Une Soirée Française

This last weekend, I was introduced to a handful of Estelle's friends; we went to her friends' apartment for dinner and drinks. This means that I was alone with only French people for an entire evening -- this wouldn't be completely unusual since I spend evenings with my host-family, but a group of 15 young French people is quite different than my 2 host-parents. It was terrifying. In a good way. First off, we had to say hello to everyone, which, in France, is done by kissing everyone on the cheeks. Personally, I absolutely love this tradition, and it made me laugh a bit to myself because this was quite the event in and of itself as no one could be left out. It's a very personal way to say hello, and, particularly as a newcomer in a group, it was great to be introduced to everyone before carrying on with the evening. In the beginning, I sat quietly trying to keep up with multiple French conversations at once, which just did not work at all, and my gracious Estelle kept trying to explain everything that was said. When I finally started getting involved in the conversation, almost everyone there stopped their side-conversations and stared at me: the American speaks! It was pretty nerve-wracking, but everyone was very encouraging and welcoming, and it sounds like I'll be seeing them all again this weekend as well. I fit in in France! It's a miracle!