Another week has been and gone since you last heard from me, and I must say that it was glorious.

After a successful introduction with my 2^nd family on the Friday night previous (16th march), my host-sister  (Clementine) had not only invited me out to a party on the following weekend (25th march), but also to lunch on Monday (19th march) with her bro, Malo, and her best friends Antoine and Arthur, who are twins that look nothing alike.  One really tall with blonde hair and blue eyes, and the other is not as tall (but still tall) with brown hair and brown eyes. They go to a school near ours in Aix and also live in the same village that my second family live in, called ‘Rognes’. This means that we will catch the same bus in the afternoon, and Clementine has informed me I will be seeing a lot of them!  in the mornings  however, Clem, Malo and I will go to Aix in the car with Thibault (pronounces Ti-Bo) who is “le papa de Clementine et Malo” as he once described himself in a SMS to me.

Malo, Marie and Clementine! they're so lovely.

  Another of their friends also came to lunch (but I forgot his name...). we went to a really great cafe right on the Cours Mirabeau (that big ,lovely, central street with the trees in rows on either side) and I always had wondered why every time I passed this cafe, no matter what hour of the day, it would  be so full of people. Upon going there, I realised that in comparison to the cafes of equal beauty on either side, the prices of this cafe were not as daunting on one’s wallet. Par exemple, when venturing alone to a cafe on the Cours Mirabeau (La Garcons cafe) a few weeks ago, I purchased a rather scrumptious Crock Madame for 7 Euros. At this cafe (le Grillson) I got the same but meal but even bigger for 4,50 Euro! It’s crazy! It was such a nice lunch and Clementine is rather gifted at making me feel in the conversation even though I was not sure of what was happening. Every now and then she’s quickly fill me in on what the topic of discussion  was before carrying on launching French sentences across the table with all the others and then bursting out laughing. I also love this cafe because on the toilet. For starters, there is toilet paper and a toilet seat, but then it goes the extra mile by flushing the toilet for you when you are finish and seat does a 360 and gets blasted with water to clean it... I was in sanitation heaven. I usually wouldn’t blink an eyelid at this sort of detail if I were in Australia, but the public toilets here are so ridiculously bad, that I think it’s worth a mention. I might have told you this already but at school, the toilets have no seats and you must provide your own toilet paper – thus, I don’t use the toilets at school.  Back to speaking of the lunch! so yes, I ordered a Crock Madame again because they’re just so good (and also because they were one of the only things I recognised on the menu. For those who don’t know, it’s basically a ham and cheese toastie that has been severely ‘french-ified’ to become incredibly more delicious. The difference between a Crock Madame and a Crock Monsieur is that the Crock Madame has a sunny-side-up egg on top with a gooey yolk to compliment the salty cheese and ham.

Monday evening I headed off to another rotary evening with Anne, and I always look forward to these nights because I get to have a good feed with good people at a stunning venue (again I forgot my camera – but a Rotarian was there taking happy-snaps which I will track down sooner or later). It was a good night that was made even better because I FINALLY met my councillor (someone who I am meant to meet up with twice a month to talk about how I am going etc). Emmanuel Gili is his name and he’s a 30-ish year old lawyer based in Marseille) with his girlfriend who is also a Rotarian at our club and who is also studying to become a lawyer (he told me he lives 5 minutes walk from the beach!). Emmanuel has promised to take me out in Marseille soon to try some REAL pizza which can’t be found in Aix – and he would know because he’s Italian and he lived in Aix for 10 years or so. At our table during dinner we also had two older Rotarians who kept tapping their cutlery against each other or the base of their wine classes. I thought this was their way of applauding the speeches that were happening at the time until the ‘tink, tink, tink... tink, tink, tink” was competing with the poor presenter and distracting the other-wise silent crowd. Dinner wasn’t as fascinating as advanced as others they’d had according to Anne – however, it was still delicious. If I can bring myself to eat week-old rice with a can of salmon on top and some soy sauce (it was so bad...I made it for lunch sometime last week and I can’t believe ate it), then I can definitely eat the meal they brought out on Monday evening. The entree was 2 discs of goats cheese slightly warmed and sprinkles with some herbs and oil sitting on-top of two petit toasts, a role of cured ham in the centre and a small salade verte (green salad) on the side. Delicious. Then the main meal was black olive infused polenta with a grilled skewer of salmon and some sort of white fleshed fish. Then finally a coffee, a speech and off to home by 11:30. Although I was almost falling asleep at the dinner table, when we got some I stayed up on the computer until 2 in the morning which was rather idiotic of me. This led to a very sleepy Tuesday...

the theatre!

In fact I was so tired that Tuesday hasn’t really registered in my brain. I think I just went through the day with my nose in a book in a semi-conscious state... (Some time later)... so after removing all the photos from my camera, I saw that yes, I went to the theatre in Salon on Tuesday night to see a French production of "of mice and men". We were right at the top of the theatre and it was kind of ridiculously uncomfortable trying to view the stage. Not the best design!

As I mentioned previously, Wednesday has become a bit of a tradition in that Sam would come on the school bus to Aix where I would meet her at 1, and we’d go get lunch and chill out. This we did, and Sam also brought a friend too whose name was Marie. She sent me a text saying “what are you in the mood to eat? MEXICAN? Burger? Pizza? Kebab?” we’re a healthy bunch right? Without hesitating I answered “mmm Mexican”, and so we did. We came back to the flat and chilled in my bedroom with the French doors wide open onto the balcony and a cool breeze blowing through before I walked them back to the bus stop.  

Thursday, I finally made it out to lunch with Chloe who is a girl in my class. We only had an hour for lunch as we do every Thursday, and I find this a slight shame because this is the day that there is a great produce market held just down the road from the school in the city centre. I’m sure an hour would probably be long enough for me to get my ‘Julia child’ persona on and buy some French produce to make a boeuf bourguignon or whatever, so next Thursday I might go explore and see what I can find.  But on this particular lunch time break I went to a little sandwich bistro called ‘Jacobs’ and got some sort of toasted cheese baguette with Chloe and her firend. I hope that whenever I mention cheese you’re not picturing the kind that comes in the form of a large processed yellow rectangle like in Australia... gahh, those wretched days are behind me.  So, on my toasted baguette I had yummy melted French cheese. Chloe also invited me to go for a coffee after school, and although I wanted to, I was really tired from all the late nights I had been having. Our plan wasn’t set in stone, so after school I started walking the ridiculously short way home where I ran into Chloe sitting on the steps of a building waiting for her friend anyway. Fate decided I would go to the cafe after all. About 2 hours later as the sun was finally setting, we had managed to stand around in the cold without ever touching our lips to a hot espresso or sitting under a heat lamp in any cafe. I am not sure what was happing as people I had never met were coming and going from our huddle on the street, but finally I said Au revoir and headed to the warmth of the apartment. I was exhausted, so I crawled into bed and watched Sherlock Holmes 1 (a movie I had never seen) and it was bliss.

Friday and fatigued as all hell..... The weather was overcast in the morning, but by lunch blue was appearing and the sun was making me happy. Sally Bruner, an American exchanger living about 2 hours drive away, was in Aix on Friday with her previous host sister and the sister’s friend, and we decided to hang out after school. When school finished I called sally’s sisters phone because sally doesn’t have phone at the moment. I introduced myself and asked could I speak to sally, but I could not understand what she was saying. After we hung up I sent a message apologising and asking where we should meet up and I started heading into Aix. After twenty minutes of walking aimlessly, I gave up and went home. Low-and-behold (I have no idea how to spell that phrase, or even how it came to be a phrase. Low and behold... weird), just as I got home a message came through saying they were at H&M, a popular clothing store, about 1 km walk away and basically where I had just walked from. I was a little fed up so I told them to meet me at a particular fountain which was conveniently only 100m from my house! The last time sally had visited she had left her house keys on my bed, so this was a good opportunity to return them. When we finally met up, the host-sister and her friend were pretty unfriendly, and sally was keen to split up for a few hours. Sally and I went to a cafe and had a huge D ‘n’ M about everything in her world and mine which is always soothing for an exchangers soul, bought a coffee, an ice-cream (I had a scoop of rum and raisin) and then she taught me how to ask for something if I were in a restaurant because she could see that I was struggling a bit when ordering my ice-cream. I learnt (for example):

Can I have a nutella crepe?

Est-ce que puis-je avoir une crêpe au nutella ?

It’s pretty obvious how confusing it must be when 6 English words turn into 10 French words! But hey, its progress and I understand so I am happy. After a spot of shopping, I walked Sally back to meet up with her friends and with a huge American/Australian hug, I trotted off homeward.

Saturday morning I had my usual glorious sleep in, but only until 10 because I had something on today – something very fun indeed.   As I mentioned earlier, Clementine my second host sister had invited me to a party on Saturday night, and it was a fancy dress masquerade. Heels and dresses were to be worn, and definitely no jeans. I threw together a bag for over-night and took my rather ridiculous dress off its hanger from the first time. It’s a short, black dress with chiffon sleeves and a little row if diamonds down the front. I bought it in a vintage store in Alstonville called ‘Ginger lily’ because I thought it looked French! I would also wear black stockings and my red heels, which were also getting their first use since being in France. However, I was dressed in my beloved jeans and  a t-shirt for before the party. Thibault came and picked me up at 12 p.m. with the youngest of my second family, Louise, who is 9 years old and very cute. We also picked up Antoine and Arthur who had a morning class at school and set off on a really beautiful drive through the country side to their village about 15-20 minutes away. The scenery is truly exquisite on this drive, so one day soon I will make sure to photograph it for you. It turns out that I was going while the whole of my second family (Thibault, Marie, Clementine, Malo and Louise) to their friend’s house for lunch along with 21 other people. The lunch was so amazing! I think I ate for about 5 hours solid. When were first got to Katie and .... (I forgot the husbands’ name), there was beautiful rosé and vin rouge flowing from every direction along with a selection delicious spreads on petit pieces of bread. Such as, roast red capsicum and soft white cheese sprinkles with chives, a creamy parsley and tuna spread with slices of radish, and some others that I don’t know what was in them. Then when we all sat down to eat, a huge platter of smokes salmon covered in dill was passed around the table which we ate on pieces of buttered baguette and drizzled with lime juice. After that came the main meal which was bbq’d pieced of duck back (huge pieces with a layer of fat over one side that had turned golden). The outside was nice and brown while the inside was red and juicy! OH MY! We ate this with some grilled vegetables (red and green capsicum, onion etc.) and some potato bake. And when I though I withstand no more, out came the darn cheese platter with more varieties then I could count on my fingers. We ate this with bread and butter also. Ok, I was about to burst... I was genuinely frightened that my dress wouldn’t do up that evening (and trust me, it almost didn’t) but then out came and FREAKING BAKED CHEESE CAKE (made my Marie with a chocolate crust) and home-made raspberry and lemon sorbet made by a guy called Terri. How could I not.....

After we were all uncomfortably full, the dancing began. All the men (who had been childhood friends) jumped up, merry on wine, and started dancing to “it’s raining men” aided by the kitchen mop which served as a dancing partner and an electric guitar. This fiesta carried on long after Clem, Malo and I had to go and get ready for the part at 7p.m. at 8, Marie chauffeured us down to pick up Antoine and his little sister, Anouk 15, who looked very dashing in their suit and dress.

When we arrived at the prestige golf and tennis club, tea-light candles guided the footpath to the main entrance where were greeted and had our names marked off the list. Before we got to the entrance however, we put on our masks (I had a fox... because I’m a foxy woman) as that was the theme for the night. We got a group photo with our masks and then headed into the function room which was really nicely decorated!  it was modern and not trashy and had mirrors and a bar and cushioned places to sit. We went to the coat (which was another room with a bar that wasn’t being used that night) room to take off our jackets and masks which we had on for a total of 30 seconds and went to join the party! The fete is put together by a group of doubtlessly wealthy group of older individuals once a month to allow us youngin’s from 14-18 to come along, have fun, eat, drink and DANCE. Not dirty dancing like you find in nightclubs, but the old-school partnered dancing where you swish each other around the room a-twistin’ and a-turnin’ to modern music that you probably would find in a night club. Of course not everyone was dancing with a partner thank god, so we all got up and were dancing in big groups and it was just heaps of fun. There were trays off food everywhere with all kids of stuff, but I was so full after lunch that I didn’t pay much attention. There was punch and coke and water and other stuff to drink, and the atmosphere was really great! Everyone was done up, and I was happy to see that there was as many guys as girls up there on the dance floor. There were about 80 of us all together from all different schools around Aix.  Both Chloe and another girl, Solene, who is also in my class, were also there so that was really nice to see familiar faced amongst the crowd. I talked to Solene here heaps over the night (or should I say yelled! Not only was it difficult to understand each other because of the language, but we were SCREAMING OVER THE DJ) and met her two older sisters who were 17 and 18. They said I was welcome at their house anytime for dinner. Ain’t that lovely. I also met a girl who is going to be in the class I am moving to this week (premiere L) and she has been to Australia and said I can sit next to her! She speaks really good English so that’s going to be good and bad. Ahh well. It finished at 1 And I fell asleep the instant we got home, with a good couple of millimetres taken off my pinkie-toes thanks to my shoes.

Sunday morning I woke up from my dream about the rainforest  to the booming sound of birds tweeting, wind blowing and leaves rustling it was to loud and close to be real, and I realised that it was some sort of alarm booming out of malo’s speakers on the bed side table (Malo had lent me his room as was in with Clem). In fact it was so loud that I had no doubts it would wake them up to, and it a matter of seconds Malo came stumbling it, turned it off and slunk back to bed, looking the same way I felt.  I was woken up at 12 by Marie (who was not feeling to sharp herself after yesterdays fiesta... hehehe) and Malo was woken up too so I wasn’t the only one to sleep in!

le pâté

it might not look at that appealing...
BUT IT TASTES SO GOOD.

hahaha. it looks live someone has aready eaten it... <3

the trusty baguette. and in the back ground is a bpttle of badoit (sparkling water)

i think this was an accidental photo,
but you can see Malo, louise and Thibault!

I watched as lunch was prepared and I helped set the table outside in the delicious sun. It was a beautiful day.... and another feast was on its way... oh lordy. Phase one of the meal to come was an appetiser: spicy and really moist red sausage, some green olives and a glass of rosé. Then we had 2 types of pâté. On was made from the liver of a goose, and the other was made from pig liver and figorella (I think that’s how you spell it) which is a type of pork sausage made on the French island in the Mediterranean. They were so great, and you eat them with buttered bread. After that came two whole roast chickens, with basmati rice and a stir-fried zucchini and onion dish which was really delish. After that... more cheese. I declined desert without asking what it was because I knew that would be a dangerous and fatal move. I literally finished lunch, helped clean up, and crawled back up the stairs to the nice warm DOUBLE bed, with the shutters and door closed - my little nocturnal cave – where I slept until 5 in the afternoon. What a great day. After checking for eggs in the chicken pen with Louise, and eating a slice of nutella toast with Malo, it was time to go home to jean and Julie. Anne and Charles were at Pourcieux, so it would just be us three tonight.

how cute are they

In fact here I am, sitting in my bed at 1:25 am writing this dedicated blog for you all. I love to blog. I just relived those meals and that party, and I thank you for reading it, because to see that 100 people are interested enough in what I have to say, to read my blog, makes me really happy. Thank you and good night, or as Julia child would say, “Bon appétit!”. 

I would have posted last night, but I didn’t get to add all the photos! So I have dragged this blog on one more night to make it just right xx

Lots of love xxx

dont forget the cheese x

This blog is not really in time. I started it about a week ago but never posted it because it wasn’t finished. Now all the dates I am talking about are a bit wrong, but you’ll hopefully understand.

what did the chicken say to the librarian?
"book, book, book".

I’ve been back at school a week and a day, and it’s fallen into a slightly different pattern then what it was before the holidays. This is because I now read during class which is a good thing short term as it passes the day quickly, but a bad thing long term because I am probably not going to develop my French as quickly. This all started while shopping solo the other day. I ventured into a book store looking for something that would help me progress with my language and also an English version on the text “Candide” that we are studying in French (this is because my French teacher is the only one who cares that I sit there and learn nothing). So, in this bookshop works a really handsome guy and I asked for his help (and when I say really handsome, he actually wasn’t REALLY handsome, but he was my cup of tea you know?)! I walked up to him and in my slight hesitation to start trying to speak French, I drew in a quick breath through closed teeth making an interesting slurp noise. This he also did in a mocking gesture – oh those Frenchmen, so romantic. I started by asking “parlez-vous Anglais? (Do you speak English)”, and his reply was “a petit peu (a little bit) ”. He sounded slightly disappointed that I was going to speak English so in an awkward and drawn out manner I tried to ask for what I was looking for in French! “avez-vous (have you )... une livre (a book)... pour moi (for me) ... a parle francais (to speak french)”. Re-cap: “ have you a book for me to speak French”. It wasn’t the greatest sentence of all time but with a laugh he looked up and said “what?”  I then explained my need in English and he assisted me to the language section where a new woman took over and attended to my needs. With a look over my shoulder I gave him a broad smile and a double thumbs up. Again he mocked me and did it back again. The ‘English’ section consisted of only 2 book cases within the whole book shop (I was a little disappointed with this limited selection). One had learning books which were all jumbled in with French ones too, and another book case with popular English books.  They had series such as twilight (Danika pulls a repulsive face), the millennium trilogy (i.e. the girl with the dragon tattoo) but I have already read these, and they had Harry Potter! In Australia I only ever got to number 3 (the prisoner of Azkaban), but I lost is somewhere halfway through. Unfortunately it was an Alstonville high school book and to this day and I am still not officially signed out of school because I never replaced it.  Mum, you might have to chase that up... love you.

So here in Aix, on a warm Sunday afternoon, I purchased number 3 and 4 or the potter collection so I could once again continue on the magic and dangerous journey of Harry Potter and his friends. Actually let me get the sequence of events in their proper order. The first time I went into the book shop and got helped by the babe, he showed me to the English section specialising in learning French. And in the presence of him I completely forgot to look for a book to read just for pleasure. I ended up not getting any learning book because they were expensive and I couldn’t make up my mind, and five steps outside the shop it hit me that I needed to go back in. Hmmm. Danika always cripples at the knees (metaphorically) in these slightly challenging situations her brain over-thinks tiny things, thus ridiculous decisions are reached.. That is her weakness and other then that Danika is perfect, obviously. So I went and got lunch at my new favourite shop called ‘simply food’ which sells wonderfully weird salads, pastas, curries, wraps, toasties, yoghurt and muesli and just lots healthy stuff. The girls at the counter are starting to treat me like a regular, too. After that I braved it and returned to the bookshop, but without being seen by him which was both a good thing and a bad. I got the harry potter books and left; again without being seen (I decided it was now a bad thing now).

Can I just say, I have become a really fast reader ... or just sadly have too much time on my hands... because I have finished both the HP books! It makes lessons at school actually fly by – pretty amazing. Maybe Harry’s working some of his magic for me. My French teacher has been the only one to comment on it out of all the teachers by saying “ahh Danika, what is it you read? Harry Potter? That’s for little kids isn’t it?” ouch Madame! But yes, yes it is.

I bravely returned to the book shop yesterday YET AGAIN when I was shopping with my friend Sam but the guy wasn’t there.  I bought some more books which were Possibly a little more advanced. I got “My Year in Provence” by Peter Mayle and also “My Life in France” by Julia Child. It is this book that got rewritten and turned into a movie called “Julie and Julia” which I love! So they will be fun to read. And speaking of cooking, I made dinner the other night for only Julie, Jean and myself because Anne and Charles were at Pourcieux (the other country house).  I made a cheese, bacon and tomato quiche but had enough egg and cream liquid to throw together a frittata thing afterwards with more bacon, carrot and peas. I was kind of freaking out that they wouldn’t like it, but they did so it was all good!

Tragedy of the week: ..........

Jean broke his nose during a football match in Lyon on Sunday a week ago. Not just the cartilage, but the whole damn thing – bone and all. He had to get a big plaster cast over his face leaving holes for his eyes, and things inserted up his nostrils to keep everything straight. He has gotten that removed now and is back at school !

poor Jean...

                                                                                                                                                                               I think it is becoming a bit of a ritual for me to spend Wednesday afternoon with Sam in Aix. We hang out and do a bit of shopping and we found this really cute little Mexican place called “la Boca Loca” and the food they sell is tex-mex, which is the Texan equivalent of Mexican cuisine. Both sam’s parents are Mexican so she has a very superior knowledge of what Mexican food is, and she thinks this attempt is worthy of eating! It really is delicious. I had a burrito with beans, guacamole, rice, chicken, cheese and a little bice of spicy-spicy! then we went to H & M, a huge clothing store with cheap and fashionable clothes. I thought I had to be back home by six because we were going to meet my 2^nd host family. But when I got there and was wondering why we weren’t going, Anne said that it was on Friday. Grrr, this is one example of how information changes when you swap it from one language to the next. This was a bit of an impact on my weekend plans for my birthday!

this is a mexican card came that was in th tex-mex shop!

roses from my lovelies. you truely made my day very special indeed!

As most of you know it was my 18^th birthday on the 17^th of March (Saturday) and it was also Saint Patrick’s Day. My birthday proved to be a day of mixed emotions for me, as not everything was running smoothly here. I won’t go into details, but the love sent my way from Australia by family and friends really helped to make my day special for me. I got roses for my auntie Dan, Uncle Mick and the Kids which were of all different colours, and some lovely red roses from my beautiful friend Hannah and her equally beautiful family. Over the last week I got two parcels too! One from Kat, which had vegemite <3 and CD’s, and the other was sent from my mumzy. I wasn’t allowed to open it until my birthday so I hid it under my bed to forget the temptation. On Thursday night I skyped with mum and we agreed it would be a clever idea to open my parcel in the company or her and my step dad Jeffy! It had some bunting made by the ladies from the Rous mill hall crew, A book called “tarab – travels with my guitar” and also a beautiful stone necklace. Unfortunately I haven’t even worn the necklace yet because when I took it out to put it on, the metal connecter has decided to go walk about... and I have no idea where it has fallen off. This is a crying shame, but I will fix it as soon as I can. I’ve been told by people that more parcels are on the way, but I am worried that I haven’t been giving people the whole address. I live in an apartment block and so I’ve been thinking that you’d have to include my name first, and then mention M. et Mme. Mazel so the post man could get the right apartment... I don’t know if this is the case. Or, what if I’m not at home? What does the postman do with the parcel because he can’t leave it there! Someone tell me everything is going to be ok!

So your all wondering what I did for my birthday right?! Well, about 5 days before my birthday I asked permission from my family to go out on Friday night to celebrate with my friend Sam. We organised for Sam to stay the night and everything was looking good. Then unfortunately the day of meeting my second family was swapped to the same night. We agreed that I could go out after the meeting, because it wasn’t meant to go for too long. Sam ended up coming with us to meet the family which was good because she’s like my translator haha. my family are really awesome and so is their house and their GIANT DOG! i honestly am so excited to take a picture and show you. they have 2 dogs, a cat and a rabbit. So when we got home we went out and got some Mexican and met up with a couple of other American girls who are also studying here in Aix and they are really lovely. I initially met Darrien in the stairwell of my apartment thinking she was the American girl living up stairs. She wasn’t and it was pure coincidence that she was American too! Anyway I got her number and that’s how that happened!  

Kim and the girls at La boca loca!

And then Saturday on my actually birthday, I awoke at 8 with Sam on a matrass on the floor beside me. I turned on my computer and did a lot of skyping for the next hour or two with my family and friends in Australia. First I skyped with my daddddddy, then with Giselle and then with my Auntie Danielle and the kids.  At about 10:30 Sam and I headed out for something to eat but Julie and Jean didn’t want to come L ahh well. So I got a waffle because my cousin Monty told me I HAD to try it. He described it with chocolate sauce and ice-cream but those luxuries weren’t available at this little stand, so I got nutella! Then we sat on a park bench and talk while eating. After we had finished we went shopping at H & M before Sam had to catch her bus home at noon. In the stop two hands grabbed me by the shoulder and squealed “happy birthday” with a glorious American accent in my ear. It was Kim and her girls!! I was so happy to see them and seeing as I didn’t have any plans for the rest of the day, she invited me out to lunch! We called around to check if that was ok with my family, and guess where she said she was talking me... “so, I know this great little ‘tex-mex’ place just down the street if you feel like Mexican?” honestly, I could eat that stuff for breakfast lunch and tea. Even though the food was great, we were sitting outside at a tiny little terrace table on the street and I am pretty sure there was a dead something-or-rather down the drain... it was subtle enough that we didn’t bother moving, but if the gentle breeze stopped a-blowin’, it was gross. Then a DJ randomly set up outside a shop so Kim dared me to go dance. I said I would if she did to. So, while her daughter was recording on Kim’s iphone we went and made complete fools of ourselves (which Kim said later was something that the French NEVER do). Then we went shopping in a huge shopping complex out of town and got a mcflurry (2^nd McDonalds experience here) AND THEY DON’T HAVE OREO! They have caramel (called daimes or something) and some a nut mixture, and they had m&m’s with nuts which was the closest thing to home. YUM! Kim and Terri were already coming to the BBq for my birthday that night, so I stayed with Kim and went with her and the girls because it worked out easier for everyone. I wore my new outfit that I bought that day (cool top and a bloody denim jacket – I say ‘bloody’ out of frustration because I have one in Australia and I didn’t BLOODY bring it. Or my awesome leather jacket - I am a fool). I showered and dressed at Kim’s which was probably more fun than it should have been. We had music blaring through the house and all the girls and I were dancing like monkeys! And off we went in their huge 4x4 jeep.

i love these kids! singing into a giant champaigne bottle is class!

 The whole way in the car we were rocking out to some music I guess never an influence to me as a youngin’. We were listening to the rolling stones, Fleetwood Mac, Dixie chicks, the eagle’s etc, but I was surprised at how many I did manage to know. Mum raised me with Carol king, Tracy Chapman, Diana Ross etc, but they so great too that I m definitely not complaining.  I was always under the impression that the rolling stones was the equivalent of Metallica or kiss, but that ARE AWESOME! Now that I have lots of time to think here, I have decided to make a mental list of my living conditions when I move back to Australia and live in my own house. It’s going to be so good. It’s all about ambiance and mood and creating a feel within the space you dwell. Thus, I plan to have music from all era’s playing so I can be always dancing. I am going to eat so much fruit!! Fruit all day and night, bebeh. And I’m going to buy that fruit from the city markets (I plan to live in a city – hopefully Melbourne). So there we are so far.  The dinner was really... delicious, along with the assortment of beverages. We started with belinies (I have no idea how to spell it but they are little miniature pancakes) that went with a seafood dipping sauce that Charles made. There was also cut up baguette to go with this ridiculously fatty pig spread that is probably catastrophic for your heart but delicious for your taste buds.  Jean, Julie and tom were in charge of the BBq and when I went out there to see how it was going, the wind was sparying sparks everywhere from the over-crowded fire. After a few minutes the kindling had dwindled and the coals were red hot. A Metal crate sat over top and you could adjust the high to suit the cooking temperature you wanted. It was pretty clever. So on went the sausages and then off they came (a little black I’d say. I’ve been reading that Julia child book and she is teaching me to be a little more critical of what I am putting in my mouth). But they were heaps yummy haha. Somewhere in between cooking and actually eating, we had a toast with some champers and then we tucked in.

For desert there was an ice cream cake with pear in it and sponge and it had my name on top “joyeux anniversarie Danika” as well as a pipe thing stuck in the centre that shot a stream of sparks up 2 feet into the air! T’was super cool. I tried to snap a photo but we’d already half cut it up by the time I thought of it! Oh well, next time I turn 18! Oh wait...... that only happens once!!! L

 

Sunday was a bludge days of just chilling out in my room and playing a bit of guitar. I finally fixed my guitar so I am really happy about that. I took it to a music shop in Aix and the man re-positioned the neck for only 20 euro. He had my guitar for a week though so that was a bit difficult! I also checked out the possibility of getting a loop pedal so I can do harmonies on the spot! How cool would that be. And the shop has a few to choose from. They’re probably overly expensive so I’ll do a bit of ‘investigationing’ (new word by Danika) online to see if I can find a better deal.

So, tonight is the 20/03/2012 and it’s all happening here in France. I went to another rotary meeting because A) I get to be more involved in rotary and B) I get to eat some classy-arsed cuisine like a real lady. I actually love rotary. It’s so funny to go and just observe (as I don’t understand anything really). While the chairman Madame Morrell was doing the introductory speech to the club, a very old man at my table was tapping his cutlery together; obviously unaware that is was extremely loud and distracting. Then the old man next to him starts tapping his knife against the base of his wine glass! I met my councillor tonight, too. He’s actually completely opposite to what I pictured. He’s a young Italian lawyer born and raised in Marseille and he speaks very good English. I sat next to him at dinner and I’m going to go with him to Marseille to get pizza because it’s apparently letter then any pizza I will find in Aix. His girlfriend was there too and she is also really lovely. They live in a house only 5 minutes walk from the Mediterranean and he said I can call/email/visit whenever I want! For dinner we had a starter of ... I can’t remember the French name but it was cheese (im guessing goats cheese because I’m an expert and all now) on little square pieces of toast with ham and a petit salade vertre (little green salad). It was simple but delicious as the cheese was warm and gooey and really flavoursome. Then the main meal was grilled salmon and blieu (I think – which is a white flesh fish) with polenta aux oliviers (polenta with olives). YUMMY! I know its not the best meal “La Pigonnet” has produced but I sure as hell liked it. This book I am reading about Julia child is opening my eyes to how to taste a meal. It’s such a great book as she is talking about the place I live (Provence), what she did with her time, and what she was cooking. I wither want to buy her cook book and also start taking French cooking lessons here. Mum found me a site that lists all the tourism and there is a wine tasting course, a cooking course...there are so many things to do! I’m going to get a French tutor to help me with my language because I have birthday money!!

On the 24^th of this month I am going to a party with my 2^nd host sister which is exciting! And on the 29^th I am heading to Annecy, a beautiful French town on the east boarder of France to a large rotary conference with all the other French exchange students for 2 days. I am really excited about this because I get to meet up with friends I made on the trip here and also students from my club at home! I am going to catch the train there. Then on the first of April I am changing families.  

I am very tired and it’s off to school tomorrow! I am going to move up a level soon to premier which is the equivalent of year 11 in Australia and I am also going out for lunch with my 2^nd host sister and her friend.

lots of love xxx

Danika

Hey folks!

This blog is going to be a lot less exciting than the one all about my ski trip, because since then I have been taking a big ol’ break! I have been just chilling around the apartment in aix, which has been really nice as I have been thinking heaps and getting back into a rhythm of sorts with my brain. Every day I have gone to the main shopping area in Aix, be it just for a walk or to get lunch, or something like that – usually by myself, but I think this is good as it is making me more independent and confident about interacting with French people. I was really bored the other day (yes, I know using the ‘B’ word is criminal when I am in such an amazing place – sorry), and I was on facebook talking to my mate, and I remembered how I always used to tell him about the different kinds of muffins I was making. SOOO, I decided to make muffins! Thanks facebook, you really are helpful <3.

Unfortunately, we didn’t have a god damn muffin tray at the apartment.  I’m sure there’d be one or several at the house in Pourcieux.... shame. So I planned to go and by a muffin tray along with the ingredients of my favourite muffin mix which I used to make all the time in Australia.

................. Damn it I COULDN’T REMEMBER THE RECIPE! I know it has 2 eggs... or is it 3? And milk, but how much?  There is definitely ¾ cup of out and 1 ½ cup of sugar. And I have no idea how much flour. So, this plan of creativity wasn’t going to work. I emailed mum asking for the recipe along with some other recipes for future creative times, and that’s all I could do for the time being (p.s i love you mum - probably can't tell you that enough)... I was hungry anyway (and there was literally no food in the house except biscuits and breadsticks because no one had been shopping since we got back from Italy and Anne and Charled were staying at Pourcieux). I went for a walk to Aix looking specifically for a healthy food shop because it has become apparent to me that there are lots of shops selling pizza, kebabs and pastries and then there are restaurants which I’m sure would have a salad or something, but I wanted 'easy and fast' for a loner like myself to just slip in, buy something healthy and slip out again unseen. I bought a slice of pizza anyway (triple cheese of course), and then I stumbled upon the most perfect shop! It had everything I wanted – salads, wraps, fruit salad, sandwiches, yoghurt, and it was all really cheap! So this is going to be my new spot if ever I am hungry and walking around.

I just realised that I am completely rambling about stuff that is totally not interesting for you. this is  because while I am writing this plog I am also watching bear grills (in French.. grr) so I’m not concentrating completely. (I’m mostly looking at how god damn attractive he is – even when he is eating a raw fish that he has just smashed the head of. Ohhhh... those back muscles).

RIGHT, what to talk about next? Ahh, how about the fact that today I was standing only 1 foot from one of Vincent Van Gogh’s artworks “bouquet de fluers” at the Art Gallery in Aix. There were also many by Picasso, and one my Monet. I had learn’t about all these artists in school, and I can’t believe that I was so close to something so amazing (Ifelt like i was in an episode of Doctor who)! The famous artist Paul Cezanne actually came from Aix, and usually his paintings are shown in this gallery, but I think they were off being shown around the world somewhere, so his exhibition was closed today. But that is ok. I know where the gallery is now and it is only 4 euro to get in so I am very happy to wait and return.

Errrmm what else? Jean had a friend over last night called Tom (although I kept calling him Alex – poor kid), and he spoke impeccable English, so we got on rather well. And today we went out for lunch together (Jean, Julie, Tom, and Moi!) and we got pasta at another quick and easy place! We ate-in, and you couldn't help but notice the really cute gay couple sitting behind us. Two guys holding hands over a plate of pasta not worried about what others thought – that’s how it should be!

Yesterday I went to the Post office to get some stamps for my postcards (that i wrote 5 weeks ago - god I'm lazy)! I have found a pattern when interacting with people in shops - I walk in and they say ”Bon jour”. I say “bonjour, parlez-vous Anglais?” at which point they usually say “yes, a little bit”. I say “good!” and off we go! So I went to the post office and followed the pattern but when it got to the line where she says “a little bit” she instead said “no” with a bit too much attitude and she started talking to me in French. I said “yo bitch, I don’t understand!” aha I joke, I joke”. But I did say "I don’t understand (in French)” and then she rolled her eyes at me! After what seemed like a really long awkward silence with a  lot of intimidating staring on her part, I said “merci” and ... walked out! So I don’t have any stamps L and that was my first encounter of a rude French person.  

What are your thoughts on all this Kony shenanigans? When I first watched the video I had the classic rush of enthusiasm at what seemed like an amazing opportunity to “change the world”. Then I did the classic change of my profile picture and posted stuff like the rest of them.  All my passion kind of flew out the window when I read the opposing opinions which put it in a different light, and now I don’t know. I’m pretty terrible in that regard. If I hear something that sounds wonderful, it doesn’t even cross my mind that it might not be, and I throw my heart into it (wow that sounds so dramatic). When the cracks appear I feel cheated and confused and I lose my enthusiasm for it. So basically I’m over the Kony stuff and I don’t trust it and it’s sad because it sounded so inspirational.

moving on.

I had a lovely Skype with my girl-friends Camille and shanny who have moved to Brisbane together this year to start university and the rest of their lives. They too are feeling the grips of homesickness, but they are lucky because it only takes a couple hours drive to be back in their parents loving embrace! Hmm, I’m not sure why I’m sounding so Poetic and dramatic this fine and marvellous evening.  I think it is because I read the blog’s of some other exchange students today and I feel like I need to step-up!

So my language is totally getting better. After forcing my family to speak to me in French (ok, they're forcing me), I am learning so much! Also getting them to repeat stuff, my vocab is getting bigger every day!!

Well that’s all folks! I have managed to squeeze 1,200 words out of what I thought was a few days of doing nothing at all! Love you all lots and until next time xx

Danika

I warn you, this blog is super long with lots of photos to make up for all the days I have missed.

Floc the snowman! with feet!

 

I am writing this in the past on the 27^th of February, because where I am staying at the ski lodge there is no internet, and I have forbidden myself to go to an internet cafe because surely I can go a week without internet? I have departed with the rest of the family to Italy to do some skiing. Not just my family of five though, as we are also meeting up with Anne’s twin sisters’ family at the lodge.  Her name is Isabelle, her husband is Lloyd, and they have three kids, Thomas 11, Mathew 9, and Chloe 7. These kids are incredible to me because they are all trilingual. They speak English, French and now German. Isabelle also speaks Italian and another language I can’t remember.  Lloyd is American and met Isabelle in grad school and all the kids were born in America. Then they lived in France for 4 years, and 2 and a half years ago they moved to Germany. 

THE EXTENDED FAMILY!

(in order: Charles, Isabelle, Lloyd, Chloe, Me, Mathew, Jean, Julie, Thomas, Anne)

Where we are staying is incredible! And the drive here was also incredible. It took about 8 hours and in that time we travelled along the south east coast overlooking the Mediterranean ocean and across the border into Italy. The landscape was spectacular as we headed into the mountains (the Alps). They were towering up on either side because we were driving through a valley and there were castles built on the top of some smaller mountains so they could look out over everything. There were towns on the side of the hills with vineyards growing on such a steep angle.

I thought I would be snowboarding with jean, but I am very happy that I am actually skiing, because after my first day on skis it’s pretty evident that I’m not very good in comparison to all these euro peeps that started skiing when they were four... I’ll continue this blog in the morning because I am about to go to bed and I feel kind of sick.

THE VIEW

Good morning, it’s the 28^th back in time!?!?!? This morning was a bit confusing. I didn’t realise the shutter on my window was closed so when I woke up and it was still dark, I assumed it was still super early. I couldn’t sleep though so I got up while being careful not to wake jean and Julie who were sleeping in the same room as me. I went to the bathroom and turn the light on after I had closed the door so I wouldn’t blind them. When I opened the door I forgot to turn the light off only to see that their beds were empty.... and when I got to the kitchen, the sun was pouring in every window and they were sitting around munching on their special k bars and muesli! Silly me.

So, today I’m off for my third day of skiing. My body is aching all over, but I’m still very excited! I’m feeling slightly crappy but once you get up there you forget all your troubles and focus on not hitting a tree and killing yourself. This place is just incredible. I feel like I have stepped inside a post card.  I have to go skiing now but I will continue my blog when I get home. 

THE FAMILY

I am home!! Sorry this is a very disjointed blog. I possible just had the best skiing day yet. You have to catch the gondalow/lift-thing/egg/cabine that takes you up to the top on the mountain and over to the other side. Isabelle and Anne both suffer from vertigo and poor Isabella had her head in her hands with eyes clenched closed so I broke out into song about 1/3 of the way up to try and distract them... “Why do birds suddenly appear.... every time you are near? Just like me, they want to be close to you”. That got them going!

TAKEN FROM THE GONDALOW :)

 (that is the town we stayed in called ortesei)

We reached the top intact and went for a couple of runs down the mountain before our lesson at 2. Charles and Jean had ventured off on an epic journey through all the mountains to discover new tracks because they are already pro and all the 3 littlies had lessons of their own that went all day. That meant it was just Isabelle, Lloyd, Anne, Julie and myself in the lesson that we had booked. There was debate over whether I would be at a high enough ski skill level to join in – we all had to be at the same level to do a lesson together, and we wanted to do a lesson together because we got a really good deal. Lloyd described me to the instructor as a “more-advanced beginner” and the rest were intermediate. I had worried about this, but the day before I had improved because of some tips that both Lloyd and Charles had given me. Anyway, by the end of the 2 hour lesson, the instructor said I was the best at the technique she was teaching us and that it was surprising I had only ever skied twice. So now Danika is a very happy, more in control skier who has less chance of hitting a tree!! And I am falling over less now too - I only fell over once today.

HMMM. THAT LOOKS LIKE ONE OF THE EASIER RUNS.

(i did a few blacks!!)

The amount of walking and skiing I am doing is amazing, but the food I am eating is meaning that nothing is changing body-wise... unfortunately, when walking in the ski boots it is really painful. The first day I hired the equipment, I got the same skis as jean because we are the same height and weight... lol... the ski rental guy (who happened to be a very attractive Italian guy who as good at making conversation) asked me what kind of skis I wanted and I said “ones like Jean... good ones”. So today at the lesson the ski instructor told me “they are very good skis that make you go fast but they are heavier than regular skies – but that’s ok because your big and strong”. I don’t know about everyone else but I think only guys like to be called “big and strong”.

MALE FASHION OF TODAY IS SO POPULAR (AND REDICULOUS)

... THAT THEY MADE A STATUE FOR YOU

I am loving spending this holiday with everyone, including Anne’s sisters family. They are really warm and welcoming and the kids are great. They are similar ages to my cousins back in Australia so it’s really nice to have little guys around again. It’s actually the 29^th today. I stopped my blog suddenly yesterday because we had to go upstairs to Isabelle and Lloyds flat to have dinner (we had spaghetti cabonara) and we watched some slapstick French comedy about skiing which I didn’t understand but I’m used to that now. I was feeling quite sick again so I went to bed BEFORE DESSERT (which was crepes)! And now here we are - Its breakfast and I just had muesli and yoghurt. Isabelle rocked up with some crepes filled with nutella or sugar and lemon, so I had a nutella one of course! Now I am getting ready to go skiing again. The only thing that hurts today is my calf muscles.

crepe's with nutella....

It is Jeans 16^th birthday tomorrow, so that is pretty exciting, and it is my 18^th on the 17^th of March and It is my step-dad Jeff’s birthday on the 15^th. So Happy birthday everyone!

I miss home. But I love it here. Home sickness has officially knocked on my door, but it’s ok because it just wants a cup of tea and then it will be on its way. I made some new friends on impulse in Aix last week. I can’t remember if I blogged about it and I can’t check due to the lack of internet but I saw them busking and so I went up to them and introduced myself, and that I would love to have a jam sesh one day. They gave me their number and we were texting that night (I had to use google translate to understand and then respond which worked rather well) and we organised to meet after school the next day at the same place where they were busking previously. They were late and I contemplated leaving because I thought they had set me up haha. But they came! And I had the best afternoon! They sang really well and we were doing on-the-spot harmonies and they sounded sick and we weren’t even really busking but we pulled a little crowd and got a few euro. Then we went and found some sun and we ran into a whole bunch of their friends on the walk. They started singing and harmonising in French while we were walking through the crowds of people who were watching and smiling. it is helpful that they sing mostly English songs by artists that I know. They know Ben Harper and jack Johnson and this one boy asked to use my guitar and I was like “aww sorry, it’s left handed” and turns out he was left handed too! I got home at 6 that evening.

this is actually my friend Sam who is an american exchange student living in a town 15 minutes away.

out to lunch with Sam and yes... i am dipping some wort of chewy donut into nutella.

Ok back to the holiday topic! Yesterday the 31^st of March, I went skiing only with Jean, Charles and Thomas because I was now ‘turtley’ enough to be in the turtle club. I was able to keep up and face the black runs with only minimal fear, because I was considerably more progressed after my lesson. However, during the day the temperature reached something idiotic like 18 degrees, and the snow on the hills facing the sun was beginning to turn soft and sticky. We had 40 minutes to get home and were therefore in a bit of trouble because all the chair lifts were closing at 4:30 and we still had many more to catch to get back to our village, so we had to get moving or as Charles joked “we’ll have to sleep under one of those trees”. At the top of one mountain after getting of a chair lift, we realised that a guy had just proposed to his girlfriend at one of the most splendid views in the whole range.  The sun was setting so it cast a beautiful orange glow over all the white ice... my description of this is probably not that accurate because my goggles have orange lenses so for the last 5 days I have been skiing in a world of Fanta. But anyway, he was a pretty classy fella to Propose at such a smashing location.

AND HERE THEY ARE!

its a hard life getting stranded here.

Unfortunately, disaster struck! Going down the same run as where the couple got engaged, I tripped on my own ski and did a dramatic face-plant-rolly-polly and twisted my knee. Thomas was behind me so he saw it, but jean and Charles were ahead but 40m. Jean stopped, but Charles was around the bend and out of sight. I know the problem was that my boots were too loose, but I have had the same thing every day. If I tighten them so that they don’t wobble, eventually the blood stops going to my foot and I get a bad case of pins and needles which means I can’t feel how much weight I am putting on that foot or anything – it’s terrible! So I have been skiing on relatively unstable footing because it’s the only way. My knee was ok, but it was loose and painful and I couldn’t put all my weight on it, so skiing to the bottom was a very slow process. And then we caught the next chair lift and went down the next run, one step closer to home. The place where the track split in two, we went right when we should have gone left, so we had to go back to the top and do the run again, all the while I was trying to ski on an imperfect knee and we were running out of time (the sun was setting and there was literally no other people on the snow fields except for operators). When we got to the bottom, the inevitable happened. The operator said “sorry this lift is closed”. ... That was it; we were stuck miles from home in a land of snow. You won’t believe it though, of all the places we could have been stranded, we were standing right next to the most adorable motel/restaurant.

 I was dying of dehydration so I went and bought a big coke for everyone and a beer for Charles, and we got some hot chips. Eventually Anne and Lloyd came and got us. It was a 25km drive up a mountain and through snow, so they weren’t too pleased, but the drive was beautiful anyway and I got to watch the sun set over the distant Alps.

here are some shots from the drive home:

  i was trying to take a photo of our city when we were driving down the mountain...

 and it did not work, but i like it.

Every night since we have been here, the kids and I have gone to the local pool which has a spa, a sauna, a donut-shaped pool which has jets of water to make it go around, a slide, and a regular 25m lapping pool. It also has too kids pools with a playground in one of them. Not to mention the donut pool is outside and it is heated so all the hot water vapour rises into the cold air. You enter it inside and swim under a flap and then you are outside! So cool. We had to walk there last night, and then Charles would pick us up at 8. I literally packed a towel and wore my swimmers underneath my jeans with some extra undies for after we got out, but we got a call from Charles when we were already there letting us know that we were having dinner in the restaurant above the pool at 8. Therefore I looked like a wet dog with only a sports jacket over a bra and some jeans in a family restaurant with no makeup on, not to mention the gigantic bootys I have been using to get to and from the ski hire store before and after skiing... not my finest moment.

After some fabulous pizza we went and watched a ski show put on by all the ski instructors in this town we are staying in. When we got there I took out my camera to record all the tricks and stuff they were doing and one of the Italian supervisors took me to the front of everything so I could get a better shot – I was literally on the snowfield in front of the protective fence. And that meant that all the other kids and stuff came up with me too. This is all thanks to my great looks you know - here is some footage.
i tried to upload some footage but it didn't work :(

Today is the 1^st of March and it is Jeans 16^th birthday. We all went skiing up in the other side of a completely different mountain and of course I FORGOT MY CAMERA AGAIN! We were looking at some of the most beautiful views because we were so high up but I didn’t capture any one them. I totally forgot that my phone in my pocket had a pretty decent camera but I didn’t have my head screwed on. Skiing was a little painful today and I am particularly tired, so I considered leaving the others and finding my own way home again to just chill out on the couch and eat chocolate and watch TV or something. I felt like bludging, and honestly I had lost my confidence after my fall yesterday so I wasn’t going as fast. My family persuaded me to stay because we were going to have lunch and then we would all go home after. We were meant to me with Lloyd and Isabelle too, but the cable car we came up in at the beginning of the day proved too much for Isabelle’s vertigo. Even I thought I was a touch dodgy. It was one big cart held by only one cable which carried 46 people or 4700kg and you could just see it getting lower and lower in loading bay as the people were getting on, then they had to squeeze the doors closed around everyone. It looked like a Japanese subway. We ended up skiing until 4:30 anyway because that is how long it took to ski back to our starting point. The last run we did was so long that it took us 40 minutes to get from the top of the mountain to the bottom. There was a choice of taking the cable car but we all decided to ski. I wish I could calculate how many km I have done each day. Now after a lovely bath, we are all going out for Jeans birthday dinner.

I am definitely getting closer with Julie. We are understanding each other better now, and laughing about stuff so it feels good. Tomorrow there is no skiing we’ve decided, and instead we are going tobogganing! Hopefully I’ll get the camera out and film some “on the go” footage. I wanted to do that while I was skiing but it just got to difficult.

It’s the morning of the 2^nd and I’ve just had my muesli and am watching the French news. Dinner last night was really interesting. We went to a restaurant suggested by Lloyd because he knew the chef. It was a restaurant where we didn’t order anything and instead the chef cooked us what he felt like cooking. Our first meal was an entree with a mixture of hand-made pasta. There was ravioli, gnocchi, and the third one looked like little nuggets of already chewed chewing gum. However, it was all delicious... actually, I have just realised that if it is edible for me, then it’s delicious.  The next meal was a soup which was really hearty and had oats in it. It was a warm comforting grandma soup. Next course was pork which had been slow cooked with potatoes and the final course was an apple strudel which the waitress brought out with candles on top to celebrate not only jeans birthday but mine and Chloe’s too. So we all blew out the candles together, and then they brought out some presents. Jean got an iphone 4s from Anne and Charles and I can’t remember what he got from Isa and Lloyd, and Chloe got a selection of French books that looked really cool, and then they gave me some presents! I got a really nice handbag from Anne and Charles so I would have something to take to school (because that is the fashion over here – you take handbags to school) and I got a pair of local hand-made slippers from the village we are staying in from Isa and Lloyd which I am wearing as I write this. I have decided not to go skiing today.  I think 6 days of skiing is enough, and I am going to spend the day with Anne, Charles, Isa and Lloyd. Julie has also decided not to go skiing. Instead we are going to watch all the three littlies compete in their end of ski school competition. See you later!

It’s later.... so guess what!! All of the kids got within top 3 of their class in each race they did and there are 10 kids within each class. Thomas got gold and Chloe and Mathew both got bronze, so that was really cool for them.



sexy....

Thomas going for gold!

Mathew with Bronze

and Chloe with bronze too!!

 Anne, Isa and I went shopping after the medal ceremony and I was on the prowl for a pin or two to stick on my rotary jacket to remind me of this holiday. I ended up buying three. One was a wood carved love heart with another love heart inside painted with the Italian flag.  The second was a bit stupid because It said “official ski/sex instructor”. I think this is a necessary reminder that ski instructors are so good looking!! the third was one of the iconic native flower.

SUPER-CUTE MINI MOON BOOTS

Then we went to an INTERNET CAFE for lunch so I got to check my facebook, hotmail etc, and there was an email from APRA telling me I had got my first royalty payment!! So I checked my accounts and I had a payment of almost $200, so I’m pretty happy with that! Not sure what I was expecting in terms of quantity, but to me it’s free money. I also got to tell mum how much I miss her along with everyone else. The truth is, I had a moment today.... just the slightest thing triggered me to feel on the edge of tears all afternoon. Chloe was finished with her pasta so Jean and Julie were stealing bits from her plate and when went to, too, she said “no”, and I was shocked. I realised that I am missing my own family and the closeness we had which I still don’t have here yet because it takes time. It wasn’t her fault for my reaction, I just am vulnerable to that sort of stuff because I feel isolated for a fes reasons... the language, . Especially with the language too.i feel like I have no idea what is going on because I don’t understand what is being planned, so I am sort of just going with itmy afternoon has been pretty flat since then. Chloe, Jean, Julie and I went to the pool and I didn’t feel like playing any games or even swimming, so I kind of just laid there or went and sat in the sauna. Then I wanted to go home, but I didn’t want to rush the others. I went and showered and changed and was going to go back into the pool area and sit on a deck chair to wait, but when I got out there the pool guy said no because I had to be in swimmers... I don’t even feel like blogging because I am whinging and whining and it must be unpleasant for you to read. So I’m going to stop, go to sleep and wake up fresh in the morning.

I miss my mum and all my family back in Australia. Crap, just typing that sentence and I am crying haha. Night and I love you all xx

P.S tomorrow we are leaving Italy to go back to France at 10am, so this should be posted by tomorrow evening along with lots of photos.

So this morning we went to a cute Italian restaurant for breakfast and they brought to our table baskets of bread and plates of butter and marmalade and honey. Then they brought out literally trays of salami ham, and another covered in all different types of cheese like brie etc. And that was breakfast along with some coffee and guava juice.

Then we hit the road and I watched “Wayne’s world” number 1 and 2 and played cards all the way home. My went back to Pourceiux which is where our other house it and stayed overnight – we had takeaway pizza for dinner. I stayed up till about 1.30 getting back in touch with the world. The next day Kim and Terri came over and they are friends of Anne and Charles. They have two daughters so speak English and French because Kim is American. They ended up staying for dinner two which I was very pleased about. Then this morning we headed back to Aix and here I am! Finally my blog is finished and you are reading it. It has been a working progress for the last week or more. Lots of love and until next time! Catcha. Also I have another week of holidays before I have to go back to school! Yay.

Danika xx