So I thought I'd share a little more about myself...you see I was born overseas, in New Caledonia! I moved to Australia when I was 6 with my parents. My grandparents had already moved here about 12 months previously, and mum wanted to be nearer to them.
So with me in tow, they made the life changing decision to move to Australia. We arrived in December 1982, just in time for Christmas! Our house wasn't built yet, so we lived with grandpa and grandma for awhile.
I remember first moving into our house...we had an outdoor BBQ table as our dining table, a bed for each of us, and not much more!
My first day of school was in January 1983. As a non-English speaking student, I was put into grade 1 at our local state school. I remember during the first week, not being able to communicate with my classmates, a girl by the name of Renee Pask asked me "are you deaf?". I went home to mum and asked her what it meant....I was devastated!
Another day at my new school...I recall taking my Blinky Bill school case (as they were then....you remember the cardboard ones with the plastic bumpers and carry handle?), and walked right out of school at lunch time! Clearly I had had enough!
Mum happened to drive past as we lived very close to the school and saw me waiting patiently by the side of the road, Blinky Bill in tow!
According to my parents, it only took me a month to learn to speak fluent English.....no accent or anything! Kids are pretty amazing like that!
There was a lovely lady by the name of Mrs Querelle who would take me aside each day and patiently teach me to speak English. Strangely enough, 20 years later I moved into the house across the street from Mrs Querelle! We recognized each other and spent some time together...I have learned recently that Mrs Querelle passed away. It was a sad day for me as she was like my personal savior all those years ago.
Now, I still speak fluent French, and am instilling the language into Miss A....I love my life here, but still want to keep memories of my roots via language.
Mr K and Miss A are my family, my mum and dad are my god sent angels, my grandparents are the rock of the family.
Do you have any interesting stories to share?
So with me in tow, they made the life changing decision to move to Australia. We arrived in December 1982, just in time for Christmas! Our house wasn't built yet, so we lived with grandpa and grandma for awhile.
I remember first moving into our house...we had an outdoor BBQ table as our dining table, a bed for each of us, and not much more!
My first day of school was in January 1983. As a non-English speaking student, I was put into grade 1 at our local state school. I remember during the first week, not being able to communicate with my classmates, a girl by the name of Renee Pask asked me "are you deaf?". I went home to mum and asked her what it meant....I was devastated!
Another day at my new school...I recall taking my Blinky Bill school case (as they were then....you remember the cardboard ones with the plastic bumpers and carry handle?), and walked right out of school at lunch time! Clearly I had had enough!
Mum happened to drive past as we lived very close to the school and saw me waiting patiently by the side of the road, Blinky Bill in tow!
According to my parents, it only took me a month to learn to speak fluent English.....no accent or anything! Kids are pretty amazing like that!
There was a lovely lady by the name of Mrs Querelle who would take me aside each day and patiently teach me to speak English. Strangely enough, 20 years later I moved into the house across the street from Mrs Querelle! We recognized each other and spent some time together...I have learned recently that Mrs Querelle passed away. It was a sad day for me as she was like my personal savior all those years ago.
Now, I still speak fluent French, and am instilling the language into Miss A....I love my life here, but still want to keep memories of my roots via language.
Mr K and Miss A are my family, my mum and dad are my god sent angels, my grandparents are the rock of the family.
Do you have any interesting stories to share?
