hey! My new family have some family friends who also live in Rognes only a km down the road. The man of the house, Jean-Mark, is an actor in a French TV series called plue belle de la vie ( more beautiful of  life). I can’t really remember too many details but I think at the moment his character is in prison?! His wife, Katie, is a really lovely blonde petite lady who reminds me of Cameron Diaz (we’ve agreed to go jogging together!). They have two kids around 9 (girl whose name I forgot) and 11 (Lucio, the boy), and Jean-Mark has an older daughter  of 22 called Meilva who lives with her mum. On the weekend, Clem, Malo, Antoine (one of the twins and Clem’s best friend) and I went over to spend the evening with Meilva and her friend Camille(who are studying message therapy at university together and where visiting for the weekend), because Jean-Mark and Katie were out to dinner.  It was a night filled with music, dancing, pasta (with bolognaise made my Jean- Mark, a full blooded Italian) and lots more! I initially didn’t even think to take my guitar, but after some lovely persuasion my Clem and Malo, I drove back with Meilva to our house to get it. Probably the most hilarious thing of the night was when Clem was dancing with Malo and she lost balance and half sat/fell on a small decorative trunk/stylish storage box-thing on which the big old cat was peacefully sleeping.

At about 2 a.m. we made the hysterically terrifying walk home with only a flashlight to guide our way. Clem was leaving bruises on my arm, and when Malo flashed the torch into a large garden only to have a ghostly while woman staring back , I let rip the most high-pitched and piercing scream I could muster and Clem and Malo followed suit (until we realised it was a statue).

The next morning (well, almost afternoon by the time I rose from the dead), I had only 40 minutes to get ready for a neighbours lunch next door... literally next door - About a 25 metre walk from garden to garden. We were half an hour late and the last ones to arrive even though we lived the closest (he he he), and when we got there the door open to about 15 new people to greet. 30 kisses (“bonjour” *kiss, kiss) and 15 already-forgotten names later, we headed to the lounge room (or ‘salon’ in French) to feast on Champaign and pre-lunch snacks such as those weird puffed peanut chips, pate on toast with pickles, carrot sticks, wasabi peas, pistachio’s and potato chips. While the conversation casually drifted in one of my ears and out the other, I quietly dozen on Clem’s shoulder. In total there were three couples at the lunch - Marie and Thibault (my folks), Katie and Terri and the couple who owned the house, Emmanuel and Emmanuel. Because Emmanuel and Emmanuel had the same name, their nick names were Mano and Manie (I think). And then there was the tribe of kids...

Because I can’t really use my ears for information as much anymore, I have recognised that I watch what people do, and their characteristics. Terri had an absolutely hilarious some-what and ‘even’ laugh which allowed him to laugh for extended periods. Two ‘ha ha’ sounds would be while exhaling and the next two would be inhaling, so it was very rhythmical : ha ha, ha ha, ha ha, ha ha, ha ha. Somewhere over the top of boisterous conversation and laughing you’d hear someone yell “OK, a la table!!” (to the table!). for entree there was about 6 different kinds of salad circulating the table. There was a bowl of roast capsicum with herbs totally submerged in olive oil. There was a Greek salad with cucumber, fetta, tomato, olive oil and balsamic vinegar, another with cabbage, cheese, pecan nuts, little cubes of ham and a scrumptious dressing, ...etc ...etc. we ate accompanied by a glass of rose... or two, and then out came the main meal, white rice and a big pot of some sort of chicken dish. After that, that BIGGEST bowl of fruit salad came out that I had ever seen. I have not eaten a decent fruit salad since I was in Aus with my mum (we used to do it for breakfast with yoghurt and muesli on top). Accompanying the fruit was another tray covered in a variety of biscuits and golden foil wrapped caramel wafers that I crumbled over both the bowls of fruit saladJ. After Marie was done filling everyone’s head with my music shenanigans, I was once again persuaded to go get my guitar (I’m not going to lie, I loved playing for people – so I was keen to get it, too). I had left my guitar at Jean-mark and Katie’s house the previous night because I couldn’t be bothered carrying it home, so Marie and I zoomed over there, retrieved it and returned to what became a little family concert! I played two songs, and then the daughter of the 2 Emmanuel’s who was 11, played a couple songs on her flute. Then the 16 year old brother cranked out his base guitar! It was some good times had.

Unfortunately my morning routine has been considerably altered. Previously, when I first came to my second family, we would get up at around 6:30 and then at precisely 7 Thibault would drive us to school. However, there was a healthy Family discussion the other night (ok, every family fights – its normal), so what I’m trying to say id that my family had an argument after dinner on Sunday night. I had no idea what they were talking about and realised I should probably say good night and leave them to it when I kept randomly laughing out loud. I headed up stairs, put on some beats and did some ridiculous yet intense bedroom dancing that if anyone had been watching.... haha I’d love to think of their reaction/expression.  About 25 minutes later all the kiddies cam upstairs, and that’s when I found out that that I would now be getting up at 6, leaving the house at 6:30 to walk to the bus stop and catch the bus at 7... FUN! I have decided that it’s beneficial though, because I get to do some exercise everyday!!! (Cup half full, Danika; cup half full). It’s just so cold: the other morning my left hand randomly got pins and needles and I figured that it was so cold that my blood had frozen and I was having some sort of mini-stroke.

What’s new for Danika? Well, about a month ago I got an email from a long time acquaintance back in Australia. We went the same primary school (although I think he was about 4 years above me), but we’d never really hung out or known each other very well. Anyway! Turns out Miles and his awesome dad, Brian (who I have regular conversations with in Coles), were going to be travelling through France for 4 weeks around April, and they were even going to pass through Aix if I would like to go out to dinner? Hmmm, go out to dinner with a fellow Australian? Bloody oath I would! So after some pre-hand planning, Miles and Brian came over to Rognes for a pre-dinner drink with my family at 7:30 on Tuesday night. The minute Miles made eye-contact with my huge black dog; it was instantly love at first sight. He knew the breed (I forgot it) the country of origin (Canada) that they are popular dogs for saving little children in the water (or something?), that they’re quite rare, and very expensive etc. It took a good ten minutes to separate them so that we could go inside out of the cold! Over a glass or rose (from our local vineyards) or a red (that Brian kindly provided!!) we discussed all the ways possible, of being killed by Australian wildlife. Miles and Brian did a glorious demonstration of their encounters with sharks, whales, spiders, snakes, koalas (highly dangerous...) kangaroos, scorpions, and also how long you have to live after you get bitten etc.  Did you know? Of the 10 most poisonous snakes in the world, Australia has 9 of them? They should be advocates for tourism Australia! Poor Malo was sitting pale as paper with his hands over his mouth and eyes wide.

Brian, Miles and I ended up going to a cosy little restaurant in Rognes called “Ma cuisine”. Poor Brian was having an interesting experience driving on the wrong side of the road, so we did most of the talking when we were safely out of the car. Marie and Thibault had also filled us in on what was a good choice off the menu. We had decided to have the froi gras as an entree (duck pate that the restaurant had mixed to make a savoury crème Broulee), and for mains, miles and I shared a cote de boeuf (pretty much just a huge hunk of good quality beef that has been roasted in the oven but only enough so that is it still practically raw in the middle) and some fry’s on the side. We couldn’t finish it... it was huge. And Brian had a Moroccan dish cooked in a targene (that weird porcelain thing that I can’t spell) with couscous on the side. We shared a bottle of lovely soft red, and talked about all the gossip of Alstonville, all their experiences in France, and also how bloody great Australia is. They dropped me home at about 11:30 and miles kissed his doggy friend, absolute, goodbye. And then texted me how great the dog was... Oh, And the family!

Now to talk about school!  As you know I changed class, and this means that I have gone from being with 15 year olds, to being with 16/17 year old which is a lot better for me.  Also I am in a premiere L and the L stands for literature. I do French, French literature, English, English literature, Italian, art and also once a week I have one lesson of science (it alternates from biology to chemistry each week).

I  am really loving all my teachers, but truthfully I don’t know any of their names:

-            The English teacher is a jolly, over-weight, hilariously comedic man of maybe 30 years. I enjoy his teaching abilities because he is so laid back, and I don’t feel that extreme gap between teacher and student.

-          Then there’s the French teacher (who also teaches us French literature) and he is an interesting character, bus also really enthusiastic and funny. He’s fit, maybe 60, bald, and very nice because on Thursday we have four hours of French in the morning and he lets us have breaks to go use the coffee machine and he’s just really kind. We also watch lots of old-school movies in his class.

-          The englsih literature teacher is brittish so she is really easy to get along with too. I think her classes are pretty challenging fir people who don’t have language as a first language, so if no one knows the answer and she is desperatwly saying “can ANYONE see examples of wit or cynicism in this excerpt  of the play ‘The importance of being Earnest’ by Oscar Wilde (talk about challenging), I’d eventually put  up my had and answer which is followed by a “thankkyyooouuuuu” (as she releases all her tension in one word). She’s got a lovely sweet and light personality and the other day after listening to her speak French with a powerful British accent, I asked my friend Gabby if my Australian accent is as prominent when I speak French. yes, yes it was. Even I know o sound retarded, so I find is kind of funny when my lovely family comments on my accent over skype and how French I sound while in reality I sound completely ridiculous.  

-          The Italian teacher doesn’t really acknowledge my existence.

-          Initially I thought the geography/history teacher was a scary demon, because she yells just in general when she is teaching and also everyone pre-warned me so I went into the class with some hefty expectation. But after a lesson the other day we got talking and she’s really nice!

-          Haven’t really gotten to know the art teacher very well. So I’ll have to update you laterz.

Anyway, i hope that fills you in a bit. lots of love, dan x

This is not like my other blogs; it’s messy and not very well written. I just need to get it out of my way so I can start a new one.... (I know this isn’t making sense, but when I write a blog, I like it to be completed with picture and stuff and because I haven’t done that, I’ve been waiting and waiting). I’ve been very lazy - sorry my lovely family and friends.

Since the 26^th of March, a lot has happened and changed for me! I have changed classes at school, I have changed families and I have found two vintage clothing stores (but they are still nothing compared to Australia –I’d do anything for a decent cheep op-shop like the ones in Lismore)! Also we just had Easter (which they call ‘Paques’ here) and yes, I just had chocolate for breakfast for the last couple of days because there was a lot left over.

(Wednesday 12^th): I am home from school today because I have a cold, and although it is far from life threatening, I’d rather be snuggled up in bed then outside in the wet and cold weather. Well, that was the weather yesterday, but today I have actually woken up to sun streaming through my window. The weather down here is very unpredictable. so, going to school today could have been a reality, but I’m happy. I have the house to myself (along with the 2 dogs, 1 cat, 1 fish, 1 rabbit and a fair few chickens) and I can make good use of my time by cleaning my room, blogging to you lot, and raiding the fridge - as well as working on a couple of new songs! It’s always easier when you're in an empty house to work on a song. Because when it comes to playing with melodies, they don't sound great all the time, and with no one around I don’t have to be self conscious that someone’s listening to me freestyle.

I am going to post this blog now even though it is not even close to being finished and it is terribly un-informative. I don’t know what my problem is, but every day that I have put off writing my blog since last time, it gets harder to do because it gets bigger in my mind and there is more and more to tell. So instead of leaving a blank 2 weeks where you have no idea what I’ve been up to, I’m going to summarise the crap out of it, so then I can get on with my life and give you a decent blog next time. And also I am not going to leave such a big gap in between each blog. I keep putting my blog from the fear of not being able to remember what I did since my last blog. Re-reading facebook messages and comments combined with flicking through one’s photos on the camera is a good way to trigger the memory, but I’m lazy.

So re-cap since the 27^th of March:

Caught a train to Annecy with a different district (1730) because my district went in a mini-bus and there wasn’t a seat for me Lbut the train was heaps fun and we had a big jam sesh because a couple of the other exchangers were musicians to and had their guitars/ like me! (had to take my guitar because there was a group talent quest between each district). We went to Annecy because the French rotary organised a huge weekend with every youth exchange student in France and all the districts YEC (youth exchange co-ordinators), so all up there was 500 people! So much fun. Saw lots of students I haven’t seen since the plane trip here (where I made good friends, Joseph and Sienna). also on facebook we have a page for all the exchange students to talk to each other and post stuff about how they’re going, or what they’ve done/are doing/will do and we all talk about it and stuff! It’s so helpful to get through problems, and also to know that other people are going through the exact same thing as you (the good and the bad) – it’s very comforting. And this weekend made everything so real! All those people you have been talking to for 2 months are right in front of you for the first time and it’s like you’re old friends.

At Annecy, we did some stuff: lots of dancing, eating, talking, late nights, early mornings, went to the park (big green field with lots of people –kids, balls, dogs, bicycles, a man selling ice-cream). It was the most perfect setting and also ridiculously sunny, the grass was really green and soft and it was right on a big lake (between snow-capped mountains). The water was crystal clear and relatively calm and people were slowly crusing around on those little two-person peddle boats... heaven.

I’m going to dinner on Tuesday with a friend and his dad from Australia so that is really exciting! We’re going to a little restaurant called ma cuisine in my new home village called "Rognes". It’s about a 15km trip from Aix but because the roads are rather bendy it take 20-25 minutes in the car/bus. i have to get up at 6:30 to be ready at 7, and then Thibault drives us to school. We leave that early to beat the morning traffic.

Just before I forget, I should mention to all my family THANKYOU FOR ALL YOUR LOVE ON MY BIRTHDAY! I know a few of you sent parcels to me, but I i have discovered that a few haven’t arrived. i only received parcels from Giselle, G-ma & Pa, mumsy, Hannah bakerrrr, Kat and Danielle! I know there are a few somewhere between here and Australia from other lovely people but I’m not sure if they’re till on course or lost in the abyss of the postal service. It’s rather heartbreaking, but hey, it’s the thought that counts!

That’s all I have time for tonight folks. And now that the pressures off, I’d take the time to present you will a fully polished, photo-filled, fun-packed, flavoursome and descriptive record of all the jolly things I have done since now and the 27th of March. This blog is merely the tip of the iceberg so, don't feel unfulfilled. Actually, do feel unfulfilled - i want to leave you wanting more. I’m going to make a good musician one day.

 

Night xxx

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