A couple of weeks ago, I got an amazing bike for my birthday and I just adore it ❤ it is so cute and I love the colour and the little basket on the front, so girly!
In my opinion, having a bike in Adelaide is a MUST! I mean it is so easy to get from one point to another, there are lot of beautiful bike lanes and the ride is so nice. You can ride your bike in the parks or along the Torrens river… don’t rush! Just enjoy the beauty of things: the colourful (and noisy) birds, the flowers, the majestic trees…
Since I arrived in Adelaide, I must say I am impressed by the colours. I have never seen a sky that blue, a grass that green, a flower that deep red and yellow. It is so true: colours are deeper and brighter here! It is so joyful and it feels so good to be able to appreciate this profusion of beauty while riding my green bicycle!
In the very near future, I am planing to go to work by bike which will be a first for me but I am really looking forward to it! I had never imagined I would love that much living in a smaller city (for those who don’t know me I actually lived 10 years in Paris before). I must say I really appreciate the life quality here. I love the feeling to do whatever I want to without thinking about traffic, crowd, stress and who knows what.
Besides, we are so lucky here because for those who don’t want to spend money on a bike or don’t have enough space to store it… no worries! You can always use Adelaide free city bikes! You read well, they are free and you can find them in many locations in the CBD and North Adelaide: it is pretty straightforward, all you need is an ID! http://www.bikesa.asn.au/AdelaideFreeBikes
So my lovely friends from Adelaide! What are you waiting for?! Grab an helmet and join me on this beautiful ride on the streets of Adelaide…
You would think that using a washing machine is pretty basic and pretty similar everywhere. If you can take care of your clothes in your home country, logically you can handle this kind of chores in any countries. Well let me tell you something, you would think wrong! You see in Europe we only have washing machines with horiozontal-axis ! They can be top or front loader depending on the size of your place, if you want to put it under a counter etc… So far I only used them and never had any issues! They are pretty simple and straightforward to use.
European style front loader
But that is the beauty about living in another country because all the things you took for granted or you thought you knew can be challenged even when it comes to laundry! Actually I moved to a new house a couple of days ago and I realised that the house was equipped with an American style top loader (with vertical axis)… very popular in US and Canada… and considered as evil in France (I am not even sure you can find those in my country)!
American style top loader
Why evil? First, they are said to ruin your clothes! Maybe it is just a legend because I have some American and Australian friends here and their clothes look perfectly fine to me 😉 But still… it is strange for me, I mean take a closer look at it, there is a big plastic pipe with rigid tails (called agitator) right in the middle where you are going to put your clothes…weird… I strongly advise to use a filet for your underwears if you don’t want to see your favourite panties dancing around on this plastic agitator thingie like a striper on a poll stick! Second thing, it does not heat the water (contrary to Europe) the hot water comes directly from the tap so good luck if you need to wash cotton sheets at 60-90C, I assume it is impossible. I have heard that they are not ecologic because they use so much water and the spin cycle is so slow which can be an issue during winter time where you can’t put your clothes to dry outside…. But one of their assets seems to be that you can wash bigger amounts of clothes at the same time (I am not convinced so far) but maybe I did it wrong…
My first attempt using it was not very successful because I was given the wrong informations OR I got it wrong (it happens to me a lot, remember English is not my mother tongue so sometimes I think I understand and obviously I don’t). Anyway I thought that the detergent had to be poured in the cup on the top of the plastic pipe. At the beginning everything looked ok and the cool thing is that you can open the washing machine when it is working and it does not stop (contrary to Europeans ones) and it is funny (or weird) because it is like the washing machine is literally peeing water on your clothes… I know… not glamorous!
The image speaks for itself… a little cascade!
Well I learnt the hard way that the cup was obviously not dedicated to detergent since bubbles started to come from the evacuation hole on the floor. I panicked a little bit because I did not know what was going wrong exactly. I switched it of, I mopped and did some researches on the internet to discover that the cup is NOT for the detergent but for the softener! In this kind of machine, you have to remove the top of the agitator and pour the detergent inside it and then replace the cup on the top and pour softener into it if you wish to! During the cycle, at a specific time, the vibration of the machine will “force” the cup to release the softener… I swear it is easier than it looks like! Thank god, thanks to internet now, it is easy to find videos of people using their washing machine and see how it works exactly, so if you are curious to see what does an American style top loader look like and how it works, have a look at this educative video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OT5la5GdNZA
“Laundry day” is never fun, especially when it turns into a bubbles circus and you end up mopping and praying it does not expand! I hope this post will be educative and help foreigners to use their top loader washing machine! Good luck and don’t worry for me, now I am an expert at it haha!
Do you know what is the most common fear for people living abroad? No matter the origin, colour, religion… it is always the same obsession! You would think: the language to master? the new culture to adapt? missing your family so much that you can’t breath? I won’t deny that these are part of the concerns too but the most common fear is actually and surprisingly: gaining weight!
When you think about it, it does make sense! Afterall when you move overseas, you have a lot of free time when you arrive, meaning a lot of opportunities to taste local dishes, an enormous curiosity to satisfy and the desire to discover everything about your new culture and food is definitely part of the plan! But all these little culinary experiences have a price and soon before you realise you have gained 1 or 2 size and it can be more if you have abused of comforting food!
I have a little trick in order to avoid this unfortunate experience! I have the perfect weapon that I always have in my wardrobe! Please I hope you are not thinking of Bridget Jones’slim panties! Please… No! My secret weapon is actually a pair of jeans that I used to wear in my early twenties! It has even a name: it is called the “Sienna Miller”! Why this name? because when I bought it, there was a big black and white poster in the shop featuring the beautiful Sienna Miller wearing this exact same jeans! She was absolutely gorgeous ❤ with her beautiful curves sublimated in this mythical denim pants!
Wherever I am going, I always bring my “Sienna Miller jeans” with me! I can’t really wear it anymore because it is 15 years old, very used and full of holes but I can assure you it works better than a scale. Whenever I am in doubt about my figures, I just have to fit the SM jean: if it fits it means I can still enjoy cakes and candies, if it does not then it leads automatically to more walking and less treats! It is as simple as that and so far it has worked for me wherever I lived and despite my love for St Viateur bagels in Canada, my obsession for scones with marmalade and cream in England and my sweet spot for Lamington in Australia!
In conclusion, a scale can lie to you because these are just numbers… it can be water retention, hormonal etc… but the Sienna Miller jean will always be true to you showing no mercy to extra kilos!
I was seven years old when my mother passed away. I don’t remember much about her but to me she was a loving woman who rarely raised her voice with anger at my sisters or myself. She was also an excellent cook and despite the little money we had, there was always a lovely smell in the kitchen. I remember her beautiful hair piled on her head and her long black skirt under which I would hide when an unannounced visitor would knock at the door of our home. Unfortunately, she died very young at the age of 32. I remember the day well, for it was the first time I’d been confronted with death. My sister woke me up early in the morning saying that mum had pushed on Heaven’s door, but I could not understand. I knew mum was sick. She had asthma and could not breathe properly ; she needed to rest and it was not easy to find a doctor in the countryside at that time. But I was just a kid and all I could wonder was how she managed to get up out of bed and open a door since she was so weak and where had she gone?! My sister brought me to Mum’s room to kiss her goodbye. Lights had been covered and, despite the lilies, there was a strange smell floating in the air. Mum was lying still and cold on her bed, her hands folded on her chest. She was different and so pale. She looked like a wax doll with her long hair by her shoulders and her eyes closed. My sister whispered to me that Mum’s new home was in Heaven now and that her soul had been set free. Now she could overhear not only what we were saying but also what we were thinking, so we had to behave and make her proud so she would always love us.
From this moment, surprisingly I was not afraid! I knew mum would always look after me and eventually protect me because she was an angel now and her spirit would always be around. I could talk to her about my life, pray to her and ask for help if I needed it, which I did quite often. I guess this thought has empowered me and helped me to go through life, which has not always been easy but she has never let me down. I survived a devastating house fire without a single scratch, I was captured by the Germans during World War 2 and by some miracle I managed to escape. I have reached 96 years of age and have never been sick in my whole existence.
But today is the saddest day of my life and I need her more than ever to help me get through this painful time. I am praying to her to welcome my son, her grandson, whom I am mourning, into her home.
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This sad story is one of my assignments from creative writing class that I wanted to share with you. We were asked to look at old pictures we owned and to write a short story up to 500 words about loss from the perspective of a person we had chosen. The idea was that the loss had occurred when the person was a child and we had to tell what happened and how it had impacted our character’s life. We were also asked to write in the first person subject past tense as it was a recollection and many years had passed since the tragedy had occurred We had to show what the child had learnt through this experience that stayed with him to adulthood. I must say it was a difficult exercise since generally I prefer to write about fun things and loss is not really my favorite genre. It was also a bit overwhelming for me since I decided to base my story on a true family life chapter. Actually I chose my grandfather who lost his mother when he was only a child and I became his voice for the duration of this assignment. On one hand it made me sad and a bit depressed to write about these past memories, I mean I can only imagine how hard it must have been painful for him. But in the other hand I am glad I could transcribe as a tribute stories I have been told a couple of times by my grandfather. His mother, my grand-grandmother, was a beautiful woman who sadly died very young from asthma and I am grateful she is a caring and loving angel watching over my grandfather in sadness and happiness helping him to go though life giving him hope and bravery.
Don’t you love the smell of a French baguette, still warm from the bakery shop? As I am walking back home, I can’t resist biting in it and feel it crunching under my teeth. I like this particular sound and the taste of it, promise of a delicious breakfast with butter, jam, pains au chocolat and croissants!
Cheese, baguette and croissants!
Sometimes I miss home and I need to reconnect with familiar flavours. It is not easy to find bread or croissants that have the same texture and taste as in France. You would think it is because of the unique technique or maybe a special oven…etc but actually the explanation is way more simple: it is the flour! It is too expensive to import French flour that is why bakeries use local flour to bake their baguettes. Don’t get me wrong, I have tried many kind of breads at the Adelaide Central Market and I liked them a lot: I mean they are good but different! And when you are experiencing home sickness, you want to bite into a piece of bread that would remind you of the nice mornings at your family home, beautiful pastries at the corner of your street, the intoxicating smell of the warm and fresh bread from the oven… you see?!
As for the perfect croissant, it is not easy to find it either! I tried a few places but so far, the one I enjoyed the most was at Cannelle French pastries! When I bit into it, it took me back for a couple of minutes to Paris ❤ The flavour was definitely here and I had croissant crumbs all over me which is how it is supposed to be 😉 The baker is a sympathetic French man who felt in love with Adelaide and has been living here for many years! So if you are a croissant lover, try to get to Cannelle bakery early in the morning as these little treats don’t last very long!
Tuesdays rhyme for me with English class and cooking! Actually there is an original free English conversation class at the North Adelaide Community Centre hosted by the talented and hilarious Malcolm. The theme of this class is: World cuisine. People from all continents attend to this joyful English class, there are no homeworks, no grades but only one rule: each participant is invited to share about his culture and his country through cooking. In my opinion it is a very interesting concept and a good way to practise English while learning about other customs and fooding. Malcolm puts everybody at ease, he is a very encouraging teacher and he has a lot of humour so everybody, even beginners, has an opportunity to speak! There are very interesting stories to hear about and it is like traveling the world! So many foreign countries are represented: China, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, Spain, Iran, France, Italy, Croatia, Chili, Colombia, Mexico, Venezuela… it is wonderful to be surrounded by all these different accents and good vibes. I have met really amazing friends thanks to this class and it has made a huge difference in my experience here for sure!
Once a month or so, thanks to Malcolm and our amazing coordinator Kellie our English class takes place in the community centre kitchen. We cook all together traditional dishes from our respective countries but also sometimes Australian meal (like Anzac biscuits) and learn about the story behind. Malcolm says that it is a good exercice for us to put our English into context with real life practice: reading recipes in English, understanding the vocabulary, solving problems together, connecting with each other, joining forces… The results is always incredible, so many different ingredients, colours and flavours: the world in a plate! We have a lot of fun as you can see by yourself in the following short video. If you start watching at 1:14, you will see our teacher Malcolm being interviewed about this wonderful class and if you pay attention you will see me as well with my friends at the North Adelaide Community Centre kitchen https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ip0LqXRDRpg
But the fun does not stop here, because after the cooking we can taste all these lovely dishes and share with the community centre guests. Again it is another opportunity to meet locals, mingle, express our opinions and please our palate with worldwide food. I am glad we have also the opportunity to taste Australian traditional dishes: pavlova, lamington, anzac biscuits… because we don’t have those in our countries and the point is to learn more about Australian culture because this is where our ❤ is at the moment. So come and join us at the North Adelaide Community Centre, you will love cooking and speaking English for sure!
When it comes to spread, Americans have peanut butter, Europeans have Nutella and Australians have Vegemite!
Vegemite has a special and unique flavour. It is like the sword in the stone: only true Aussie hearts can enjoy it 😉 So I took my chance and bought a pot of this Australian sacred delight. This is how bad I ❤ Australia!
Vegemite is a kind of brown paste, very thick and dark in colour like waste oil. To me it smells like a loaf bread which stayed all the morning on a table outside a beach house. As for the taste, it was nothing like I would have imagined, it is VERY salty… maybe as salty as the sea but with a kind of meat juice flavour.
It is really a hit in Australia: people enjoy it on their toasts, in their sandwiches, crumpets… I must confess I wanted to like it too so I really tried hard: spread on a toast (Ew), with tomatoes (Ew), with cucumbers (Ew), with walnuts (Ew). Nothing worked and it was so salty that I spent the whole night drinking water like if I had walked hours in the desert. I am sorry but honestly I did not like it at all 😦 it has a weird taste and the texture is not easy to work, I had difficulties to spread it!
Maybe there is something I am not doing right or maybe the legend is true: you have to be born and raised in Oz world to fully appreciate Vegemite, if not you are condemned to keep an horrible taste in the mouth and looking with envy at Aussie people savouring the mythical black paste as it was the best treat in the world!
What about you, are you a vegemite addict? Do you have any tips to enjoy it? Any techniques? I am curious to hear about it 😉
“If you look the right way, you can see that the whole world is a garden”
Do you have a secret place where you enjoy going to dream and clear your mind? A poetic place where you feel free and inspired?
I know a lovely garden in Adelaide that is an invitation to inspiration. It is as beautiful as it is peaceful with its enchanting trees and flowers. It is a Japanese style garden celebrating religiously the beauty of nature. I like to walk slowly surrounded by the sound of silence on the stepping stones so I can admire every tiny detail. I enjoy gazing at the calm water of the lake and listen to the birds singing happily in the deep blue sky. I love the sound of the chanting waterfall melting poetically into the beautiful landscape. Everything is in harmony with nature and my heart feels at peace here.
The lake: the soul of the garden
I like to kneel in front of the magic stone bowl and feel the fresh water on my hand and my face. It is said that the holy water will purify your spirit and your soul: it is like leaving all my worries behind me and starting from fresh with a humble attitude.
Water bowl (Chozubachi) so visitors may purify themselves
I like to contemplate the sea of sand. It is the perfect spot for contemplation thinking of the immensity of the sea, the waves, the continents. If you close your eyes, you can hear the sea… As Buddha said “With our thoughts we create the world” and it is up to us to make it beautiful!
Sea of sand
I could spend hours in this enchanting garden: dreaming, reading, having a picnic, doing yoga… but suddenly I hear the ‘clack” of the Shishi-Odoshi: a large bamboo tube filling with water until horizontal and then emptying causing one end to hit a rock with a deaf noise. It brings me back to reality: happier, rested and aware of the beauty and power of nature… already time to go but I will be back soon, I promise 😉
If you are a Games of Thrones fan, you must be familiar with the following sentence “you know nothing Jon Snow”… well this is the way I feel sometimes about my English. I thought that my universtity English degree, my previous lives in Montreal and London had afforded me to gain a wide knowledge of this beautiful language but it seems it is a never ending journey! But today let’s focus on the positive side only: learning a foreign language is like following the yellow brick road in The Wizard of Oz whereeach day is an adventure, an opportunity to discover and to learn more!
Actually when I moved to Adelaide I realized that there were many words and expressions (slang) I did not know! Furthermore, it seems that my French accent is SO strong that there is no way I could be mistaken for an Aussie girl… no matter how hard I try, when I open my mouth they instantly know I am French! Sometimes I wonder… why do French people sound so French?! Since I can’t really do anything about it, let’s focus on the former topic: Aussie slang!
Shortly after I moved to Adelaide, I made friend with my neighbour and enjoyed our daily conversations about the city, Australia, wildlife etc… even if sometimes he talked too fast and I could not catch the meaning of everything. One day he told me how popular the Aussie barbies were and that I should try. I thought he was talking about the Barbie plastic dolls (creepy…. why would he tell me that, I am not a kid anymore and what do Aussie Barbie dolls have that French ones don’t haha)… or maybe he was referring to bimbos, blondies (still creepy…why saying I should try?). So I got curious and asked him for more details (afterall maybe I was just lost in translation), I wanted to know what he liked about it… then I heard the word “shrimp” and the conversation went on and I learnt this day that a barbie is a barbecue, not a doll neither a bimbo nore a blondie!
Do you know what is a breakie? First time, I heard this word… I thought it was related to “break something”… do I want a breakie? Is somebody going to break my leg? Is it an Australian custom? Well don’t worry, if you see this expression on a cafe menu… nobody is going to break you anything, it just means: breakfast! In my opinion it is a good word to know here and speaking of it I know the perfect place where to enjoy a delicious Aussie breakie!
One day in English class, one of our teachers William asked us if we have been bothered by the mozzies during the warm and humid weekend. Because of the lesson topic, we knew he was talking about an animal but what kind of beast was that? The word sounded to me like a “mouse” but with a “S” so something like “mouses” but then I thought it can’t be, because the plural is “mice” (congrats these English classes are paying off)! A girl from Japan said that this animal did not exist in her country and William smiled and said he doubted it! Actually mozzies mean mosquitos!
After 6 months living in Australia, I can’t declare I am fluent in Aussie slang yet but I am working on it because I like it here and I really want to fit in! So to prove my love to Australia, I am going to write something that only Australians can understand:
G’day, I started my morning with a lovely breakie and wrote some emails to my relies. Then I was invited by my aussies mates to a seafood barbie. I hope there will not be too many mozzies tonight at the party! No worries! Ta ❤
“Until one has loved an animal a part of one’s soul remains unawakened” – Anatole France
A couple of years ago, I decided that I wanted to live the dream and have an international career. It was a project dear to my heart hidden in a little corner of my mind like forever. But at that time I was living in Paris with my 10 years old cat and his name was Paulo.
Paulo and myself sitting on the window of our Parisian flat
He was the most adorable cat you could ever have imagined, always purring, asking for cuddles, giving love. Paulo was neither the bravest cat nore the most agile one… First, he was scared to death when hearing somebody sneezing! Secondly jumping from the floor to the table or walking on the bed frame seemed to be too challenging: actually he fell a few times BUT he had a big ego and hated when I would laugh at him that’s when I learnt to do my Poker face (thank you Lady Gaga). But he was my cat and I loved him unconditionally no matter what. So it was obvious that Paulo would be part of my adventures should I move someday overseas. I started to enquire about how it worked, what kind of vaccination would I need, paperwork to deal with, pet carrier to choose… it seemed complicated and expensive but a pet is part of your family so you’re ready to face these kind of problems! Unfortunately Paulo was diagnosed with kidney cancer and passed away shortly after this heart breaking news. So I never got the chance to bring my cat with me abroad. But as a pet lover I can totally put myself in your shoes. So what is going to follow now, is not my own experience but stories from friends who live overseas with or without their pets.
First you need to know that the decision is not that easy… Moving abroad is a lot of logistic and stress (for you and your animal) so some people decide it is a too big an issue and they prefer not to bring their little companion. They choose instead to give their dog or cat to a friend or a relative. It seems “easier” on a logistic point of view but actually it is not… because I have seen these same people crying and missing their pet a LOT!
I want Mr Whiskas back!
I mean when you adopt your animal at the first place it is because you want to love it forever! Remember the first day your pet arrived in your home, how happy you were, how much you cared about your dog or your cat! So having the feeling of abandoning your little companion to make both of your life easier can be hard to cope with! So think about it twice… if you decide to leave your dog/cat behind you, make sure it is in good hands with people you trust and who will be able to keep you posted and be ok to handle the situation if you change your mind and want your animal back. Because you can think at the first place it is going to be ok and then realize you are too sad and too depressed… Keep in mind that when you will move overseas you will have no friends at the beginning and you will miss your country, your family, your old life a lot! So the absence of your cat/dog could be the straw that broke the camel’s back, better to have a plan B just in case!
On the contrary, I know other people who can not possibly imagine their life abroad without their pet. My friend Nasim (from Iran) has a lovely dog named Judy that she loves very much. When she decided to move to Australia, her dog was part of the plan!
Judy in her previous home in Iran
But it is not easy either because when you move with your pet to Australia, laws are very strict and you have a very long delay to respect and it can be extended depending on your dogs’ results, current health etc… http://www.agriculture.gov.au/cats-dogs . You have to live with the guilt of putting your animal through all these confusing experiences (leaving its home, its family and its routine for a while, long stressful trip, noisy shelters, cold cages, multiple tests, long time no see, strangers)… like I said there are no ideal solutions.
Furthermore, Nasim’s dog could not do its quarantine in Iran and had to be sent to Canada in a shelter for the whole duration and it is been a long time now… It is hard because the duration was extended many times and Nasim is missing Judy a lot and wondering how her dog feels about this situation… she has not seen Judy for 8 months! But a few days ago, Nasim received a good news: Australia is ready to welcome Judy now, all paperworks have been approved and she will see her dog very soon! The next step now is to find a good pet doctor in the neighborhood, nice parks for dogs and most important a welcoming home! Bear in mind that many landlords don’t accept animals so it is important when you move abroad with your pet to find a place where it is allowed and mentioned in the leasing contract!
Whatever you decide, focus on your pets’ interests, find the “best” solution for both sides and try not to feel guilty about the situation (it won’t help anyway). Good luck ❤
“Tant que vous n’avez pas aimé un animal, une partie de votre âme sera toujours sans éclat, endormie.” Anatole France
Hello World! 