We are settled in our home and have met some of our neighbours. Even if I can’t understand everything they say, they seem very nice. I was very moved when one of the neighbours came to say hello. She gave me her very last rose from her garden which I put in an empty wine bottle to use as a vase (a single stem rose in a wine bottle—pretty).

Rose—Canon Powershot S410

It has now been three days since our neighbour came to visit and since then the rose has opened its petals and perfumed the air with a fruity fragrance. If roses were eatable and tasted like they smelled, I would imagine these to taste as nice. It certainly makes a world of difference to be welcomed in such a way—the sort of thing that makes one feel like they could stay forever. I just hope I remember to do a thoughtful gesture similar to this for someone else.

We managed to have Fleur placed in quatriéme (eighth grade) rather than cinquiéme (seventh grade). When we met with the school’s principal a couple months ago, he suggested that we place her in cinquiéme because of her limitations in French. He said that if she were placed in a class lower she would adjust better to the language because she would be learning familiar material. But seeing that Fleur has been homeschooled, and had not been following the French school system, or any school system other than our own, I thought we should still place her in quatriéme. When we returned to the states we put together a portfolio to show what she had studied the previous years. We were able to get help from friends who gave valuable input on the wording and to help translate needed parts into French. We could not had done it without their help. Having said that, we presented the portfolio to the principal but he didn’t even look at it. He did place Fleur in quatriéme though.