Frenchness Everywhere | Blogmas Day 10

How long have I been in France now? I have no idea. I feel like I could have lived here forever, but only last week I was at school in sunny South Africa... it's really weird. The Carol service was little more than a week ago! Woah. Mind blown. 

Anyway, that was a bit off topic. Today I had a lovely relaxing day, as Zoe was out in the morning so I made myself at home with tea and breakfast of pain au raisin, I believe, which was very yummy. I spent most of the day reading, as well as practising my French with Zoe and Bobby. It's still not great, but it's getting there I think! Zoe and I also played Uno, and then this evening I watched the film Notting Hill on TV, except it was obviously dubbed in French, which was so weird but quite funny! Luckily I've seen the film enough times that I know the story like the palm of my hand, and a lot of the actual words they say too. Okay, maybe I've watched it a little too many times, haha!

And now I will sleep, and maybe dream in French seeing as it's all around me! Bonne nuit!

A Day at the Beach | Blogmas Day 9

Day 3 in France has come and gone, and it was wonderful. 

This morning I woke up at a more reasonable hour than midday, and then we travelled to the seaside town of Deauville. It was soooo cute! All the buildings were the typical Normandie style, and there were tonnes of Christmas lights everywhere. The sky was completely clear, so even though it was absolutely freezing and I was wearing about five layers, we decided to make the most of the sun and take a walk on the beach. It was so pretty, and the sky was amazingly clear and blue! We also looked around at some shops in the town, which all looked so cute and festive with loooads of decorations in the windows. I am SO ready for Christmas. Can you tell?

And with that, I shall love you and leave you. À demain!

Zoe's Birthday | Blogmas Day 8

Bonjour! It is my second day in France, and it's going great so far!

I began the day by sleeping for an extremely long time. Like 14 hours. Thanks jet lag. But I finally woke up at about 12 and ate lunch (lol) and of course, wished Zoe a happy birthday! This afternoon we baked an amazing chocolate cake and then began our preparations for her birthday dinner, which was delicious! We all sat by the fire and ate and chatted, with me mostly listening and understanding about one word every sentence, while she opened all her presents. It was so nice to sit around the fire, because as you probably know I LOVE winter. And they are such a lovely family! I also gave them my gifts from South Africa which went down well! Overall it was just a lovely atmosphere. 

Tomorrow we might go to a town by the sea if the weather is nice, which will be great! So I guess I'll see you then.

Adios!

Actually I feel like I say that too much. And seeing as I began with bonjour and I'm in France...

Au revoir!

France | Blogmas Day 4-7

And I thought this whole posting every day thing was going so well. 

But anyway, guess what? I AM IN FRANCE. And I can't quite believe it to be honest. But so far so good, apart from the fact that I may have overestimated my French-speaking ability as so far I have mainly been saying "quoi?". But let me just start at the beginning, I think that would make more sense. 

So after a few days of frantic last-minute packing the day finally came for me to zip up my suitcase (with difficulty) and head off to the airport - after a final cuddle with my dog, of course. Thankfully my suitcase was still 5 kilos underweight, although I doubt it will be when I return, so all that was left for me to do was say goodbye to my parents and sister, who I will miss very much. But I'll see them all on Boxing Day in Paris, which is extremely exciting! Anyway, where was I. So I got through customs nice and easy and then long story short boarded my flight to Dubai, on which I watched three films: Spy, Fantastic 4 and Mission Impossible 5, and three episodes of Modern Family. Needless to say on my second flight I slept the whole journey, and before I knew it I was arriving in France! Once again I flew through passport control (thank you British passport) and grabbed my heavy suitcase with yet more difficulty, and then I was finally reunited with Zoe! Seeing as we were already in Paris we had a quick coffee by the Eiffel Tower and took some photos, and it was a really nice day - sunny but cold. My favourite. Then we drove to Zoe's town Courcelles sur Seine which is about an hour out of Paris I think. Not entirely sure seeing as I slept the entire journey. But yeah, the town is so cute and pretty as is the house, and I immediately fell in love with it! After a classic lunch of Croque Madame, we went for a walk up a hill to an old castle, where there was a lovely view of the river and the town, made especially more lovely by the golden glow of the setting sun. We also bought some bread at the boulangerie (eeee so French). Sophie and Bobby (Zoe's parents) are very nice and very friendly towards me, even when I get confused with the French! It's only been a day but I already feel at home here. 

And that's all for today. See you tomorrow! (I hope)

Let the Holidays Begin | Blogmas Day 3

So today was my last day of school for the year, and that means only one thing... bring on the holidays!

I am now done and finished with Grade 11, and it's quite a strange feeling. A bit surreal, to be honest. My mind hasn't really wrapped itself around the fact that next year as my final year of high school ever and when I go back to school in January I'll be in Grade 12, or Matric as we call it. But I guess that's what the holidays are for - letting that sink in!

My friends and I celebrated our newborn freedom by going bowling after school, and seeing as I haven't been in an extremely long time I was pretty awful. However by our second round I managed to sneak in a couple of spares and even a strike and actually won - achievement! But yeah, 'twas fun.

And that's about all that really happened today, apart from a rehearsal with the string ensemble I'm in for a concert we're playing on Saturday, and pizza. Which was good. So yeah.

Wow, what a boring blogpost. But do not fear, come Sunday I will be France-bound and I'm sure once I'm there life will get much more interesting. So until then I'll just stick with these short bits, because I'm determined to do this blogmas thing properly.

Okey dokes. Byee!

Christmas is Coming | Blogmas Day 2

Today was such a Christmassy day, and I loved it! 

After the carol service last night I still had the songs stuck in my head this morning when I woke up, and therefore was listening to Pentantonix's Christmas album on the way to school, as well as singing along as I danced with my dog to "It's the most wonderful time of the year". 

At school we had our annual Christmas Party which is one of my favourite events of the year, and this was my last one. And I was wearing a Christmas Pudding hat on my head, yay! We listened to more Christmas songs, not helping the mass that were already stuck in my head, including the Twelve Days of Christmas - both the original version and the "South African" version, which was rather amusing to say the least. 

Aside from that, my sister and I finished season 1 of The 100 today, which we have been avidly watching since I bought it for her birthday in September, and it ended on a cliffhanger?! Argh. Just why?

But yeah. Tomorrow is my last day of school, seeing as we're going into our 6 week long summer holidays now! So that's exciting, because who doesn't love holidays, right? 

Anyway, see you then!

The Carol Service | Blogmas Day 1

This evening was my final carol service at my school, and it was rather emotional.

I love my singing group very much and enjoy singing with them a lot - especially carols because a) I love Christmas and b) they're so beautiful! The service was also extra special because we sang a carol I composed, and I think it went down well. Except the headteacher called me up to take a bow unexpectedly and I went bright red. Yay for awkward me. 

So yeah, that was that, and I'm very sad it's over. Some of my favourite carols we sang were Once In Royal, O Holy Night and a Choral Amen at the end. And of course my own one, because I mean who doesn't like their own music?

Apart from that... how on earth is it December already? I feel like the second half of this year came and went at the speed of light!

That's all for today - short but sweet because I'm still at school so nothing else of much interest happened today, except lots of rehearsals for this evening. So yeah, see y'all tomorrow then. 

Bye!