Dear Host Family, My name is Mélissandre, and to start this letter I want to thank you for giving me this opportunity to share your life for a year, I cannot wait to meet you and share this once in a lifetime experience with you. I hope you're as excited to meet me as I am to meet you so here I'm going to give you as many details about myself as i can think of. If I had to describe myself, I would say that I'm a very positive and open minded girl, I'm always happy to discover new things and get out of my comfort zone . I'm quite extrovert and I LOVE to talk and it can get hard to stop me sometimes so be ready for lots of questions and conversations, I am a very caring person and i will help someone any chance I get, I believe that selfishness is what keep people from being happy with others. I value respect and honesty a lot. I love to move and try new hobbies. On the topic of hobbies, I enjoy everything that makes me move my body, for exemple i like to go running. I also love calm activities such as reading or baking (even tho it can get very chaotic). But I think one of my favorite things to do is spending time with the people I love, going shopping with my friends, playing board games with my family are moments i cherish. I also really like taking care of myself for example trying new hairstyles and makeup or doing my nails which often involves the color pink since it’s my favorite. On week days I jump out of my bed each morning full of energy which always surprises my friends, I personally think it's because I really like going to school both because I'm gonna learn new things but also because it means spending time with my friends. You will notice that i have my glasses on 24/7 ,first because I simply cannot see without them if I don't have them on my nose I could easily walk into a wall (which already happened) but also because I love them they're a part of me that I can't see myself without. Another thing that represents me well is my name, my dad is a fan of everything Middle-Age related and that name Mélissandre was often given to princesses during that period so i'm extremly proud of it. One thing about me is that I'm EXTREMELY scared of spiders, most insects actually but if there is a spider near me I will either scream or run away (or both). In the future I wanna work in international relationships and do everything I can to make sure everyone has the rights they deserve. This exchange is a way for me to open myself to a different culture and also improve my English skills. About my life in France, I live in a very small city of 9,000 inhabitants, It can get quite boring there since everyone knows everyone which is one of the reasons that made me want to do an exchange year ; I live with my mom and dad in a house in the countryside of France. We have a german sepherd called Volga and two cats called Musa and Fly. I grew up as a single child since my sisters and I have a 16 and 17 age gap but i have 3 nephews that, according to my sisters, I take really good care of. Every summer with my parents, we go to the west coast of France since we live far from the beach which I love, the sand, swimming, tanning. My parents and I really like to travel and make memories together. A weekday in my life : I wake up at 5 am and get ready for school with some music, for breakfast I often have fruits which I love. I leave my house at 7:30am, I arrive at my school around 7:45am and I can talk with my friends before class starts. School ends around 7pm most of the times and when i get home i do my homework and then if the weather is great I go for a run. I then eat dinner with my parents, shower and go to bed. I've been wanting to go on an exchange year in the US for two years and I'm so excited to come and enjoy this experience, make forever memories and meet people I will never forget. I will be more than happy to follow you in the more basic aspects of your life such as grocery shopping I've always wanted to enter a walmart or a target. Since I was young I've always loved watching movies picturing the american lifestyle and it always fascinated me, I hope to experience things such as Thanksgiving or Halloween which seems so different than in France, over here most people don't do Halloween and I would love to carve pumpkin and go trick or treating. At school I can't wait to experience things such as friday football games, homecoming or even prom. This experience is also an opportunity to start new sports i don't have at home and cheerleading is something I would love to try if i have the chance to. During this exchange I also want to share things with you, I would be more than happy to prepare you some french dishes or pastries. Thank you so much for the attention you gave to my letter, I can't wait to get to know you! Sincerely, Mélissandre.