Dear host family, I hope you're doing well. My name is Mali, I am a french girl. I live in a small city in the French countryside. I love living here because it's a small city but we have everything we need like schools, bakeries, swimming-pool, supermarkets... and it's not far from a bigger city where I go to school. I live in a house with my parents. I have a brother but he doesn’t live with us anymore because now he has his own apartment. My brother's name is Noam. He's 20 years old and studies engineering. He has also made an exchange year in Canada three years ago. He loved his experience and is still in touch with his host family. My mother's name is Lise. She is 48 years old and she is a teatcher. My father's name is Ludovic. He is 50 years old and he is a bank manager. We are an openmind family, we love having friends and family at home, and sharing meals with them. We love traveling and visiting new places. Three years ago we welcomed Stella, a finnish girl who was also an exchange student. She spent a shool year at home and it was such a great experience! She's part of our family now. We are still in contact and become friends with her family. I am in second year of high school. Every monday morning, I go to school by bus and the other days, I go with my father or with my best friend's mother. My school is in a big city twenty-five minutes far from where I live. It's a big high school with two thousand students. At school, I'm in the "euro class", that means that I have a little bit more English class than the others. Last year, I had to choose three "spécialités" for this year, and I chose biology, mathematics and physics chemistry. I want to be a mide-wife so I chose this specialites because they are the best for mide-wife's studies. I am a serious student and always try to do my best. I have a very good group of friends. With them, I can be myself, I know I can count on them and we laugh a lot. We are not all in the same high school but we try to see each others as much as possible. Together, we go to the beach, we go for bike rides but most of the time, we just have a walk in our city, talk and laugh together and it's always good moments. About my hobbies… I take drawing lessons with my grandmother and my mom. I cook with my father and sometimes alone. I did classical dance when I was 6 and 7 (but now I'm a really bad dancer!). Then I did horse ridding and athletics. The last three years, I did badminton but I had to stop because this year I finish too late at school. So now, I sometimes run with my mom and my aunt. I want to do a half-marathon but I have to practice ; ). I love rugby, I watch matchs with my grandfather and my father. Last year my grandfather offered me tickets to go and see France/Scotland at the "stade de France" in Paris and it was amazing! I also like to watch every kind of movies and series. I am a respectful and openmind person. I don't judge anyone and I always help someone who is in difficulty. I am a calm teenager but I also have sense of humor and I like to have fun and laugh. It’s been a long time I want to spend one year in the USA in order to discover another culture, to meet new friends and to improve my English. I know this is a great opportunity and I would like to thank you for making this dream come true. I'm sure that, together, we are going to have a wonderful time and I hope I will be part of your family as Stella with mine and Noam with his canadian family. I could cook for you some french dishes sometimes, make you discover things about France and maybe teach you French if you want. : ) I can’t wait to have news from you. A bientôt ! Mali