Everything in a Brioche

I have no idea where my last blog entry was, but I figure it was Thanksgiving or somewhere around then because I usually only post when there was a big event (or big-ish), SO, we'll start with december. Oh, just kidding, I haven't updated since I went to Switzerland, THAT was almost two months ago. Whoops! SO, looks like instead I'll do a wrap up of november, then in to december. This time, I'll have some pictures :D

November wrap up:

November was really just school and for what i can remember, only two big things happened. One was the trip to Magda's house and Switzerland, the other thing was that I made thanksgiving for my family :) I made sweet potato casserole, broccoli casserole, a ham (with help from Rasika, Manon; and Véronique haaaaa), a spin on my grandmothers fruit salad, and a Pecan Pie (or, sugar pie as it was refered to here XD). I think everyone enjoyed it, and I was really happy to have pulled off my first Thanksgiving alone :)

Tada, there we all are :) Photo creds to Rasika!

Ok, november is over now.

December:

As most of you all know from Facebook, December was QUITE the month! It started with the Light Festival and then just kind of kept going from there with minimal down time. The Fête was AMAZING and it is honestly one of those things you have to see in person to really enjoy (it'll also give you a reason to come see Lyon because it is the only place to have this festival). I went out every night but the last one because i forgot, and I was just waaayyy too tired to do anything but sit on my bed and force myself to stay awake.

 This was part of the Chinese exhibit they had in the park. There was too many people there each night so I just took pictures of the surrounding area, but all the trees had chinese lanterns in them, there was a big lantern wall, and there were little floating lillys of light in the lake :)

 This is a picture of a good part of the city

And these are mine and my twin's  candle holders for the 8th of December :)



After the fête calmed down, vacation geared up a few weeks after. We left for Alsace the 21st and didn't come back until the 23rd (I have no pictures past this because they're all one my camera and i'm too lazy to do all that work after i've started the blog). We went and saw all sorts of cool Christmas villages and markets! We started in one of the oldest, and then worked our way around. I think in total we saw 6 or 7 different ones (I'm counting all the sub-markets in the big markets). We also went to Strasbourg and saw the biggest one and of course the city which was BEAUTIFUL! I got to see the Cathedral and all sorts of different parts of the city. After that we came home and the day after we began Christmas. The 24th we did it at my host-grandmothers house with my Mom's side of the family. It was a little awkward being with people I've never met, but after a bit I just got over it and got used to it. We had a really good, big, and LONG meal as well as a LONG night (got home at around 3 i think, or is that when i went to sleep. Dunno...). The 25th we did christmas with my host-fathers side of the family. Again, little awkard with people the i hadn't  met yet (i had met several before), but i did it and got over it. I had so much fun those two days and am incredibly thankful for everything I got to see and experience.


We left Lyon again the 29th for a beautiful village nestled in the Alps called Morillon to go ski! :D My first day of ski my mom taught, well, tried to teach me how to ski but I didn't really understand it as I was still trying to get used to having these weird heavy things on my feet. I spent most of the day laying on the ground because for SOME reason I never got it in my head how to stop even after she told me about 300 times. Sorry about that...The next day I was in too much pain to go again, so I stayed home and rested a bit. I went walking around the village and stopped in a little café and had a really good hot chocolate. Later that afternoon my host-grandmother who has the area beside us there and I went to the village beside and she showed me that. It was really nice to spend time with her and talk with her about her life. She has some really interesting stories and is a very interesting person!

January:

I went back to skiing the next day, this time, my mom got me lessons XD That day was the day everything clicked, and I finally learned how to ski! I didn't fall AT ALL! ok once when some stupid kid stepped on my skis before getting on the lift. My next and last day up there my instructor took me to do my first piste, and surprise, I fell getting off the lift and hurt my leg, but I got up and kept going. It was exhilarating being up on the mountain and skiing where actual people ski and in a beautiful little wooden area. I did the piste with her, and after, with my little brother and host father.  We went back to Lyon the next day, and then that night, Me, Hana, and Vitoria headed over to the airport to say goodbye to Daisy...I miss her a lot, but I hope eventually I can make my way down to Australia to visit her :)

That next Wednesday I did the thing. I changed families. And now here I am, and you're all caught up. So, until next time.

Au Revoir
Andrew