Dear host family, My name is Romane, and I am from France and I currently live in a small town in the Auvergne Rhône-Alpes region, near Lyon. I really like where I live because it's a very small town in the countryside but it's also close to big cities with shops where I can go shopping with my mother. My dream in the United States would be to visit a big American city. I live in a house with my parents and my two brothers, aged 13 and 10, with whom I like spending time. I also have a little pet rabbit who is 4 years old and whose name is Oasis. My youngest brother is 10 years old, and his name is Marceau. He plays tennis and soccer and also plays piano. My second younger brother is 13 years old, and his name is Pablo. He is a member of the young firefighters of his school; he too has been playing soccer since he is 6 years old. He also played tennis, judo, and guitar. My parents are both schoolteachers, in two different small villages near our home. As they are teachers, we have a lot of time during the school vacations to do activities together, especially sports. When we can, we play tennis, go for bike rides, go for walks, or play soccer in the garden. Even though I love doing sports, I don't necessarily enjoy doing extreme sports like rock climbing or mountain biking. Apart from sports, we also enjoy music, occasionally going out to the city for movies, bowling, and restaurants, and my two brothers and I also like cooking with our mother. In addition, every summer we go on vacation for at least two weeks to enjoy the beach and the sun or to explore new places. I am currently in my second year of high school in a private school where I have chosen the European section, which enables me to study additional subjects to the standard program : physics and history in English as well as Spanish as a third foreign language. At school, I particularly appreciate the subjects that teach us languages : I have been studying English and German for 5 years and I have been learning Spanish for 1 year. I have classes from Monday to Friday from 8am to 5:40pm except on Wednesdays when I study from 8am to 12:50pm. Therefore, I would love to experience the American high school which looks totally different from the French high school. Although school and homework take up a lot of my time, outside of that, I do gymnastics 5 hours a week and I play the piano in a music group 1.5 hour a week. I love these two activities that have been practising for 10 years. If possible, I would love to continue this activities in the United States, especially gymnastics. Indeed, gymnastics in the United States seems much more present than in France and I am very interested in great gymnasts and international championships and my dream would be to attend a major university competition. However, if it is not possible for me to continue this activity, I would love to practice cheerleading and also discover typical American high school sports like football, basketball, baseball or hockey. This is one of the reasons why I want to go to the United States. I would like to learn about your daily life, the life of a high school student and the traditional holidays like Thanksgiving. I am learning a lot about American culture, it makes me dream, and now I would like to live it. On my side, I will be able to make you discover the life in France, the customs, the habits, and I will be delighted to cook for you some typical French dishes. As far as my personality is concerned, I am a quiet and shy person but when I get to know people, I like chatting with them, and I am quite dynamic and open-minded. I am also highly organized and dedicated to do activities. Regarding school, I am quite a perfectionist and I like things to be done with care. I believe I am ready to go to a foreign country for 10 months because I have been preparing for it for almost a year, and I have been thinking about it a lot on my own and with my family. Moreover, this project is really a dream for me because I love traveling and discovering new countries and new cultures. This year will allow me, in addition to discovering people, a country and a different culture, to improve my English-speaking skills and maybe even become bilingual. I expect this program to be a time of exchange and sharing, which will help me open to people I don’t know and have a great year. I sincerely thank you for reading my letter and hope that you will welcome me into your home with as much enthusiasm as I have! Sincerely, Romane