On French Guys

This isn't just about French guys but also guys living in France (of any origin) really... It is so bizarre. At the moment I seem to just attract guys wherever I go and all of them seem so nice, complimentary, flattering and chivalrous.

I guess in Sydney I never hung around guys as friends (and would attract a random guy in the street maybe once or twice a year) and I feel that it's much harder to meet people there than in France or Europe. Of course it was very hard for me initially to meet people but now I found I'm that snowball rolling down the hill gathering more snow and gaining momentum... life here just gets easier as time goes on (and makes me all the more sad that I'm leaving so very very soon). :(

This morning I sat in again on a French class taught by one of the teachers at my school. Last time I sat in on a class in the lycée which I think was première (11th grade) and today it was in the collège, 5ème (7th grade). What a difference it was!

First of all, last time I was almost falling asleep because I couldn't keep up. The level was far too difficult for me but today it was more at my level and I was able to understand everything. Even so, the teacher and the kids speak soooo fast. And there is no way I can write French at that level yet.

In the whole time I've been at this school I've barely had any contact with this teacher at all, apart from the odd "Bonjour" or "Salut" here and there. It wasn't till I asked if I could sit in on his classes that we finally started talking...

I admit that I don't get along with a lot of the teachers. I think it's mainly because my French isn't good enough yet so when they talk in the staffroom or in the canteen I really have no idea what they are talking about! I can have a decent conversation with someone 1:1 since there is eye to eye contact and body language, etc, and I only have to focus/concentrate on one person but when it's lots of people and also with background noise, my brain just turns to mush.

Anyway so we talked a bit after the class (about the kids) and then he was like, "Are you coming to lunch?" I can barely remember a single time where one of the other teachers 'invited' me to come to lunch with them. I usually just go with the other assistant C or I go alone at a time which suits me. I mentioned that I forgot my swipe card back in the internat and needed to get it and he said not to worry, I can just use his. I thought it was really nice and always appreciate it when people are nice to me because at the beginning when I first arrived I admit that I felt that most people were mean and cold. I'm not actually sure if it's me that's changed, or them, or both or what.. probably both. I guess my impressions of them and behaviours towards them (everyone at the school) have changed a lot too since I've gotten more confident with the situation.

It makes me sad that I have to leave just when I'm feeling more at ease at making friends with the teachers...

Of course he let me walk through the door first too as has almost every single male I've come across. Then during lunch I was sitting at a table of about 10 other teachers. I couldn't understand what the heck they were saying of course but still it felt nice to be part of a group because I actually gotten used to eating alone or with only 1-2 other people.

After lunch and after a class, I went to administration to talk and ask about something. I'll miss the lady there too. She does all my paperwork for me and at first we were just on professional terms but then the day we started tutoyering each other it became a lot more like we were friends.

OK I didn't forget the title of this post... so where was I? Then I bumped into a teacher that I work with who thanked me for some work I did for a class last week. I was also dumbfounded by this as I thought what I did was honestly not that great... she said no, it was really helpful, etc etc.

Then, on my way back to the internat I had the strangest bizarre experience but then when I think about my other experiences in France, maybe it's not so bizarre afterall.

I was stopped by two random male students I had never seen/met before. They started gushing about how beautiful and attractive I was. "Mademoiselle, vous êtes ravissante." "Vous êtes magnifique." etc. One wanted my phone number so we could go out, etc etc.. I was laughing. Was I on candid camera? I asked, "C'est une blague, ou quoi ?" ("Is this a joke, or what?") They said no. Then to prove a point they asked 2-3 random strangers/staff members if THEY thought I was attractive etc and they all said "Well, yes she is..." OMG talk about embarrassing. Luckily I didn't turn bright red.

Then one of the students put his arm around my shoulders and started stroking my hair and saying how beautiful my hair was and kept persisting in asking for my phone number. I kept saying "Je peux pas..." (I can't...) His friend said, "Stop that, you're scaring her." I said, "You're not scarying me. I just find this all very bizarre."

They didn't even know I was a teacher at the school and I said that I was a prof d'anglais (English teacher) and then they were saying they wished they had me as their teacher... and, "Wow, you're from Australia?" I asked how old they were and they said 18 and 19. One had Turkish origins and the other Algerian.

OMG Honestly I didn't know what to think or how to act. I was very weirded out by the whole thing but at the same time flattered and found it highly amusing. I always thought that kind of thing only happened in big cities or to other people but I guess not!

I think as a female in France you just have to exist and eventually you'll get male attention (whether you want it or not!!)

And regarding the other stuff (teachers, life at the school) I really think it's the Law of Attraction at play. I guess negative things happened to me in the past when I was feeling down or vulnerable. But now that  I feel much happier and content in general and somewhat more 'powerful' or 'popular' (although I loathe to use those kind of words because I don't want to sound arrogant and I hope I don't give the impression that I am!) I seem to attract positive people and situations...

It's not all good news though. My father just told me that his mother (my grandmother) is in hospital and is hooked up to various machines. :( She's in a stable condition but I hope she gets better...praying for her.

(image from here)

How to live and travel as a young, single woman

I thought I'd do a post on this subject as it's something I think about and get asked about a lot.

It seems to me that it's 'taboo' in France (and almost everywhere) to do things alone... especially if you are a young woman. Afterall, you can't be seen in public alone! I mean, what a loser! Of course nobody says this to my face but the looks I get when tell people I travel around France alone, go to restaurants and cinemas alone... well it says a lot more about their insecurity than anything else.

It's true though. If I look around the only people walking about alone are old people. It's even worse in countries like India or Muslim countries though. When would you ever see a woman out walking by herself? It's just not done! Ugh. You have no idea how much that infuriates me.

I guess we're fed stories that as girls, we have to be 'rescued' by our fairytale prince and if he doesn't come along we just sit and wait in our tower in the castle... Pffft! I'd rather die than put my life on hold like that. We're also fed stories that the world is full of 'bad people' so we need to go out with a man or in a group for our own 'safety'.

Once upon a time (like most people I know) I had never lived alone. It's actually not very common for Australians to move out of home when they go to university and I know people in their mid-late 30s with extremely high paying jobs who still live with their parents...er...  Anyway, I just moved straight from Mummy and Daddy's to live with Boyfriend. But now it's been almost 3 years since I've lived alone and sure there are some lonely and boring times but it's been a HUGE learning experience for me. I honestly could not have learnt anything about myself and especially learnt of my capabilities as a person as well as a woman if I had always been one half of a partnership, always relying on someone else and having someone else rely on me. So for what it's worth I have really enjoyed this time to learn about myself and my strengths!

The Turning Point

One particular moment sticks out in my memory. In my apartment (back in Sydney) I had an old shitty fridge that a friend had donated. It worked fine but the freezer section was always frosting over and needed to be defrosted on a regular basis. Let me tell you it was hard work. I distinctly remember my boyfriend helping me (it had now been several months since we broke up) and my now flatmate didn't offer to help so I was stuck doing it alone. It was not a fun task freezing my fingers off and scraping and hacking at the ice and even using a hairdryer to melt it, swearing under my breath, etc etc... It wasn't just the job itself but also the fact that I started feeling sorry for myself that all my friends had nice, big, new fridges as well...I actually broke down and started crying because it was just TOO hard! I mean, how could I possibly cope without a guy around the house? And why is life so unfair?! But I told myself to get it together. It's just a freezer for God's sake! At least I have one. Get over it. It was a huge turning point for me and now no task really scares me anymore. And then over the next few days I went shopping, researched prices, and bought a nice brand new fridge :)

My Friends

I guess having lots of single friends really helps as they're the only ones who can possibly know how you feel and they, like you, are always seeking to go out and do 'stuff'.  I love my coupled-up friends but I rarely ask them to do stuff with me anymore because there is always one reason/excuse or another so usually I just give up. Plus I don't they don't feel the need to go out because there is always someone at home to talk to and to do 'stuff' with!

What I really miss is living in the same suburb as 1-2 of my good girl friends. I can't tell you how great it is that we could walk to each other's place in 10-15 minutes instead of having to go through Sydney's horrific traffic or worry about public transport. We could just invite each other over spontaneously (none of this giving 3-4 weeks' notice like with some of my other friends), eat together, go to the movies, take photos (she is a keen photographer like me), etc... How I miss those days!

Now here at the school although my friends live nearby, they aren't close enough to me to want to do anything with me on a regular basis. I guess what I'm trying to say is, if you have a lot of friends and a busy, active social life you never really feel that lonely or bored.  And pretty much every single person I know has a busy, full life. That's just the way it goes.

Going out alone

I used to be a huge Mr Bean and Rowan Atkinson fan. And when I heard he was coming to Sydney for the opening of his new film, the (first) Mr Bean movie, I thought to myself, "I HAVE TO BE THERE." I called up one of my good friends and asked if she wanted to go and she said, "No" so then I decided not to go, afterall, I couldn't possibly go all the way into the city alone. But that was another turning point for me and I remember it well because I really regretted it afterwards. From that point on I decided if I really want to do something and can't find anyone to do it with me or go with me, stuff them! I'll go anyway.

Adult Education classes

Let's take my learning French as an example. Most people would try to drag along a friend to the adult evening classes but not me. I often think that if you drag along a friend you're doing it all for the wrong reasons - ie you just think of it as 'fun' and don't really want to go to learn anything. I see it all the time. these are the people who never come back for the next term. But if you've actually been to any sort of adult evening class you'll find that the majority of people do go alone and noone gives a stuff! I guess I've always been sort of independent like that, even as a teenager.  If I want to do something that's important to me, I'll just do it. I don't need any hand holding (AKA peer support) from a friend.

Restaurants and Cinemas

So back in Sydney I went to restaurants, cafés and the cinema by myself very very often. It didn't even seem weird anymore. I had this one favourite Vietnamese restaurant of mine (that I still salivate over thinking about) that was close to where I lived, had great food, was cheap and the waitresses were super nice. I went there roughly once every two weeks. I remember I'd only just started learning French when I first started going there and would bring my ipod and listen to Michel Thomas and Pimsleur. It was sooooo nice and relaxing to have a nice, hot delicious meal and to do something good for my personal improvement too.

I love the movies but I didn't go to the cinema all that often because it's really expensive in Sydney.  But I try to go when I can here because the cinema in my town is really cheap and nice.

It's probably one of the best things you can do alone because it's all dark so noone can see you and noone cares! I guess for me there is a downside though. If I missed something they said, I have noone to ask, and then after the film I have noone to talk about it to.

Museums

It was only over Christmas when I was in Paris that I realised that museums are a GREAT thing to do by yourself! In fact it's probably better so you can fully absorb and appreciate the artwork.

Reading

Of course there's the old classic. Who needs friends when you have books? ;) Or magazines, or newspapers, or blogs, or anything... I've always loved reading. These days, I read on the internet because I don't have much money to buy extraneous stuff nor any space to store it.

Music

I love love love my music! My ipod is practically glued to my ears. Can you believe I actually forgot to pack it to bring to France? So I had to go without for several weeks until my dad sent it to me in the mail. And then my earphones broke so I had to get new ones and it was hard living without it for so long... The French seem to love their music too as almost everyone I have come across has asked me what sort of music I like and then told me what sort they like, and asked me if I play any instruments etc etc. So it's a good conversation starter as well!

Have a Bath

I don't have a bathtub here and miss it like crazy. One of my favourite things to do in winter was to have a nice long hot bath where I'd almost fall asleep and start meditating because I was that relaxed. And when you live alone you have NO distractions. Noone nagging you about one chore or other or wanting to talk to you about their boring day at work, or having to hear the tv blaring in the background... It's pure bliss and a real treasure to have this quiet 'me' time.

Exercise/Sport

When you have no responsibilities to anyone else and only yourself to answer to, you have all the time in the world to devote to your health and exercise. When I exercise I feel much happier and relaxed afterwards and it's so nice to go for a walk or a jog anywhere... To all those people who say they can't find the time.. if you don't have the time when you are single, you certainly won't find the time later when you have billions of chores to do and kids to look after!

Shopping

I LOVE shopping alone and would choose to do it alone for the rest of my life. I feel anxious when I'm with others and never end up buying anything. I hate feeling rushed and I get impatient with others.

Learn a new skill, Start a new hobby

Now is the perfect time to do that thing you've always wanted to do but put off. For me it was learning another foreign language and to get involved in volunteer/charity work. I accomplished both those things successively in 2009 and 2010 and I felt a lot more fulfilled because of it. I actually wanted to do more but ran out of time. I also wanted to tutor kids after school in English who were refugees from their countries. I think that would have been incredibly rewarding but unfortunately I couldn't coordinate a time/place with the organisers as I lived quite far away from that area. I think most people (myself included I'll admit) spend so long thinking about ourselves that we don't take the time to think about others and how we can help them. I don't want to get to an old age and know that I made absolutely no contribution to the world. As soon as I move to a big city I can't wait to start finding out more about volunteer/charity work again. I cannot describe the amazing feeling you get when you give all your time and expect nothing in return. The thing is though, you receive a LOT in return. Those warm fuzzy feelings.

OK so if doing all those things isn't enough..

Make more friends!

By being alone/single it actually forces you to get out there and meet new people, create new networks and friendships and keep your current friendships strong. All of which are important skills I think. I'm constantly searching for ways to meet new people. Trust me it's hard when you live in a small town and where you can't go anywhere without a car (and you don't have one)...

Here are some websites I recommend:

Look for events in your town:
• Couch Surfing
• Meet Up
• Meet In
• Internations
• On Va Sortir (France/French)

Find a language exchange partner. Learn a foreign language AND make a new friend!
• LiveMocha
• iTalki
• My Happy Planet
• Shared Talk
• Babbel
• Hello Hello
• Lang 8

There are more sites but they are the only ones I've used. It takes a while to find someone with whom you can connect and communicate regularly with but just keep persisting... NB: These are not dating websites although some people seem to think they are!!

Another thing is, if you are invited to go somewhere, go! The more time you spend thinking about it the more the fear develops and then you decide to change your mind and not go. As Nike says: Just Do It. Something that carried over from my Sydney days... I go to pretty much anything I'm invited to because then you increase your prospects of meeting even more people and who knows where that can lead you? I think you have to be more open-minded and allow possibilities to happen. I met both my last exes (one here in France and one in Sydney) because one of my friends invited me to a party at her house. I can honestly say that I did not go because I wanted to meet somebody, but it kind of just happened that way because I was being myself and being happy I guess. Look at it this way. You could meet someone that helps you find a new job, or helps you find a great new apartment or just gives you great advice about a pressing problem, or anything. But you'll never know if you never go.

Even when I was younger I'd been invited to parties where I knew noone other than the host and trust me that is scary as hell but I still did it and met some very nice people because of it.

People usually applaud me when I tell them some of the 'scary' things I've done by putting myself out there... However I don't really think it's such a big deal. It's just that I never had to do that before because I was always one half of a couple. It's quite liberating to be my own person and to know that I'm the only one responsible for my own happiness.


Travelling as a single female

All those scaremongers will have you believe that it's impossible to travel as a single woman, or heck, a single anything but millions of people do it every year. Why the hell not?

Now before I start, I have to say that I grew up with extremely overprotective parents who instilled fear into my head till it got to the point where I was afraid of everything but over the last few years I had to turn it all around. I got sick of them telling me what I was supposed to think. I fully believe in the Law of Attraction in that the more you think about something, the more likely it is going to happen. When I'm out alone (particularly at night) I don't think "OMG I'm going to get mugged and killed!" It's simple really. Just don't think about. It doesn't mean you can't be cautious and wary but don't be so bloody scared about everything.

Now here's a true story for you. I have been mugged 3 times in my life.
The first time was in China. Someone tried to get into my backpack and take my camera out. Luckily I'm highly sensitive and felt it and stopped him and then he just ran away.
The second time was in Paris at an ATM some guy tried to steal my credit card.
The third time was in China again (different place) and someone tried to steal everything I had on me - my handbag with all my money, my video camera, and my normal camera. I wrestled hard for my camera (it was just an instinct) and luckily he only made away with my purse (I say 'lucky' because money is easily replaced but memories from photos/videos are not). I ended up with a bruised and bloody nose because of what happened and I was rather traumatised for a few days afterwards. It was honestly one of my most traumatic experiences ever.

Now I'm not telling you these stories to get sympathy but because I wanted to say that in each of those 3 times I was with someone else.
The first time I was walking alone with my mother, the second time I was with my then boyfriend who only left me for a split second, and the third time I was with both my sister and my then boyfriend who once again left me for a split second.

In each of those times I had some else with/near me and yet, when I travel alone nothing like that has ever happened to me.

Why?

Well I think it's obvious. It's because when I travel alone I know that I'm the only one responsible for my welfare so I'm much more alert and sensible than usual. I'm also a billion times more organised. I know noone is going to rescue me if anything happens to me. And what would I do if something happened anyway? Call my parents in Australia?! So I'm pretty vigilant but I'm not at all paranoid. I believe that if you keep thinking "OMG someone's going to mug me!!" then really you're not going to enjoy your trip much, are you? It's like those people who think, "(insert nationality here) are so rude" and then wonder why when they go to that country the people really are that rude. It's a self-fulfilling prophecy.

I've had so many female friends and my sister question me when I say I did ____ alone. I've read that 'baddies' can smell fear, and they can only attack you if you are weak. I don't go out displaying 'fear' so I don't attract 'baddies'. Then again, I'm not stupid and would not purposely go into some dark dingy alley in a shady area late at night nor have I been to any stereotypically dangerous places but as a single woman I've travelled in cities in: Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan, China, Malaysia and Singapore and never had any incidents. In fact I have FAR more incidents when I'm with somebody else!

One really good thing about travelling alone

No fights! How many stories have you heard of couples that broke up because they realised they couldn't get along after spending 24/7 together during their vacation. By travelling alone there are no compromises to be made. You do whatever the heck you want, when you want and how you want. And you can spend as much as you want. No negotiating or arguing. It's GRRRReeeat!

Tips:

1. Tell someone when/where you're going and when you'll be back (just in case).
2. Try to stay as close to the centre of town as possible (you don't want to be stuck in the outer suburbs and have no way of getting back).
3. Do not come back to your room/hotel too late. If I'm alone I usually try to get back at 8-9pm at the latest. I think it's still safe then because there are still a lot of people out. I also turn my back every few minutes to make sure noone is following me. And if I'm in a really dark place at night I never take out my map or camera and I never use my ipod so I can be more aware of my surroundings.
4. Do not stand in the middle of a busy road with your map opened out. What I do is to fold the map so only the most important part is visible, or I simply take a photo of it and look at it through my camera.
5. Do try to dress like the locals. Many tourists tend to stick out like sore thumbs because of the way they dress.
6. Avoid eye contact with strangers.
7. Don't talk to strangers (unless they seem decent of course)
8. Always have your mobile phone with you (and remember to fully charge it up beforehand!)

Disclaimer: I will say though, perhaps it's 'easy' for me because I think I'm a reasonably experienced traveller. I can find my way around places and navigate public transport, understand/speak several languages and here in France it's really pretty safe so I don't have a problem. I wouldn't recommend travelling alone if you've never travelled overseas before as that is daunting enough in itself.

Here are some links for finding a travel partner:
• Trav Buddy
• Mango Tree
• Lonely Planet Thorntree Travel Companions
• Help X
• Travel Chums
• Boots 'n' all Travel Buddies


This whole post was spurred on because I was talking to one of my language exchange partners on Skype (where both of us talked about doing things alone and it's always other people who have a problem with this) and he said: Mais si les gens ont toujours besoin d'être accompagnés, c'est qu'il y a un problème aussi (If people always need to be accompanied, it's also a problem). I have to agree as I know many many people who can't seem to do anything alone (and going to the shopping mall for 2 hours doesn't really count. I'm talking about spending an extended period of time alone or travelling alone). And for me, knowing how to be alone is an important life skill to have. If you can't stand yourself, who else will? Voilà ! Ma vie.

Insomnia... This week and random thoughts

Started writing this at 1:30am this morning but then my laptop cut out because I ran out of battery...

Some things of note that happened to me this past week...

After a nice weekend in Geneva with the other assistant in my school, I had a shit Monday which is technically my day off. However, I can never relax if I stay in my room due to the location near the road (and also where the school buses pick up and drop off the kids).

The kids mock me when I tell them off (because, I have an accent, which is oh-so-hilarious you know (roll eyes)) and don't respect me. I'm sick of it.

On Tuesday, The cleaning lady (who is always super nice to me) told me to take away their 'carnet de correspondance' if they didn't listen to me.

I'm still not even entirely sure what it's about as it's something that only exists in France (I think) but basically it's a small book that keeps a record of each time they are late to class, or have to leave early, when they have a day off sick, or when they need to go to the nurses, etc. They also write in it from time to time and then the parents look at it to see if they've done anything 'naughty' which also goes in there.

J'ai un nouveau ami français

Just had 4 hours of conversation practice with a new French friend - yay! OK it was probably 2 hours given at least half the time we were speaking English...

I was browsing Gumtree one day for things to buy or sell. I've been using it more than eBay to sell things because it's just so much easier, and it's free! It's like the Craigslist or Kijiji of Australia.

Anyway, every now and then for fun I typed in "French" to see what comes up. There are a lot of people offering French lessons, or French backpackers wanting free rides across Australia, or perhaps someone selling French textbooks. I even found a French photographer who is offering to take photos in his studio for a bargain price. But anyway, I managed to find a language partner! When I wasn't even looking for one.

If this isn't the Law of Attraction thing then I don't know what is. Ever since my French friend went back to France I've been a little sad but also I've now got noone to practise with on a regular basis. So I managed to find this guy's ad online and we start emailing back and forth and I had to keep postponing our meetings because I've been since for what seems like forever now...

So 1) I found him at the exact right time I needed a new language exchange partner
2) The weirdest thing is that he has almost the exact same name as my other French friend! That is the freakiest thing ever. They have the same first name and their last name is almost identical too.

How freaky is that?

Anyway, we had a great time just talking about random stuff. It seemed that my French was better than his English which was a weird feeling because my other friend had perfect English and I never taught him anything much, he was doing all the 'teaching' although I loathe to call it that because it was more like two friends talking and having fun.

But all in all I think it went well. I enjoy sharing my knowledge on random stuff although there are some things I just don't know.

He asked me to explain Australia's political system to him (in French) and this was very hard because I have no interest in politics. When I visited the parliament house in Canberra in April they were giving free talks/guides and it was somewhat interesting but I can hardly remember any of it.

Another question he asked me which had me totally stumped and even after Googling I still can't find the answer. Perhaps someone can enlighten me? He asked me if one can do the working holiday visa (WHV) in more than one country. I couldn't find any information about this. Am I not looking hard enough? Could a French person do, say, 1 year in Australia, 1 year in the UK, 1 year in Canada, 1 year in Japan, etc? (assuming they still fit the age requirements).

I know you can do 2 stints in Australia back to back (so 2 years in total) if you work at least 3 months WOOFing (fruit picking).

Hopefully this can be a regular thing for us (to learn our 2 languages) as I need to keep practising my French conversation.

Now I'm going to translate all of that into French.


Je viens de finir 4 heures d'entrainement du français avec un nouveau ami français - youpi ! Alors, c'était probablement seulement 2 heures car on a parlé l'anglais pendant la moitié du temps.

Un jour, je parcourais Gumtree pour les trucs à vendre ou à acheter. Je l'utilisais plus souvent que eBay de vendre les trucs car c'est plus facile et c'est gratuit ! Le Gumtree est comme le Craiglist ou le Kijiji d'Australie.

De temps en temps je tape "French" sur mon clavier de voir ce qui arriverait. Il y a pas mal de gens qui offrent les leçons français, ou les backpackers français qui cherchent quelqu'un qui peut les emmène quelque part en voiture, ou bien, quelqu'un qui vend leurs livres français. J'ai même trouvé un photographe français qui peut prendre des photos de toi dans son studio pour un prix assez bas. Bref, j'arrive à trouvé un partenaire pour un échange de langues. (même si je ne le cherchais pas).

Si ça, ce n'est pas le loi d'Attraction en action, alors je ne sais pas ce que c'est. Depuis que mon ami français est retourné en France je me sentais un peu triste et aussi, je n'ai personne avec qui je peux entrainer mon français. Donc, j'arrive à trouver le pub de ce gars en ligne et on a commencé à ecrire des emails courts assez souvent mais j'ai dû retarder nos rendez-vous plusieurs fois car j'étais malade.

Bref, 1) Je l'ai trouvé au moment parfait où j'avais besoin d'un nouveau tuteur de français
2) la chose la plus bizarre est qu'il a le même prénom que mon autre ami français et même son nom est aussi presque pareil !

C'est vraiment bizarre, non ?

On a des bons moments parlant juste des choses divers. Il me semble que mon français était un peu mieux que son anglais (il m'a dit ça !) et le sentiment était étrange pour moi car mon autre ami parle l'anglais courrament et je ne lui ai jamais enseigné l'anglais. Il a fait tout l'enseignment, pourtant, j'ai craindre de l'appelle "enseignement" car on parlait comme amis.

Je pense que la séance d'aujourd'hui a été bien. J'aime partager mes connaissances sur les "choses", même s'il y a des choses que je ne connais pas très bien.

Il m'a demandé de lui expliquer le système politique en Australie (en français) et c'était très difficile pour moi car je n'ai pas beaucoup d'intérêt sur politiques ! Quand j'ai visité le parlement d'Australie à Canberra en avril, le guide nous ont donné un exposé sur les deux "maisons", Le sénat et le "House of Representatives" et c'était assez intéressant mais je ne peux pas rappeller beaucoup.

Il m'a posé une autre question qui m'a brouillé. Même après je l'ai cherché sur Google, je n'arrive pas à trouver la réponse. Est-ce qu'il y a quelqu'un qui peut m'aider ? Il m'a demandé si on peut faire le WHV dans plus que un pays. Je ne pouvais pas trouver ces informations sur l'internet. Par exemple, est-ce que un Français pourrait faire le WHV en Australie pendant 1 an, et puis 1 an en Grande-Bretagne, et puis 1 an au Canada, et puis un autre an au Japan, etc ? (supposant qu'on correspond aux critères).

Je sais qu'on peux faire le WHV 2 fois de suite en Australia  (2 ans au total) si on travail pendant au moins 3 mois dans une ferme.

J'espère que ça sera une chose habituelle pour nous d'apprendre nos langues car j'ai toujours besoin d'amélior mon français !

Lilou Macé

A few weeks ago I bought this book I LOST MY JOB AND I LIKED IT: 30-Day Law-Of-Attraction Diary of a Dream Job Seeker but only got around to reading it today.

When I first read about it (after a random browse through Amazon) I read the blurb and the favourable reviews, the fact that it mentioned the Law of Attraction, the fact that the writer is around the same age as me.. all these factors had me hooked! I had to buy this book!!

So now that I've started reading it, I discovered that the author is part French. She was born in the States to French parents, grew up in France, and then moved back to the States to work after graduating from university. After her time there she moved to London to work, and was later laid off (due to the financial crisis) which prompted her to write this book.

She has a website, a Blogspot blog and a YouTube channel. She writes about Well-being, Spirituality, Evolution, Love, Consciousness, Fitness, Health, Creativity, Relationships, Meditations, Open Heart, Universal Laws which are all topics that I'm highly interested in. She seems like a lovely person and her videos/messages are very uplifting. Unlike a lot of online or YouTube personalities ('celebs') she doesn't seem arrogant or egotistical or bimbo-ish either.

You can check out her videos (she has over 800!) and the fun thing is, a lot of them are only in French, so it's an awesome way to practise your listening!

Anyway if you're interested in any of the above topics check out her book, her website or her videos! Here's one to start you off:

Qu'est ce que la Loi de l'Attraction? Noel Wan

The law of attraction

Les idées toutes faites (set ideas)

Be warned, I'm about to get all psycho mumbo jumbo on you all...

So there's this book called 'The Secret' by Rhonda Byrnes which talks about the Law of Attraction and some people believe it's hogwash. However, I kind of believe in it. Now, I don't believe that thinking and wishing for a brand new car is going to make one appear within the next few days out of the blue (and for free for you) but I do believe that your thoughts tend to attract the things you think about.

When I hear people say that they French are arrogant, unfriendly, etc etc.. I fully believe it's because they have these pre-conceived notions, judgements and prejudices.. so what happens is that when they actually go to France, they attract these shorts of people and situations and therefore it somehow 'proves' that their theory was right all along.

Now, 2 years ago I moved overseas and while I was gone, my sister came to live in my apartment. Recently, I was chatting to her about the medical centre nearby and how I almost always have good experiences there and never had to wait more than 10-15 minutes, whereas she complained and said she always had to wait over an hour... then she launched into a tirade about how she didn't like the people in this suburb. They were rude, selfish, annoying, etc. Hang on a minute! I was confused. Were we talking about the same place? Yes. We were talking about the exact same apartment, suburb, people and places, yet we had totally different experiences. Why was this? I fully believe that it's because she has this inbuilt prejudice which attracted all these negative experiences to her.

Where am I going with all of this? Well, I was just reading this blog where this women mentioned how wonderful Air France were to her, her husband and her young son. Now, it's rare to hear someone give glowing reviews about an airline and come to think of it, my best experience was with Emirates. If I'm going to get all philosophical and psychological about this, I had read that they were one of the top 3 airlines in the world almost every year so somehow I must've attracted these great experiences, right? I guess I had high expectations but was pleasantly surprised when they did actually meet my expectations and I have nothing but glowing things to say about them.

So my conclusion to this convoluted post is that if and when I eventually get to France I'm just going to think positively. Sure bad things happen to everyone once in a while and there's always that 1% of humanity/society which suck but the rest should be OK. I think that if I keep this positive frame of mind that the French people are nice, friendly, helpful, etc... then somehow I should attract these sorts of people along the way! Afterall, the few French people that I know have all been nice and friendly to me, especially the one I met by random when I was living overseas.