Part 23: Live it

And thats all, February is over. In an hour and a half, it will be March. I am one month into my adventures. Wow. How quickly it has gone, I feel like I just got here but I am already 1/7th of the way into my initial plans. Amazing.

I thought I might honour the month by doing a recap and outline things I have learnt and want to change in the future. I'll do the quickest cap of today and dive into it.

Today it was planned that we would all go to the cinemas. Carole, Bastien and I were going to see Avatar and the rest were going to watch a film called Ocean. We were going to leave at 12.00, get McD's then go to the films. At 10 to 12 Benoit recieved a call from a friend who was coming to drop of ski's (I think) that a) they hadnt seen for like 6 years and b) they forgot were coming. We skipped Maccas and stayed home so that they could catch up and have a proper get-together. I didnt really know what to do, they assumed I didnt speak French, thus didnt talk to me, so I left and played cards with the kids, who were also a bit stuck for things to do. The family had two kids that played with Tim, which was nice, but Bastien and Fanny were a bit out-of-place so.. yea.

Eventually, we had pizza for lunch and then everyone rushed out the door, the family to go home and us to go to the cinema. We saw Avatar in 3D, I much prefer it without 3D but it was cool watching it in French. Bastien and Carole I think were somewhat underwhelmed with the film, but oh well. The others enjoyed their ocean film... sure.

Back home, we all did our own things until tea, then yea... Smallville.

Right! thats out of the way.

Recap-
Week 1 (30th-7th):

• Had a going away party and said goodbye to all my friends and family in Australia.
• Had some luck to start off the trip by meeting Luke, Danielles partner who was going on the same flight as me. I was being looked after.
• Left Australia at 6.30and thanks to a 'stupid?' delay, ended up in London (where I bought the first thing I have ever bought overseas- a hot chocolate from starbucks in order to get change so I could use the computers to contact Student Placement Australia) and then Paris eventually, 6 hours late. By this time having been in 4 completely different countries in 30 hours: Australia, Singapore, England and France.
• Got lost in Paris, but found my way in the end
• Travelled on the Metro
• Had a quick tour, I have seen Paris. Quickly, but I have done it.
• Went on the SNCF train for 3 hours - so comfy
• I trained to St-Marie d'Alloix and met the Beyliers
• Tried French cheeses... and then stopped eating French cheeses
• I saw around St-Marie including some of the surrounding towns such as Pontcharra (with the beautiful park!), Chambery and the little ones I dont really know that well.
• Saw buildings older than Australias history.
• Got amazed by supermarkets
• Experienced snowing for the first time.
• Went Skiing for the first time...On the Alps.

Week 2 (8th-14th)

• Explored more towns. I had the walk through La Flanchere with Carole.
• Went and saw 'La Princess et la Grenouille' in the Pontcharra cinema
• Went to a professional Handball match with Fanny
• Started University in Grenoble ... FRENCH University to study FRENCH. Odd.
• Went bowling
• Made friends with Vincent
• Had my first French wine in France
• Got incredibly sick. Death
• Started teaching Piano to Charlie
• Had Maccas in France haha.
• Got told by Bastien that I had crappy hair. Luckily it was just a bad translation, he meant curly... Lol

Week 3 (15th-21st)

• Met Flore, the kids' cousin, she stayed for 3 days.
• Toured Grenoble all alone and fell in love with it :)
• Went rockclimbing and didnt hyperventilate
• Saw a french play
• Walked from Saint Marie to La Buissiere
• Had an awkward meeting with Ankes daughter and her...hobby...

Week 4 (22nd-28th)

• Scaled up to the Bastille in Grenoble
• Tried Hot Wine
• Rode a bike to La Buissiere and stopped in a forresty like place for a while to gather my thoughts
• Visited Allevard...
• Had a French dinner party with two other families thus meeting Clara and Manu
• Met Camille who offered to do cooking courses with me
• Ski'd from the peak of a mountain in blizzard conditions at a famous ski resort.
• Tried a boomerang (How French...)
• Had sugar popcorn, its gross. Dont have it.

Thats it. That was my February. Sometimes amazing, sometimes lonely but always an experience I guess. Something that I have found odd though, is since Paris, I havent heard from Student Placement Australia or the French company PIE. Thank God everything is okay.

Now, I have learnt things about being here which I need to work on to make the next two months even better than this one. To make sure I do it, I am going to tell the whole bloody world so that everyone is there making sure I do it. I will.

Things to work on: Be more outgoing, be prepared to get out of my confort zone with people, be confident in my French, go out and explore - screw being on my own I chose this and I am going to live it, keep my room cleaner, stop hiding in my room so much, play piano more, make more of an effort to get to know everyone I have met so far and finally, try more. I am here now, I am going to make the best of it, I am going to go places. Live it.

So, yes. Determination at its peak :P I made a list of things I want to do, I am going to try and do them all. The one that looks the most do-able at this point is my day-trip tour of Geneva-Switzerland. Should book that tomorrow and just do it.

No more excuses.

Goodnight everyone, I hope you had awesome Februarys too.

Doug