D-I-E France

1. Describe
During my stay in La Rochelle, the city had 2-3 days of snow in January. It was quite exciting for me since it has been almost a year I hadn't seen snow. However, I was quite surprise that the city was almost shut down during these days. The school was closed, the buses stoped running, most of the restaurants, cafe, shops and supermarkets were closed. I found it really strange because snow is not somthing abnormal in France, especially, the amount of wet snow in La Rochelle is very little.

2. Interpret
After talking with my host family, I knew that was the first snow in La Rochelle in 20 years. The coastal city is usually humid and La Rochelle is quite in the South of France so it has less snow than other parts in the country. The people also find it difficult during the daily activities like driving, walking or shopping, many old people had to go the hospital since they fell on the ice. On the other hand, people got excited with the snow. For example, my host family, the 60-year-old couples went out to the backyard and enjoying the snow with their grandchildrens.

3. Evaluate
This experience recalled my first time in Finland: As a girl from a tropical country (Vietnam), I was thrilling when seeing snow the first time in Kokkola. I think I can partly understand how the people here feeling. Even though I found it strange at first, I had fun with my host family, I built the snowman with their grandchildren and all of us enjoyed the hot chocolate beside the fireplace at night.