blocus au lycée

Ok I think it's fair to say France is going insane. I'm sure it is all over the media in NZ and throughout the world as it is here in France.
Pretty much an enormous portion of the country are against Sarko's reform to increase the age of retirement. As a result everyone is trying to do as much as they can to proove that the country is NOT happy and that we want change.
Teachers go on strike, the train and bus companies go on strike. Recently the rubbish collectors have gone on strike which has meant there is rubbish all over the city which is sad to see such a beautiful city polluted. The petrol companies have stopped supplying gas to gas stations so it's getting really hard to find petrol. It's a pretty worrying state of affairs. Manifestations are everywhere throughout the city with angry citizens shouting and blowing horns whilst marching around.
On the 13th of October my school had a vote to see if we would have a 'blocus' which is a student strike. Students block up the school so that no one can enter, it gives the students who can not vote for the governement or strike normally (as we are not employed) a chance to raise their voice. the vote for the blocus was not necessarily whether one is fo or against the reform, it was simply to see if we could do a blocus.
The blocus was voted yes, and so Thursday morning I woke up to be at school at 7.30am. I live near the streey my school is on, about 5min walk away. The first thing I saw when I stepped out of my front door was a group of boys walking past with a huge construction fence. When I got to the street my school was on I saw that it was already blocked up. With dumpsters and rubbish bins blocking off every entry to the school. Even though the temperature was about 3 degrees that didn't get in the way of the motivated students.
The blocus has now continued over a week, today is the last day and afterwards we have 2 weeks of holidays.
The reason why people may vote against a blocus is because they are worried about having to catch up on their classes as it risks failing the bac at the end of the school year. This is the case for many terminale students. Even if you want to work, it is impossible to get into the school. However, the teachers must go every day if they want to get paid and there is always a minority of students who somehow mange to enter the school. I have heard a story about a group of kids who tried to get into the school by jumping the fence, something went wrong and one of the boys had the fence stake go through his hand and as a result he is now in hospital. Just goes to show how desperate some people are, it's pretty ridiculous though.
Also there are people that come to cause riots and at times it can get quite scary.
The school is covered in banners and if you walk past the school there will be music, bonfires, and students dancing. I had a friend say she felt like she was a hippie back in the 1960's. To be honest, I think it's the closest I will ever get to being a hippie !

Home IS France

Recently, as life here carries on as usual, people have been asking me, "Are you excited to go back home ?" To most people's surprise my response is no. Reason being ? Home for me is no longer JUST New Zealand. 'Home' for me is also Angers, France, here with my 3 mums, 3 dads and 7 siblings. I couldn't imagine a life for myself any different. It's funny to think that 8 months ago I was thrown into this new world feeling a stranger, now I wake up every morning knowing that I belong, that this IS my world.
Reading through my journal and reflecting to when it all began I have come to realise that there are things that originally shocked, or seemed 'different' to me which have now become apart of my everyday life.

- starting at 8h and finishing at 18h
- on that same note, 24hour time
- being able to come home for lunch
- a hot lunch everday
- finishing before miday on a wenesday
- dinner, at the earliest at 20h
- walking to school, and everywhere else for that matter
- riding a bike really, really far and not having to worry about a bike helmet
- people telling me they are going to Paris for the weekend
- being able to take the train anywhere and everywhere
- strikes every second week meaning no school
- teachers not turning up to class, and as a result, we can all go home
- the accent French people have when they speak English (infact, I am so used to this accent, I have even taken it on for some words)
- teachers dictating and not writing on th whiteboard
- 2,3 and even 4 hour end of topic tests
- square pillows and rectangular ones not even existing
- girls wearing heels to school
- a castle every half an hour or so
- an enormous cathedral in every city
- wine to go with both lunch and dinner
- golf being the high school 'sport' for the trimester
- fountain pens + french calligraphy
- looking down every road and seeing doors in a line, behind every door is a different house with a garden separted by a brick wall
- all the rooves being the same colour (le quernon d'ardoise)
- boys who care a lot about their image
- the school year starting in september with yearly planners that also start in september
- PDA at school
- smoking infront of the school gate
- stripey clothing
- french rap
- people saying words in the reverse for example the word "chaud" (hot) becomes "auch" and "fête" (party) becomes "teuf"
- blackboards
- water in a wine glass and also, wine in a water glass

I could actually go on all night with this list. With things that to me, now, are apart of my normal everyday life. But it was not so long ago that this was all seen by me as being completely foreign. I am now scared to come home to find that I will once again have to adapt to a strange way of life and to leave this comfortable life I have here. To me, New Zealanders are the foreigners, so what does that make me you may be asking... Well, me ?? I'm an Angevine !! ( An Angevin(e) is someone who comes from Angers. Someone who comes from Paris will be known as a Parisien(ne).)
Here in France, I am at home, and I know for a fact that I will be back here in the near future to continue with this life.