One thing that has become a huge part of being in France right now is the vote for the European Constitution, and I've completely neglected to mention it. Really, its something that is very highly debated here. I started out thinking we needed a "non" vote, and now I'm for the "oui" side. I can probably talk about this subject for hours, I've listened to a billion people fight over it. I think its good that its controversial, and not a clear cut "oui", if you think about it, this is a CONSTITUTION. Not just a law. Its a very big deal, and its important that people know what they are doing when they are voting for it. Like I said, at first I believed that they should vote "non". I have many reasons for thinking this way, and the main one is that the constitution is 500 pages long, and extremely complex. Its virtually unreadable, and I've heard that one of the points of making this constitution was to bring the people more into the process of creating the union. If the people can't even understand the document, this clearly isn't working. Its important that it be simpler and less complicated, people need to know what they are saying oui to before they say oui.

In my class we had a little vote last week, the first run we had eight "oui" votes, eight "non" votes and one "ouon". Next try we had nine "oui" votes. I voted "non".

Now my mind has changed. I still think that the document is too complex, but I've realized how important it is that France accepts this constitution and doesn't close its self off to the rest of Europe. Saying no would be a major setback to the European Union and to France.

Today, after swimming, boating, and a barbecue with some of my friends, I went with my host parents to vote. We went into the place and there was a table with stacks of paper. One "oui" stack, one "non" stack and a bunch of brown envelopes. You take one of each and go into the little stalls and put the one you chose in the envelope. Then you go to the front, sign your name, and drop in in the box. Since my host sister is in Paris, my host dad had a paper that said he could vote for her. I probably broke a few laws, but I did Emilie's for her, I put the "oui" paper in the envelope. So, now I can say I "voted" for the European Constitution.