La Semaine Thématique, etc.

This last week at school was the semaine thématique, which I've been talking about for ages. It was nice to have a break from regular school, though sadly it felt that, when we were done, we would be starting vacation. Alas.. we still have two weeks of school before the next one week break. Really though, I can't complain, coming from the US where we have so few breaks during the year.

So, I signed up for the same activities as Andréanne just because I didn't really know what else to sign up for. The first activity, which was about four hours in the morning including a twenty minute break, was Fantasy Literature and Films. The description of it when we signed up made it sound as though we would be watching films and reading passages from books and then comparing them. It turned out to be more of an intensive writing class, which was a bit more work than we really wanted to do. Everyone had to write a short story of at least three pages, single spaced. I think mine turned out to be six. Luckily no one had a problem with me writing in English. I mean, it's hard enough to do creating in your first language, and since I actually wanted to make something good, I opted to do it in English. 

The first two days we read passages from books, watched clips of films, and talked a lot about what makes a fantasy story.. for instance who the hero is, what the characters are like, the scenery, etc. Basically we were collecting ideas from other sources to inspire our own stories. The third day we did more discussing and reviewing of films, and also started writing some specific parts of the story and a complete storyline. We had to do a "low fantasy" story, which has a passage from our world to the fantasy world- think Harry Potter (in comparison to "high fantasy" where the fantasy world is unrelated to ours- think Lord of the Rings.) The catch was that the portal had to be in our school because some of the stories are going to be published in the school paper. On the last two days we went to the computer lab and typed/wrote our stories. It was pretty intense typing for so many hours straight. My eyes definitely hurt. 

The second course we signed up for in the afternoon was a Reiki course. We had to stay in school until five in the evening so that the second class was the same amount of time as the first, so sometimes that got long. We did a lot of different activities, with one initiation on Monday, two on Tuesday, and one on Wednesday. The initiations are ceremonies where you sort of meditate while the instructor "opens your energy channels" so you can give Reiki energy to yourself and others...We did a lot of other activities too because we were initiated in three groups and each time that took twenty to thirty minutes so there was a lot of time to do random things with the assistant teacher. Every day we did a guided meditation of varied length. One time we did one where you encounter an animal in the woods.. this is your totem animal and then we researched what it meant having that totem animal and how it can guide you. Mine is the bear, in case you were all wondering.

The rest of the time we learned how to do Reiki treatments.. Monday we learned the short treatment which can be used on yourself or others, Tuesday I received the hour-long full treatment from Andréanne, Wednesday we switched and I did the treatment to her, Thursday we did specific treatments in relation to the different chakras of the body, and Friday we did "intuitive treatments" and a group treatment. The group one was funny because everyone received six minutes of treatment from six other people at the same time. We almost all had laughing problems with that one, since it was so weird lying on a massage table, having six people standing around you with their eyes closed and hands on their hearts, trying to find where you needed to receive energy. But besides that one, in the course there was generally a very nice, quiet environment all the time. It found it to be very contemplative and relaxing. I have to say though, the meditations, not the Reiki, were more of a highlight for me. At the end of the course we all recieved the first degree in Reiki.

On Saturday I didn't really do anything during the daytime.. in the afternoon I skyped with my mom and dad, and Emily after. I cleaned my room. Oh yeah, and I read from Persepolis, which is even better than the movie. It's cool being able to read it in French. It started snowing Saturday and continued today, probably about a foot in all. It is very, very February-like snow.. you know, a little mushy and only just barely not melting. In the evening we went to the Soirée de Gym in Sâles, a village not that far away, where Andréanne and Nico's cousin Emily was in the show. I liked this Soirée way better than the last one.. it was very athletic like the other, but they also focused a lot more on the entertainment aspect of it. I think most of the groups had rehearsed better. The theme was Ali Baba and the Forty Theives, so everything was (more or less) in relation to that. The costumes and scenery were really, really well made, and also every single group did something really unique. Also, it helped that we were in the very first row, so when they were doing gymnastics on the rings, parallel bars, and trampolines, there was always the risk that they would fall off the stage on top of me. That definitely added an excitement factor. 

Today I worked on my homework in the morning and early afternoon. Around three Béatrice, Bérnard, and I decided to go for a walk. We drove to Romont and around the ramparts of the city, which was really pretty and nice, but a bit snowy. Luckily most of the paths had been cleared off. After that we went to get a coffee at the only cafe that was open, and then to buy bread, and then came home. 

Tomorrow is a special day of school, where the 60 students of the collège are going to Fribourg after first hour to look at school options. There are three different collèges in Fribourg where they will be going next year for the second year of school (my school is different in that they only have the first year.. sort of like grouping 7th, 8th, and 9th grade in the US instead of putting 9th with the higher grades.) Each of them will have to choose a different option, which they then do an extra five (?) or so hours each week. For instance my host brother is in the economy and law option, my host sister wants to go into the visual arts option, and Alicia is in the English option. So anyway, we all signed up to see two options.. I signed up for Spanish and Art since thats what most all of friends signed up for, and obviously it doesn't really matter what I go learn about. We are all going to Fribourg after first hour, because some people have their information meeting in the morning. Ours are for just two consecutive hours in the afternoon, so basically we have the whole morning free to do what we like. 

Then after that the rest of the school week is normal.. Next Saturday is the Soirée de Gym in my village, which should be interesting. Béatrice is in it, but I don't really know what her group is doing. Andréanne is helping out.. the group I normally go to the gym with is doing some sort of jump rope thing and she is helping them by turning the rope (she didn't want to be involved but they didn't have enough people so she had no choice.. luckily I sprained my ankle, haha.) As usual the whole family will go see it. 

And that's basically all I have to write about here...so until next week.