Vendee

So there is a lot of places that I’ve visited over my past fifteen weeks now. I’m just going to spend a week updating everyone on where I’ve gone. This is Vendee. I went here with Rotary. It was a exchange weekend for all of the exchange students in France. It was an advertisement for peace. Look see all these young children from different countries can get along so everyone else can. It was surprisingly fun. I went for four days. My host sister from my fourth family came with me. She was one of four French students who were there. For the peace we marched through the freezing ocean. We were going on a peace walk and the Rotarians forgot to count the tide into their plans so we had to wait for it to go down. Eventually they just gave up and made us walk along the road still flooded by the ocean. It was so so so cold. But once you were in the water your feet went numb so it didn’t hurt as much. When I got out of the water the South African student and I ran back in so our feet could renumbify and stop hurting. We made a giant sand sculpture for peace where everyone made a face. We each laid a tile for a peace mural that had Rotary’s emblem on. We each had to perform a skit from our country in a talent show other people actually paid to be at. An Australian girl got up and called out ‘Aussie’s where the bloody hell are ya?’ and so I was pushed on stage. We sang Waltzing Matilda, I Still Call Australia Home and Give Me A Home Among The Gumtrees. No one had actually planned Australia’s skit. We just got up and someone would start singing and all would join in. I was the one who was given the microphone so I just held it up to someone else. I had no sleep that weekend. When you go on a Rotary weekend you set your expectations at that you’re going to be sleeping in a old warehouse building. So it was brilliant when we arrived at an actually camping park and we each got a cabin for four. Ours didn’t have hot water though but that wasn’t too disappointing because the fact we had electricity was keeping us all very happy.

All of the Australian exchange students in France. The only other one in my Australian district is Melinda who is in front of me in a white coat. Lloyd is the student in my French district. He lives in Perth. Hes the first boy on the left at the back with blond hair.

Some of the students from my French districts. We are about to go walking through the freezing ocean. We are all wearing a white shirt that says Rotary, pour la paix. It was our district that started the trend of wearing the shirts over the top of your giant coat. Made you feel very fat but jeez did we look cool. It was hilarious to try and get those shirts off afterwards though. Everyone had to go and help everybody else.

 

Vendee’s Beach. It’s pretty. I’m quite impressed as to how this photo turned out. It was at Vendee that I broke my camera. I dropped it in the sand and sand got stuck all through the lens so it doesn’t open and close very well now. It does if you shake it. I just took photos for my brother and managed to drop my camera then. Sorry mum. I backed up all my photos today too. I burned about nine CDs. I will send them home soon with my next parcel. Did it arrive yet?

On a random note I would like to include a whinge. I’m that kind of person who likes to keep text messages. And after I go through them every now and then. I still have messages on my Australian mobile (cause I have an Australian one and a French one now) from a year ago. Just because I liked the message. So my French phone apparently only holds 250 messages. My inbox is full. My phone is cranky at me because its trying to receive another message. So I’m sorry whoever texted me. I haven’t replied because I don’t want to delete messages to free up space for your message. And when I do delete messages it had better be the holy grail of messages that contains the freakin’ meaning of life.

I have a day off tomorrow from school. It is the day that the World War stopped for France so they have a national holiday. Unfortunetly my family will be studying for their end of year exams so I think I will take the day to keep reading my French book. If all the other kids are studying then there will be no one to watch me look up every second word in the dictionary.

Mother, tell me when my package arrives. Thank you for my jacket too. It was hot today. I was only in a short sleeved shirt. Apparently it was 28 degrees but it didn’t feel like it at all. I would have said maybe 24 degrees. We had a BBQ. The BBQ’s here are smoke BBQs. The literally build a fire and then stick meat over the top. I don’t know how to explain how Australian’s BBQ. Just going to go with we grill things with beer.

Lest We Forget

A lot of arrangements went in for Friday 25th April. The other Australian exchange student and the New Zealand student were coming to my house on Thursday night for us to wake up at three in the morning after two hours sleep to drive to Villers-Bretannuax for the first ANZAC Dawn Service to honour the 90th anniversary. It was brilliant. The beauty and simplicity as to how it was done. Everyone was there to honour these men. And everyone walked away not with the memory of the horror they suffered, but of what we were to go away to do to make sure that those men had not died for no reason. For years whenever a one minutes silence was observed I had thought it was my duty to sit through and imagine what the soldiers had gone through. This year instead, I thought about the amazing things that was possible for me to do because of what these men had done. I’d never realised how good Australia is. Australian life had just been what I had come to expect and believed I deserved. I thought about how these men had somewhere realised that this way of life had to be protected. So this year I honoured these men by not thinking of just the terrible thing war is, but also of the life after war had created. Every speech given at the service spoke of the men courage, determination, youth, spirit and their utter brilliance to what they had done. We should honour these men’s sacrifice by now going forth and continuing the fight for the right for all to experience the values they had fought for. The service was movable in its simplicity and message to think of what we should now do to ensure that we continue what these boys had fought for. I did love that through the whole ceremony you could just feel everyone saying thank youand their gratefulness and their promise to continue to believe in the Aussie way of life. Through the ceremony while everyone was being respectful there was a feeling that all were feeling so proud to be there and so happy at the same time. There was an Aussie feeling. I don’t know how to explain it other than that. You always here the stories of Aussie’s going to share a beer with their mates. It had that feeling but with coffee so we could stay awake. There was such deep respect, happiness, comradeship and just plain old cheek essentially. I will never forget that. It’s what those soldiers want to be carried on. They would want us to have that Aussie feeling. And everyone honoured them by just naturally having that.

My grandparents had planned to come to the ceremony but had to postpone their trip until September. I have tourist information for you I am sending home. Grandad asked me for some photos. I have some movies for you instead. They don’t actually work on the blog. I had a tantrum about that so I will just email them to you.

20.8 kilos plus just a few more

So I’m doing this to be humble. I know it’s opening up a whole range of mock and burns. But I’ll hit you with the closer anyway just to see if they can only be second degree aunt burns.

So as I’ve explain I changed back from my second host family to my first again. I will go back to my second host family at the start of May to come back to my first at the start of June as that is the time for High School exams and my brothers will be studying. I arrived at my second families house and my host mother unpacked all of my things. She said to me ‘Ashleigh you have so little clothes and shoes!’ Seriously you would not believe how much stuff I had and yet I understand because it would be maybe a quarter of my wardrobe at home. I’ve been able to keep and fit into my clothes from grade eight so my wardrobe just keeps getting bigger. It’s not that I buy a lot. So because my host mother was so shocked she took me shopping a fair bit. And I did some shopping. But most of my shopping was for presents – for real. So I kinda left my second families house at three months with this:

That what you’re looking at ladies and gentlemen would be one large suitcase (parentals if your child goes overseas for a year buy them the big suitcase so their smaller one doesn’t look so fat) that I tried to sit on to close and couldn’t actually make the clothes squash with my super strength, a little suitcase filled with shoes and bathroom products, a school bag filled with school textbooks and supplies and probably weighed as much as my big suitcase, a laptop, a handbag stuffed with last minute things I couldn’t forget, a sleeping bag, four coats to carry, one Australia bag filled with files and necessary paperwork and little paper souvenirs I’ve collected and all my winter gear which is now too big to stuff in the big suitcase with the rest of the clothing, one Australia bag filled with Australian products I’ve been giving out as presents and then one giant shopping bag filled with presents for family and friends, people I like.

That would be my Santa Sack. Don’t be fooled by the giant school port overshadowing it, it has it’s own fair weight and size. It could take the school port in a fight. But it’s got breakables and delicate and pretty presents in it.

Inside my sack of presents. There’s nothing really there than what I haven’t already shown mum. Oh and the box that says Chloé is empty sorry. That was the perfume I bought me. It’s very pretty. The envelopes in the sack did get mailed though. They should arrive sometime this week.

This is all my presents nicely arranged. I took this after I bought the Disneyland presents. I still need something for a few people though. I did buy an awesome Alana dress today. It is so her. I love the dress and it sucks that it’s going to look better with her skin tone. The only thing we don’t have in common is skin tone. No make up sharing with us. Mum I’m sorry but all of your presents are wrapped up so you can’t really see them here either. And if they’re not wrapped, I’m not telling you which ones they are.

Alright. So I’m the only one supporting the French economy. I feel bad already. I’ve already gone through and singled out things that are indefinitely staying in France. Snow boots are cut.

You’re exactly my brand of heroin

I’m sick. I’m actually quite proud I’m sick even though it’s gross. I don’t normally go to the doctors if I’m sick. I know what’s wrong with me I don’t need to explain it to someone else. I will however willingly take the medication and tablets prescribed to me. We do not live in the stone age anymore. We had technology. And with that came the miraculous invention of lovely chemicals that keep us well and alive. So I hate it when I say ‘Mum I’ve got a headache’ and she replies ‘Haven’t drunk enough water. Go have a big glass now.’ Water was the cure for those without chemicals. I used to just go to dad whenever I was sick. ‘Now take these ones and these ones and these ones.’ And within maybe two hours and a little nap I was fine. I did however hate drinking medication. Whenever I got sick I always knew that the doctor would prescribe me that same medication. He did offer the yummy banana flavoured but I’m opposed to banana flavouring, actual and smell. So I would be stuck with the cherry. I would like to also say that it is stupid to give a child medication that they don’t want and flavour it with fruit. Most children don’t eat a lot of fruit and if they do it’s not normally cherries. Make it chocolate flavoured. We have chemicals now to do that. So I was so happy when I was allowed to be prescribed tablets. Swallow, no taste, sickness gone.

So my host mother dragged me to the doctors here after I said ‘Please stop the car’ and was sick in a parking lot off the side of the highway. The doctor turned out to be my second host dad. He laughed. Gave me a prescription and off we went. The nurse gave me boxes of medication with instructions to take one of these if you’re feeling this. I went home and found out that my medication was powder I’m supposed to mix with water and drink. I was ranting last night about how why on earth would people willingly subject themselves to this taste when there are tablets out there, this kind of medication is for babies, I’m an adult here too I want tablets so I don’t have to taste this, Nature doesn’t care if we get better using her or chemicals either way it saves our lives so why not the chemicals. My host mum picked up my box of medication, looked it over and said ‘No Ashleigh it doesn’t say anywhere on here that this is for babies.’ I tried to explain that in Australia only babies take oral medication. Everyone else gets prescribed tablets cause they’re old and wise enough not to choke themselves. I drunk the disgusting thing with a fair few glasses of water after.

So I have worked out that for me to really learn French I have to read it. I’ve always learnt and understood something by either reading it or putting it into words so I can read it back. I’ve always read. I can’t remember when or how I learnt. I was the only one in grade one to be able to read already. That never made me smarter than the other children. I was just nerdy at a younger age. In grade 11 the ‘Twilight’ craze swept most of my year. By grade 12 a lot of the girls in school had read this book. Not a masterpiece of writing and was easily devoured by me in an afternoon but oh so sweet and easy to read. I love it. I will admit that I love a good ‘I love you’ story. Not full blown man-lady stories, I love your sweet, enchanting, head over heels, never would happen in real life ‘I love you’ stories. So I found the French ‘Twilight’. Here it’s called ‘Fascination’ which I think is a much better title. So I decided to read it. At first I cheated. I just read through it while I was going through the English version in my head and putting that on top of the sentences where I thought they matched up. I’m able to memorise books. Not word for word unless I’ve read it 100 times, but the plot, the chapters, most paragraphs and some sentences. Then I was talking with my host brother and it annoyed me cause I wasn’t really learning any new words very fast. My host brother said ‘Maybe it’s cause what you’re doing now to learn isn’t the way you learn.’ So I knew I needed a book. So now I am going through ‘Fascination’ properly. It’s hard to read because you can’t read it word for word. Sometimes you have to find whole phrases that make one word to make the rest of the sentence make sense. Sentence structure is also hard for me. I don’t know a lot of French grammar yet. So doing this is really teaching me a lot more because it’s me doing this. My inner punk listens to me when I’m trying to teach it something in a way that I’ve always learnt.

The two books. The one of the left English. So I cheated a little bit. Sometimes I use the English to see how the sentence should go. And sometimes I just like to read in English again to refresh me and give my brain a rest. On the right ‘Fascination’. Such a better title.

So because I’m going through word for word there are words I don’t understand.

.

My tiny dictionary my teachers hate because I’m doing the science subjects and my dictionary is so tiny it doesn’t have scientific French terms in for me to understand what they are talking about. Then once I’ve found the word in my dictionary and it’s a verb so the form has been changed to correspond with the tense I have to go to this book:

I never used this book until I started reading Twilight. It went straight in talking about all kinds of tenses and past participles. So I ordered a book off Amazon that is for ‘English Students Learning French’ where it explains every type of tense, grammar name and then gives the French verb and then the English for all the tenses.

 

Then I write down the word in this book. Red pen for the French word. Black pen for the English. Blue pen for explanation if the word is a verb, what tense it corresponds with and which original doing word. After I’ve got the words meaning I write it in pencil very lightly in ‘Fascination’. I feel very evil for writing in a book but it’s necessary and it’s my book and the book police are going to get me.

So these are all my books I’ve been carrying around just to read one. I’ve also been getting help  with the pronunciation of the words I learnt for the day.

In true ‘Twilight’ fashion I pulled out the French book with my host sisters and host cousins around. They asked me what it was I gave it to them. They all read it. Were cranky I hadn’t bought the other books in the series. Why would I? I already have them in English at home. French ‘Twilight’ is sentimental. I found out this week that my host sister bought all the ‘Twilight’ series and was not sharing them with her brothers. I will have to tell her about the movie which is coming out. Which I will most likely miss the English version at the cinema and just can’t watch the French version though I probably will and then desperately try to get to England for it.

Oh look it’s a pretty photo of me

So I have been having fun this past week. I’ve been going through and taking all the photos that I like and editing them. Sometimes I edited them to make them pretty, darker, lighter, funny coloured but I like how these ones turned out.

Me and my Disneyland jumper. Oh you didn’t hear? I’m the new advertisement for Disneyland.

Castle I visited on my second day here.

My eiffel tower I bought.

Disneyland Mainstreet and Castle. A slightly evil look.

It’s spring so all the little flowers came up everywhere. I like them even if they are a pest.

Me in Disneyland. My host brother likes this one the most.

Laons Cathedral.

Me and Lani.

Inside of Amiens Cathedral.

Bumblebee.

Strasbourg Cathedral.

Tiny little chicken thingy that isn’t a chicken

My mother has asked that I provide a window into my day here in France. This is a window into the relationship I have with my host brothers and a night I spent with them, laughing at them, being teased by them and then running away from them as they either a) came to tickle me or b) had a tiny little chicken thingy that wasn’t really a chicken.

It was my last night with my second host family before I came back to my first. I’m back with my first now. I’m here for a month and then moving back to my second family’s home the start of May. The parents came home from work and decided that they were going to go out on a date. But they were going to go to the living room and the children would cook them a nice meal with courses. So all of us children who were playing playstation came downstairs into the kitchen. We were going to make the easiest meals ever. The freezer was raided and many a frozen meal was quickly shoved in the oven. I bags making dessert. I made pavlova. The boys were looking at me funny when I made it. They said ‘Are you sure you know how to make meringue’ I kept having to explain it’s not meringue it’s pavlova. Kangaroo food it was declared. Unfortunately my nickname there is tiny, cute kangaroo. No. That name will not stick. After they ate it they apologised because it was good. I wish I got a photo of how they ate it. They just all had a spoon and attacked it. I didn’t get any photos cause I was in there with them.

So for entree we made those frozen pastry puffs with different coloured and flavoured sauces on top and a salad. Of course even though the foods were easy they looked gorgeous. My eldest brother is studying art at Uni. He can’t cook so he was the official decorator. For the main meal we cooked a big thing of pasta, that was also our dinner, and the my host brother pulled out two tiny, frozen chicken thingys that wasn’t really chicken. They could have fit in the palm of my hand. They got defrosted and the pan with oil and herbs was ready for them. My brother pulled them out ready to put them in when he noticed the chicken thingys that weren’t chicken still had their lovely heads. Exclamations of disgust and me laughing went round. Chases ensued of me yelling ‘keep the chicken thingy away from me’. Discussions of ‘Do we leave the head or cut it off?’ were pondered. It went like this

‘Hey guys look. Chicken thingys still got a head’

‘What kind of a chicken thingy has still got a head?’

‘Hey Ashleigh look at the head.’

‘Oh it’s still got a beak and everything. Don’t bring it near me.’

‘Is it supposed to still have a head?’

‘Maybe you’re supposed to eat it.’

‘Oh gross the French really do eat weird things.’

‘We don’t eat chicken thingys heads.’

‘Well cut it off.’

‘No way you don’t get to have the knife.’

‘Let’s use this huge knife.’

‘Yeah the huge knife!’

‘Guys be careful with the huge knife.’

Tiny little chicken thingy that isn’t a chicken going in for decapitation. Also ‘I’m going to get you with the chicken thingy.’ ‘Sim… he’s going to get me with the chicken thingy.’

Big knife, tiny chicken. Surprisingly enough the big knife didn’t work and they ended up using scissors to cut the head off.

Chicken thingy’s head. ‘Hey chuck me the chicken thingy’s head!’

My other half

I should start out giving an update as to how I am. At the moment I have reached the twelve week, three months and a quarter of the way through mark. I moved back in with my first host family. I only stayed here for two months before they went away to Australia so I’m back to finish my three months. They loved Australia and were so happy to see their daughter again. I am on school holidays again. It’s now my second week. Only had two weeks off. Every six weeks is two weeks of holidays. I got my school report card today. It says I’m a difficult student to evaluate but I’m lovely and well-behaved. Excellent.

I’m very happy now here. I don’t know how to explain it. The children in my second host family taught me a lot of French. I liked that I was able to talk with them and they didn’t automatically go ‘Oh no she doesn’t understand’. My host brother said to me ‘People keep saying talk English with Ashleigh because she doesn’t understand French but I keep saying yes she does. Everyone thinks that you’re just polite and just saying yes all the time. But don’t worry I know that you would complain if you didn’t understand.’ At the moment I’m at the stage where I can understand and I’m talking back but my sentence structure is bad. I just substitute the French word in for the English and most of the time the French can’t understand me because I have the words in the wrong order.

I haven’t heard from my other half in a good month. Alana is my other half. We’re bffs. This is very hard for me. From grade eight I think the longest I’ve gone not hearing anything from her is a week when she went to Victoria on the holidays. She’s currently being amazing and tough in the Army GAP year. She’s always liked the military. We differ a little bit there. She single-handily tackled the inscription (truth be told I’ve forgotten the English word I need here. So I’m just going to write the French and look up the English in the dictionary) ok it’s registration, enrollment process. She has gone through so much. She’s been ill which means she’s had to stay in basic training for longer. She’s suffered through the stress of basic training. Though she had put on a ‘No I’m fine’ I know her well enough to know what she is feeling even from here. My other half and I have always had each other. We don’t lean on each other but we’re always there. We read each others minds. We turn up to an event in the same outfit completely unplanned. I know her number off by heart for five years now.

We’re both going through something completely different but we’re united in the whole we’re away from family and what we know. I got it a little bit easier I think. I have a support network here as well as at home. I now know that Rachel sends this to Alana. Thank you so much Rachel. So this is a public acknowledgement of how amazing you are Alana. I will only ever do this for you.

You are intelligent, sympathetic, empathetic, beautiful, articulate, determined, stubborn, strong, you refuse to allow suffering, you refuse to say anything mean to someones face in case it hurts them, creative, artistic, athletic, enthusiastic, you’re the skank, you come up with the best dare you to try on outfits, love beauty products, have the best oh! exclamation, dramatic, selfless, you believe the best in people straight away, impulsive, wicked when no one else is around, confident, caring, you adore your family and all little children that come your way, have a thing for eating as much breakfast as you possibly can, have your own room in my house, am the same shoe and clothing size so have many of my things at your house, have a thing for quadratic equations, compare how much you love something to an amount of mars bars, will happily announce that you watched this adorable film on the weekend, love fairy lights, will make sure you achieve everything you want, were the one to bring me out of me shell and open up, were my first true best friend, are my other half, my evil twin and the sister I don’t have. So never forget any of these things. And if you need a reminder text me at three in the morning again and I’ll reply always. So do what you have to do. You can survive physically I know that. I support your decision. I’m your person. And I’m sorry that I’m not there. I know that at times I’ve turned around needing you and I’m sorry that you have to go through needing me and I’m not there. Remember this year is for you.

Infinity mars bars.  

The Happiest Place on Earth

Yeah I went to Disneyland yesterday. I have a lot of photos to show so I’m not going to write much.

Me in front of the giant garden Mickey head just outside of the Park

Main Street and the Disney Castle.

I went with my sister from my 4th family and my host mother from my 1st family. We’re waiting in the line for the Indiana Jones rollercoaster.

Still waiting in line. We had to something while we waited.

Pirates Ride.

Walt Disney Studios. This is a separate park.

High School Musical Parade. And it was in English too.

Me under the Disney streetpost on Main Street. There’s a photo of me under the streetpost when we went to the American Disneyland.

Finale at the end of the day. All the characters in front of the castle.

You really need an explanation?

Me walking out of the park. I bought the ears. I wore them all day.

My sister and I at the end of the day. Poor us, we look so tired. She refused to get the ears with me.

Presents…… Nope can’t send them yet. I don’t have something for everyone yet.

Well suffer cause I’m not doing it again

I wrote the master piece of all master pieces. It was long, thoughtful, insightful, the meaning of life and took a good hour.

And I don’t know where the heck it went. I clicked publish and it took me to sign in again. It also says that I do not have any drafts.

I’m going to sit here fuming. So no more ‘post something’. I did. It didn’t work. I’m going to snob the blog until it apologises to me for being stupid. Or I get less cranky. I’m not too sure which will come first.

Would also like to say I don’t like this new layout for maintaining this blog. I had to find all the new buttons again. I’m just finding everything I don’t like to whinge about because my master piece is gone!

My host sister and me on the bus. See you would understand that cause I explained the bus and what it did in my last post that got deleted!

Come on Peta!

CHICKEN!!!!

French song that I like but will never admit to the French I like it. I don’t know the words so I just hum along.