Rules, rules, rules, rules, rules...

Today my bad mood started with the rain. It continued when I attempted to go to the gym, but left after trying every machine for 2 minutes trying to distract myself into working out, and failing. I came home to shower and planned to run out and get a salad on my way to the french coffee shop (finding a good salad in France is a blog for another day...). I wanted to bring some of my host mom's homemade bread with me to eat with my salad. French children come home every day for lunch as a family, but we Bucknell students are not welcome to this meal. I walk into the kitchen, and the wonderful smells, to cut myself some bread to pack up. Immediately, I was scolded for not taking out the cutting board. Sorry, didn't know I needed one. Half feeling embarrassed I didn't think of using a cutting board, and half annoyed that I was scolded like that at 20 years old, I walked to school in a weird mood.
I figured out what makes living with a host family such a hard transition. I am 20 years old, I live on my own at school. When I go home, my parents are aware that I'm a grown up and can cut bread on my own. They have lessened a lot of rules that I'm sure were in place as I grew up. However, here, I live with a family of younger children.
Yesterday I noticed the rules problem when I saw I was running out of clean clothes. I came home from school planning to do my laundry. When I carried my entire pile of clothes downstairs, because no they don't give me a laundry basket, I was stopped because the laundry machine was being temperamental and I needed to be taught how to deal with it. Alright, fine. I put my white clothes in, and separate my colors. I watched as my host mom set up the machine (the same way that I was previously taught... still not sure what this lesson was about) and then I half asked/half told her I needed to do another load after. She told me yes, unless she had to do some.... ok... I save my laundry to do all week... and you tell me the one day I have the free time to do it, you might have to do some? No. Not today woman.
This little episode and then the bread episode started me thinking, why do you ask to host students, and then set up stupid rules for them to follow? ( Again, I will reiterate I'm not allowed to flush the toilet between 11 p.m. and 730 a.m.) And don't get me wrong because I'm very thankful for all they do for me, but let's not fool ourselves, they are making bank by letting me live there. It costs Bucknell nothing to send us to the Fac (French universities are free). My tuition goes to either Bucknell or this family letting me live there. And trust me, there are not putting themselves out by supplying me with food  (Picture a dinner with two personal size pizzas, for 6 people).

Didn't know i signed up to be scolded like a naughty puppy...

And by the way, I've seen the dad not use a cutting board when getting bread. I'm so telling :P