Part 10: Where are my tissues?

I woke up this morning to Bastien running into my room with the telephone in his hand. It was Maiken ringing me at 10.30 (yes, I slept in) I excitedly answered the phone expecting confirmation and double checking of tomorrows Paris arrangements. This was not at all the case. After phone formalities Maiken told me she was ringing to tell me bad news. Her Grandmother back in Australia had had a stroke and thus Maiken and her Mum had to go back to Australia (in fact, I think they would be getting on the plane now) They seemed as okay as you can be in these types of situations and were very apologetic about leaving me with such short notice and an alreay paid for ticket. I assured them all was well, because it was, really. Maiken hung up and then I went down stairs and informed the family of what was happening then went back up stairs and took a shower. It hit me a little bit that I wasnt going and wasnt going to see someone I knew and the fact that I was so excited and now it wasnt happening, so it wasnt the best morning really. But, Maiken has it much worse than me, so I hope all is okay there.

I had breakfast and talked to Carole and Bastien briefly trying to come up with ideas of what can keep me occupied in the next couple of weeks, we didnt come up with anything set and thus, I am going to research the area for things I want to see and do. If anyone has any ideas for the grenoble/chambery regions, let me know!

After about an hour or so, we had lunch, but because my cold has taken a turn for the worse today, I wasnt hungry and didnt eat much. It was also decided that we were going to have McDonalds for tea. It was funny, Carole started reading my blog this morning (Hi!) and decided that we should go to McDonalds, probably to get it out of my system and for a bit of fun. I was excited hehe. Just after lunch we rushed around again and went out to go see Avatar. On the way, we dropped Fanny and Tim at Benoits parents house and then drove into Grenoble to a massive cinema. The cinema was PACKED with people and so we had to queue up at these automatic self-serve machine things for our tickets. After standing around for ages and being 2 away from the machine, we overheard that Avatar had sold out. All that waiting for nothing. Slightly dissapointed we went out of the queue and looked at the time table, the next viewing of Avatar was at 5.15 which was a bit too late, so we decided to see 'Percy Jackson : The Lightning Theif'

Going back to the queue was phenomenal. ALL the people had vanished because they all had wanted to see Avatar as well. It was just amazing. We quickly got our tickets and then made out way to the guy who checks them and tells you where to go. There, we were held up again because some people were making a lot of noise and arguing and getting dragged out by management thus stopping the flow of people. It was funny to watch.. I laughed... After they left the people started going through again. Unfortunately we were stopped again by the ticket inspector becaus we bought me a student ticket, and he asked for my student card, which I dont have yet. Carole explained that I was a foreigner and that I had justed started at my new course, luckily he trusted us and let us through with no real problem.

Finally we got to the screen, which was MASSIVE! The room was filled with people and so we struggled to find three seats nect to each other. When we did, it was right up the front and meant we had to look up and it hurt my neck and in the end, my eyes. The film itself was not too bad actually. I think I missed one of the main points of the film though, and thus right at the end I was slightly confused, but all in all I understood what was happening and usually why...

When the film had finished, we left and made our way to Benoits parents house to pick up Fanny and Tim. We stayed there for a little bit, and I stood awkwardly, not really sure as to what I should be doing... I ended up asking Tim what he had done today and he walked me around showing me. When we left, we drove back into the center of Grenoble and drove around (with loud kids in the backseat tormenting my headache) looking for a park so we could get maccas. The town was nice. Freezing, but the buildings were pretty.

We made it to McDonalds eventually (ohmygod) and even though I wasnt feeling well at all, I managed to eat it and enjoy it... I am sooo unhealthy its ridiculous. Just to let you know I had a chicken burger meal with sprite and a chocolate muffin for dessert. Bliss :P

The drive home was long just because of how I was feeling and how tired I was, I closed my eyes and sniffed the whole way, luckily this time though, the kids were also tired and thus quiet on the way back. At home, I emptied the dishwasher and tidied up the kitchen sorta, then cleaned my room and then sat down on my laptop, exhausted. Right now, it is 8.48 and I am practically dead. Stupid bloody cold.

I really wish I was going to Paris tomorrow still, but maybe due to my cold, its best that Im not... I dont know. Anyway, thats about it. Sleep.

p.s I have included some extra pictures today for your viewing pleasure:

Maccas, Grenoble bank, Percy Jackson and Bastien and I at.. maccas

Part 9: Sickie, the bowling artist

Yes.. the name of part 9 is a bit odd, but it sums up my day pretty well I think.

The first part, sickie. That is me. I have a cold and it is not nice at all :( I hate it. I mean, really its not the worst cold in the world but I can see it getting worse and I dont want it too. Also, this morning it was pretty bad. I had watery eyes, head aches sniffles, the works! I spent this morning being very antisocial and hiding in my room. I apologise for this! I was tired and just needed to chillax alone for a bit. I had some convos and such, which was good.

Today, Tim and Bastien both had two seperate birthday parties to go to. At 12ish, we had lunch together (All of us, Carole and Fanny as well) which was duck, chicken, lettuce and, oh shoot, stupid. English. My brain is deteriorating. I cant speak French or English anymore... those little things that people eat with pips in them... whatever, not important. I didnt eat them anyway. I also had various staring competitions with Fanny and Bastien at lunch, I dont know why... It was fun though but they liked clicking in your eye to make you blink...

After, Carole dropped the kids off to their respective parties and then took Fanny, herself and I to a place just outside of Chambery (I think) to go play bowling! It was a bit random really but it did help me pick up my mood. I was feeling pretty crook in the car and was wondering how I was gonna cope playing something that involved taking more than a step but, upon arriving and seeing the bowling centre, my sickness decided to go on vacation for the next hour or so.

We had to queue up for a bit before being given a lane, but it was okay because it gave me time to take in my surroundings. The bowling centre was very specky. It had so many lights and shiny things that were mesmorising and colourful. It was a very very impressive bowling place. There was also a lolly shop thing, a bar and an arcade place there as well oh, and a million billiard tables too! We went to our lane on the other end of the complex thing and commenced bowling. Carole decided that for us two, we wouldnt have bumpers! None of us were any good so this was a bit worrying and the worry was only amplified within the first 5 seconds. Carole was up first and bowled a foot fault/9. Then me, I, in true Doug bowling fashion, bowled -/- then Fanny, with bumpers bowled a 3/4. Fanny was a very.. interesting bowler, she couldnt quite get the grasp of it, but it was very amusing to watch and she enjoyed herself, so that was good. After the first few, I got a bit thirsty and then shouted us all a bottle of drink each and a cup of kitkat ball things. T'was sooo worth it. I had Cherry Coke... I had never heard of it before, but it was really nice. I liked it.

After a few more bowls, I started to remember some of the tricks Lachlan taught me last time we went and got the hang of it. In the end the Sedunary triumphed with a score of 77 trailed closely behind by Fanny on 73 then Carole on 63. It was a really fun game though and we all got some laughs.

When we had finished our game, Fanny wanted to play in the arcade so I gave her two races on the motorcycles (winning both times bwahaha!) and then the three of us played air hockey. It was doubles air hockey, but because there were only three it was Fanny and Carole take on me. It was a good match, but in the end, I was defeated 5-4... we think... The scores didnt really say whose was whose, and we didnt pay all that much attention. Fanny swears it was like that so, it probably was... Hmm

When bowling had finished w picked up Tim from his party then drove home. There.. what did I do? I... played games probably. Yes! I did, with Fanny and Tim we played 'Snap' and 'Mille bourn (spelling?)' more time passed which my brain again, has decided not to store. What is going on?! Later, Carole told me that another kid in town had invited me to his place. He is my age (well, 17) so I was pretty stoked to have the opportunity to meet him. I was still feeling a lttle flat but, who cares, I was going to go anyway. I had tea (chicken and pasta stuff -was good!) then at around 9ish had Vincent (the new friend/ artist [he isnt an artist, but his name reminds me of art because of Van Gogh..]) came and collect me. He lives down the road so we walked up to his place. My first impression of him was that he was a pretty descent guy. He speaks English a little bit so we had cool conversations phasing in and out of the two languages.

We started off by talking about music and such.. not much in common there. Then we talked about hobbies, not much in common there either. Somehow though, we seemed to get along okay. He seems like a good person to know too. He has a diploma in teaching snowboarding and has offered to teach me. He also offered to take me to different places when he goes there and such and also to some pretty crazy parties (judging by his dicriptions) so that could be either very fun or very scary haha, we'll see. Anyway, as I said, good to know. After the initial getting to know you and future plan ideas, we realised we had nothing to do in the present. We made our ay to the local bar which I hadnt been to yet. Unfortunately it was closed so we went back and started watching Casino Royale, in french, of course. Both of us kinda got bored and tired though so I ended up going to leave. As I was leaving though, his mother offered me some cake and join them (I didnt mention, the parents where eating and hosting another couple) Being polite, and slightly curious about cake, I sat down and started to chat away. The family are pretty much in love with Australia and I recieved my first 'G'day mate' jokes. They have visted Aus a few times and their house is just full of Australiana. The dad also plays the didgerigoo which made me laugh. It was cool. I also tried some french wine which was actually very nice.

After the cake and wine, Vincent showed me his snowboard which, with my limited knowledge, seemed pretty good. He showed me the basics of snow boarding on grass too, just to spike my interest I guess. Soon after, I went back inside, thanked them for having me and left. I was a bit sad to go, because I would have liked to stay a little bit longer and chat but I figured, they were hosting, and I did say I was tired and wanted to go before the cake... So I didnt want to make it seem like I was only staying for food... yea.. I hope I hear back from them soon too, they seemed to like me and I think it will be a nice family to know and have as friends. :)

Back at home, I watched the tail end of a Smallville episode and then chatted to Carole for a while before both of us got tired and decided to go to bed. I then came an wrote in my travel journal and typed this. Voila.

I enoyed today.

Part 8: Hypermache

I really dont have much to reprot today, and so its gonna be a short blog. I am going to add a poll straight after this about whether I should post daily or not, because today seems a bit pointless, but you may still want my daily update, I dunno... so fill in the poll and I will totes maybe follow what it says :D

Okay, today... I woke up, had a shower, had breaky (*note* I dont mind the milk so much now, I have Frosties [sugar coated cornflakes, we have them in aus] and/or Special K but when I have the frosties, the milk tastes sugary and then its perfect!) and then got on the computer to webcam chat with the mother and sister. That was good, but this morning I was a bit flat, I could feel the start of a cold coming and I was uber tired so.. yes apologies for my flatness mum, Elle. I have decided I look weird on webcam too, my little fangie things look more noticeable and I look
a lot thinner, I dunno... I dont like it :/ This convo was cut short though because Carole thought it would be best if we went and got my tickets to Paris at that point. So, off we went to Goncelin station and we spent 25 mins organising my tickets. I ended up also getting a card thing (which is massive and impractical) which allows me to recieve up t 50% discounts on trains :D so, that was good. I leave for Paris at 11am Monday morning I think... :D

Back home, I had another convo, this time with Tam. We tried webcamming but for somereason it didnt work and so we had to normal MSN, tragedy, I know...That convo was cut off early as well though because Carole was going to a hypermarket and asked if I wanted to come-along. Why not?

The hypermarket was about 20 mins away and was so worth going to. I dont know why, I just really liked it. For those of you who dont quite know what a hypermarket is, it is: MASSIVE its like JB Hi Fi + Toy world+ Sport shop + Supermarket + ...everything in between. It sold anything and everything, clothes, electronics, food, ski's I dunno... everything. It was quite an impressive shop. Also, there was a McDonalds, I didnt go to it, but I was happy to see one so close to my house. I will go there one day and eat it. I look forward to that day... haha :P We orignally went to the Hypermarket to buy a USB cord for Caroles printer and also a Xbox 360 game for Bastiens friend who tomorrow is having a birthday party. We ended up leaving with those things + pain de chocolat (Chocolate filled croissants.. drools), a roast chicken, various stationary requirements, A baguette aanndd some other stuff my brain has decided not to store. It was fun. Haha.

Back at home, I had a quick dawdle on the piano for the first time properly. My god, I am awful. Awful. I really want to start practice again, but its just not the same without my piano... I miss it :( Oh well, I hopefully will get back into it and not be to self-conscious about practicing here ASAP! I should start tomorrow...

After piano Carole went and got Tim and thus I spent the rest of the afternoon entertaining him I think, I cant really remember what I did in detail. We played various games he bought out...We tried watching tv but there was nothing he wanted to watch, so I played more games ( I think becuase I was tired I wasnt the most fun... but at least it kept him from fiddling around whilst tv was on) Tea was next, we had the chicken we bought. OH! I also, showed Carole and Tim where I lived in Aus at some point today... that was fun... Sorry random thought. After tea we watched Hannah Montanna with Fanny and then Bastien, Carole and I watched more smallville, I like that show, its growing on me :)

Um... is that it? I am sure I am missing something, I apologise but its 12.36 and I am uber tired with bits of a cold starting. My brain is sooo not functioning. OH! Also, Jacinta, I forgot to mention yesterday at school, I was wearing my lucky underpants - I felt special. xD

Righto, sleep. Goodnight :D

Part 7: L'Universite

Yes thats right, I am now a French University student... officially!

I apologise for my lateness in blogging, I was way to tired last night to do anything so I am now doing it a day late... Sorry.

So, Yesterday.. what did I do? Oh yes! I woke up uber early (well, 7,30am...) and zombied around the house until 8.30 getting ready to go to my first day at uni. It was odd being up at that time and not being the last one to eat breakfast and see the kids getting ready for school. Its good to know that French kids are also tired in the morning. At 8.30 Carole drove me into Grenoble where my uni is. She was only doing that this once so that she could show me the ropes of the town so that I could make my own way back to St. Marie on my own via public transport that night and thus from now on.

When I first got to the (massive) uni, Carole showed me the office and then left me to fend for myself. I filled in like two forms (thats all you need to do to get in... stupid Australia and their stupid ENTERs) and then met up with my teacher and went to class. The class was a fair hike though accross the campus and so in that time the teacher chatted to me in French and I think was trying to assess my comprehension and such. In case I didnt mention - its a class to learn french. I got into the class and the first thing that was noticed - I was the only guy. Oh well, I am sorta used to that by now :P The teacher introduced me (as Duck. Not even Doog... Duck...) and then I sat down next to a Canadian named Tabitha. Then the class introduced themselves to me in French. It was really interesting becuase between the 10 of us there were 8 nationalities (I'll try to list them: 2xAustralians [WIN!], 2x German, 1x Spanish, 1xPortugese 1xRussian and 1xAmerican, it is pretty cool) Listening to everyone speak french was so hard because not only were they speaking french but some of the more beginner frenchies had huuuge foreign accents which I really had to tune in for.

The class has apparently three levels of students. Beginners, intermediate and advanced. I think I sit in the intermediate for speaking but the advanced for comprehension and writing (its not the hardest course, I dont think) Because I was new, the teacher put me in a group with the more beginner-intermediate. It was an easy start, we were doing passe compose which I have done sooo many times, but I still didnt say much.. I didnt know anyone :( I did start chatting to the other Australian a little bit which was good - we both liked the familiar accents.

After a while, another class come in to our room and kicked us out, so we left and went accross the campus again to a different room. Whilst waiting for the teacher, a few of the students sat down and then the worst thing happened: An alarm went off! We didnt know wat it was at first, so we stood there dumbly until we realised it was the fire alarm!! We made our way down stairs and then again stood around like idiots whilst waiting for further instruction. Waiting, getting ushered out into the freezing cold, waiting... Finally it turned out the stupid thing was just a drill and we could all go back inside slightly annoyed. Why would there be a fire drill at a French Language University in the middle of winter? Stupid. Stupid. Stupid Uni... Oh well..

We finally got into our next room and did more exersizes based on the passe compose in my group, the were really easy but it was good because it gave me a chance to help and then strike up a conversation with the people in my group. Later, we listened to two of the advanced students give speeches on famous french people and made notes. That was pretty easy too I think, there was some tricky words in there I didnt quite understand but all in all, I learnt some stuff about some people. A bit after that we went to watch a video that didnt work so we were allowed to go for lunch. A group of about 5 went down to the cafeteria thing downstairs so I went with them talking to the other Australian (Maria, btw..hello if you are reading this! -we swapped blogs) She is doing Au Pair - like everyone else in the class. But her ultimate goal is to learn French (from scratch!) and then go into Paris to study fashion design. She has a scholarship for a course there. Woo! I also bought two twix bars and a bottle of water for later :)

Anyway, at 1.30 we made our way to our third classroom for the day (thus confusing me for when I go back in two weeks, where the hell do I go?) We ended up having a choice of three different exersizes. I ended up readin some articles then having to explain them to the class. The reading was really easy, and the teacher said that it would be, for me but the explaining wasnt so good. I really hate talking infront of a class in a foreign language. I ended up letting someone else do it haha. I did talk about one but it was about French wages and such, thus really boring and I forgot all the numbers so I basically had to read it again as I spoke.. it was pretty stupid. After we ended up watching a different video - a news real about short holidays... I dunno why this made news but it did and it was pretty tricky to understand.

At 3.30 it was time to go home. I tagged along with the American, Canadian and Aussie who were all going to the Tram stop (Yes! Tram, I remember someone telling me that people would go to melbourne and be shocked by trams, they are apparently pretty rare in the world. I am yet to see this... hehe) I got the others to show me how to buy a ticket and then caught the tram to my trainstop and then got a nice lady to help me with the trains. That was fun :)

I arrived at Goncelin station, where Carole met me and then drove me back home. There, I played games with Tim until another great thing happened to me. Maiken (my cousin who is in Paris on Monday-Wed) and I finally organised meeting up. I am off to Paris to stay with her and her mum (Francis, I think?) for the time they are there :) I cannot wait! I was so excited when it was settled what I was doing. I cant wait to see someone I know AND see Paris properly xD WOO!! So, special thankyou to Maiken for exsisting and inviting me to tag along- you made my day.

After, I had tea and then it was arranged that I was to go to the cinema again, this time just with Carole to go see some film about a french singer who is dead now.. We rushed the kids to bed with Bastien now i charge and then went to Pontcharra cinemas. Unfortunately, due to bad weather, the cinema hadnt actually recieved the film and it was closed. Disappointed, we drove back and then ended up watching the Music show I've previously mentioned. We did organise to see it another time though. We'll see how that pans out ey?

Right, thats about it. I will do another one tonight, but dont expect much, I havent done anything really :S

Anyway

Hope all is well,

Catchya :D

Part 6- Les Princesses d'Hanball ...?

Okay! I am in a hurry but if I dont do todays one I never will. It is 11.31pm and I have to be up tomorrow at 7.30am because I have school! (wish me luck...)

So today, as per usual my morning was slow and pretty laid back. I was on msn for a bit had breaky.. the usual... After I was showered and ready Fanny, who if you recall has Wednesdays off (like Tim and Bastien but without the skiing...), wanted help with her homework. I obliged which was funny because I was helping her with her French homework but actually helping... I knew the answers to questions she didnt - it was very odd but it sure made me feel smart :P After we also did some English homework but it was much to easy for her and very Americanised, so it annoyed me and I didnt help that much. Instead I just stared out the window at the fresh batch of snow which had formed over night - amazing no?! :)

Later Carole, Fanny and I made lunch. It was a salad with various leftovers on the side. It was yum. I then killed time playing card games and such and going on my computer until about 4pm where it was decided we would go to the cinema. Tim had got home, so the four of us went to go see 'The Princess and the Frog' but it was all in French so I should say 'La Princesse et la Grenouille' I was a bit worried I wouldnt understand anything and thus be bored throughout the whole film but once again I was suprised as this was not the case. I understood most things except for the songs and this stupid firefly who had some ridiculous accent. It was a cute film though and thus easy to watch and I think it helped that the story was easy to follow so if I did miss bits, I could still catch on. It was funny though because the baddy in the film scared Tim a little so he had to hide with his mum... poor Tim...:P

Upon getting him, I was promptly dragged into the worl of games again and played until about 7 where I was rushed into dinner (A quickly whipped up Omelette with bread and left-over salad) then given tickets to go see a handball match. Now, I was always under the impression that I was going to go see Fanny play handball (hanball) mais non! It was a full on 'professional' match. It was me and Fanny who were going but with a family friends family. The family were really good because all of them were easy to understand when they spoke French - perfection.

We went to a stadium and watched Frances best team Chambery (yes, thats the town near mine) take on an annihilate Nante. Apparently, France is the worlds best handball country so, apparently the game I was watching was world class. I dunno, to me, it seemed like such a stupid game. But the crowd loved it and the atmosphere, although ridiculous, was pretty impressive. There was a commentator the whole way through, who never actually talked about the game, he just wanted to get the crowds singing and cheering for Chambery (it was a VERY biast crowd, not one person was barracking for Nante :( hehe) I didnt cheer much but I did enjoy it at, some of the goals looked pretty cool. It was still a bit of a lame sport nonetheless haha. I think, some people found it to be a very... manly (maybe not the right word... tough?) game, because they deliberatly charge each other or sometimes 'accidently' knock someone over. To me, it seemed very wussy because they would fall over when a ball hit them... It wasnt even thrown all that hard. I dunno, maybe its because I am comparing to AFL (basically the only other live sport I've been to) where people actually do get injured... Oh well! It was fun. I did randomly get a strike of homesickness but that was just ridiculous.. I dont know why I got it then... Stupid.

Also, Carole gave me 20 Euro to buy food and drinks for Fanny and I, so I bought us unhealthy stuff that I probably shouldnt have because Fanny was a wee bit hyper afterwards.. oh well haha. Ermm Oh yea! They also did the cannon thing during time out that they have on the simpson (the thing that killed Maude Flanders...) A girl would come out with a cannon and shoot out t-shirts into the audience- me and Fanny were the first people to get one. It was awesome. Everyone around us was so jealous haha. Fanny actually won it, but its much to big for her so I am gonna con it out of her as a souvenir.

Okay, sorry its a bit rushed. But thats the update for today. School tomorrow - I am scared haha EARLY.

Hope all is well. COMMENTS?!

x

Part 5: Pure Pwnage LOL

Okay, this time I wont lie - seriously short...

Today I didnt do much at all! I went grocery shopping with Carole and that was my highlight haha :) we bought coke... hehe it was good :)

Also, I started to speak more French than usual today and enjoyed that... the kids unerstood me and so I felt like I was making a good start. Today marks the one week of living in this house. I am so settled in now, I think.. I still forget where somethings go though but being around the people is just normal now. I like playing the games and speaking French rather than English because I love saying 'your turn' which is 'A-toi' (I dont know the spelling because I dont actually know which verb 'a' comes from.. either way its good fun :) )

Today, Fanny and Tim also decided they were able to wrestle me... that wasnt fun really until I told them not to hit me on the head, and showed them I was stronger by throwing each of them accross the room - they loved it though... so they kept coming back for MORE BWAHAHA.... I ended up getting a bit frustrated though because they didnt understand enough was enough haha. Oh well, in the end Carole came in to see what the fuss was about and I complained they wouldnt leave me alone - she said something very quickly and the kids stopped ... but they said they would get me tomorrow.. I am scared...

I am also taking Fanny to a handball comp tomorrow. That should be interesting. You'll find out how it went... in the next exciting episode of... this...thing... :D

As Tam would say - toodles you

Part 4: Musical Beginnings

A quick post today!

Today was a really good day for me. I started something! Win!

The morning was okay. I got up and dawdled me way through breakfast and showering etc. All the kids were gone and Benoit had left for Canada (he is going for work but he is gonna check ot the Olympics and go over to LA too. I think he is gone for 10 days) This was good, I was in no rush so I just listened to the radio and chillaxed.

Later, Carole wanted to go for a walk and pick up a guitar for one of Bastiens friends who was coming here with Bastien before his guitar lessons.. or something..I didnt understand all that well. Anyway, the point is, we were going for a walk. We drove up to le Flanchere which is about 10 minutes away (*note* Tim goes to school in Flanchere - irrelevant? yes...) When e arrived we did the things that we had to then commenced our walk.

The walk was very tiring going up and down really steep hills and such in a forresty area but it was very very pretty.. like everything in this area. I loved looking at everything as I went and seeing the mountains and river and such. Very very nice. We also got some chats in there as well which was good too. We saw a cowfarm too. That was funny. The cows were so fluffy because of winter, so they looked much cooler than Australian cows.

I learnt about the fountains on the street too whilst on this walk. You drink out of them apparently. The water at the bottom looks gross and I am pretty sure it goes through a cycle thing of filthy pipes so I didnt drink it but Carole did and she is alive and well.. so I am sure it was fine. Besides, on some fountains there were signs saying you cant drink the water which means all the rest are fine... Hmm...

Anyway back at home again I met the Beyliers house cleaner. She was like all other house cleaners I have had... very talkative and is never keen to let you leave... even if you dont really know what they are on about. I just smiled and nodded.

Come 5.30 I had to go. Today I gave a piano lesson to Ancke's (prev. mentioned - german) son whose name I cannot pronounce or spell. It starts with a 'C'. Now, this was a challenge I had been partly dreading all day. The kid (who I will call Charlie) a) cannot speak ANY English b) is 8 but has a slight handicap which makes him slightly slower than normal kids and c) speaks in a manner that for me, is harder to understand than anyone I have ever met before. SO! How did it go?! AWESOMELY! I loved it! He understood me perfectly and in the hour I was with him he learnt how to read the notes up to 'Las' (Oh! In France, I dont know if I mentioned it but music is different rather than a,b,c,d,e,f,g they use do,re,mi,fas,sol,las,si,do..[do being c not a!] another challenge!) and he started using the correct fingers on the notes. I was very proud of him and myself and Ancke was very appreciative. I am going back next week sometime and am booked in for the next three months apparently.

It put me in the best mood too. Doing something like that was just a good break from the 'norm' here and gave me something else to concentrate on. It was great. That meant when I got back tea was ready and the Beyliers probably got to see me in the best mood I'd been in yet :D it was good :)

After we watched smallville (in English, it felt good to be the one explaining things rather than the other way around) and then I came and typed this.

Okay.. I even tried condensing this.. and its still longish... sorry.

Thats it for today. Till next time!