corners of my apartment.

Seeing as we only moved into our apartment recently, and all of us have been travelling recently, we don't really have a lot of things to decorate with. So our apartment is a little bit sparse.
One of the first things I wanted to do was decorate our bedroom. So I jumped on the bandwagon and decided a photo wall was what we needed.
Before I arrived Franck had bought a some different sized frames for our photo wall as well as a vintage style world map. After rearranging the furniture in our room a few times and therefore moving the map a few times, we are finally happy with the layout, and unfortunately the map just keeps falling off the wall.
Franck and I also never came to a mutual agreement about what exactly should go in the frames on our photo wall.
A few weeks ago I decided to hang the frames (pictures or not), because I got sick of looking at them in a pile on the ground. So they hung on the wall. Empty. With the map on the floor in the corner (which I may have accidentally sucked up with the vacuum cleaner at one point...).

My solution: put the map inside the frames.
Franck was a bit sad, as this of course meant cutting up the map into small pieces. But honestly it only cost 10 euro. No big loss.

Alors, the result...

presents.

It's almost my birthday. My first birthday in Paris. My first birthday in Spring.

This week there has been presents arriving at the door. Almost everyday. Which Franck promptly whisks away before I get to see. He either rips of the postage label or covers it with black texta so that I can't read the little box marked 'Detailed description of contents'.

They are now hid safely under the bed. The only hiding spot in our entire apartment. I know they are there. I'm just choosing not to look.

This morning a package arrived from my parents. Franck brought it to me while I was still in bed. Sans postage label of course. He was quite disappointed because this package was too large to fit through the 6cm gap under the bed. Instead he attempted to hide it behind the hanging rack of clothes...in plain sight.

I quickly shot my mum and email to let her know it had arrived. 10 mins later my computer was ringing with the familiar sounds of a Skype call.
Right near the end of our conversation my mum told me that everything in the package is wrapped except for one thing, which if I wanted I could have right now and not wait until my birthday!

I knew that if I told Franck this new myself, he would think I was lying and just trying to open my presents early! So I knew I had to get Mum to tell him herself.

So I called in the present nazi (aka. Franck) and had my mum deliver the news personally.
He then opened up the package turned his bag from me and pulled out....a Frankie magazine!

I was super happy!

Needless to say, I have just spent the last hour lying on my bed reading my Frankie magazine and neglecting the rubbish to be taken out, floors to be vacuumed and clothing to be folded.

Thank's Mum! oh, and Happy Mother's Day!

x

Pina.

On Saturday night, Franck and I had a date night. We bought some sushi which we ate sitting by the canal. Then we went to see the film Pina. It was spectacular. We saw it in 3D which just added to the overall effect.





I'll be honest, before seeing the movie I had never heard of Pina Bausch. Which is a little bit embarrassing as I danced for a large portion of my life.

The film was so inspiring. Pina really pushed the limits and danced in situations I never imagined. A stage filled with soil, in water, in a room full of chairs and tables.

It made me want to start dancing all over again.

x

three months.

At Franck's parents place in Briollay

I decided that now was a good time for me to start documenting my thoughts. Even if it is only for my own personal reflection.
Today marks three months in Paris. It seems to have gone by so quickly, and yet so much has happened and I have learnt so much.

*I can speak (basic) french
*I am working in a bilingual preschool (my first REAL job)
*I'm living in a new city, in which I am now feeling pretty comfortable
*I'm learning the cultures, not only of the country, but of those around me
*I'm learning to live without some things I had taken for granted (my mum cooking me dinner, and my sewing machine are two I'm missing the most at the moment)
*I'm learning that patience is expected in France and nothing here happens quickly
*I am embracing bread and starting to really enjoy the pleasure of a fresh cooked baguette

These are just a few of the things that are going on in my life right now. Work consumes a lot of my time, and I'm happy to have it that way. My three housemates are all studying their masters in architecture and as the year here draws to a close they all get busier, so as they throw themselves into their studies, I too focus on my work. From this I am seeing the benefits, and it's lovely to see the progress of the children and the group as our small team learns to work together and draw on the strengths that each one of us has.

It has been a challenging but exciting three months, and I'm looking forward to the next few

x

killing the jetlag

So as many of you know. I recently moved to Paris.

To tell you the truth, I was absolutely scared out my skin to be moving half way across the world.

I'm not exactly sure what I expected in the first few days, and I guess nothing was unexpected. But to say it was an easy transition would be a joke. Une grosse blague.

Now having been here a week, I feel a bit more settled. The first issue to deal with was the jetlag. I was waking every morning at 6am. Needing a nap at 10am, again at 2pm and ready for bed at 10pm. It took a few days of weird sleeping and awkward nap times to finally kill the jetlag.

I guess there was one specific day when things started to become easier.
The day I had a meltdown.

I had a bit of a rant and a cry. Soon I got over it and Franck remedied the situation by feeding me olives and dark chocolate (at my request).
We then played a game of cards and drank champagne (also at my request).

By 9pm I was spent and fell asleep in my chair. Franck had planned to go out that evening, so put me to bed, with a note that he would be home later on. I awoke at 1am, hungry.
I found food on the stove, and just sat down at my computer when Franck and Romain returned.

I stayed up until 4am. Which then meant I slept in the next morning, and voila the jetlag was gone. As well as any of my uneasy feelings!

cooking.

I've been here three days so far, and already I have cooked french onion soup, thai pumpkin soup, fish in a bag, and choc chip cookies. I woke up this morning feeling like cooking zucchini slice.

I think in a place where everything else is different to what I am used to (the language, the weather, the food, the culture) I am reverting back to what I know. Good old home style cooking.

new beginnings.

Well, this is the start of a new blog, a new country, and a new chapter of my life.







In 10 days I will be leaving for Paris.