Normandy 2.1

Here's the rest of the photos we took while visiting Normandy.

[The tower of Mont St. Michel with its statues]

[Mont St. Michel]

[The view from Mont St. Michel]

[Me taking a picture of Mont St. Michel]

[The sandy landscape around Mont St. Michel]

[Lilou & Baptiste <3 ]

[Another shot of MSM / Lilou at the St. Malo beach]

[Hike to Cabane Vauban]

Adelka

Normandy.

So I finally got around to do this. I'm posting some of many many pictures we took on our Fall vacation at my host-family family's house. This place is like heaven on Earth - very beautiful, serene... The house is old, stone -wall, three - stories tall fairytale mansion. I didn't take a picture of it, but luckily I'm going back in just a week and so I'll try to take one. I selected only some pictures, I might do part II. Or I might not. We'll see! But here's the best of the best :) Enjoy!

[This beautiful beach is right next to the family house]

[Mont St. Michel - I've been there with my school and really wanted to see that place again. It's about 10 km far away from the house]

[What are those birds called??]

[The bay between "our" house and Mont St. Michel]

[Shade of Mont St. Michel. In the morning, this turns into sea...in the evening, you can walk from island to island on the sand]

[They are renovating the only driveway that leads to the island of Mont St. Michel]

[Mont St. Michel]

[The beach near St. Malo]

[This is near our house - in the distance, you can see the shape of Mont St. Michel]

[The bay in St. Malo]

[Me & my host family! :)) ]

[We were waiting for the parents to arrive with a car in a local café with Lilou. She wanted to be a model for a change...so this is her professional modelling pose! So cute <3 ]

Hope you guys liked it!

Adelka

Big Valentine's Date!

So it's 14th February once more. St. Valentine's Day. Even though it isn't as big over here as it is in the States, I saw some flower shops with big bouquets of red roses, red & pink candles, pillows...even the kids at elementary school had big plans for today. I heard Baptiste and Lilou laugh quietly yesterday in the car. I asked them what was going on, but they didn't want to tell me in front of their friend. Once we got home, Baptiste was all excited to tell me, that two of his classmates - a girl and a boy - are going to kiss each other on their mouths the next day (today) during afterschool activities, in front of the entire school. Everybody was really excited, excluding Lilou, she thought it was disgusting.

Well, the big day came today. Baptiste and Lilou couldn't talk about anything else while eating their breakfast. Their eyes were wide open and they were really looking forward to see this "special Valentine's day spectacle". I feel even a little bit sorry for them, as the kiss didn't happen. At least not in front of the entire school. 

This made me think about myself, at their age. I don't even remember what I was doing in third grade. But I'm sure I wasn't kissing any boys. Were you?

Have a lovely Valentine's Day, everybody!

Adelka

Bank Trouble!

When I first came to France in September I opened a bank account with the help of my previous host-father.  I should probably say that he opened it, I signed. I had no idea about what was going on, what type of a bank account I was opening, how did it work. All I knew was that it would cost me 1 € per month and that was it. They didn't bother to explain anything else to me. My phone company was taking money from that account every month, covering my phone plan with it. Which was great, I didn't have to worry about anything. Up until now. My new host-family pays me in cash, so there was no money coming into the bank account. And as SFR was taking 12 € every month out of there...well, it got to a point where there was no money. SFR (my phone company) blocked my cell phone and I went to the bank to deposit some euros. Only then I learned that I can't. My bank account is in Bordeaux and that is the only place where I can put money on there. Weird. Luckily, I found a really nice bank advisor. I made an appointment with her for this Tuesday  to solve all af this mess.

So yesterday I visited her, at 1:30 PM. I spent good two hours with her, opened a new bank account, opened another saving's account, got my first check-book, and finally closed the old account in Bordeaux! She explained everything to me, how to transfer money, how to deposit money, how to pay online and do internet banking...I couldn't wish for a better advisor. Now I just need to go to SFR and give them my new Relevé d'Idantité Bancaire, so they can take the money I owe them from my new account and unblock my cell phone!

Adelka

Chinese evening!

The thing about being au pair is that you get to meet people from all over the world. There is a chinese girl in a village right next to me. She goes to the same language school as I do, but that's not how we met. There is a Facebook group - Au Pairs in Toulouse 2012 / 2013 - the best thing ever. If I need something or if I just want to go to a cinema and have nobody to join me, I just write there and somebody always responds. So, when I asked the community (there is over 90 girls by now!) if there is anybody from my area, Candy responded (or rather S-uen - that's how you pronounce her real name). 

I was so happy to finally find a friend and somebody to talk to. She is such a sweet girl. This Friday, she invited me to a home cooked chinese dinner. It was really nice of her and I was impressed when I saw all the things she cooked for us. It definitely had nothing to do with the chinese food we find in those cheap restaurants in Europe. And I am so grateful for the opportunity to try out different things, different vegetables and sauces. This is why I love travelling. You never know where and who you'll meet! And what you'll eat ;-) We also talked about the Chinese New Year, which was happening at that time (this year is the year of a snake!), about different chinese traditions and lifestyle. We were accompanied by chinese music, and, the best part - the girls sang themselves some songs! I have to proudly admit to you guys, I ate all of the food with chopsticks!

**Thank you, Candy, for this really nice evening, I hope you'll teach me how to make those spring rolls! Those were the best ;-) I really appreciate all of the effort you put into this!**

Adelka