Parisian Invasion

The exchange students are coming! The exchange students are coming! Every year, Pres students receive an email from Mrs. Stampfl announcing that French exchange students are coming to Pres, and that they are in need of families willing to host them. This year is no different, with four boys still in need of hostesses.
The French exchange student program has been a successful part of Presentation for over a decade. The first part of the exchange sees Pres students traveling to France during the February or March break to live with a host family from College Saint Charles. The girls experience France hands-on by immersing themselves in the French culture of College Saint Charles and Lycee La Merci, another school Pres exchanges with. The girls also get to experience school days in France with their host students.
This works the same way with the students from France. They come to the United States and stay with a host family for roughly two and a half weeks. They visit prominent sites around the Bay Area and experience going to school and living in America.
The experience of hosting an exchange student from a country across an ocean 3,000 miles away is a great opportunity for those who want to experience a different culture and help teach someone American culture.
“It was super awesome because you not only get to help someone learn a language a little bit better and understand the American culture, but you learn a lot about the French culture and customs,” said junior Amy Kryston. “Of course, you also get to meet a lot of really nice, really fun people.”
Many other hostesses enjoyed having an exchange student, whom they took everywhere, and this year’s hostesses are no different. “I want to take her to so many places, like the mall and the good restaurants here,” said sophomore Elizabeth Hunter.
Initially, the language barrier between host families and the students can present a problem, especially if no one in the family speaks French, but after a few days, communication is not that big of a problem, according to last year’s host families.
Different places that hostesses took their students last year included the Santa Cruz Boardwalk, Sky High, the various malls in the Bay Area, concerts and other Bay Area attractions. Hostesses always took their students to friend’s houses or hung out at home bonding over their favorite TV show, books, games and other interests.
The hostesses also toured the students around Pres, showing them the day-to-day activities on campus including the different clubs, sports and the arts. They also get to experience a big part of Pres: the food.
“I’m looking forward to the whole experience, but in general, I can’t wait to show him/her around the Bay Area. We might go see a show and some art museums in San Francisco, or go places locally like Laser Quest and Sky High with friends,” said sophomore Jenna Vaccaro, who will be hosting a French exchange student this February.
“Mostly, I’m looking forward to getting to show our American culture to someone who has never even been here before. It will be an amazing learning experience for the exchange student, my family and me.”
The requirements for hosting a French exchange student are simple. Provide a place to sleep, food to eat and a heart to welcome someone who is 3,000 miles away from home. If you are interested in hosting a French exchange student this coming February from the 5th to the 17th, you should complete the online application at http://pantheresfrancaises.edublog.org/french-exchange-hosting-application. Hostesses are needed so please contact Ms. Stampfl at mstampfl@pres-net.com if you have any questions.

Have a Good Read This Christmas Eve

This novel is a bit on the lengthy side, but it takes no time at all to plow through. It’s easy to get into, and will have you hooked by the first couple of pages. The gripping storyline includes love, betrayal, death, and, best of all, drama!

Not much for the Middle-Aged melodramas? Not to worry. Perhaps a more adventurous love story would strike your fancy. Give Annette Curtis Klause’s Blood and Chocolate a try. This is basically the exact opposite of Twilight, only strikingly similar at the same time. Instead of a male vampire falling in love with a useless mortal, Blood and Chocolate tells the story of a mysterious young werewolf who falls in love with a human boy intended to be her lunch. The two fall madly in love and face many challenges as their two worlds collide in an epic adventure. But take caution in opening up this work in the midst of finals week: you simply will not be able to put it down!

If you’d rather depart from the romance genre altogether, then Adriana Trigiani’s newest coming of age novel Viola will deliver the perfect dose of teenage angst, while at the same providing encouraging insights into the world of friendship and growing up. Shipped away from her beloved hometown of Brooklyn to a glum boarding school in the outskirts of an Indiana town, Viola is faced with a whole new world that she feels completely ill-equipped to handle. A talented film-maker, she gradually learns to stop seeing and living life through her screen and open herself up to the new experiences and friendships that await her.

If you find yourself in the mood for some classical delight, but cannot face diving into something quite as hefty as War and Peace, go for The Princess Bride. If you have seen the movie, then you know how entertaining the plot twists and character developments are. And Christmastime is always a little more enjoyable with a bit of Buttercup romance in the air. Another, perhaps heavier, romance is the newly-turned-motion-picture The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger. This novel could certainly be considered more of a drama than William Goldman’s The Princess Bride, as it deals with the lessons of love and loss that a young couple encounters during their somewhat fated journey. A box of tissues might be a good idea if you pick this one up.

For more of a science fiction thriller, give Inkheart a go. The popular first installment of the planned Inkworld Trilogy, takes the reader through the many adventures of twelve-year-old Meggie Folchart, whose father possesses a special power of turning stories he reads aloud into real life. Lucky Meggie gets to travel to exotic places she reads about in books, such as Italy and many parts of Europe. If you ever were a fan of the animated film The Page Master as a little kid, this is the book for you. Another novel with a similar feel, C.S. Lewis’s famous children’s adventure tale The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, takes the reader through the closet of four young orphans, and into a magical world caught in eternal winter. It becomes the mission of this brave lot to bring the world of Narnia back to its original enchanting existence.

Some historical fiction might be the way to go if you don’t feel up to the time travelling and mythical creatures. Ann Rinaldi’s Time Enough for Drums is the story of 13-year-old Jemima Emerson living in Revolutionary War America. She finds herself torn between just about every member of her family, each of whom seems to be supporting a different war party: Patriots, Whigs, British officer, militiaman, and Continental Army soldier. This is a good read for those suffering the typical holiday season family squabbles that are typical of the holiday season.

Several decades after Jemima, comes Old Derry, the chubby old man in Edward Lear’s A Book of Nonsense. This charming collection of children’s tales is actually a compilation of limerick’s published sequentially in early nineteenth century England. Do not let the “children’s tales” turn you away, because each of Lear’s snappy poems is packed with clever twists and allusions that a wide range of age groups can appreciate.

So, now that you have a good list of choices for some great holiday reads, hit up your local bookstore – or Christmas wish list – and wipe your brain clean of any finals residue. Happy holidays!