Dear Host Family, My name is Bastien, and for a few months, I have been thinking about taking a gap year in the USA, and I am very excited and enjoyed about thinking of living with a host family. This year would be an opportunity for my personal development. I chose to take a gap year for several reasons: first of all, I really like the USA because of its culture, lifestyle, landscapes and more. American lifestyle is really different than french one, especially as a teenager: I would love to live like an American teenager, study in big high schools, play sports every afternoon, eat local food and more... Then I want to improve my language skills, my goal is to be absolutely bilingual at the end of the year. Plus, I want to have a break in my french studies, so this year would help me so much thinking about what I would like to work in, it would makes me discover new center of interest, even if I know that I will surely work in a scientific field. I would love to live with an American host family because it would change my lifestyle, my habits, and bring some of my French culture to you, local meals, boardgames, sports, the language (I am also learning Italian at school since 5 years), our French habits and more... I went abroad a lot of times with my family, we went a lot to European countries near to France and to the USA three times, we visited New York City, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, San Diego, Florida, National Parks... A part of my family lives in Nashville so we often see them when we go in the USA. In France I live with my whole family, I have a sister and a cat; we love playing card games or board games together, we also usually watch movies on Saturday night. Like we are really near to Paris, we often go out to see shows, or to eat at restaurant, or even to play escape games. With my friends we also hang out in Paris, to shop, or just to spend time together. When we go to school we do not really have time to see each others because we finish classes at 5 or 6 p.m, which means have to turn home quickly to do our homework. But we usually have 1 or 2 hours midday so it allows us to take our time to lunch. Today I am very implicated in sports, I have played tennis for 10 years, but I had to stop it this year because I had not time with school. I also practiced badminton and tennis table for a few years, but I still love them ! I started weight training 5 months ago, I love this sport so much, it changed my life, I became stronger, prouder of myself, I changed my habits, for example I try to eat healthier, sleep at least 8 hours a night... Thanks a lot for welcoming me, hope to see you soon ! Bastien