: : Bonjour [[ Soissons ]] !!! : :

YAAAAAAAAAAY!!! I'm here! Haha, I know that this post is a bit late (hehe, sorry Tilly, Julia, Georgia and Georgia) as today is my fourth day here...

So. When I first arrived in France, it was a pleasant 8*C! Haha, a bit warmer than the expected negatives! Anyway, after two days of flying and an unexpected dumping of passengers at Bangkok airport (we were all stuck on what to do and where to go, and we only had 20 mins till the plane left!...but I'm here, aren't I???) and washing my hair at Heathrow airport (hehe, in a very low, tiny sink...), I arrived at Paris airport. It took a while for my bag to come around, but it did...eventually.

I walked through the gates and the first thing I saw (and probably, the first thing everyone saw, hehe) was my host family. My host mum was holding a sign they had made with a fish and mouse on it - very cute : ). Haha, and I was attacked by my host sister and Katie :D.

When we left the airport and made it to the car, it was funny to learn that my host sister had never seen a plane before (apart from photos, of course)...and that we were apparently lost because my host family had never been to the Paris airport before.

The first day was mainly just blank looks and "oui"s and "non"s on my part as there really wasn't much I understood...but as the days went on, I understood more and more. :D

However, I still find that during the day I take two steps forward and then when it's morning again, I seem to have taken one step back...

My first night was mainly spent yawning...haha. After dinner we went upstairs to my room (where Katie and Marine are sleeping at the moment too :D) and watched "The House Bunny" in French (with English subtitles ; )). By the end of the movie, I was so tired that every time I blinked, I litterally fell asleep and had to wake myself up...So I don't recall what happened at the end at all!

My first full day in France seemed rather long considering I had slept for half of it! My host sister and Katie took the day off school to take me to the centre of Soissons. We visited the post office, the Cathedral, the school (although they were determined not to be seen otherwise "bye bye" Katie and Marine, haha) and various shops - Stopping along the way for a coffee and hot chocolate (it was 1*). At about 5 o'clock we returned home for dinner and to unpack.

The next day (yesterday) was my first day at school. We woke up at 6:10am and had got ready before leaving at 7:30 to commence school at 8:00am (however, we got there a bit earlier so Marine could give me a tour). The first lesson of the day was Economics - in which I did nothing (just sat there taking in my surrounds) as everyone was doing a test. It was rather embarrassing at the start of the class when the teacher said, "tu le fait pas", meaning "you do not do it" and I looked at Marine and said, "Je l'aime pas???" which means "I don't like it"...to which many laughed, haha. My second class was maths...half of which was spent getting paperwork etc from various different rooms, which my host mum filled out last night and I returned this morning. Didn't understand much of maths...Next was Spanish, although the teacher was absent, so we went to the sick bay for some bread (yes, strange I know, hehe...for recess you go to the nurse and she gives you mini baguettes!) before walking to the centre of Soissons to the post office (just made it back to school in time for English! Which, as expected was easy :D).

Next was lunch, which was really good compared to the lunch in Australia!!! During the lunch break, I went with Marine, Katie and Myrium to the centre of Soissons again - nearly stepping in various piles of dog poo on the footpath! haha - lots of shrieking "ATTENTION!" haha.

When we returned to school again, we found a place to sit inside (it was -1*). While Myrium memorised some notes for science, Marine and I listened to music while she tested her.

Then, the boy who was sitting next to me began to speak to me and once he learnt that I was from Australia, he grabbed my hand and told me to take him back to Australia with him and marry him and have lots of children...haha...interesting...

The last lesson for the day was Communications which I loved. I understood quite a bit which was good. It's like "Visual Communication" at my school, but without the drawing.

The final class finished at 3:00 pm which was good. It gave me time to give my host family the gifts I brought with me...all of which they liked :D. Especially the picture I drew for them, the Aussie beanie kid (one of the massive ones!) and Cherry Ripes.

---

Today school started at 9:00am which gave us all a bit of a sleep in (got up at 7:00am).

Again we started with Economics, of which I successfully did my work in and understood about four fifths of what the teacher was saying. We learnt about legally changing names, and the nationality of a child and how it depends on the nationality of the father...and how the mother is able to change the nationality of the child only after four years of marriage.

Second was maths...while we were waiting for the teacher Marine pointed behind me and I saw the guy who told me that he wanted to marry me the day before! I successfully avoided him, haha. Most of maths was spent trying to figure out my scientific calculator as it was different to the French calculator and the instructions didn't fit mine...But we were learning parabolas, which is good as I just finished learning about them before I arrived.

Third was Communications again, where we analysed an advertisement for ELLE magazine (again, I did my work, haha, probably not so successful this time though as there were a few words that I wasn't sure of, and although Marine did her best to explain, I still didn't understand). We then played a game that was a bit like Chinese Whispers but instead 6 people went out of the room and one at a time they came in. Marine was the first to come in the room. A boy read her a short story in French, she then had to retell the story to the next person who entered the room, and so on. The story was then retold to the last person who entered the room and compared to the distorted story they told. It was rather funny! The teacher then passed around numerous boxes of chocolates and we helped ourselves.

School finished at 12pm and we returned home for lunch.

(Today it was -1* again...ANNNNNNNND IT'S SNOWING!!! - I'll see if I can get a picture on here)

For lunch we had a bacon, potato, tomato and cheese (lots of cheese!!!) omelette. And now, here I am!

Till next time, haha - might be a while...having too much fun ; )