

   Emrys is explaining French grammar

David is asking his partner to repeat some words

            Lucas is teaching a student to read the text                                      

Ashley is listening to her partner reading

                     Leandre is correcting  a student's spelling mistakes