Sunset

Kiki in French

The first week of adaptation was fun, and I met a lot of new people:

• 3 girls from Houston, Texas that went to my dad's middle school ;)
• 2 boys from Vietnam and they are Australian. 
• 1 boy, Ellie's age, from Cape Cod, Massachusetts. 
• 1 girl who is also Ellie's age. She is Ellie's good friend and is from Milan, Italy but lived for a few years in Germany. 
• 1 boy from Brooklyn, New York. His mom is French.
• 1 boy from Czech Republic named Vashak but it's to hard to pronounce so everyone calls him Checky. 
• 1 boy from France and Montana. His dad is French.
• 1 boy from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. His dad is French.
• 2 girls from Belgium but lived in Ireland. 
• 1 girl from Singapore and she is British, Korean, and Danish. 
• 2 boys Ellie and my age from North Carolina. Their mom is from New Zealand.
• 1 boy from Beijing, China. 
• And last of all, a girl from Russia. 

I learned a LOT of new french and can now count to 40 after 2 days.  One unusual word I learned was from the head adaptation teacher from Britain. She said that Kiki means "a little boy's willie" so I am now going by Caleigh, at school. However, Declan's name also means decline in French, and lucky Ellie, it doesn't mean anything. Just Ellie. :)

-Kiki

My First Week of School

This was my first week of school. During this week I learned conversations, numbers, and time.  All in one week!  It has been very difficult considering that we just started and other people are very good.  Our teacher hardly even speaks English to us.  Mostly he will speak French.  But all in all it has been very fun. - Declan

First day of school

The EABJM is only a 20 minute walk away from our house. Here's what we see along the way. :)

Paris, France

Today is my third day in Paris and the school orientation starts tomorrow. I am nervous for school and I miss my old school. I love California and I miss it but I will get used to paris. Our backyard has the view of the eiffel tower and about 300 yards away from our apartment is the Eiffel tower! - Kiki 

La famille

24 years ago, Patrick and I both lived in Paris. We both studied abroad in the fall semester of 1989. We didn't know one another, but each of us had tremendous experiences. It seems like yesterday I was 19 roaming the streets of Paris without a clue of what my life would look like professionally or personally. And now, here I am, with an amazing family and a challenging job that has taken me back to Paris. I'm feeling really, really lucky. 

Thursday, August 15 we start our journey to the big city, Paris, France.  We have many mixed feelings about moving to Paris.  How will we see our friends?  We can hardly speak French too.  It seems so far away from our hometown in California.  Also, it seems so long until we can see family and friends again.  However, Paris will be a great experience.  We are running out of time like contestants in master chef.  We are very close to leaving.  My family and I will probably be blogging a lot.  Stay tuned for our family adventure.

-Declan

Paris Bound

Today is the day that each person in the Stanton Cinq will be pushed far out of their comfort zones'.  Everything will be new; new smells, new sights, new school, new opportunities, new everything. 

You can tell that everyone has butterflies flying around, scattered, and out of formation.  But those butterflies are also filled with excitement of a new life, a rebirth and a fresh new start.  We are leaving everything behind us; the good and the bad.

With this blog, we are able to connect, and share our experiences with our fellow friends and family.  Hopefully, each family member in the Stanton Cinq will write a post of their adventures, experiences, and observations.  Enjoy!

-Ellie