Dear host family, First I would like to thank you for your hospitality. My name is Apolline, I am from France. I live with both my parents, my big sister and my little brother. We all get along very well and we like to spend time together by watching movies, playing board games or just by sitting together and talk while we eat. We often visit our family during holidays, but we also like to stay at home and relax. We live in the countryside, so we have a big house with a beautiful garden, which I think was a great place to grow up (but I'll have no problem with adjusting in a small house in a city). It became less practical growing up, because we always have to drive a lot or take the public transport to go somewhere. For example, if I want to visit my friend's house, I have a twenty minutes ride ; if we want to go shopping, or to go at the cinema, we have to take the train. I go to school by bus, the journey takes about forty minutes. I usually have class from 8am to 5pm. During breaks, I spend time with my friends, we like to discuss about everything. I have five really good friends, we are all in the same class, so we spend all of our time together. But my bestfriend moved away during middle school. We've known each other since we were little kids. She is really kind, and I love the fact that even tho we don't go at the same school anymore, we still talk on the phone everyday, and see each other on the week-ends! Most of the time when I get home after school, I work a lot, around two hours if they are a lot of homeworks. But when I am done working, what I absolutely love to do is to write. I've always been writing a lot, ever since I was a kid. I also love to read and to listen to music. My favorites bands are The Beatles, The Neighbourhood, Radiohead... My favorite singers are Michael Jackson, Mitski, Frank Ocean and Billie Eilish (I am going to see her in Paris in June, this will be my first concert, I'm so excited!!) Speaking about music, I have guitar classes every monday. I've also been practicing ballet since I was four years old. Another hobby I have is video editing. When I was little, I liked to create a lot of movies with my cousins. We would make trailers, adventure films, music videos and so much more!! I think that's probably where my biggest dream comes from : I would like to write a book and turn it into a film one day! That's why I think about studying either litterature or cinema later. I really love 2000s movies, but my favorite one is "The eternal sunshine of the spotless mind". I actually love any movie starring Jim Carrey (he is one of my favorite actors). I also love the Hunger Games movies and books!! What's more, I love theater. My father has a small theater company, so we often go at the shows in Paris. We are very close to the comedians, they often come visit us. They have a lot of very young kids and I love to play and spend time with them! Indeed, I get along with kids very well! I have chosen this program to improve my english, of course, but also to discover and learn from a new culture. Indeed, I have never been out of Europe before, and I feel like the culture is very different from here, so it could be such an interesting experience! What's more, I've always wanted to go to the USA. I'm willing to do anything to make this exchange a great experience for me, just as much as for you! I'm very open minded and curious to discover and try plenty of new things. Of course, I think the notion of "exchange" is very important: this trip can be enriching for everyone, since I can make you discover a little bit of french culture too! I can't wait to meet you, I thank you again for your hospitality, Sincerely, Apolline