Recently, I’ve realised that I’ve got used to goodbyes, but it doesn’t make them any easier. In the last few days, I had to say goodbye to my friends at Christchurch and to Nathan. I know we’ll be keeping in touch, and we’ll see each other again, but it’s not the same as that regular contact every week or more than once a week in the flesh. I’m happy that soon I’ll be back with some of the people I’ve missed so badly this year, but that’s only to be replaced by missing other people.
Packing up and cleaning up went to plan and we had a journey back without any problems :) So I’m back at home, and have the prospect of unpacking everything, and finishing my university project which aren’t too thrilling. But the GBU are coming this weekend and I’m preparing for that too, which is something to look forward to and I’m glad to be back with Mum and Dad.
I feel quite a sense of achievement at managing a whole 8 months out in France on my own. I’ve coped well, with a great help from my Father in Heaven and His people. It’s going to be interesting to see how it is settling back into British culture. At least the transition will be made easier with a trip to France soon and then 7 weeks in an Anglo-French context over the summer.
I’ll be carrying on my blog for the foreseeable future.
Fiona x
Monday, 7 June 2010
Thursday, 3 June 2010
Social side of the week
C3
Last Thursday night, I co-lead a successful C3 night, a photo scavenger hunt. We put people into teams with cameras and they went out and about in the local area coming up with photos to suit 15 captions that we had given them. Ranging from ‘It’s a French thing’ to ‘It’s a childish thing’ to ‘It’s a historical thing’. Afterwards we displayed the photos on a projector and judged the photos for a winner. Everyone had a lot of fun taking and looking at the photos.
Dinner with L&H
On Friday, I went to a gorgeous little crêperie, just behind my local supermarket and I would never have noticed it was there unless I was taken! I went out for dinner with Laurence and Hugues. We had a savoury crêpe followed by a sweet one, accompanied by cider and a good dose of friendship :) Laurence and I have been a good support to each other at school and outside of school this past 8 months, we’re going to miss each other.
Bal folk
On Saturday, my friend Nicola and I had pushed our friend Hugues (a different one from the one above) into organising an outing to a bal folk. This is because I knew that Nicola would love it, Hugues goes there often and is good company and we needed a car to get there! So five of us went – Hugues, me, Nicola, Nathan and Natasha. We had loads of fun, and except for nearly dying from the heat inside the room it was a great night out :)
Last Sunday
My last Sunday here was a hard one to stomach. I said goodbye to the Église du Triolo, youth group and Christchurch Sunday evenings. I’m sure I’ll make it back occasionally, but it was fairly definitive, realising that it wasn’t going to be part of my regular activity any more. I got a lovely card from youth group thanking me for my involvement. I’ve got really attached to the group considering I’ve only been part of it for 5 months. One of the girls clung to me and threatened to not let me go! Another of my friends was on about stealing my passport so I couldn’t leave. Aww…. At one point this week I was ready to ring her up and say ‘You want my passport? Come and get it!’
Les profs on Monday
So as I said in a previous blog, I went to say goodbye to the teachers of Armentières. I spent a nice hour or so with them and I really appreciated them taking the time to come and say goodbye. They gave me a necklace and earrings which were well chosen and a bottle of wine called ‘Fiona’! It’s so cool!
Last GBU
For my last GBU, they cancelled the Bible study and had a goodbye evening for me! Lara cooked roast chicken and potatoes with green beans which was delicious, and we had a chocolate cake and apple tart after :) It was a mixture of happiness and sadness, because they’re so dear to me and I was enjoying the time with them, but I didn’t want to leave. The consolation was that half of the group is coming to see me in less than 10 days for the weekend :)
Packing up
So I leave on Saturday and I’m packing, cleaning, saying a few final goodbyes and trying to write my uni project all at the same time. Will write again when I’m back in England…
Fiona x
Last Thursday night, I co-lead a successful C3 night, a photo scavenger hunt. We put people into teams with cameras and they went out and about in the local area coming up with photos to suit 15 captions that we had given them. Ranging from ‘It’s a French thing’ to ‘It’s a childish thing’ to ‘It’s a historical thing’. Afterwards we displayed the photos on a projector and judged the photos for a winner. Everyone had a lot of fun taking and looking at the photos.
Dinner with L&H
On Friday, I went to a gorgeous little crêperie, just behind my local supermarket and I would never have noticed it was there unless I was taken! I went out for dinner with Laurence and Hugues. We had a savoury crêpe followed by a sweet one, accompanied by cider and a good dose of friendship :) Laurence and I have been a good support to each other at school and outside of school this past 8 months, we’re going to miss each other.
Bal folk
On Saturday, my friend Nicola and I had pushed our friend Hugues (a different one from the one above) into organising an outing to a bal folk. This is because I knew that Nicola would love it, Hugues goes there often and is good company and we needed a car to get there! So five of us went – Hugues, me, Nicola, Nathan and Natasha. We had loads of fun, and except for nearly dying from the heat inside the room it was a great night out :)
Last Sunday
My last Sunday here was a hard one to stomach. I said goodbye to the Église du Triolo, youth group and Christchurch Sunday evenings. I’m sure I’ll make it back occasionally, but it was fairly definitive, realising that it wasn’t going to be part of my regular activity any more. I got a lovely card from youth group thanking me for my involvement. I’ve got really attached to the group considering I’ve only been part of it for 5 months. One of the girls clung to me and threatened to not let me go! Another of my friends was on about stealing my passport so I couldn’t leave. Aww…. At one point this week I was ready to ring her up and say ‘You want my passport? Come and get it!’
Les profs on Monday
So as I said in a previous blog, I went to say goodbye to the teachers of Armentières. I spent a nice hour or so with them and I really appreciated them taking the time to come and say goodbye. They gave me a necklace and earrings which were well chosen and a bottle of wine called ‘Fiona’! It’s so cool!
Last GBU
For my last GBU, they cancelled the Bible study and had a goodbye evening for me! Lara cooked roast chicken and potatoes with green beans which was delicious, and we had a chocolate cake and apple tart after :) It was a mixture of happiness and sadness, because they’re so dear to me and I was enjoying the time with them, but I didn’t want to leave. The consolation was that half of the group is coming to see me in less than 10 days for the weekend :)
Packing up
So I leave on Saturday and I’m packing, cleaning, saying a few final goodbyes and trying to write my uni project all at the same time. Will write again when I’m back in England…
Fiona x
Wednesday, 2 June 2010
This deserves a post of it's own!
Every first Wednesday of the month in France, around midday, all the air raid sirens go off! It's to test them, a bit like we'd test a fire alarm from time to time. At first when I heard them I got a bit scared and wondered why I was hearing them. And then it happened again and again (the following months). Finally I remembered to bring it up in conversation with a friend and she very naturally told me the above. I hadn't realised it had been at the same time every month. I guess it makes sense but it's still not very pleasant and I'm not used to it. If ever I was planning to wage war on France though, I'd know when to attack!! There they go again...
Fiona x
Fiona x
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