The Cast
2002-06-03 / 8:07 p.m.

• Ma M�re-I love my mom. We get along very well except for when one of us is in a bad mood. We have lots of stuff in common, so that's probably why. Well, actually for Melissa the reason her and her mom fight so much is because they are so much alike, so I don't know. Anyway, we both love to scrapbook, read, hate Math, and other stuff. And we usually agree on clothes so it's fun to go shopping with her. She's a substitute teacher and might work at Commerce Bank over the summer.
• Mon P�re-I don't get a long with my dad as well as with my mom. He just bothers me sometimes. I can't really explain it. He's been out of a job for a while and just started working for Aflac (the duck company) and hasn't made much yet because he only gets paid after people he refers sign up for Aflac. So far that's been only 1 company I think.
• Ma S�ur-Emily is eight years younger than me and because there's so much of an age gap we get along well. We have to share a room though. Emily is in first grade and is seven years old. She just got her high band at the pool the other day and I am very proud of her.
• Mon Fr�re-Teddy is 3 years yonger than me, making him 12 and in the sixth grade. He's extremely annoying most of the time, but sometimes he's fun to be around. Not often, but sometimes.
• Mon Chat-My cat's name is Stockton. That's also the name of my elementary school. My mom chose the name, I don't know why she chose that though. I wanted to name him Marmalade or Milo. We found Stockton at my aunt's house and took him home. We used to have two other cats, Waifur and Digit, but they got old and Waifur became diabetic, so we had to put them to sleep. I was thisclose to getting a kitten when we found Stockton. So I'm a little resentful of that. Maybe he knows that and that's why he doesn't like me. Hmmmmm...

• Melissa-Melissa is my bestest friend in the whole wide world. She's the grooviest person I know. She plays the flute, piano and guitar and dances also. She's smart, even though she says she isn't and knows lots of computer-related stuff. Not in a geeky way, but in a cool, I-wish-I-knew-that-way. Reading her diary will help you to understand mine a lot better.
• Elena-Elena is a very special friend, because she lives in Spain. I'm friends with her because she came over here as Melissa's exchange student in the Spanish (duh) exchange program. She was only here for three and a half weeks, but she was very easy to become friends with. She is one of the sweetest and nicest people I know. I miss her so much!
• Ilana-Ilana's very quiet, but once you get to know her is very funny and nice. She's smart too. She plays the flute with us in the band.
• Karen-She's just funny. She took QPS and Geometry and has made me extremely glad I decided to take CPS and Enriched Algebra. She knows a lot about SNL.
• Kaitlin-I just met Kaitlin this year. She's very quiet, but also really sweet once you get to know her. She's also super-smart. I hope I get to know her better as the year goes on.
• Elena-Elena is a very special friend, because she lives in Spain. I'm friends with her because she came over here as Melissa's exchange student in the Spanish (duh) exchange program. She was only here for three and a half weeks, but she was very easy to become friends with. She is one of the sweetest and nicest people I know. I miss her so much!

• Armance-My French exchange student. Even though she was only here for 12 days, I still formed a really strong bond with her. If someone is living with you for even that short of a time and you are just almost always together, it's hard not to form some sort of friendship with them. It was nice to have someone to do something with and someone to talk to late at night when we couldn't sleep. She also made my life much more exciting. I actually went and did things on the weekends and stuff. In all seriousness, I'd only been ice skating 2 times before in my entire life, but in the 2 weeks the French people were here, I went twice! Now I am counting down the days until Paris!!!
• Manu-His real name is Emmanuel, but I was informed by Armance that everyone calls him Manu, so that is how he will be referred to in my diary. Anyway, I knew I'd become obsessed a French guy, and I thought it would be Fran�ois (see below), but it turned out to be Manu. I think he's very cute and he's so funny and sweet and nice and yay :) He also doesn't smoke like many of the other French people. So yay for Manu! He's also a good friend of Armance's, so I hope to see lots of him in France :D Oh yes, and his American's name is Brian.
• Fran�ois-This is the guy whom I thought I would be obsessed with. Then I met Manu. Not that Fran�ois sucks, I just like Manu better. Fran�ois also doesn't smoke (yay) and Armance said he does well in school too. He is cute, but very shy. I don't know how often I'll be seeing Fran�ois in France (haha, that sounds funny), but hopefully I'll see him a few times.
• Jessica and Johanna-These are my friends Missy's and Lisa's French exchange students. I tried to be nice to them, but they weren't very nice to Armance and they smoked cigarettes a lot. They also hooked up with American guys. They were only here for 12 days! How could they do something like that!? So yes, I doubt I'll be associating with them in France, which kinda sucks, because Missy and Lisa are my best friends on this trip.
• Other French People-Here's a list of other French people I might mention at one time or another: Julie, Raphaelle, Valerie, Lucie, Mayore, and possibly a few others. So if you see any French-sounding names, and you don't know who the people are, they are probably a French person I forgot to mention.