Bowling Shoes, The Nut Bush, and Top Hats

Hugues picked me up from school yesterday, and at 13h30 precisely, we departed for Saint Omer with Michael and Asaki. Regarding Asaki, I was extrememly worried. As Japan is such a teensie-weensie country in comparison, I imagine that everyone must be affected in one way or another. Alas, in Asaki's case, this is more than true. The 8.5 earthquake completely destroyed Asaki's home. On the brighter side, her entire family remains alive and safe, and Asaki will complete her exchange before returning home in the summer. The problem that I have is that I do not know how to even to attempt to condole someone who does not necessarily feel comfortable with personal contact (aka: hugs). Asaki, though, like all of the Japanese, is a fighter, and I did not once see her tear or even put on a sad expression.
We were one of the first to arrive at the Malassise, a boarding school where we spent the night. After hugging every single person that arrived, we squeezed into Rotary cars and went bowling! I epic failed at bowling, finishing with 50; that's pretty sad considering that I have broken 100 the past two times I've gone bowling in France! I did have a blast, though! I bowled next to Maddi (one of the new Australians) who really reminded me how grateful I am to understand all of the French that surrounds me. Of course, we did not just talk about the exchange; we also discussed our plan to create the new sex-appeal: bowling shoes and fishnets!
For most of the rest of the evening, all of us discussed with the future French exchangers and their parents about their up-coming adventure! I also spent much of that time with Suzanna (Illinois) because we realized that the French kids really had next-to-no interest talking with us. Our discussions went a bit deeper than fishnets, and at dinnertime, Darpan joined us in our discussion, choosing to be more intimate than a voice in the crowd of the group.
After dinner, we all spoke a little about our exchange. Everyone told lengthy stories, but as I went at the end, I tried to make mine short and sweet because the clock had already reached midnight.
Yes, as teenagers, we followed that with a dance party! I started the trend at 1h00 by changing into my pj's, but I continued to dance afterwords. I learned two new dances! Maddi taught me the nut bush (an Australian line dance) and another no-named dance that involves fast-paced kicks.
We went to sleep late like we do on all Rotary weekends. I could barely keep my eyelids open, so I was one of the first to fall asleep. However, after about a minute of letting my mind wander unconsciously, I re-awoke. I had had the strangest mini-dream about an assortment of dogs dressed in tuxedos and top hats sitting on bleachers. Consequently, I had to share. I fell almost straight back to sleep while everyone in the sleeping bags around me laughed. It was so random!