France is Awesum!

Im back

2005-08-02T06:36:00.000+02:00

Im back in the land of oz so this site is officially dead (like it hasnt already died and rolled over sigh) anyway i figure now if ppl want info they can ask me in person
bye sarah

sorry

2005-06-08T14:09:00.000+02:00

i don't have time to write right now this is more of an explanation of why i haven't written. vI have next to no computer access at this time but when I get the chance I'll write about Haute-Loire, Camargue etc. Bisous tt le monde
sarah

Verdun

2005-04-28T11:36:00.000+02:00

Ok I just realised that I haven't actually wrote about Verdun. Basically on the thursday I went to Clermont and stayed the night . i stayed u watching dodgy romantic comedies for a while and then tried to sleep (no luck) On the Friday me, four other AFS students and one of the AFS adults went to Verdun by car. It was good but boring journey. On the Friday night (again about 3 hours sleep) A couple of others and myself went t Buffalo grill and had a drink but nothing interesting happened. On the Saturaday we met up with all the other students there and then went on a tour of wome of the war i guess sites is the word I'm not sure. Anyway that night us students had a bit of a party and I stayed up all night talking until 6 with a couple of people then going running. damned insomnia. anywho the Sunday we went to Metz which was awesum. Ummm yeah the monday we just came back (5 hours slepp sunday night) anyway thats prety much it. For me it was just great to see everyone so yeah. Again if I've still left something hanging tell me in a comment. If not then yeah...

vacation

2005-04-28T11:16:00.000+02:00

Wow! I only just realised that I haven't updated for AGES! times just flown because I've had so much stuff going on at school. Nothing particularly special or interesting but very time-consuming. But now it's the second week of April vacation and I've finally found time to update. This one's going to be about last week because we went on a trip but I'll do another shortly if I've promised to explain something and haven't yet. So yeah...
Last week my host parents, host sister and I went to a village in the département of Gard called Méjannes le Clap. The village itself wasn't particularly interesting but it was pretty well situated to travel around a bit. on Saturday we just drove down there. Not particualarly interesting but yeah. Sunday we went to a village called Lourmarin (i'm not sure if it's spelt like that but it's close enough) to see my other host sister and some friends of my host parents. We had lunch in a restaurant and went walking. There's a funky castle there which was cool. Afterwards we went to cucuron which is another village closeby. again interesting for just being somewhere different from Cantal although not really special in itself. On Monday we went to Nîmes which if you haven't heard of it I have one word Shame (hehe wogboy) It's a French town built mainly by the romans so there's like a mini colosseum and a mainson carée and all that stuff. I thought it was really cool as a town there's also an 18th (or 17th I cant remember) century garden there. It's a water garden but there's like a drought in France at the moment so there's practically no water in it. It's called the Fountain Garden (Jardin de la Fontaine) but theres no fountain at the moment! We also went to Pont du gard which is a massive Roman bridge which is cool as. There's three layers of arches. The first is a road the top one is for carrying water to Nîmes. 5or was now obviously plumbing has been introduced) After there we went to Lussan which is a medieval illage which basically means it's a village built on top of a cliff like hill with ramparts.
On Tuesday (the best day) we went to the Camargue. ie; Rhone river Delta. Which is somewhere I really wanted to go including SAINTES MARIES DE LA MER! My excitement with that is because I always really wanted to go there and there I was without having ever actually SAID that I wanted to go! It's like the Gypsy Mecca because it's got the church of Saint Sarah (who last time I checked isn't actually a Saint as such but anywho) and she's the Patron of Gypsies so yeah. Anyway it was great and I got to walk in the ocean again which was very good but the Mediteranean (cant spell sorry) isn't really salty so the smell was different but it was still really good. We also went to another castle but I can't read the name in my notes so yeah sorry. On Wednesday we went on a road trip through the gorges of Ardeche which while pretty for the first little while anyway who knows me on road trips understands why it kinda got old and my family had a better time than me. The french are still rather amazed by rock fomations and anything slightly different but to tell the truth that kinda got old pretty quick for me. It was still really good though just not the BEST day. On Thursday we went to Uzés which is another really cool town (managed to buy some stuff I needed there) we also went to La Roque sur Céze which was cool too. It's just a little village buyt it was funky as. We also went to the céze river there and saw the waterfalls/canyon which i can't remember the name of (I'll ask soon enough) which is just funky rck formations carved by the river. Cool enough. Friday we just hung about and did nothing much. We drove back Friday night and got here Saturday morning at about 1ish. needless to say I slept. Anyway thats pretty much it If you have a question about what I did or where it was or whatever just leave a comment.

snow * verdun

2005-03-12T09:49:00.000+01:00

Alrighty update thats actually updateing something this time.
I went to Super Besse last weekend with AFS and decided 1/snow is nice 2/when its already on the ground not falling 3/ I don't like skiing because 4/ I feel no adrenilin rush whilst skiing in fact i feel no rush of anything, adrenilin, fear, anything. I also managed to fall bad and pull the tendon in my right knee at about 5.30 the saturday night so the sunday was spent in the chalet with elise who had a cold and Mia who had done her knee too. It was good to see everyone but yeah...I'm not a fan of skiing. I'm a fan of what an American friend says is called snow-shoeing in english (sounds ridiculous so she may be lying who knows?) and Wanlking about in the snow but skiin is pretty crapy.
Next weekend I am going to Verdun (i ment to write march not may the other time) so I go to Clermont thursday night and we drive to verdun riday am in verdun sat/sun and drive back monday so I have a four day weekend which is funky. it's an AFS france thing so I'll hopefully get to see some ppl that I mety in september but I'm sure about that yet. gotta fly
sarah

vacation update ZZZZZ

2005-02-22T15:25:00.000+01:00

Ok umm... I'm on vacation but haven't really done anything much coz I've had homework and for this hols I'm just kinda bummin and sleeping. Um I go back to school next monday. I have gone to Super Lioran which is a ski resort but we went for a demostration. Um kool snowbouarding jump thing happened. Um I am prob going to the snow with AFS 5/6 march so if the snows still around I'll give it a bash then. Other AFS thing which I am pumped about is going to Verdun in May. I don't have all the info about it yet but I'm planning on going (I don't even know if this is an Auvergne thing or a France thing so...) but that'll be awesum. I really don't have anything to say except that I'll be doing more protesting about the changes to the BAC (friends have guilted me into it) next term so yeah.
sarah

basic update

2005-02-07T08:57:00.000+01:00

School is going fine. I've got my BAC Blanc (my practice exam) back in Maths and SVT (the science that is pretty much just biology) Everything her is out of 20. In maths I managed a 10.5 which I figured was good as I didn't understand about half the words in the most important question, and in SVT I got 5.5 I'm happy with that too because the most important question was a page long scientific type text on sretinol which nobody thought we'd talked about and I wasn't the lowest mark in the class. Um nothing much is really going on her at the moment except that I went - i dunno the word in english raquetteering doesn't sound right - basically you walk on the snow with racquettes on your feet. I actually really liked it. Ummmm. I'll probably go sking for the first time in my life on the vacation (5 days to go) thats all for now.

none

2005-02-05T13:47:00.000+01:00

Yeah I don't actually have anything to say I just realised that I hadn't written for a while so I figured I'd say hello. I've got holidays stating next weekend so if nothing happens in the next week there'll be a update or two over the vacation. Yeah well...

concert, birthday and AFS

2005-01-24T09:34:00.000+01:00

This entry is actually about the last two weekends in a row because I didn't have time to enter one last week.
last weekend (so that was the 15/16 January) on the Saturday night I went to a concert. Wassn't that bad. The first group was awful. They were called 'World's Asshole' and the name fit the music, band and atmosphere. They were just awful trying to play a mix of Punk and Metal to a room of about 150 - 200 people when you can't play guitar that well is not a good idea. The second group was really good. They're called Salersderien or something close to that spelling. Salers is a town, cow, and cheese from Cantal. "C'est l'air de rien" is a phrase that kinda means it doesn't matter or you don't care about it. If you don't get the joke don't worry. They go to school with me but they sing the music from this region. It's cool a kind of wierd mix of folk, SKA, reggae and something i am yet to identify.
The next day we had a joint birthday thing for my host sister and me with the whole family - ie grandmother, parents, aunt, uncle, cousins. It was good. Umm. It's kind of difficult to write about because there's not anything particually special to say except that it happened and that was nice.
This weekend I had a two day AFS thing. It was good but again you can't really explain it. We all went to a place near Clermont and talked and mucked around for two days before coming home. Afterwards I have ended up with a mixed Icelandic/American accent. DAMN THE BOTH OF YOU but it's not serious. Um yeah...i shall update soon...OOOO and I got an AFS shirt and got it signed by all the people who are leaving so thats cool....later

ok the real real post

2005-01-13T08:13:00.000+01:00

Ok. I managed to do this at school coz i didn't have homework. Basically for about a month my English teacher has been saying that she wants me to do a presentation on Australia. Thats cool I said (or something similar) so I prepared my stuff IN NOVEMBER for those of you who don't know its NOW JANUARY so you can imagine that by now i knew my info pretty well. Basically I got up and talked about Australia - the geography as in its not just one island but two main ones and some overseas territory. The animals (thank the lord for stuffed toys) and just random stuff - and they were all fascinated by A PLASTIC $20 NOTE - a strange world we live in. Anyway I didn't have time to finish so I may well be doing another part next week about culture and language and stuff (and yes these things do insist on Australia including the Australian language - for those non-aussies reading this page and possibly nonkiwis too but im not sure, i bet you don't now what "a few tinnies short of a slab" means do ya do ya. Yeah i thought not) anyway things are rocking on and yeah. I've got another AFS weekend coming up on the 22nd/23rd so there should be a real update after that. Sorry I'm not really all that interesting. For those of you however who wish to see into my dark mysterious and probvably screwed up mind i instruct (no COMMAND) you to visit www.illwillpress.com and watch every foamy cartoon in the archives PLUS the new one that came out today. Then buy merchandise and become a member of the CARD CULT. anywho... don't go if you don't like swearing or the annihilation of random idiots from the face of the earth, and if you have a SQUIRREL PHOBIA DO NOT GO TO THIS PAGE ON PAIN OF DEATH! anyway now thats cleared up i hope everyone has recovered from vacation hangovers and other things and is all ready to go back to school in two weeks (hehe VACATION IN FOUR WEEKS, VACATION IN FOUR WEEKS-thats to that conga tuney thing) another question if you know what we call the stories by Hans Christian Anderson as in the real name could you post a comment of it coz i need to know and cant work it out. If no comments are posted i will presume you are all completely brainless LIKE ME (thats got you scared hasn't it [evil laugh])

Finally a real Post

2005-01-12T20:40:00.000+01:00

Well not a real real post coz im a bit sleepy so ill fill in details later - probly on the weekend. Basically I did an english presentation on monday for one of my english classes. I spoke for an hour and im still not finished and for the first tie eva i actually think that the people in my class had a bit of fun at school not to blow my own trumpet but school here is Soooooooooooooooooo boringgggggggg they just take notes all day theres neva discussion or anything really so i think i shone a little daylight into their worlds :) anywho sleepy o so sleepy. for those of u who check the time and realise im sleepy at 8 30 pmish its coz ive been sick like thumping headsache and that makes ME SLEEPY MMMMMMMKKKKKKKKKK? anyway now thats sorted ill try and update properly on the weekend.

Monty Pythons Holy grail

2005-01-08T11:45:00.000+01:00

Ok I gotr these from www.imdb.com and the reason im pasting about three pages of monty python is because im in severe withdrawel. Nobody here has ever bloody heard of it (probably because they made so much fun of the french see quote one for example)Anywho read on at your own risk. Some of them are missing bits (sorry to say the coconut scene doesnt reach the african swallow part) but ...

French Soldier: I don't want to talk to you no more, you empty headed animal food trough wiper. I fart in your general direction. Your mother was a hamster and your father smelt of elderberries.

Sir Bedevere: What makes you think she's a witch?
Peasant 3: Well she turned me into a newt.
Sir Bedevere: A newt?
Peasant 3: ...I got better.
Crowd: BURN HER ANYWAY.

1st soldier: Who goes there?
King Arthur: It is I, Arthur, son of Uther Pendragon, from the castle of Camelot. King of the Britons, defeater of the Saxons, Sovereign of all England!
1st soldier: Pull the other one!
King Arthur: I am, and this is my trusty servant Patsy. We have ridden the length and breadth of the land in search of knights who will join me in my court at Camelot. I must speak with your lord and master.
1st soldier: What? Ridden on a horse?
King Arthur: Yes!
1st soldier: You're using coconuts!
King Arthur: What?
1st soldier: You've got two empty halves of coconut and you're bangin' 'em together.
King Arthur: So? We have ridden since the snows of winter covered this land, through the kingdom of Mercia, through...
1st soldier: Where'd you get the coconuts?
King Arthur: We found them.
1st soldier: Found them? In Mercia? The coconut's tropical!
King Arthur: What do you mean?
1st soldier: Well, this is a temperate zone
King Arthur: The swallow may fly south with the sun or the house martin or the plover may seek warmer climes in winter, yet these are not strangers to our land?
1st soldier: Are you suggesting coconuts migrate?
King Arthur: Not at all. They could be carried.
1st soldier: What? A swallow carrying a coconut?
King Arthur: It could grip it by the husk!
1st soldier: It's not a question of where he grips it! It's a simple question of weight ratios! A five ounce bird could not carry a one pound coconut.
King Arthur: Well, it doesn't matter. Will you go and tell your master that Arthur from the Court of Camelot is here?
1st soldier: Listen. In order to maintain air-speed velocity, a swallow needs to beat its wings forty-three times every second, right?
King Arthur: Please!
1st soldier: Am I right?

King Arthur: Old woman.
Dennis: Man.
King Arthur: Man, sorry. What knight lives in that castle over there?
Dennis: I'm 37.
King Arthur: What?
Dennis: I'm 37. I'm not old.
King Arthur: Well I can't just call you "man".
Dennis: Well you could say "Dennis".
King Arthur: I didn't know you were called Dennis.
Dennis: Well you didn't bother to find out did you?
King Arthur: I did say sorry about the "old woman", but from behind you looked...
Dennis: What I object to is you automatically treat me like an inferior.
King Arthur: Well I am king.
Dennis: Oh, king eh? Very nice. And how'd you get that, eh? By exploiting the workers. By hanging on to outdated imperialist dogma which perpetuates the economic and social differences in our society.
King Arthur: I am your king.
Woman: Well I didn't vote for you.
King Arthur: You don't vote for kings.
Woman: Well how'd you become king then?
[Angelic music plays... ]
King Arthur: The Lady of the Lake, her arm clad in the purest shimmering samite held aloft Excalibur from the bosom of the water, signifying by divine providence that I, Arthur, was to carry Excalibur. THAT is why I am your king.
Dennis: [interrupting] Listen, strange women lyin' in ponds distributin' swords is no basis for a system of government. Supreme executive power derives from a mandate from the masses, not from some farcical aquatic ceremony.
Dennis: Oh, but you can't expect to wield supreme executive power just because some watery tart threw a sword at you.
Dennis: Oh but if I went 'round sayin' I was Emperor, just because some moistened bint lobbed a scimitar at me, they'd put me away.
Dennis: Come see the violence inherent in the system. Help, help, I'm being repressed.

King of Swamp Castle: When I first came here, this was all swamp. Everyone said I was daft to build a castle on a swamp, but I built in all the same, just to show them. It sank into the swamp. So I built a second one. That sank into the swamp. So I built a third. That burned down, fell over, then sank into the swamp. But the fourth one stayed up. And that's what you're going to get, Lad, the strongest castle in all of England.

[Holding the Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch]
King Arthur: How does it... um... how does it work?
Lancelot: I know not, my liege.
King Arthur: Consult the Book of Armaments.
Brother Maynard: Armaments, chapter two, verses nine through twenty-one.
Cleric: [reading] And Saint Attila raised the hand grenade up on high, saying, "O Lord, bless this thy hand grenade, that with it thou mayst blow thine enemies to tiny bits, in thy mercy." And the Lord did grin. And the people did feast upon the lambs and sloths, and carp and anchovies, and orangutans and breakfast cereals, and fruit-bats and large chu...
Brother Maynard: Skip a bit, Brother...
Cleric: And the Lord spake, saying, "First shalt thou take out the Holy Pin. Then shalt thou count to three, no more, no less. Three shall be the number thou shalt count, and the number of the counting shall be three. Four shalt thou not count, neither count thou two, excepting that thou then proceed to three. Five is right out. Once the number three, being the third number, be reached, then lobbest thou thy Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch towards thy foe, who, being naughty in my sight, shall snuff it.
Brother Maynard: Amen.
All: Amen.
King Arthur: Right. One... two... five.
Galahad: Three, sir.
King Arthur: Three.

King Arthur: Who are you who can summon fire without flint or tinder?
Tim: There are some who call me... Tim.

King Arthur: [about the inscription on the rock] What does it say, Brother Maynard?
Brother Maynard: It reads, "Here may be found the last words of Joseph of Aramathia. He who is valiant and pure of spirit may find the holy grail in the Castle of Aaauuuggghhh... "
King Arthur: What?
Brother Maynard: "The Castle of Aaaauuuggghhhh"
Sir Bedevere: What is that?
Brother Maynard: He must have died while carving it.
King Arthur: Oh come on!
Brother Maynard: Well, that's what it says.
King Arthur: Look, if he was dying, he wouldn't have bothered to carve 'Aaaauuuggghhhh'. He'd just say it.
Sir Galahad: Maybe he was dictating it.
King Arthur: Oh shut up!
Sir Robin: Well does it say anything else?
Brother Maynard: No, just "Aaaaauuuugggghhh".
[knights making groaning sounds]
Sir Bedevere: Do you think he could have mean, 'Camaaaauuuuggghhhh'?
Sir Galahad: Where's that?
Sir Bedevere: France, I think.
Sir Lancelot: Isn't there a Saint "Aaaaavvvveeeesss" in Cornwall?
King Arthur: No that's Saint "Ives".
Sir Lancelot: Oh, yes. "Iiiiiivvvveeessss"!
[All knights saying, "Iiiiiivvvveeessss"]
Sir Bedevere: Whooooouuuuaaa!
Sir Lancelot: No no no, it's "Aaaaauuuugggghhhh" from the back of the throat.
Sir Bedevere: No I mean, "Whoooouuuuaaa!" as in surprise and alarm.
Sir Lancelot: Oh, you mean like, "AAAHH!"
Sir Bedevere: Yes, that's it. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

poems

2005-01-08T11:24:00.000+01:00

hey i wrote these about a year ago but just found them in a notebook i brought with me just now. I figure seeing as i still like them after a year they cant be complete bull.
If they r well...

CYCLICAL
Red Running.
Blue Creeping.
Breath Gasping.
Pain Screaming.
Eyes Watering.
Friends Weeping.
Death Ending.
Life Beginning.
Just as you die,
How do we know,
We don't start new again?

Ok if u didnt understand the 2 meanings to that read it a few times and im sure it'll make sense.

UNTITLED
The rushing of ideas,
Brings clarity to me.
The lack of sleep,
Somehow energising.
The shaking hands,
Constantly creating new worlds.
The black descends.
The knife looks shiny.
But shiny is no good.
For shiny is remeberance,
Of better times.
When there was clarity.
When there was joyful knowledge.
So instead of bleeding,
I decay,
Slowly,
In pain.

/end

My Death Day

2005-01-02T15:06:00.000+01:00

I was reading the back entries on Bekkys deadjournal and found this site http://www.deathclock.com/index.cfm (well not exactly that site but close enough)
I have been informed that my peronal death day is Sunday April 4th 2027 - that means the all-powerful internet wants me to die at 39 (and 2 and a bit months) bummer...

HAPPY NEW YEAR

2005-01-01T17:26:00.000+01:00

Just a note to say its the new year (nss) and all that. I didnt really do much but it wasnt bad. First day of the new year not even 5.30pm yet and outside its overcast so much its practically black...good I dont believe in signs...much....

Dad's Dad

2004-12-26T10:57:00.000+01:00

I'm sure you've heard the expression 'a man's man' - that's a guy who all they other guys want to be, attractive, rich, charming, he gets women but can also get rid of them.
My host father is what I've termed a Dad's Dad - A bloke dads all over the world have been trying to emulate, he's slightly gone to seed, sports a mullet (Pople People wake up wake up - Has anyone got some Brandy?) He makes corny dad jokes to the Xtreme (wil aderson voie Dad Joke Dad joke - for those who dont listen to Triple J and therefore dont understand what im talking about and get to laugh with the rest of the 'normal' people - DEATH ON ALL YOUR HOUSE - Have I mentioned howdepressing it is to know i will never wake up to the Spence and Stickey chicken EVER AGAIN, agin if u don't get it you will be killed by the evil blue screen of death) sidenote evil blue screen of death is something i think only my sister will understand.yet nyway despite all this remains endearing to the family.

Noel

2004-12-26T10:48:00.000+01:00

Ok this is longer than normal. I've simplified thi by numbers
1. It didn't snow (sniff)
2. Everything happens Christmas Eve NOT day - I figure this is partially because they don't have Boxing Day - for people who don't know Boxing Day is the 26th Deceer. I dont know what its for dont ask basically you just have another public Holiday to sit around eat to much and be both lazy and lethargic. - AND they dont have days in lieu in France. (this is when you get the preceding thursday or following monday off if the public holiday is on a weekend- so doing everything the night before is more logical.
3. This mkes us pass Christmas Day as we normally would Boxing Day (see above for description)
4. Food YAY. Hmm actually ill talk abou it later.
5. Ok here's the deal - Fench Xmas is ALL about family (not getting gifts from obscure members but the original talking enjoying each others company thingy - I know I know funkey head-spinny concept) So at my place there were 12 people. My host parents, 2 host sisters, host brother and his girlfriend, host gran, host aunt and uncle and 2 host cousins (for those counting who only got 11 people present i was there too nimrods)
Everybody had arrived by about 9pm and we ate like fingerfoods t 9.30 til about 10ish then unwrapped all our gifts. At 11.30ish we stopped talking and gift unwrappingand sat down to eat our Xmas meal. This conisted of...
6. FOOD! (yes yes NSS and all that) there were 5 courses
course 1 - salamis and some random shellfish
course 2 - turkey and a chickn/foie gras thingy
course 3 - cheese (mmmmmmm cheese)
course 4 - cake
course 5 - friut
7. Random talking ensured until (for me) 3amish and the last 5 people after me until 6amish. and by random i don't mean a bit random i mean ENTIRELY random
8. In short it was very good very diffeerent. The lack of Boxing Day' a bit sad but..............................................................................

Cooking

2004-12-24T10:03:00.000+01:00

Ok quick note to say that i spent all day yesterday - or a bloody great chunk of it anyway - helping cook xmas bikkie cookie thingys. Coz my eldest host sister was home and she normally lives in Alsace (on the German Border - she lives in strasbourg)and she wanted to make them all and is better at cooking than my other sister and probaly me and even if i am better (doubtfu) i couldnt read the recipies. Anways coz of all that most of them are alsacian (thats spelt wrong) and therefore are vaguely german with very german sounding nales like 'anisbredle' (theyre little cookies with aniseed ie licorice plant in them)anyway todays is xmas eve day (by my calculations anyway, i was screwed on knowing what date it is after 2 days of hols - well i think it was 2 days...) so i otta go do some xmas stuff.
gotta fly flutter bys.
PS note to say particulaly to bekky there may be a rant coming up. not sure need something to rant about but u know... Being a 'Guest ranter' has a kinda cool ring to it.
Sarah

Mon Premier Neige

2004-12-23T09:20:00.000+01:00

hey realy quick blog to say its snowing - this is my first snow - well first membad snow anywho. very inter wonderlandy or something i guess. Best thing is though that f the weather keeps up ill get a white xmas. anywho gotta fly flutta bys sarah

Cuisine

2004-12-20T20:32:00.000+01:00

Ok this is the FOOD blog i alluded to before i wrote it and then forgot to write until the next day. Its not about what I ate exactly more about the way its eaten. This blog is my sisters idea so if you dont like it go beat her with foamy. If you dont know foamy youre uninformed and im not saying anymore than that.
Basically eating here is wierd. Theres at least 3 coures at every meal and sometimes as many as 5 even WHEN ITS NOT A SPECIAL OCCASION. Par Exemple. last night for dinner we had soup, followed by meats, followed by cheese, followed by crepes, followed by Pain Epices which is gingerbread but abit dif and not explainable. thats 5 courses FOR NO REASON and the entire time your not eating a course proper your eating bread.
Also breakfast i slightly odd they drink hot drinks and eat bread fine i hear you say thats not odd. it is when you did the bread in the coffee until its soggy moosh.
i duno what to write coz the blog wasnt my idea but if i think of more ill add it later
soz

Photos

2004-12-19T19:07:00.000+01:00

Ok quich note to say that i think photos ae finally working theyll be coming through over the next while but of ourse the files are pretty big so im gonna space them out not send them all on one day.

Xmas tree

2004-12-19T19:00:00.000+01:00

um ok last night we did the xmas tree decos and stuff. It all worked pretty good and i got a few photos of the operation however the lighting was a bit dodgy so not a lot of shots are that great - flash or night scene made it too bright normal is a bit fuzzy coz the light globe isnt like the brightest you can buy anywho pretty much like a tree at home cept our tree at homes always massive coz weve got too many decos and just kinda loped from the side of the road but here it wa like from an xmas tree farm and reaches my shoulder but its pretty good. those who are on my email list wll prob recieve the photo in the next week or so coz ive finally worked the bloody thing out. Anywho...

Repas du noel

2004-12-19T18:53:00.000+01:00

Ok again in french and again the little dotty thins on the e.
Basically - this is in food blog somewhere im sure, all schools here provide lunch for everyone and unlike other nations its actually good.
The thursday before xmas we had xmas luch at my scool. This was like foie gras - actually kinda good - and weird kinda egg souffle thingy and really yummy cake and a cheese SELECTION - normally cheese is like the one sort and u like it or not but for xmas there ws a SELECTION.
Anyway dont know what i ate and forgot to ask later - wasnt op at lunch coz we was all talking and stuff. so ill prob never know unless i have it the xmas by some wierd thingy or fate or wateva.

Musique du Noel - the e's meant to have dots on it but i couldnt find the key

2004-12-19T18:46:00.000+01:00

Ok . For those uneducated uninformed fellows who can work out what Musique du Noel IS its xmas music. ok? Sorted? Good.
You know how when you go to a mall or whatever near christmas theres either a irritating buskar who cant sing carols or even more irritating carols being played over a dodgy as speaker?
Yeah well the town i go to school at doesnt have a mall just heaps of roadside shops and stuff. This is bad. It means that overnight the concil type people thought theyd ut strings of speakers around THE WHOLE TOWN playing irritating Christmas music. But i hear you say what about the christmas spirit and hearing french xmas music? o no Christmas spirit i have however the majority of the music is in english - something i will rant on later - and alot ISNT EVEN ABOUT CHRISTMAS! For example that song Stand by you or wateva its called a sung version of the christian our father prayer and anything that mentions the word friend - hellooooooo 80's rubbishhhhhhhhhhhhhh. Anywho pity me and any musical cells in my brain. rant over.

AFS XMAS

2004-12-13T02:30:00.000+01:00

Hey i got back tomy joint today after spending the night in clermont at an afs xmas thingy. It was pretty good coz all the students who are left here from september -4 were only here for 3 months and another has to out lnowledge disappeared off the face of the earth. and meet 5 new students who are here for two months theres a kiwi, a costa rican, a guy from africa (but i cant remember what country i think tanzania or south africa dunno) and 2 more aussies from orange. its so not fair coz i was talking to them and i realised i dont have an aussie accent anymore - like i knew i didnt but i realised that theres not even a trace left. (sniff) they told me i sound like an american-canadian-englishwoman. totally screwy!
Anywho the night was pretty good just talking and catching up and mucking about. yeah hmmm not much else to say except that the next meet is in janruary on the 7th so ill be seeing everyone again then. o and the lead afs lady here told the crowd at the xmas thingy that the year students leave on the 15th on janruary so i guess thats right and thats both good and bad. good coz it means i get 15 days of summer vacation here so we might go to paris or something but bad coz i dont get hols in aus to recuperate - like i obviously wont go to scool th day after i get back but you know... anyway thats is july o im not gunna talk about that anymore coz its kinda depressing. hmmmm
gotta fly flutta bys
sarah

advent

2004-12-04T13:50:00.000+01:00

ok um 2nd xmas tradition. you know how in aus you can uy those calanders with chocolates in them - advent calanders yeah well here advents a big deal and my host mother made one - not with chocolates o no. in front of the fireplace sits a basket full of gifts - proper wrapped up gifts - they are labelled eith F or S with a number. my other host sister has a basket with the letter G and her gifts til she gets back for the hols. Every day we open one. Its kindof cool. and unlike dodgy too-cocoy chocolate its worth the trouble

SNOW...kinda

2004-12-01T23:38:00.000+01:00

Its snowing in Aurillac - in a way. The flakes fall and melt on the ground instantly. But it looks cool. Its been snowing in the middle of the night for about two weeks but defrosting by sunrise (i am at school by sunrise so i do see a bit every morning n the headlights) anyway thats it really.

1st Xmas thingy

2004-12-01T23:25:00.000+01:00

ok its the 1st of december and the first xmas thing is happening. A door wreath. Its not made yet but my host mother has just informed me she makes one ever year normally the 1st of december or sclose to. Ill tell you other stuff as it happens although the christmas lights have been up for two weeks and working - in the town not at the house - theyre quite good.

iceskating

2004-11-22T22:41:00.000+01:00

heyyas
i would like to say im great at icesating and all that but i have a sneaking suspision that some ppl who were at the rink with me read this page so here it goes yes i only fell over twice but im shithouse at it so tahdah strangly enough my arms hurt the next day not my arse so YAY prob from everyone having to catch me all the time anywho no time to elaborate
sarah

computer probs

2004-11-18T08:53:00.000+01:00

hey
this s more just a note to say that my computer died in the arse and so i wont be blogging (or emailing) regularly for a while
ill try once a week or so to blog (or email) something but i dont know if ill get the chance
sarah

SORRY

2004-11-13T10:43:00.000+01:00

Hey i was talking to some ppl recently about how australia has not said sorry but we have a kind of break through this is cut and paste from the JJJ radio site (thats good aussie youth radio if you dont know)
VICTORIA RECOGNISES THE STATE'S ORIGINAL CUSTODIANS
In an Australian first, Victoria's become the first State to give constitutional recognition to its Indigenous population.

The constitutional amendment bill was passed in parliament yesterday and acknowledges that Victoria was set up and its Constitution passed without the involvement of Aboriginal people.

The Victorian Aboriginal Affairs Minister, Gavin Jennings, says the move is more symbolic than anything else and doesn't grant any legal rights.

He says he hopes it encourages more young Indigenous people to get involved in the community.

"There are a range of proactive and very constructive programs dealing with youth leadership and the capacity of younger people to feel as if they can play a role in community organisations and community life."

05/11/2004

yaya go victoria ( im a victorian have i mentioned that?...°

driving

2004-11-13T10:24:00.000+01:00

first a note any elderly family members wo read this - driving here is perfectly safe do not think im going to die in a car accident i am not as cary as it sounds because driving here is so fast and the roads are so narrow they are very very good drivers _ ok now onto my point
I have realised in the time ive been here that there is a series of things all good french drivers can do

1: Instantaneous motor skills

2: a complete disregard for road rules unlss they are currently in your favour

3: A competant use of french swearing 'merde' (shit) is especially popular however other words are also useful

4: An accent that tells other drivers (who cant hear you because they are NOT in your car)that you agree the traffic s shocking however you can still manage to sound cynical critical AND resigned whilst speaking at a million miles an hour

5: Able to do a 3 point turn in 2 points (yes i do realise that technically this is a 2 point turn)whilst cars approach on all sides

6: be able o control a car going 90km an hour (the speed limit here for the open road)around hair pin turns on what should be a one way street with a bus coming the other way which takes a little too muh of the road for my liking

AND 7: a complete and utter disregard for the safety of people who arent in your own car so that you can happily drive incredibly close to them and not care

Luv Sarah

School

2004-11-06T01:41:00.000+01:00

Ok a few ppl have written to me and asked me to write abouT school in france so heres a bit about it. Every morning we leave home at 730 and i get to school about 15 minutes later (in winter itll be dark when i get to school) my timetable is like this its in 24hour time and if it doesnt have anything written ive got frees or lunch or both

MONDAY
10-11 French Lit
11-12 History and Geography
13-14 English One
14-16 English Two

TUESDAY
9-10 French Lit
13-14 French Lit
14-16 Sport
16-18 social studies *every second tuesday*

WEDNESDAY
10-11 Maths
11-12 English One

THUSDAY
10-12 History and Geography
13:30-15 English One
15-16 French Lit

FRIDAY
8-9 History and Geography
10-11 Maths
11-12 French Lit
13-14 English Three
14-15 French Lit
16-17:30 Science

the school itself is made of a few courtyard joined together and yeah its i dunno a school? im emailing out some photos of it one day so youll have to wait and see...
The biggest difference (apart from the hours) is that the teachers are kinda aloof. well not aloof exactly but cruel. in aus ( well at my school anyway) youre kinda friends with the teacher aswell as sudents ou talk about just stuff as well as the lesson here its totally different for all the classes they pretty much just stand at the to of the class and talk. so its hard or me t say the least... the other thing ive noticed is that when they return tests theyll say the score out loud and read off the comment. doing well in school is really impotant here so if someone does realy badly and theres a nasty as comment they read it out and occaisionaly the student will be crying by the end of class - it sounds over the top but because its so important and the teachers are nasty when they read the comments its really cruel - i dont care about it happening to me coz i dont understand them anyway but for some ppl... anyway overall its really good here and that i think ive made it sound bad but its not its just a little bizarre for aussies i guess. I think the worst thing is the fact that on fridays now (since daylight savings time changed) i start class in the dark and leave the school to go to the library in the dark aswell - i miss the sun...

shrek review

2004-10-28T19:29:00.000+02:00

Ok so i watched shrek a couple of nights ago and it didnt look like bad japanese anime. the words fitted in reasonably well so there wernt any of those massive pauses while the new voice finishes a sentence. It was funny for me watching the reactions of my host family coz i know the movie so well in english i could work out which jokes worked and which didnt. and this was bad because NOT ONE LAUGH FOR THE MUFFIN MAN SCENE! they dont have the rhyme so when i asked about it later i had to explain the rhyme before they got the joke. ah well c'est la vie and all that anyway the only other thing of note was that at the opening credits when the names of mike myers cameron diaz and eddie murphey materialise in the mud and the pond and the maggots and stuff in the version i saw THEY DIDNT APPEAR but at the end the credits were the same with a bit tacked on the end with the new voices anywho back to reality...

sarah

Summary

2004-10-25T22:31:00.000+02:00

ok
This is going to be a bit of a summary of the last two months(ish) when i left melbourne and after bloody FOR EVER arrived in Paris with the other Aussies we went on a three (or maybe two i forget) day camp which was pretty good and just kinda talked to people from all over the world which was good as so hello to all you other AFSers. I then went on the train with the other students going to Auvergne to Clermont-Ferrand that was a long trip too but it was OK. I met my host mother and sisters and then we took the eldest one to the airport in Clermont. Hmm nothing happpened for the next few days except i started going to school which went pretty well cos all the ppl in my class were really interested in australia and that. Yeah nothing much happend really for a while except that i was sooooo tired all the time. Anyway I went to Clermont again for an AFS thing and met up with the other students again that was really good because until then we hadnt really been in contact with anyone else in the same situation. We stayed up all night singing and talking and that so it was good. Any way since then I ve been to a handball match (very odd there was a full brass band and everything) which Aurillac won (this is a GOOD thing) and an awesum as sargent garcia concert with three mates which was (as i already mentioned) awesum. In the last couple of days (VACANCE!) ive been doing nothing much just because its time to sleep and do nothing much however i have gone to a rugby match which was interesting. i had no idea what was going on or why they did stuff and why the ref did stuff but aurrillac won so thats ok their mascot is a dancing salers cow...interesting anyway that was on saturday night and now its monday so theres not really all that much more to report. Shrek will be dubbed (i got around to reading about it in the tv guide and the 'with voices' list did noit contain mike myers eddie murphey or cameron diaz so...more about that later in the week (maybe if i can be bothered)
gottafly flutterbys
Sarah

VACANCE!

2004-10-23T16:15:00.000+02:00

Hey all
this is another short entry to say that im on holidays now! (ha to all you sweating aussies) the weather is beautiful (i dont believe i just wrote about the weather dear god whats to becaome of me?) anyway my other host sister came back today and so thats interesting coz its just someone new (i met her once at the train station when i got here-we then took her to the plane so she could go to uni so...) anyway still having a ball and all that so im gonna spend a week and a bit just wandering about (more interesting than it sounds) practicing french and having fun. On a different note on tuesday i am going to stay in and watch shrek in french with my host family (i presume its dubbed like everything else on tv too) so itll look a little like weird japanese anime (if you dont know what i mean get some anime thats been dubbed to english and youll understand) i will write sometime soon about what ive been up to. i promise.
gottafly flutterbys
Sarah

Hey Again

2004-10-20T03:04:00.000+02:00

Hey peeps
Hope youre rocking on in the land of oz - or if your not in oz rocking on wherever you are.
Im just fine here - goddess that doesnt sound very convincing does it. its true as but so yeah. I so fit in here - well more than Mirboo North anyway - coz there are heaps of peeps who are pretty wacky and eccentric and that and while im not exactly eccentric im not exactly a conformist either so its awesum to be somewhere where I can just dress however and wear weird jewellry (and mismatching socks) and just be part of the crowd instead of the chick whos socks never match. anyway its awesum as and im about to buy the first round of postcards so expect them sometime sooner or later. luv yas
sarah
PS all the days are wrong - its actually wednesday (now ive written that itll say wednesday anyway)

STRINE ME!

2004-10-19T05:19:00.000+02:00

I never thought id say this but i miss the australian lingo i miss strine (for those unenlightened few strine is the australian english word for australian english) like there are people her that speak english really well but they dont know the language so i find myself talking with a slightly brit slightly american slightly australian accent so yeah ... apart from that its great here but anywho i havre holidays in " days ! which is awesum because it means i wont have french litterature for a while - i swear its the spawn of satan incarnate and one day the entire french school system is going to just fall into this massive hole created by it and get swallowed alive - but maybe im exaggerating (thanks emma for the spawn of satan part of that phrase) anyway im gonna hopefully go and see stuff and that and maybe work out the bloody photos (the computers too old to read the camera arggggggg!)

anywho gotta fly flutterbys

sarah

1st Entry

2004-10-18T08:55:00.000+02:00

Hey all
I got a website! Yeah this is just because im so incredibly bad at sending emails and stuff so if your actually interested in what im doing you can read this. Well its October and I have to go to school in a little bit so this will be short. I have holidays in a week though so i might write a really long post then.

A bit about school i do french literature (the devils spawn if ever such a thing existed) english, maths, physics (one of my better classes), basic science, history and geography. my longest day im at school for 91/2 hours so thats not fun! but my shortest day im there for 2 so thats good.
Umm yeah my host family is really nice and im making heaps of friends at school coz they all wanna know about australia and how to speak english properly (coz our teachers crap at grammer) and yeah its cool as
Im making a book of stuff that ive been to you know tickets and that are some cheese tickets (labels) and stuff tto show ppl when i get back (i can hear you groan dont worry i wont force you to look at it)
Ive been to a handball match which was weird and a sergent garcia concert which was awesum but ill write more about them some other time.
Gotta fly flutter bys
Sarah