Christmas ♥

So here I am, a billion kilos heavier, yet très très contente*...

Christmas in France is an experience I'll never forget :) It was amazing to be part of the family; I felt comfortable, happy and at home. ^^

On the contrary, I spoke to Australia 3 times in the space of 24hrs, was that a good idea? It made me miss them, but it was so nice to talk to them at the same time. There was this one moment where I remember how every Christmas, we sit by the christmas tree and my Nanna puts on her santa hat and gives out the presents, it sounds silly but kind of upset me...



ANYWAY, I think me, SuziQ and Katie have reached the 'I miss Perth' stage. We are all in love with France, but we miss our family and friends. If I could bring the whole of Perth to France with me, I think THAT would make a perfect Christmas. (:

Here are some highlights from the Celebration;

Present wrapping;

And present giving;

An epic eat fest; ^^

Trying Foie Gras; :O

Which may I mention wasn't all that bad!

It tastes like the texture of cream cheese and the flavour of salt.

Oh and it also tastes like obesity. LOL Jannie ^^

Bouche de Noel, aka a French Christmas cake;

We ate 3 of them in 2 days!

Oh and the little chocolate one was just for me :D

By tradition, we did all the celebrating on Christmas Eve. I went to Christmas Mass which was the most beautiful thing ever, and then we started dinner at 10.30pm! Therefore, After eating, eating, eating, and opening presents ^^, we finished the celebrating at 3AM. Yep, I'm serious :D So we all slept until midday, and then started Christmas day 'lunch' at 4pm.

Overall, it was an amazing couple of days, I hope you all had the most amazing christmas too! Even if it was 40 degrees and you were having a BBQ while in Rouen it was sitting on a comfortable zero, and I was eating duck liver! XD What a contrast :)

Miss you Perth! ♥

Also, missing my Wallooppillai's in QLD, and my girlies in Dijon and Metz. I can't wait to squidge you all! Paris blog coming soon :)

à bientôt!

Dani xoxo

p.s. *for all you non frenchies, très très contente = very very happy :)

WEEK 2 / WEEK 3

16/12

Coucou tout le monde !!

Weeks 2 and 3 have been pretty uneventful, so I thought I'd combine them.

A lot of school atm, poor Eva is swamped with exams. :S

So I sit there writing postcards, reading...and sleeping. *giggles*

WEEK 2

Well by week 2 I was pretty well adjusted to Rouen,

and the French ways of life.

School 6 days a week, (YES I GO SATURDAY MORNING TOO), late dinners, coffee + TV time with Eva, kebabs with Juliette, and rendez-vous at the ice kating rink in front of the hôtel de ville (the hown hall. Also note that I have now accomplished adding accents on letters with the french keyboard! It's more difficult than it looks! -- ô,â,î,ë :D)

When the french go out on Saturday nights they go to: A concert, a gathering, a movie or a bar. YES, a bar; it's surprising that they don't ask for ID when you enter. It's ok though, we just sit and chat, it's quite relaxing. :) On the Saturday night of the 2nd week, I went to O'Kallaghans with Eva and Gauthier, before going to a concert which began 1 hour late; Me and Eva ended up coming home and watching TV till 1 in the morning. ^^

My Sunrise; With orange juice and grenadine <-- A fruit with the BEST FLAVOUR EVER. :)

Sunday was my first REAL french speaking session! We went to a family friend's house, and the most english I got out of them was thankyou, and good D: So I spoke a little french, and listening a lot. Surprisingly I understood quite a bit of what was said !!

THE PRETTY HOUSE <3

A friendly game of French Scrabble, with help from Cathie! :D

I'd also like to add that we made a cake for dessert on that day.
...A CHOCOLATE cake !!
Cooking with Cathie was very productive, at times! ;D

Cathie doing the 'difficult' work :P

Raja enjoying the leftovers! :D

...And some fatty. ^^

The finished product - I got a MASSIVE piece of that!

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WEEK 3

This week was SO Christmasy! It makes me so excited! There's lights in the streets, the christmas markets + ice skating rinks are open, but still WE HAVE NO CHRISTMAS TREE! Lawl, no pressure though, they are being sold on every second street. :)

On Monday night I went to the theatre, to see a show called "Les Douze Pianos d'Hercule" - It's quite simple to figure out what that means, douze = 12, and I wonder what pianos means... ;)

The whole show was this crazy guy playing piano, and telling the crowd how the piano piece told a story about a little boy called Frederick at Christmas time. He was very funny, and the parts where I understood what he was saying made me giggle. ^^

AND, I have another cake story! So in France, every day of the year corresponds to a certain Saint of the Catholic church, you know; Saint Peter, Saint Nicholas, etc. ANYWAY, so this week o friday it was St Daniel, which also means... ST DANIELLE! :D :D :D

Yep, the fatty got more cake! :D It was cool though, because Nadim and Hagere were there too. It felt just like my birthday all over again. ^^

(from left, in case you forgot) - Raja, Hagere, Nadim, Cathie, Eva :)

This weekend I went and saw 'Paranormal Activity', in French of course! I was SO scared, even though I didn't understand much- just the swear words. *giggles* Afterwards, we had McDonalds for tea- now let me explain things about french McDonalds! -

1. The colour of the outside of the store is GREEN. It was really confusing because we were 'walking to McDonalds', and I didn't even realise we were there!

2. On the drinks menu, there's BEER. Interesting no? But not surprising, these french people love their alcohol. I would also like to mention that there is icetea on the menu, something that the Australian maccas should take on. :)

3. So these french people are smart. There is a normal line, but instead of waiting in line, you can just walk up to a machine, and order your food there! It is really exciting to do actually, but then again its quite lazy haha. ^^

On Sunday, we did some mega shopping at 'Les Docks' - A shopping centre a bit like Whitties or the Galleria. And I tell you what, Christmas spirit was all around! And in France, the decorations MOVE! It's so amazing, take a look:

Yep, the bear is stirring porridge or something, but I don't know what they're doing on that horse :/

A MOVING hockey game! ^^

Me, Eva and the peadophile beaver :/ He kept talking to us in English...

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Hmmm...Now that I think about it, heaps of stuff has happened in the past 2 weeks, I just haven't noticed it. Many things are still new to me :) Christmas isn't too far away now! I hope it's gonna be a white one here in Rouen.

à bientôt!

Dani. xoxo

DIFFERENCES

8/12

SO, I thought I'd write a little blog about the differences between Australia and France:

1. SCHOOL HOURS

So, we go to school on average from 8.30 - 4.30. So don't go complaining to me about your 9.00-3.00! The upside is that we get an hour for lunch, so me and Eva go home and watch 'Friends' - in French of course! :D

But today, I honestly fell asleep during class! I was even dreaming!

Good thing it was only the biology teacher.

Him: (In French) You follow Eva in all of her classes?

Me: Huh? I mean... oui. ^_^

Him: It is boring for you?

Me: Yesssss, a lot of the time.

I'd like to give you all a description of my teachers:

~ Physics/Chem: A woman who speaks with a horrible accent according to everyone, likes to shout at the class, and you can never get a smile out of her! I got a tiny one yesterday, though I think it was just the way her mouth was moving as she said "merci".

~ History/Geography: One of those men whom you can't tell if he is gay or not... He has the potential though haha. We get to have breaks when he's had enough of the class or needs to have a smoke. Don't like him much - I can't read during his class. -_-

~ Philosophy: A very agreeable woman, she told me how much she loves Jane Austen, so she gets brownie points for that. The only thing is, she REALLY needs to wash her hair...And shave her armpits! D:

~ Biology: A relitavely nice man, who doesn't mind if I text/fall asleep in his class. Today he was teaching us using plastic trees and giraffes, I don't know why! *giggles*

~ Maths: This lady is quite nice, but if she gets annoyed you'll hear about it. She likes to tell Eva off a lot, just because she talks to me! :S

~ Italian: This woman is really cute - She speaks beautiful Italian, and beautiful French. Unfortunately, she doesn't speak a word of English.

~ English: Well, this is OBVIOUSLY my favourite class! The teacher makes me pronounce things all the time so I feel kinda pro. Everyone loves me in that class haha. :)

But no, I do not like French school very much. All the kids are really nice though, and I'm starting to understand more of their conversations. :D

The School Hall :)

2. FOOD AND EATING HABITS

I think for this one we'll do a small comparison:

Australia:
- 7.30am: The occasional breakfast, if I have time
- 10.30am: Recess
- 12.50pm: Lunch
- 4.00pm: Afternoon tea
- 6.30pm: Dinner

France:
- 8.00am: Breakfast
- 12.30pm: Lunch
- 4.30pm: Afternoon tea
- 8.30pm: Dinner (The time is on average, sometimes we eat even later)

So as you can see,
I AM ALWAYS HUNGRY ! ! !

Also, the food in France is sometimes very different !
I LOVE the cheese, yoghurt and croissants ;D
But I'm a bit hesitant about the paté...You don't know what that is? Here -

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/P%C3%A2t%C3%A9

The paté I'm going to try at Christmas is the most famous one: Frois Gras.
Basically what they do is stuff food down the throat of a geese until it dies, and then they cut out the liver and you eat it! Sounds delicious right? Well the french love it....

Frois gras; in english "fat liver"

3. THE LANGUAGE

Yeah yeah, I know, you're thinking "well obviously". But I have NEVER heard speaking THIS fast! I mean, you think I talk at the speed of light? Nope, the french do! And then it's even faster when they're excited, drunk or angry. ^_^

I like how everyone tries to talk in English to me, it's nice and much of a relief, but I really would like to speak some French! Hopefully I will soon - I've been doing a lot of listening just no speaking, except when a person speaks no English at all! The French use a lot of English words as I said before; One I picked up was that a geek is called a "no life" in France! :D

4. CHRISTMAS
I tell you what, the french go all out for Christmas! There is:

- Christmas Markets: Each year there is a theme of a different country! This year the chosen country was Canada, so there's all of the Canadian flag everywhere!

- Ice skating: IT'S THE CUTEST THING EVERRRRRR! There's one outside the town hall that everyone goes to, I really want to try it!

- Christmas Mass: Even if you're not Catholic, EVERYONE goes to Christmas Mass. It's in any church of Rouen (so you have a wide choice), and it happens late at night so you go with your family. Very pretty and intruiging, even if you don't understand. ^_^

5. THE KEYBOARDS

A regular keyboard

AZERTY Keyboard

I honestly doubt you can tell the difference, but the AZERTY keyboard allows you to use accents for French words, but some of the letters are in completely different spots! It's like, WHERE THE HELL IS THE FULL STOP? D:

I'm pretty much used to it now though, it was difficult at first!

Anyway, that's the things I've noticed that are different in Rouen. Week 2 update coming soon!

à bientot!

Dani. xoxo

WEEK 1

28/11

This week was all about adjusting;
But first, a bit about Rouen -

I've kindly circled my town just for you!
Susan is in Metz (north east), and Katie is in Dijon (east).
So yes, compared to them I'm in woop woop. -.-

My House;

My Garden!

The Family (from left) - Raja, Cathie, Nadim, Hager (Nadim's wife)

Evaaaaaa! ((:


Rouen is called "The City of 100 Churches", and they weren't lying! It has heaps of history about about the World War... I dunno which one though HAHA. But Google it, if you're into that kind of stuff. It is also the town where Joanne of Arc was burned at the stake, kinda sad, but historic. It has beautiful old fashioned houses and tiny streets, and everything is within half an hour walking distance. :)

Rouen by day

...And by night

Le Croix de Pierre, aka. The Cross of Peter
- If you ever get lost in Rouen, you ask how to get to it and you'll be on your way again.

The jetlag was worse than I thought, I had a few nights waking up at like 2am, but French coffee is MEGA strong so I ended up staying awake! Some cons of this time difference was that I was getting hungry at weird times, and also - THE FRENCH DON'T SNACK! So I'm sitting at school telling Eva I'm hungry every 5 minutes. But you know me, a fatty on the inside ^_^

My little kitchen! :D


School was an interesting experience, a lot of being excluded from conversations because I couldn't understand, but then everyone trying to speak english to me; it's super cute :D Also, they say many english words, ones which aren't really suitable for my blog... haha. In every class I was introduced as "the australian correspondant". Eva's history teacher is the craziest teacher EVER though! Even I was laughing, and I couldn't even understand half the things he was saying!

Hmmm..Oh, a funny story. So on Sunday, aka my first day, we went to a thing a bit like the Perth Royal Show. In fact, it was bigger than that, heaps more rides, and every 20m there was a crepe place ^_^

The Rouen Show

Juliette, Eva, Me

Ok, so here's the funny story. So I got hit on by my first french boy. -.-
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So i was sitting at the bus stop with Eva and her friend, and this guy comes up and starts talking to me. I looked at him blankly, and eva's friend begins to tell him that i am australian and that i dont speak french. so THEN he asks her how to say "belle" in english, and so he goes

Guy: You are very beautiful!
Me: Haha... thankyou?
Guy: I kiss you!
Me: ohhhh non non non non non ! !

So we get on the bus and he sits near me and keeps talking

Guy: So, what is your name?
Me: *looks at Eva* ummm... Danielle.
Guy: Oh, it is a nice name.

And so he asks me how old i am and we all sit there awkwardly until he gets to his stop;

Guy: *says something in french*
Me: *realising he is asking for my number* umm noooo...
Guy: ah ok... bonsoir

So we wait until he gets off the bus;
Us: AAAAAAAAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHHHAHAHAHA
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Yep, it had to be me didn't it. But this week has been the first week of a great adventure. I LOVE the Salmans to pieces, I feel like part of the family already. I've struggled with communicating, but we always find ways to. :) Oh and I saw New Moon in french! Didn't understand much, only like "Je t'aime" hahaha.

Looking forward to:
- The Christmas markets! (They sometimes have ice skating!)
- Our trip to Paris! (most likely after Christmas)

Anyway, I'm out!
à bientot!
Dani. xoxo

THE JOURNEY

Bonjour mes amis!

Bienvenue à ma blog ((:

OKAY OKAY, I'll speak English!
Here's a little insite on the journey to France:

Yep, Perth --> Paris!
We made a stop to KL on the way

Honestly, it was the most draining 21 hours of my life! Having to say goodbye to family and friends for 2 months was the hardest part, I'm missing them like crazy right now...
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The family minus Nathan :)

The Grandparents ^_^

The KCC Crew :D

Mum - The person I'll miss the most.
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ANYWAY, enough of the soppy stuff haha.
So there we were; Me Susan and Katie. Off on a BIG adventure by ourselves!
- Notice the attractive "Nacel" hats *giggles*

It was hours of attempted sleep, cookie eating and practicing French. I was EXTREMELY disappointed when the stupid airport man took my Vegemite off me! So what if it was 142g, I'm not gonna make a bomb out of it! It was interesting that on the way to Paris we were surrounded by french people, most likely thinking "Those stupid Australians and their awful French!"
Oh and there were these Asians behind us that kept complaining about me. ^_^

So it was 6.05am, and we arrived in Paris. The weather - Cold but fresh.
I said goodbye to Katie at the Airport, and Susan at the station. :(

But my spirits were then lifted by my first French coffee! I tell you what, it was AMAZING!
I also asked for a croissant, YES - in French! It was terribly exciting :D

So then it was Me, Erin and Maxile (the chaperone) on the train. After about an hour or so, I arrived in Rouen! Tired, hungry and smelly I met my homestay family - The Salmans. They were SO welcoming, and fed me up straight away! ^_^ So here I am, Rouen France. Trying to keep up with the French, and jetlagged to the max.

à bientot!
Dani. xoxo