During the weekend Mum told me the sad news that my Grandad Froggie had died.
Before leaving New Zealand I was fully aware that there a was a big chance of not seeing one (or more) of my Grandparents again, as their health was a bit of an ongoing rollercoaster. Mum, Dad and I had talked about what I would do if one of them did pass away. How would I cope? Would I go back for the funeral?
Hearing that Frog’s had died was a huge shock and I took it quite badly, but fortunately I had the weekend to let it set in. My host family was a great help, they are rubbish at giving hugs (a french thing), but they always made sure I was kept busy and had company. Gwen, Elizabeth and I spent all of Saturday morning in their bedroom playing games, they were such a great help. I asked to go to the towns church to light a candle for Froggie, I sat there for a while and afterwards I felt so much better. I spent the rest of day keeping busy, but of course there is only so much you can do. I went to play badminton with Elizabeth on Sunday morning and had a great time, it really kept my mind of things, but when I returned it flooded back.
I think being on the other side of the world makes it a lot harder (not to mention that I’m already an emotional person), but right now I feel really really really far away from my family at the time that I need them the most. Luckily I have such a great host family who are doing a great job keeping me happy! On Sunday they made a very traditional french meal called a Raclette – “about as french as you can get” they said. It was amazing! Basically you cook the meal at the table. In the centre of the table there was a weird grill type thing with two layers, one to fondue your cheese in mini pans and the other to cook your bacon or what ever you wanted with it. We also had potatoes (which is typical apparently). When the raclette cheese melts you pour it over the bacon and potato and let your taste buds enjoy. I didn’t explain this too well but I’m sure google will be able to.
Monday was very difficult, I put on a brave face heading into school but the second my friends asked me how my weekend was I cracked like a coconut. They were so sweet and hugged me a million times – it was exactly what I needed.
The rest of this week passed as well as it could have gone given the circumstances, though of course it has been filled with ‘down moments’. I got my test results back for my maths test; 10/20, not too bad in a foreign language! There were a lot of kids that scored lower than me so I’m pretty contente. I’ll leave on that happy note!