Noël et Nouvel Ans

I apologize for my incredible lack of updates. I will try my best to take this sunday and update my blog with all of the great thingsI have been doing with my exchange!

Christmas this year was certainly different than the traditional Christmas in Newfoundland. I had the pleasure to spend it with my first host family, chez Liegeois. Christmas eve we ate chez Bonne Maman and Eric. It was great food, fun and family. Florence's brother, wife and children were there and it gave the house a warm feeling. We ate homemade foie gras and oysters. It was an excellent, excellent meal. Then we shared our secret santa's. I had florence, and gave her tights with a matching scarf. She gave Quentin tennis balls with little sayings on it, he gave Delphine an alarm clock, she gave Marie a bracelet, she gave Michel socks and Michel gave me a manga. Florence also made me a homemade scarf and they gave me a watch. Their kindness remains overwhelming, but I am incredible thankful for it. In the morning the festivities were held at our house. Michel's family came to the house and we had a crowd! Gifts and laughs were shared, and even Charline joined us on skype. We all went to the table to eat a seafood entrée, deer jam and scallop potatoes and for dessert some delicious cakes from Jean-Pierre in Battice. I felt very very homesick during christmas, but luckily had the chance to call my family back home to wish them a Merry Christmas. Overall I had a great Holiday, and my only real complaint was the lack of snow! It was 10oC on Christmas, I couldn't believe it!

I also spent new year's with my host family. We went to France in Val Thorens to spend a week of vacation time together. It was a great visit! We stayed in Eric's appartment and it was very comfortable. With my back problem I couldn't go skiing, but I had a great time snow shoeing with my host mom in the alps. Everyday we took a different route and each time we found something beautiful and truly moving. After this week together I felt even closer to my host family. Michel, Delphine and her two friends (Sacha and Marie) skiied while we snow shoed. New year's we went to the center of the station and there was a giant soirée with loads of people dancing, an awesome dj with a cool snow sculpture and fireworks. It was a lot of fun, even with the super drunk people flashing the crowds. The next day Florence and I had a guided walk into the mountains. It was very beautiful, and the people were very nice. We saw mountain animals, the beautiful forests and we had an amazing tradition meal in a little chalet in the middle of the forest. It was very very very fun. I was sad to leave because I had such a great time.

Upon returning home from New year's I had a pretty hard week. My three oldies went home to Australia, which was a lot harder than I anticipated, and the anniversary of the death of my mother was on the tenth. I was a bit overwhelmed, but I just mention to this to help illustrate how nice my host family is. I was having a hard time this day and I called to go home upon feeling under the weather. My host mom had kept herself avalible for that day with the knowledge that I may have had a hard time. We then went to a spa in Spa (it's the name of the city) to relax together. It was a great day despite the sadness I felt inside. Words cannot explain how I am thankful for everything the Liegeois have done for me, and it was very hard to think about changing families for the longest time. Now I am in my new host family and I will make a new entry to talk about the changing of families.

RIP the most beautiful woman I have ever met, my mother.