L'amitié

Without a doubt, the best thing to come from my learning French is not the fact that I've acquired a new language, but the fact that I've acquired a whole heap of new friends. C'est super !

I have made lots of friends both online and in real life and I would never have gone to the trouble of looking for new friends if I didn't start my quest/journey to learn French. I'm not shy but I am introverted (yes there is a big difference!) and I'm one of those people who are too afraid to get out of their comfort zone. These past few months I've challenged myself to get out there and make a whole heap of the new friends, primarily to better my French, but also for friendships.

Recently I watched Up in the air starring George Clooney and if there's one thing I took away from that (it's a great movie btw) it's that your relationships to those around you are the most important thing in life!

I'm so happy to have made all these new friends, I can't even begin to explain how contente and heureuse I feel.

I also feel kind of nutty, but in a good way. I talk to random strangers now, not that I didn't before but I talk to people out of the blue simply because I can detect that they have a French accent. I would never have done that even a year ago. I don't care if people think I'm nuts. If someone thinks that because I'm being friendly and talkative.. what does that say about the world?

and on another note, stereotypes are pretty crappy. So, apparently Parisiens are rude and unfriendly, and apparently French women don't like making new female friends (I have read this in books and on blogs). Hmm... well I have not experienced this myself luckily (the opposite in fact) and I don't think I will. I don't like to think negatively about things/people/circumstances and prejudge them. The one negative stereotype about France that I think is probably true (although I am always trying to think positively and pray I don't have to stress about it) is the whole bureaucratic paperwork business and unfriendly customer service staff! Ha!

I chose the image above for the cute amitié quote but also for the koala-looking animals too... trop mignon !


True friendship
is like health.
You only know the value
when you've lost it.


image from here

Contact the author

Lunch in Paris by Elizabeth Bard - book review

Lunch in Paris: A Love Story, with Recipes - Elizabeth Bard

Boy am I hopeless. The very next day after I wrote this post I went BACK to the bookstore to buy it. I knew that I would like it when I browsed through it and I wasn't mistaken.

I practically devoured the book over several sittings and I just finished it. The cover image I posted is the same cover as the one I bought (I think it's the Australian edition or something).

I think if you liked Almost French: Love and a New Life in Paris by Sarah Turnbull you'll definitely like this. That is, if you're like me and can't get enough of books like this....

Anglo girl meets French boy, falls in love, sets up a life together in Paris... talks about difficulties with finding work and grasping the culture differences.. yadda yadda.

This book is different because it's interspersed with recipes (which I admit look rather difficult and the ingredients seem so foreign to me. I am not sure if I am even game enough to attempt them as I don't even know what half the ingredients are or where on earth to find them! hahaha).

The first half of the book seems like a fairytale.. everything is just so lovely and fluffy and peachy but it's not until things take a turn that we're reminded this is a true story, not some fabricated piece of fiction. That's what appeals to me. Reading about life's ups and downs. The good and the bad.

It's easy to like her and I found myself relating to her easily because I think our personalities are quite similar - that is, slightly control-freakish, perfectionistic, idealistic, strong and stubborn, anxiety-ridden, etc etc... also our dysfunctional family and upbringing. It was definitely easy for me to read this book as I could see myself acting exactly the same way as her in those situations.

It's hard for me to say too much without giving anything away (and I hate spoilers so I wouldn't do that) but I really really enjoyed this book because she didn't seem like an arrogant know-it-all, nor a bimbo, but a real, normal regular girl with real worries and problems in life. I could also sense a real maturing of her character when she is tested in several situations.

I could also relate a lot to her stories involving her mother, some of which were hilarious.

Here's an interview with her on paris-expat.com.
Her blog
Facebook fan page

Vous devez le lire! :)

She's actually in Sydney at the moment.. wonder if I can track her down and stalk her .. hehehe.. just kidding! Je plaisante.

Nouvel an chinois 2010 l'annee du tigre

Aujourd'hui, le 14 février est le nouvel an chinois 2010 (l'annee du tigre).

Hier soir, je suis allée chez ma mère pour dîner. C'était sympa et le repas était bon. J'ai reçu des petits paquets rouges (avec de l'argent à l'intérieur) de mes parents et grandparents. C'est toujours sympa de recevoir les cadeaux et l'argent :P et bientôt après le Noël qui a récemment passé, j'ai de la chance!

L'astrologie chinoise

Lequel êtes-vous?

1° le rat (rat)

1948
1960
1972
1984
1996
2008

2° le buffle (ox/cow)

1949
1961
1973
1985
1997
2009

3° le tigre (tiger)

1950
1962
1974
1986
1998
2010

4° le lapin (rabbit/hare)

1951
1963
1975
1987
1999
2011

5° le dragon (dragon)

1940
1952
1964
1976
1988
2000
2012

6° le serpent (snake)

1941
1953
1965
1977
1989
2001
2013

7° le cheval (horse)

1942
1954
1966
1978
1990
2002
2014

8° la chèvre (goat/sheep)

1943
1955
1967
1979
1991
2003
2015

9° le singe (monkey)

1944
1956
1968
1980
1992
2004
2016

10°le coq (rooster)

1945
1957
1969
1981
1993
2005
2017

11°le chien (dog)

1946
1958
1970
1982
1994
2006
2018

12°le cochon (pig)

1947
1959
1971
1983
1995
2007
2019


Le nouvel an chinois commence:

le 08 février 1940
le 27 janvier 1941
le 15 février 1942
le 05 février 1943
le 25 janvier 1944
le 13 février 1945
le 02 février 1946
le 22 janvier 1947
le 10 février 1948
le 29 janvier 1949
le 27 janvier 1952
le 14 février 1953
le 03 février 1954
le 24 janvier 1955
le 12 février 1956
le 31 janvier 1957
le 18 février 1958
le 08 février 1959
le 28 janvier 1960
le 15 février 1961
le 05 février 1962
le 25 janvier 1963
le 13 février 1964
le 02 février 1965
le 21 janvier 1966
le 09 février 1967
le 30 janvier 1968
le 17 février 1969
le 06 février 1970
le 27 janvier 1971
le 15 février 1972
le 03 février 1973
le 23 janvier 1974
le 11 février 1975
le 31 janvier 1976
le 18 février 1977
le 07 février 1978
le 28 janvier 1979
le 16 février 1980
le 05 février 1981
le 25 janvier 1982
le 13 février 1983
le 02 février 1984
le 20 février 1985
le 09 février 1986
le 29 janvier 1987
le 17 février 1988
le 06 février 1989
le 27 janvier 1990
le 15 février 1991
le 04 février 1992
le 23 janvier 1993
le 10 février 1994
le 31 janvier 1995
le 19 février 1996
le 07 février 1997
le 28 janvier 1998
le 16 février 1999
le 05 février 2000
le 24 janvier 2001
le 12 février 2002
le 01 février 2003
le 22 janvier 2004
le 09 février 2005
le 29 janvier 2006
le 18 février 2007
le 07 février 2008
le 26 janvier 2009
le 14 février 2010
le 03 février 2011
le 23 janvier 2012
le 10 février 2013
le 31 janvier 2014
le 19 février 2015
le 08 février 2016
le 28 janvier 2017
le 16 février 2018
le 05 février 2019


donc, si vous êtes né(e) en janvier ou en février vérifiez les dates pour chaque année.

---

La semaine prochaine je vais marcher/dancer dans une parade/défilé de chars avec 2700 autres personnes dans la rue principale de Sydney! Je suis enthousiaste!

Cliquez ici, ici et ici pour en savoir plus.

Au librarie...

After my French class yesterday I went to a bookstore for no particular reason other than to kill some time and do some browsing. Since the city has a few big bookstores all within walking distance from one another, it is a 'dangerous' thing for me.

But I was strong and didn't buy a single thing!

I was in this bookstore for 25 minutes and several things happened:

(in order)

* I headed straight for the travel books section and literally the first rack of books I laid eyes on were the French-related travel books
* A few seconds later I heard a customer as a staff member where the travel books were and the staff member asked, "Which country are you looking for?" and the guy answered, "France."
* A few minutes later in the shelf behind mine, I overheard 2 French people speaking. They were looking at the learning French books and I was trying to work out their relationship. It seemed like the woman was a teacher and the other was maybe her student or a friend. But then later I thought maybe she was teaching him how to be a French teacher because I saw them again at the cashier desk, and when the sales assistant asked if he wanted a bag, she translated it as, "Tu veux un sac?" which meant that he didn't even know English! So I was still confused as to what their relationship actually was. Actually think maybe they were looking in the French books section for a French-English dictionary. Yes, that's right. That's what they were buying.
* After about 2 songs, the third song playing on the loudspeaker was a French one and so was the one after that.. and after that...
* I saw Women, Work & the Art of Savoir Faire: Business Sense & Sensibility on the shelf totally by accident, in the business section, not in the French or travel section.
* As I was leaving the store, I overhead a women with a very strong French accent asking for help finding a certain book...

OK so none of that is particularly bizarre or exciting but to have it all happen within a short period of time is quite amazing to me.