Sorry, it’s been a whole 6 days since you heard from me.
Everything is still going well here. I've been trying to write some songs but failing. I’ve got a few cool guitar riffs but the fact that I am somewhat limited in my guitar skills is getting on my nerves. And then there comes the problem of what to write about. I’m considering changing my style, but the sound I want I can’t just create in my bedroom. I want a band. I'm really tired too... I'm out if energy because I had a really late night last at a rotary dinner with Anne. The Dinner was at a beautiful venue called La Pigonnet, and it was super classy. There was a doorman and everything was old school and there were mirrors everywhere. Frustratingly I forgot to take my camera and we got there first so I would have had heaps of time to take some snaps of the setting - I’m silly like that.
Anne though it would be a good idea if I wore my rotary Jacket, and yes, it did impressed the Rotarians a lot! of course, the food was awesome... we had a starter of a roast vegetable and fromage (cheese) bake with some sort of cured ham called Daniel, and then for mains we had fish on a bed of risotto, white wine and almonds.
There were three speeches over the evening. The first was made before dinner by the chairman of the club, Madam Morel, and I understood only the part where she talked about me, where I lived in Australia, etc, etc. Then another speech in between courses was madeby a woman advertising a rotary supported screening of "La source de Femmes" at the local old cinema. This movie is to raise money for violence against woman. The final speech was after dinner and went for over an hour until almost 11 p.m. (at which point my beloved "rotary smile" was beginning to crack). I listened hard and began to get a little curious as to what he was talking about. This is what I heard throughout: bible, catholic, Muslim, Buddhist, Scientology, Tom Cruise, John Travolta, Cult (and I witnessed lots of head shaking, gasping laughing under ones breath and so on). I turned to the young lad sitting next to me and saw that he had an awkward look on his face. I asked” what is he talking about?” And with some hesitation he relied “he’s talking about... when you are... doing a poo...” At this point I laughed probably a little too loud and said “don’t worry”.

The man doing the speech also handed around 2 books. One was a Magazine with a serpent coiled around a cross and bearing its fangs in an aggressive manner, and the other one I can’t remember... I had/ still have no idea what was going on.

I made a new you tube too. Although it hasn’t got that many views, so please make my day and go watch it ... 10 times... and then share it. Thanks! It’s called Blood.

On Saturday Charles, Anne, Jean and I headed out to Hyeres on the coast of the Mediterranean to have lunch with the 4x4 enthusiasts that Charles is involved in (they’re heading to the north of Africa in April to do some off-road driving). It was a really nice restaurant on the marina looking out over all the grand yachts and boats. I ate too much J

Just then I skyped with a rotary girl (Sam) who I am meeting tomorrow, and she is so great. And she is 18 too! Well, im almost 18...

Lots of love!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Here are some photos from Saturday:

A mountain!

Another Mountain

the Mediterranean...

yeh it was a bit hazey and i forgot about zoom.

sorry.

who's that sexy Devil!?!

oh, it's just me.

the sunset on the drive home.

Guys!

My French is definitely getting better. I’m able to string sentences together and people can understand. Of course, I repeat the same collection of words a lot, but every day, I fill in gaps where I used to say English words, with new French words.  I am also pleased to tell you that my French-English dictionary is getting an indicative workout. The pages are getting grubbier and they don’t sit together perfectly like they did. I have been using it a lot this week during class to find verbs. Since Sally and Colleen told me about verbs and all the rules, I have kind of become a little obsessed about understanding how they work so I can use them in sentences. There are 4 types of regular verbs the ones that end in ER, IR, and RE and... I can’t remember the last one...

So these regular verbs e.g. “manger” (to eat) are altered in 6 different ways to suit 6 different contexts. I eat (je mange), you eat (tu manges), he/she eats (il/elle mange), we eat (nous mangeons), you (plural) eat (vous mongez), and they eat (mangent). We just stick ‘eat’ at the end of them all but they don’t... the complicate everything! So these endings apply to all the other regular ER verbs, but that is all I have focused on so far. I don’t know if the other regular IR an RE verbs are altered the same way... if not, then I have to learn 4 different sets of 6 different endings...

 And then there are the irregular verbs that.... don’t get me started.  But I feel like I am definitely progressing.

So last time I wrote to you I can’t remember if it was before or after dinner on Saturday night, but just to remind you I was at my host grandparents house and it was definitely before breakfast or lunch the next day. Their names are Maurice and jenee. So the English equivalents are Morris and Jenny. I think I ate more in that 2 days then I have all week! You already know about the 4 awesome flavoured gigantic pizzas and then the apple pie and ice cream, but because Julie and Jean and I were still awake at 12... We went back for more pizza. Breakfast was croissants and raisin de pains, and lunch was a huge selection of cured meats (salami prosciutto etc), 4 different varieties of olives, bread, salad and cheese. Yummy.  That was simply delicious and I was proud of myself because I didn’t gorge it all down... Oh wait, here comes Jenee with a large tray with roast meat (pork? I can’t remember), gravy, and some oven baked potatoes with cream. Ok, I guess I can squeeze it in... 20 minutes later, I am struggling to walk up the stairs. Not to mention that this house has 5 separate levels:

1.       There is downstairs on the ground floor with kitchen no. 1 and a dining room. I didn’t go through the whole house I don’t know what else is down there.

2.       Level 2 is the second kitchen, smaller dining room and main lounge room with the TV. The back was is completely glass so you can look out on the back garden. There is also a toilet, the main entry room, front door etc.

3.       Level 3 is their bedroom and im guessing other rooms too? Again, I didn’t explore!

4.        Then there in the 4^th floor which is where i slept. There was an on-suite off my room. And then a bathroom next to that too. Then the room at the end is this big open space with again, a glass wall to look at the garden... from above.

5.        Only the next day did i realise there is a nifty step-ladder leading to the loft which is another classy bedroom.

So yes, there you have it... the grandparents crib. However something had to connect all these floors up and that would be the nifty staircase..(see below)

Sorry I am not done talking about the food. By the time we had gotten back up to level two and settled into our electric devices in the lounge room (with marble floors) – Julie and i on our laptop and Jean on His play-station – Jenee arrives with a Pavlova with hardened toffee drizzled over the top, literally floating on a sea of vanilla syrup/custard/stuff (it’s name translated to floating... something)... how could I not squeeze this in also? It would have been rude right!? Yeh, that’s my excuse... and it, was delicious.

Schools had been good as always! yada yada. I’m going out for sushi with a girl is my class – Chloe. She’s so lovely.

I went shopping yesterday afternoon too... again. I kind of had an epiphany. In Australia, some of you know how I liked to dress – a little eccentric. Anyway, before I came to France I thought, “I will dress the way the French dress!” and abandoned my current fashion. Everything I decided to bring I’d either never wore before or it was so plain and boring that a pot-plant could wear it and no one would blink an eyelid. Not to mention I bought a pair of thermal tights for$160 which a literally as warm as a regular pair of tight.... actually, there are quite a few packing regrets that I have so I’ll make a list to put it into perspective for me and you.

Danikas packing regrets:

1.       Bought a pair of $160 tights before I left that are not worth $160 DOLLARS. WHAT WAS I THINKING (mum should definitely cop some blame though... love you mum xx).  

2.       Bought a pair of black Levi’s for $120 before I left... and now I don’t like them coz they’re to loose and don’t make me look very attractive (I HATE IMPULE PURCHASES)...

3.       Packed clothes I got as a hand-me-down a week before I left and had never worn them out.

4.       Didn’t pack my favourite clothes.

5.       Didn’t back a leather or denim jacket.

6.       I rock up to France and decide to go shopping before i observed the current fashion properly.

7.       Spent $300... And am stoked for a day! Until I regret it ( can i just say that i went mad and bought everything because I actually just wanted to get out of the shop. I was scared. People were talking to me and I didn’t understand. “You like?”... “Um, yes...” “You take?” (AHHHH) “Ok”... And now I have lots of clothes I’m not sure about.... for a woman, I can’t shop to well. Don’t get me wrong, some items are great and I love them. But yew, not my finest moment.

So anyway, all this tragedy had got me feeling pretty low, and then I realised (the epiphany I mentioned earlier) that I miss dressing the way I do in Australia, so I went out shopping yesterday determined to only buy cloths I loved, and that were super-cheap. And now I’m happy. I’d still love it if mum posted over my denim and leather jacket (mum? Wink, wink, nudge, nudge :P).  

There’s a carnival in town just down the road so Julie jean and I and julie’s friend went to it last night. Not sure why, but we went on the dodge ‘em cars 5 times and we got smashed... I got a cut in my shit where I hit the front if the frame of the car, and a bruise on my right knee (I honestly don’t bruise easily). And my thigh muscle is reacting so badly that my leg gave way twice today. T’was a little embarrassing.

I’m exhausted just writing this blog, so that is all. Love everyone lots! X

Now for the photos:

The glorious staircase in my host grandparents house.

just an indicater of how cold it really is. it has warmed up a bit now thank god!

the view from one of the theme-park rides.

 

IN THE TUNNEL OF DOOM! ok, i made that up..

whats up bro?!

what a diva.

i wanted to add more but my computer is having an argument with the internet.

WHY CANT THEY JUST BE FRIENDS

definitely over tired... night x

I’ve let 4 days slip by since my last blog – sorry! I’ve been a busy bee.

On Thursday after lunch, my class and I (there’s about 30 of us) went to the piscine (the pool) for our weekly sport. I was a bit apprehensive about waltzing around it my 1-piece, but of course the minute we were all standing there in our swimmers I no longer gave a crap. Then we had to swim laps for about 45 minutes. I was genuinely surprised when I didn’t get a stitch as I usually do. I was focusing on not holding my breath, because that’s usually what is responsible for me dying when I try and exercise for extended periods. Anyway, they all though I was “très vite” (very fast) and even though i was not tanned like an Australian; I was definitely a sporty like an Australian. So there we are, I’m keeping up the reputation of Australia. Oi oi oi. I asked my friend Jacques why he did not swim and he said because it is boring and that he has nothing to think about. I wondered what I had been thinking for those 45 minutes and realised that i go through song lyrics in my head! So I sing while I swim.

I’m a bit annoyed at myself because even though i haven’t written a blog for a few days, I could at least have written key things that have happened so i wouldn’t forget when i eventually did get around to writing it... but I didn’t, so I have a suspicion I am forgetting to tell you a few things that have happened. Sorry about that too. Last night after school Anne and Charles told me that they were taking us to see a movie which was in English – a reward for me! It had French subtitles and was called the mole. It’s based on some old book about agents in England at war against Russia etc. I struggled to follow what was happening unfortunately. I think it is one of those movies you have to watch at least 20 times to pick up on all the minute details which complete the story. I ate a bucket of pop-corn... again :D

After the movie we went to a little Vietnamese restaurant along one of the narrow cobbled streets in Aix. It was pretty empty which for me is always a sight that is a little depressing. the food was great anyway but I ate soup with chop-sticks which was a bit of a fail. When we left Charles pointed out the pub next door and said it would be a really great place for me to go. He said it has a bit of a reputation for young people and people who speak English, so when I get a change I’ll go check it out. When we got home i had a late night Skype with Mum and Jeffy.

 It was on Thursday that Colleen told me that she and a friend were going to catch a bus to Aix to visit me on Saturday at 10. I don’t know if I told you about Colleen, but I sent out a group email to all the exchange students in my district and she was one of the girls who replied. There are only about 10 exchangers in district 1760, which is not that many unfortunately. I travelled a 15 minute walk to Aix bus stop to meet them, but because I didn’t have a phone or a watch I had no idea what time it was when I got there. I tried to ask a guy by saying “excuse me, what is the time please” (in French though, I just have no idea how to spell it), and he had already started saying ‘no’ before I’d finished my sentence. So then in English I said “you don’t have the time?” even though he had his phone in his hand -“no, No”,(God, what an idiot), “umm ok, Thank you anyway...”.

There were about 8 buses coming/parked/leaving, and I barely knew what these girls looked like so I got a little nervous until a bus pulled in and there they were staring at me through the window. Colleen and Sally from America. They’re both 16 and have been in France since august so they are pretty advanced with their French which is kind of inspirational for me. We were planning to buy lunch, but my awesome and wonderful family decided to cook for us. We went for a stroll anyway before lunch (which turned into a pumping power-walk in order to keep our body temperatures above freezing) an a bit of window shop (that’s all exchange students can afford – they both came with like 10 euro each or something ludicrous) and then we found a cafe for a coffee. It was actually an ice-cream shop which I though was a bit ridiculous in the middle of winter, but i got an espresso and possibly the best  (and only) nutella cookie i have ever experienced in my life.  Sally got a crepe with nutella and banana and colleen got double-choc ice cream. We all shared coz we’re heaps close now after a whole hour of friendship! It’s pretty amazing that if you’re in the same boat e.g. being an exchange student, you seem to bond no matter what.

We came home and i played them a couple of songs on my guitar. It feels like i haven’t played in front of anyone for ages and you know what? I’ve missed it. Then we had the most awesome lunch ever.... it was veal in a creamy sauce that had been slow cooked so it was really soft and it had white wine in it and we had it with rice and a baguette. I love my family. Then the girls tried to teach me as much French as they could before being dropped at the bus stop at three.

I spent the afternoon mucking around of my guitar, and i uploaded a song onto YouTube (Finally) of me doing a cover of Video games by Lana del ray. Hopefully it’s get a few hits: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IByYsrMD3TU

Anne and Charles went to the other house in the country - I’m not even going to attempt to spell the name of the town – so Jean and Julie and I Packed up our bag for overnight and walked down to their grandparents house – which is where I am now. It’s probably the most amazing house I have been in since I got to France. I’ll have to get some photos soon for you. These guys are the people who are going to be my third family which means i get to live in this fantastic house whish is a five minute walk from my house now... I’m sitting in their lounge room at the moment watching the rugby between France and Ireland (they’re all rugby people here) and have just eaten a dinner of pizza and a desert of apple pie and ice-cream. There were 4 flavours of pizza but my favourite was cheese and honey... omg it was absolutely amazing.

Just a little ‘anger venting’ here: I had a man tag my name (in a picture on facebook) on the ass of a naked woman clearing snow. So if he happens to read this, he should know that that is pretty bloody messed up for an old man to do that to a 17 year old girl – hence we’re no longer friends on facebook and stay away from me. It was really creepy.

Asides from that, everything is still great here in France and I’ll keep you all up to date!

Lots of love,

Danika x

Hey there family and friends,

I think I should start an online gallery of all the doodles and anstract designs I have drawn during class at school - I really do like some of them. However, drawing in class is probably not the most efficient way to learn French... I initially start the lesson paying full attention, and listening to see if I can piece together the words I recognise and thus, understand what the teacher is saying.  Unfortunately, I have discovered that staring at the teacher and watching their mouth move to shape the word is a little bit creepy for them, and it provokes them to ask me something because I’m paying such c.l.o.s.e...a.t.t.e.n.t.i.o.n...t.o...t.h.e.m... a.l.l...t.h.e...t.i.m.e.

 Another reason why it is difficult to listen and watch intently is that it is incredibly tiring... it’s really hard, (especially, when you still don’t know what is going on) and I think it is one of the reasons I am so tired all the time at the moment. So I have found a way of coping – I listen with my ears, but I occupy my hands and eyes with drawing. It probably looks like I’ve zoned out, and often I close my eyes and focus on the word, and how it could possibly be spelt to give myself a better idea. Actually during French, my teacher must have observed me doing one of my ‘coping methods’ (this teacher is really nice – thank god) and she said “Danika, is this boring you?” It wasn’t a sarcastic statement and I said “oh no, of course not!” (Again, not sarcastic) – It’s just really hard when you don’t know what she’s saying.. but as my aunty Danielle says “you'll be amazed at what you're absorbing even if you can't quite yet verbally reflect it” – wise words from a wise and beautiful woman.

Yesterday morning, I had one of those moments in the cafeteria when I was standing alone and everyone had their back to me, deep in their own conversations. I realised that I am waiting for people to come to me to talk instead of the other way around.  At lunch jean went to eat with a friend and I came home. But before I left him, he said “you should ask some people from class to come over for lunch sometime”... he’s perfectly right. So when I get a chance, I am going to ask some girls over this week, or even next week – there is no rush. J

Anyway, I found myself sitting at home reading my book like a little antisocial owl, and though, I could be reading my book over an espresso in town! So I snuggled up in some warm clothes and heading down to a cafe. The first cafe I half walked into... then for some reason I chickened out!  I kept walking until the next cafe, where I found a seat under a heat lamp in the corner and opened my book. I asked for my order in French “un espresso, s’il vous plait”, and it was all going smoothly until I needed to pay the bill of 2 euro and head back to school! I only had a 10 note, and I didn’t want the waiter to assume I was giving him an 8 euro tip, so I waited for him to collect the dish with the money and give me my change.... waiting... waiting.... (i had to be back at school on 10 minutes!), So finally i got up and went and confronted him inside.  I know it’s not how French protocol goes when it comes to paying the bill but it had to be done! Come to think of it, I don’t know at all how to pay a bill. I personally have never payed a bill from a table... not that I can remember and I still don’t.  Do I have to signal the waiter? Anyway, that’s another thing i intend to learn ASAP!

Walking back to school I ran into Jean, who told me we actually had 20 minutes till school started, and they were heading back into town -‘They’ being him and his friends Arthur and Theo. Jean asked me what I got up to over lunch and I said I read my book in a cafe. “With who?”... “myself haha”. Then jean surprised me. I had been feeling like I was relying on him a little too heavily to be my companion at school. So as much as I could, I wanted to give him space with his friends. But he said “oh no! When you get your phone working, just give me a call and we’ll meet up”.  So that was pretty lovely and comforting.

-          Jean is such a good brother. He is reminding me of my own brother Spencer a lot lately, too. Boys are boys, no matter where in the world they come from!

back to the topic - From then on I have stopped being so worried. It also helps if I think back to exchange students who have come to our school (Andre Tocci – love that kid). They’re always well liked but at first, they’re probably not aware of it. They must have felt the same as the way if feel, because we can’t understand anything! But we were never talking bad of exchangers; we were just looking at them because they were a fresh, new, unknown face...

.... i am rambling, sorry. But this is a helpful reflection. I guess in a way this is my diary.  I have a separate 3D diary that my awesome grand-parents gave me, but i have filled up the pages until February the 13^th with French practice etc.. so i am waiting until i reach that day where there are blank pages to begin my official personal diary. as always, I’ll continue blogging until i finish my exchange anyway, because i really enjoy it. It’s a good way for me to remember things I’ve done a day ago, a week ago or a month ago. Lovin’ it.

The rest of yesterday was great. I was laughing with the other kids as we tried to talk, and translate stupid things – it was really fun. I have to remind myself that I am on a ride of a life time which needs low moments to make the high moments even higher!

 Ahh, as for my exercise regime that i embarked on, I am actually doing ok ! Except I found a packet of chocolate special K this afternoon - oh my god, so tasty.

Bye and lots of love,

Dan xx

Hey there!

It’s been a pleasant and sunny day in the city of Aix en Provence. There temperature is still somewhere below Zero, but when the sun it out, it’s not too bad. After a rather unfulfilling night’s sleep, i had another day of fatigue at school, but I had a really good day any way. I met another girl in year eleven called ‘Emma’ during a break. We were in the cafeteria and i went to stand next to jean as all the seats were taken, and Emma turned and looked up at me with quite a scary look that read: “who are you and what do you think you’re doing”? She looked around the table for answers and Jean explained the reason behind my existence and after that, she was really enthusiastic and friendly! Ahh its true, being an exchange student gives you brownie points and a certain unknown respect.

 Speaking of exchange students, my host mother Anne is a member of a rotary club in Aix and she kindly provided me with a list of all my fellow exchange students based in rotary district 1760. There were 8 on the list, all of which came from America, except for a girl from Canada and a girl from Japan. So last night I sent out a group email introducing myself and my location etc, hoping that someone would like to catch up! 2 emails unfortunately bounced back, but i got a reply from an American girl by the name of Samantha (Sam) who lives about 30 mins drive from Aix, and she is also keen for a catch-up. She has been in France since august, so I am looking forward to talking to someone who has been through what i am going through.

I have altered my school time table to replace English with a second French class, which means today i had 2 French classes. Oh, and a couple of girls have been helping me with my French :) I think even though it’s a bit hard at the moment, everything is going to be ok, and the language will get easier!

See you next time xx

Danika

Good afternoon guys. How are you all? It’s been about -4 degrees here for the last couple of days, and ironically it is too cold for snow. The water fountain in the middle of the roundabout near my house has grown some glorious hanging ice chandeliers from underneath. I’ll have to get a photo of it and post it on facebook.

Thursday was a special day in France for the catholic religion. It celebrates Jesus getting taken to the temple... i can’t remember for what though. So ANYWAY, to celebrate this event in history, we got to eat crepes as part of the annual tradition. My first crepe was full of sugar and lemon, and my second was full of nutella. All i can say is, thankyou Jesus for going to that temple all those years ago, because crepes are amazingggg......... xx

On Friday, I went to school, and it was freezing. Inside during class is warm and snugly but during the breaks, all I can think of it how much I want to go back to class. At Lunch time, jean made a spontaneous decision to go to the “burger bar” and have lunch with me and his friends Sara and Jamie. By the time we had walked there (i am not exaggerating) i could not feel my face and it tingled strangely if i pushed hard enough. I think it is the first time my face has ever had pins and needles.  But once inside and defrosted, the burger i got was... awesome. I didn’t want to scare anyone and come across as a raging tourist if i took a photo if it, but i so wanted to. It was an egg, beef, aioli, burger, with literally a ‘bucket’ of fries, and some salad on the side which cost 12 euro. That was nice that i was invited J

Friday evening, Charles and Anne invited me out to a dinner party of sorts with an “American girl and her French husband”. We drove up a beautiful road with rock walls covered with vines and powder with snow. It was quite an ascending drive, and the higher we went the thicker the snow! When we got to their house, there was a substantial layer of snow over their yard, so i got some photos! The couple’s names were Kim and Terry. Kim is from Atlanta and has an awesome American accent and she is really beautiful, and terry speaks really good English because he has lived in the states for 20 years with Kim. And they have now lived back in France for 6 years. There were two other couples there, and thank god they all spoke English. guess what was for dinner.... crepes! Savoury and sweet! After the pre-dinner nibbles, an excess of crepes, and finally coffee, I was ridiculously full and really sleepy!! So at 12:30 we headed home.

Yesterday (Saturday 5^th), Anne took me to a gigantic sports store, because after all this eating I have been doing, I feel pretty terrible about my physical condition. I know rotary has said “don’t worry about your weight, you’re going to get fat... but you can work it off when you get home to Australia”. So I’ve figured, I’m never going to learn to eat less – especially when the food is so amazingly great and wonderful in France, so I’ll do exercise (let’s see how long this lasts). Where was I... oh yeah, at the gigantic fitness and outdoor sports superstore i got some joggers, tights, and a tracksuit! And then because my family is going skiing in Italy in a couple of weeks (not sure if i mentioned that before... I’M GOING SKIING IN ITALY – well, actually I’m going to attempt snowboarding), i have bought some skins/thermals too.

Then last night Anne and Charles went to a comedy evening with Kim and Terry and at about 10:30, they all came back to the flat and we had dinner. After talking to Kim, we are going to go to Marseille some time to a cafe called “book and bar”, that she, along with a lot of other English people in France, go to read English book and drink coffee. We’re going to go to star bucks and shopping.... ahh shopping. It was another late night last night so i slept in until 11:15 this morning. My host dad Charles is probably going to read this – hi Charles – but I’m going to tell you something i think is funny! The pillows on my bed are square, which is alright by me, except that my feet now poke out the end of the bed because I’m too tall!! So I borrowed a rectangle pillow from the couch and put my own pillow slip on it that mum gave me as a goodbye gift, and now I sleep with that :D

Guess what Anne and i did today? We went for a run - a big, hearty run. I have discovered that even though the temperature is below zero, it is so much easier to run in France, because you don’t get hot, and ... i don’t know. It’s like running in air-conditioning. The run was very necessary because i woke up to find that jean had gone to the bakery and bought croissants and pain de chocolates for breakfast... and yes, they were simply delicious.

p.s. i finally figured out how to put photos on my blog. i was so not meant to be in gen Y when it comes to technology.

Until next time! Love you all xxx

Danika

i am so excited..

so excited that i didnt realise my feel were numb.

breakfast..............

wait what? BREAKFAST!

Hey guys. Just updating you all to tell you that it’s still great here – honestly, how could it not be.

Yesterday, we had no school (even though it was blue skies and not snowing - I still don’t understand), so after lunch Charles and I decided to leave the house to get some fresh air. We were going to look at phone deals so I could set up my mobile here, and on the way to the shops we ran into Jean who had just got a hair cut! We got a coffee (a cappuccino over here is a coffee that has a gigantic mound of cream on top – Australia, we have so much to learn from these guys!) and then our hunt for a good phone deal began! Well, I kind of just followed them like a mute/deaf sheep while they talked to the phone people.

When we got home, we discovered that my phone is locked with Optus and I’d have to call optus from France to unlock it which is expensive yada yada yada... so I think I’m just going to get a super cheap, crap phone. gahh.

Then last night Julie - my sister - invited me to go to the cinema to see "shilokom" with her and her teacher. I accepted! But what the hell was "shilokom"? Sounds like a kids movie.... i sat there pondering for a bit...... and then it hit me! Sherlock Holmes! Sweet.
 The cinema was old and beautiful, and the guy who I bought my ticket off was young and beautiful... - but the movie was in French... oh well, I had a huge bucket of both sweet AND salty pop-corn so I was set for the 2 hours of mostly unknown dialogue.

The only negative i have had in the last 2 days was a bit of a security issue with my hotmail account last night. My account has been blocked because apparently someone had hacked it and is sending spam mail?!  So that is annoying. My step-dad Jeff has hopefully sorted it all out.

Yesterday, I was told there was no school today because of the weather, so I stayed up really late working on fixing the problem with Jeff over Skype. Unfortunately, at 7:00 this morning (it’s still dark until about 8) I got a knock on my door saying "school's on"... so I’ve been semi-unconscious all day due to lack of sleep.

I like school though because I get to attempt to speak French. I had my first lesson of physics today... HA! What a joke... so to fill in time, I set myself a task of translating the work-sheet I was given from French to English. I learnt a few new words, so I guess the class wasn’t a total waste of time. And! We shared the class with an older year, so I got to be within touching distance of people my own age - it was actually really exciting..

So this has been the adventures of Danika over the last couple of days.

Until next time! xx